Licence to work on the highway

This application should be submitted by the land or property owner e.g. developer or private individual to enable the responsible party to be aware of the obligations required of them in the application of these licenses. Application by sub-contractors or traffic management companies will be rejected. If there’s any information missing within the pack, it will be returned, as we will not be able to start the application process.

In order for the authority to comply with its statutory duties, all applications must be made at least 28 days in advance of commencement of the proposed works. A shorter period may be agreed, depending on circumstances after the initial pack has been completed and discussed with the relevant officer.

To enable us to advise applicants further regarding the requirements of the license and the associated fees, a site visit / meeting to discuss the details provided, assess traffic management proposals, and determine what conditions will be required will be offered to applicant and their subcontractors. We may request an alternative construction method, request an alternative location, or ask for the works duration to be reduced. At this stage a fee calculation will be provided, dependant on the meeting, and prompt payment will be required before the application is progressed further.

• You will require evidence that a signed S278 or S38 agreement signed S104 or connection from a utility with supporting technical approval given before a license is issued
• A license is required per street and per activity rather than one application for everything and based upon the duration of the activity
• There will be no refund if works are cancelled following approval or fail to start within the validity window. A new application will need to be applied for

Fees, penalties and charges

There's an application fee for a Section 50 licence and you may also be liable for supplementary charges, the same as those which apply to a Statutory Undertaker under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (NRSWA). It is worth noting that all of these are avoidable for following the guidelines and rules within the NRSWA and that good communication is the key to ensuring penalty charges and fines can be avoided.

A Section 50 licence application will cost a minimum of:

• £558 for applications for up to 21 calendar days (15 working days)
• £708 for applications 22 to 42 calendar days in duration (up to 30 working days)
• £858 for application greater than 42 days calendar (Greater than 30 working days)
• an additional £50 per week inspection charge following occupation greater than 49 days.

A £45 charge to vary the application within the validity period (five days) will be required to amend a granted license. And to request an extension to an existing license which may include additional charges for further inspections, however we reserves the right to reject these extension requests if they could have been avoided and will not be granted if works on site have been stopped and there have been periods of no activity that could have been avoided.

Cancellation

Fees paid for the application of the license will not be refunded for cancelled work after the payment of the fees as the authority has already carried out work on the licenses.

Fixed Penalty Notice

Fixed penalty notices (FPN’s) will be issued to applicants for:

• late submission of forms SWL4 indicating Works Start date, Works End date and date and dimensions of reinstatement within the requirements of the legislation. (i.e. two hours after for start and stops and within 10 days for reinstatement)
• within sections 54, 55, 57, 70 and 74 of NRSWA there are several offences that may arise in various ways
• charges for defective reinstatement inspections

Section 74 over-run charges

Please be aware of the possible scale of charges that will apply should works continue beyond the agreed duration (the 'reasonable period') as they can be substantial. These charges apply for each working day that you occupy the highway.

Financial penalties may arise to the owner of apparatus for non-compliance with the relevant statutory duties or conditions imposed by the Street Authority. The owner of apparatus should note that this liability cannot be delegated to any other person or organisation.

There will be a period of amnesty to enable these changes to be understood and changes made where needed until 31 March 2024, where we will not enforce the application of these fines and charges, after this point you will be charged for any fines or charges accrued.

Section 74 charges for unreasonable Carriageway occupation
Road Type	Charge per day	Charge per day
	First three days	Subsequent days
Type 0 or 1 Traffic sensitive	£5000	£10000
Type 2,3 or 4 Traffic sensitive	£2500	£2500
Type 0 or 1 NOT Traffic sensitive	£3000	£8000
Type 2 NOT Traffic sensitive	£2000	£2000
Type 3 or 4 Traffic sensitive	£750	£750
Type 3 or 4 NOT Traffic sensitive	£250	£250