This particular construction heralds a new computer lab - a desperately needed augmentation of our current undergraduate discretionary use facilities for currently registered Humanities students - and, as such, no one questions the necessity of the construction.
But that doesn't make the pain any easier.
Humour becomes increasingly brittle, and fractures. Goodwill frays. Public relations dissolve as prospective parents shout into thunderous racket down fragile phone connections to stressed staff unable to hear, understand, help, communicate, or - ultimately - maintain sufficient tolerance. Dante's Inferno gains another level.
And then, just as the ambulances are carting off the last of the bittereinders to join their colleagues in a comfortable rubber room, the noise stops, the dust settles and the overalls disappear. Builders' holidays.
But don't hold your breath just yet - four weeks lie between now and then. Rather, get a Michael Jackson mask - you'll need it for the construction dust.