Licence to place a skip on a road

Apply for a skip licence

Please read the standard conditions of permissions before completing and submitting an application for a licence:

Standard conditions of permissions to place a builder’s skip on the highway

  1. The local council/highway authority issues licences, in exercise of their powers under section 139 of the Highways Act 1980
  2. Each skip shall be deposited on the carriageway outside the premises and shall be positioned so that it does not impede the surface water drainage of the highway, nor obstruct access to any manhole or the apparatus of any statutory undertaker or the local council.
  3. Where more than one skip is on the highway at any one time, the skips shall be positioned as closely as possible to each other, but not so as to obstruct access to any premises unless the consent of the occupier of those premises has been obtained. Permission for more than one skip at once would require prior permission.
  4. Each skip shall not exceed 5 metres in length by 2 metres in width, unless specifically authorised by the local council.
  5. Each skip or group of skips shall, while on the highway, be marked and lit in accordance with the following requirements:
    1. The ends of each skip (that is to say, the sides of the skip facing traffic in both directions when the skip is positioned as mentioned in Condition 2 above) shall be painted yellow and marked in accordance with the requirements of The Builder's Skips (Markings) Regulations 1984 (Statutory Instrument 1984 No. 1933). The painting and the markings (i.e. reflective marker boards) shall always be kept clean and efficient and clearly visible for a reasonable distance to persons using the highway on which the skip is placed.
    2. Each skip shall be clearly and indelibly marked with the owner’s name and telephone number or address.
    3. Each skip will be guarded by at least 3 traffic cones placed on the carriageway in a taper line on the approach side of where 2 or more skips are deposited in a row, so that the distance between adjacent skips does not exceed 2 metres, the row shall be guarded as if it were one skip.
    4. At night (between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise), a flashing amber safety lamp shall be placed against or attached to each corner of the skip or the end corners of the row of skips (where two or more skips are deposited in a row and the distance between adjacent skips does not exceed 2 metres) and shall remain lit through the night.
  6. No skip, when standing in the highway, shall contain any inflammable explosive, noxious or dangerous material or any material likely to putrefy or which otherwise is, or likely to become, a nuisance to users of the highway.
  7. No skip shall be used in such a way that any of its contents fall onto the highway.  To prevent an escape of dust from the contents of the skip the material should be 'damped down'.
  8. Each skip shall be removed for emptying as soon as practicable as and in any case no later than 2 working days after it has been filled.
  9. No skip shall remain on the highway after the period of this permission expires.
  10. All materials placed in each skip shall be properly disposed of and the highway where the skip or skips have been deposited shall be left in a clean and tidy condition on the expiration of this permission.
  11. Where skips are placed on verges/unmade ground or high amenity paving (as defined by the local council), the surface shall be protected against damage by skips and/or the vehicles delivering or collecting the skips, in a manner approved by the local council.
  12. No skip shall partly or wholly obstruct the footway or any other pedestrian route (pedestrian crossings or pram ramps) without the permission of the local council.  Permission would only be granted after consultation and agreement with other parties and conditional upon the provision of a safe walkway, signed and guarded in accordance with Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual and "Safety at Street Works and Road Works - A Code of Practice".
  13. Skips shall not be sited in contravention of any Waiting Restriction Order without prior permission from the local council.
  14. The owner of the skip shall indemnify the local council against any liability, loss, damage, claim or proceedings whatsoever arising under statute or common law in respect of the placing and maintaining of the builders skips on the highway, its delivery and removal there from.
  15. The company applying to place a skip on the highway must have a minimum Public Liability Insurance cover of £5,000,000.
  16. The company applying to place a skip on the highway must have a valid Environment Agency Certificate of Registration under the control of Pollution Act (Waste Carriers Licence).

Apply for a skip permit

Once you have read the standard conditions, you can apply for a skip permit.

Download the skip licence application form.

Please send your completed application form to streetworks@medway.gov.uk.