You will need permission from the Council (Highway Authority) prior to placing building materials or a container on the highway. It is the responsibility of the householder/client, in conjunction with the contractor, to obtain a licence for any material that is placed on the highway (this includes the carriageway, footway and Council owned verge).

Best practice dictates avoidance of any building materials/container being placed on the highway, the safest location being off the highway on private land.

If it is not possible to avoid using the public highway, materials should be placed in the carriageway, rather than on the footway. Building materials/containers placed on the highway should not obstruct or interfere with any rights of way, drainage of the street, traffic flow or with any apparatus of the public utility companies.

Above all Safety is the key priority to consider.

Building/property owner – you will need:

• To check that your builder/contractor has the appropriate documents and licences and that they do not expire before the building work is finished

Contractor - you will need:

• Written permission from the Council
• Public Liability Insurance with a £5million indemnity limit
• A Site Plan

Process

Please be aware that access restrictions are now in place for specific streets in Bath City centre to allow for social distancing guidelines to be adhered to.  Further information on these initiatives can be found on our traffic measures page. (If you do not require access to one of these specific streets, please go to the normal application process below).

You will need to provide at least 1 hours’ notice of your arrival by phoning the CCTV Team on 01225 477447.  In addition, you will need to provide the following information to enable appropriate checks to be carried out:

• Name of contractor and operative
• Vehicle registration
• Name/ address/ telephone number of the applicant

Vehicles will need to be liveried and the operative will require suitable ID.
Either hard or electronic copy of the license will need to be produced on site for checking.  Failure to do so will result in access refusal.

For Lower Borough Walls access, drivers will need to approach the rising bollard and speak to one of the CCTV operators via the intercom on the communications pillar.  Once license details have been checked, access will be permitted.

The process for placing materials on the public highway is as follows:

1. The contractor requests a licence by contacting the Council on 01225 394041 or by downloading the Building Materials/Container Application Form. This is available in Word or PDF format.
2. The contractor completes the licence application form and returns it to network_licences@bathnes.gov.uk:
3. Payment of administration fee. For applications with over 5 working days notice, an administration fee of £59 must be paid via our portal link.  For applications with under 5 working days notice an administration fee of £89 must be paid via our portal link.  Please note that fees are non-refunadable and non-transferrable. 
4. Proof of current public liability insurance cover with a £5 million indemnity limit.
5. A Council Highways Inspector will check that the proposed location is suitable to place materials/container.
6. If appropriate the Council will issue the licence to the contractor. The materials/container must not be deposited on the highway before the licence is issued.
7. Once a licence is issued the building materials/container can be placed on site at the agreed location, abiding by any conditions or stipulations set by the Council.