Residents in downtown Gatineau faced their city council last night looking to reverse a decision to extend construction hours at the site of a new condominium development nearby.

Construction workers at the site, located at 185 Laurier Street across from Jacques Cartier Park, can now be seen hammering away from 6 a.m. until 3 a.m. the next morning from Monday to Saturday.

Line Ladine says her peaceful sleep has been interrupted by the extended construction of a condominium nearby. (CBC)

The residents say the noise, which was already disruptive, is keeping them up at night.

"We’re stressed out,” said Line Ladine, who lives on Notre-Dame-de-l'île Street. "It’s no longer peaceful coming back from our day at work to home.”

Madelaine Rochon, who lives next door to the construction site, wakes up each day to workers arriving and trucks making deliveries. The work on the 19-storey condo is able to continue for 21 hours each day now and she said she and her neighbours have had enough.

"The residents want to know when are we supposed to sleep, why do we pay tax, why is there no communication coming from the city to us. It would be nice to know," Rochon said.

Exemption to lay concrete

Gatineau city council recently granted the developer, the Heafey Group, an exemption to start work earlier and finish much later.

City councillor, Denise LaFerriere, represents the area. She said she will propose a longer construction time with a shorter work day to residents.

A spokesman for the developer said the exemption is only allowed when workers are laying the concrete for the building. That can take up to 18 hours and the extension means the work can be done properly.

Charles Masse also said city council should not change its exemption due to residents' complaints.

Charles Masse says the Heafey Group needed the extended hours to properly lay concrete for the condominium. (CBC)

"The problem is when you start concrete, when you have concrete in the truck, you can't wait a certain amount of time," said Charles Masse.

"After that, it's all the variables with the wind, humidity, weather. So concrete can be poured, but it can take 12 hours, 16 hours, 18 hours."

Masse insists the developer has not yet taken advantage of the time extension but it is a possibility. There is some concern about finishing construction before the winter months.

The construction site is also close to Gatineau city hall.