Skip Permits in Westminster

The legal basis

Permission to place a builders skip on a highway comes from section 139 of the Highways Act 1980. Placing one without that permission is an offence, and under section 140 the highway authority or the police can require a skip to be moved or removed.

The permit is applied for and held by the skip operator, not by the customer. That is a common misunderstanding: you do not need to approach the council yourself. What we need from you is the exact placement address, the dates, and anything unusual about the street.

Parking bay suspensions

In most of central Westminster the permit is only half the job. Nearly all kerbside space is within a controlled parking zone, so the bay the skip will occupy also has to be suspended.

Suspensions are arranged separately from the permit and are usually the slowest part of the process. They cannot reliably be organised at short notice, which is the main reason skip bookings in SW1, W1G and W2 need more lead time than people expect. Tell us your dates as early as you can.

Conditions once the skip is in place

A permitted skip has to be marked and lit. The skip must clearly display the operator's name and a contact telephone number or address. The ends facing oncoming traffic must carry the red and yellow reflective markings specified by the Builders' Skips (Markings) Regulations 1984.

From half an hour after sunset until half an hour before sunrise, lamps must be fixed at the corners of the skip. Where several skips stand in a row close together, the lamps go on the outer corners of the group.

The load must be contained: nothing projecting, nothing falling into the road, and no dust blowing off. The skip must not hold anything flammable, explosive, noxious or putrescible, and a full skip should be removed promptly rather than left standing.

Where a skip cannot go

Councils set placement rules as well as issuing permits. Skips are commonly prohibited within a set distance of a junction, on bends, near pedestrian crossings and anywhere they would obstruct sightlines or access.

They also cannot block a dropped kerb, a fire hydrant, a disabled bay or a bus stop. If the only available space outside your property falls into one of these categories, the skip will have to go elsewhere on the street, which is worth establishing before you book.

How long a permit lasts

Permits are issued for a fixed period, and the length varies between authorities and street types. A job that runs longer than the permit needs a renewal arranged before the original expires.

This matters most on clearances and refurbishments, which routinely overrun. Give us a realistic duration at the outset rather than an optimistic one; extending is straightforward if it is dealt with in advance.