Road occupation licence for building work (England and Wales)

What this covers

You must get a licence from the council to dig up the road, or temporarily occupy it in connection with building work - fines, penalties

It applies in England and Wales. Other UK nations run their own regimes — check the equivalent for the nation you trade in.

Why you need it

This licence is not an administrative preference — it exists because Parliament created it. The power to require it comes from Highways Act 1980.

What the Act carries

These are the duties, penalties and exemptions our graph holds for Highways Act 1980 as a whole — the Act behind this licence, not the licence conditions themselves. They show what sort of instrument you are dealing with.

Duties on businesses

113

Penalties

60

Exemptions

39

Duties on businesses under the Act

• Fail to fence off or fill in highway authority excavation s.46
• Unlawfully taking highway repair materials s.46
• Build or excavate in breach of street widening improvement line s.73
• Unauthorised building or excavation near a street widening line s.73
• Build or excavate beyond a prescribed building line s.74
• Build too close to a prescribed building line s.74

… and 107 more business duties in the same Act.

What happens if you get it wrong

• Wilfully obstruct a highway 51 weeks imprisonment
• Cause accident from building operations near a street Unlimited fine
• Continue an offence after being convicted under the Highways Act Unlimited fine
• Disclose trade secrets from highway authority entry Unlimited fine
• Erect or retain unauthorised scaffolding on a highway Unlimited fine

… and 55 more penalties in the same Act.

Exemptions that may take you outside it

• Bridge owners exempt from maintenance liability when bridge becomes trunk road — Your bridge is transferred to the trunk road authority or special road authority because the highway it carries becomes a …
• Bridge owners (railway, dock, harbour, canal) protected from compulsory works orders — You own a bridge that is: (a) owned by railway undertakers and carries a highway over a railway (or both …
• Bridges owned by Manchester Ship Canal Company exempt from bridge improvement orders and agreements — Bridge crossing the Manchester Ship Canal and owned by the Manchester Ship Canal Company
• Buildings and residential structures exempt from path obstruction notices — Obstruction is a building, a structure used for human habitation (like a caravan or vehicle), or is caused by a …
• Business premises on unaffected parts of a street exempt from work costs — Premises do not front the specific length of the street where works are being executed

… and 34 more exemptions in the same Act.

Read our full dossier on Highways Act 1980

Who issues it

Your local council issues this, acting as the licensing authority for the area you trade in. Councils apply the same statute but set their own fees, conditions and timescales, so two neighbouring authorities can reach you differently.

Where to apply

Our guidance on this

Everything below is written out in full elsewhere on Guvnor — this page points at it rather than repeating it.

Licences that often go with this one

Businesses in the same activities usually need one or more of these too.

Duty, penalty and exemption labels are Guvnor’s analysis of the enabling instrument, not the instrument itself. Fees, forms and conditions are set by the issuing authority — always check the linked source.

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