Frequently Asked Questions
Visit
Streetworks management for background information.
What is the permit scheme?
Can we ban the utilities from digging up the streets
and footways?
How are street works managed by the
City Corporation?
What do other boroughs do to manage street
works?
Is there a penalty for finishing road works
late?
How do you track street works?
How long are utilities allowed to completely
close Square Mile streets for?
I have seen sites with no-one on them, how do you
police the sites?
What role does the City of London Police
play?
Why do the utilities dig up the same streets time
after time?
What is lane rental?
How many street works are there each year in the
Square Mile?
How many street works are being carried out
by the City’s own contractors– ie not utilities?
Which utility companies dig up the
streets?
How are road closures advertised?
How do we communicate with City
Businesses?
Why doesn’t the City Corporation tell people
their road is about to be dug up as well?
Can the City Corporation do more to
coordinate road works?
What is the difference between utility street
works and the City Corporation’s own road works?
Why do these companies dig up the road
immediately after the City of London Corporation has resurfaced
it?
Why does it always take longer than originally
planned?
How can I contact you to complain about a
certain street-work?
Powers to control and manage works
What is the permit scheme?
The London Permit Scheme began in January 2010 and it means both
utilities and the highway authority’s own contractors have to apply
for a permit to dig up the highway. Certain conditions can be
attached, and for utilities, an admin fee is charged depending on
the type of works. In other words, contractors effectively request
road space, allowing a better opportunity for City Corporation
officers to work with them in coordinating works. The use of
conditions gives authorities greater powers to regulate works, and
by charging a fee, speculative applications are discouraged.
Failure to comply with permit conditions can result in Fixed
Penalty Notices (FPNs) being issued. Ordinarily works in the City
are well managed and the issuing of FPNs is unnecessary however we
closely monitor works and do issue FPNs when the need arises andthe
City Corporation expect to issue some 50 or more FPNs each
year.
Can we ban the utilities from digging up the streets
and footways?
No. Statutory utility companies have a legal right under the New
Road and Street Works Act 1991 to dig up roads and footways to
maintain equipment and provide new supplies e.g. to supply new
developments. More info on
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/streetworks
How are street works managed by the
City Corporation?
Unless works relate to an emergency (e.g. a gas leak) or are
otherwise urgent representatives from the City’s Highways team in
Environmental Services arrange site meetings with the
statutory utility company or contractors to discuss works. In
bigger schemes representatives from our Traffic Management team may
also attend along with Environmental Health professionals to
consider noise and other environmental issues. On the agenda are a
whole range of issues including other street works nearby, any
planned public events or road closures and consideration is given
as to how best to minimise the disruption to vehicular and human
traffic flow. As part of this process we also consider Transport
for London works on their ‘Red Route’ network and any works we are
aware of in neighbouring Councils that might impact upon the scheme
or vice versa.
Once plans are agreed they are monitored very closely to ensure
compliance with what is agreed and Fixed Penalty Notices will be
issued if there are any significant breaches of Permit conditions.
Where possible, we also invite other utility companies to take
advantage of road closures and works, as part of “trench sharing”.
In the last 12 months we have been successful in achieving trench
sharing on some 50 occasions thereby greatly reducing the number of
times City roads were dug up. However we can’t force utilities to
do this and there can often be Health and Safety complications
resulting from too many contractors working in one area.
Furthermore, utility companies are often under great pressure
from their City firm customers to get on with things quickly so as
to enable schemes to be completed and buildings occupied etc.
What do other boroughs do to manage street
works?
In short they do not have any more powers than us and in some
cases, because they have not adopted the necessary legislation,
they have less. Street works are governed by national legislation,
e.g. the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 which sets, for
example, the level of notice that a utility has to give to the
Local Authority before works begin. The Traffic Management Act 2004
introduced extra controls to allow highway authorities to operate a
permit system (see above), which the City of London has adopted,
along with 17 London boroughs, Transport for London, and a small
number of authorities in the rest of the UK. The London Permit
Scheme has common rules which apply to all participating boroughs.
Without a permit system in place, utilities just inform the
relevant highway authority that they will be digging up the road,
there is no fee involved, and they do not need the highway
authority to formally agree for the works to go ahead. Also,
without permits, there are no equivalent controls to formally
authorise the highway authority’s own works.
Is there a penalty for finishing road works
late?
Yes, if a utility company fails to complete works by the
specified time, or fails in its obligations (for example does not
request a permit extension), it is a criminal offence and a Fixed
Penalty Notice (FPNs) can be issued. This fine is per occasion and
can be up to £500. The utility company can also be subject to daily
charges of between £100 and £2500 per day if their works overrun,
according to the category of road. We have issued more than 50 FPNs
in the last 12 months.
How do you track street works?
Permit applications are logged on a specialist database, which
records the proposed dates and duration of the works, any specific
conditions agreed, and whether the application has been granted or
refused. Once works have started, the permit application is updated
by the contractor, and when works have finished, the permit is
closed. View details and track street works on
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/streetworks.
How long are utilities allowed to completely close
Square Mile streets for?
Applications for road closures are judged on merit, and because
they need a traffic management order, they are dealt with
separately to the permit system. Where a closure is needed, the
applicant must demonstrate that the closure is justified and that
the impact on City stakeholders (whether residents, businesses or
traffic) has been minimised. All applicants for road closures are
told to contact affected premises direct. In addition, the City
uses the Evening Standard, the Traffic Management Bulletin, the
City web site and on-street notices to let people know.
I have seen sites with no-one on them, how do you
police the sites?
Often, this is a necessary break, for example, when concrete or
asphalt has been laid and time is needed for it to harden. There
are also times during the day when noisy works are not allowed. The
City of London employs 2 street work inspectors whose job it is to
inspect the works to ensure that sites are safe, works are to time
and meet permit conditions. Utilities pay a contribution towards
these inspections, but it only covers the cost of inspecting 30% of
their works.
What role does the City of London Police play?
The City Police are not directly responsible for coordinating
street works, although they are consulted on large scale works.
However they do have the power to suspend works if they believe
street works have the potential to cause danger to the public or
damage to property.
Why do the utilities dig up the same streets time
after time?
Mainly this is because the City – one of the world’s leading
business centres - has large amounts of underground piping and
cabling owned by different companies, and each company is under
pressure from its customers to supplement, repair or replace their
network. They have a right to do this under the New Roads and
Street Works Act 1991. Utilities often do not know their own
advance programme beyond the immediate future, so there is limited
opportunity to co-ordinate works. When it comes down to it, their
clients – City firms – just want their own works asap.
What is lane rental?
‘Lane Rental’ is a provision contained in the New Road and
Street Works Act 1991 which has not yet been authorised by
Government.. The ‘Lane Rental’ provision would require utility
companies to pay a fee to the Local Authority for each day they
occupy the highway. The intention of this provision is that it
should act as an incentive to reduce the number of days the highway
is dug up A limited trial was authorised by Government several
years ago, but the results were inconclusive and the scheme was
withdrawn. However Government is now assessing whether a new scheme
should be trialled again, particularly in those cases where works
might cause major traffic disruption.
Activity levels
How many street works are there each year in the
Square Mile?
We issue nearly 6,000 permits (see question 1 above) every year
authorising street works to take place in the Square Mile. We also
refuse as many as another 400 requests for permits each year for a
variety of reasons such as the Highway network already being
overloaded with works or time periods specified on the permit
requests being unacceptable. See the street works page on our
website
How many street works are being carried out
by the City’s own contractors– ie not utilities?
Just over 2,000 permits every year relate to City of London
Corporation road works, which is about a third of the total. Some
of these are repairs and some are improvements to keep the Square
Mile a first-class environment for world-leading businesses and
workers
Which utility companies dig up the streets?
The main companies involved in gas, water, electricity and
telecoms are National Grid Gas, Thames Water, UK Power Networks,
BT, COLT, AboveNet, Geo, EU Networks, Cable & Wireless
Worldwide, Virgin Media, Verizon Business, Global Crossing,
Interoute and Vtesse. They employ a number of specialist
subcontractors depending upon the nature of the works involved.
Communications
How are road closures advertised?
A public notice is placed in the local newspaper and notices are
typically placed on nearby street furniture and information is
added to the City’s web site and Traffic Management Bulletin.
How do we communicate with City
Businesses?
It is a standard condition of every permit that the company
undertaking the works is to inform affected premises. Also, the
City provides a weekly Traffic Management Bulletin that is widely
circulated to business and others interested. Anyone can subscribe
to the weekly e-mail updates by sending an e-mail to
traffic.management@cityoflondon.gov.uk,
these weekly details are on
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/streetworks
Why doesn’t the City Corporation tell people
their road is about to be dug up as well?
The contractor has the most up to date information regarding the
works, including how each individual premises will be affected, so
the City makes it a requirement of all road closures, and a
condition of all permit applications, that affected premises are
informed of works by the contractor direct.
Coordination
Can the Corporation do more to coordinate
road works?
The London Permit Scheme has generated more advanced contact
from utilities to discuss works before they happen. It has
encouraged more informed discussion before permit applications are
submitted, and because a fee is charged per application, it has
discouraged speculative and time-wasting ‘just in case’
applications. To support this, the City is installing a new
map-based Highway Management IT system that will allow greater
visibility of planned works, and include other background
information on other highway activities such as crane operations,
special events and scaffold licences. This is due shortly and
should speed coordination.
What is the difference between utility street
works and the City Corporation’s own road works?
Utility street works involve the digging of the roads or
footways by a ‘Statutory Undertaker’ (ie a statutory utility or
cable company), licensed by HM Government. The City’s own works to
maintain, repair or improve the highway are technically known as
‘works for road purposes’.
Why do these companies dig up the road
immediately after the City of London Corporation has resurfaced
it?
When we resurface a road we serve a legal notice that prevents
utilities from digging up the road for the next 12 – 60 months.
Unfortunately there are exceptions for emergencies and for new
services to customers. We share our resurfacing programme with the
utilities which can and does lead to our resurfacing being done
later – after a utility does its works.
Why does it always take longer than originally
planned?
That’s not the case – some works are faster than planned. Indeed
the vast majority of works in the Square Mile are completed within
planned timings. But it is very crowded under the Square Mile and
utilities can never be certain of what is there until they start
digging. Cellars and vaults are another problem because many extend
under the road and information on their location is not always
available. All this disrupts the planned work timings.
How can I contact you to complain about a certain
street-work?
You can contact us on Freephone 0800 389 5908 or email us at
streets@cityoflondon.gov.uk