Commercial Waste Skip - Q&A

• email: HighwayLicences@doncaster.gov.uk
• address: City of Doncaster Council, Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3BU

Regulations relating to the depositing of a builder's skip on a highway are contained in Section 139 of the Highways Act 1980. Under these the Council may grant permission to deposit a builder's skip on a highway within its boundaries, subject to certain conditions.

• each skip shall be clearly and indelibly marked with the owner's name and telephone number
• each skip shall be deposited on the carriageway only, unless authorised by an officer of the Council to be placed elsewhere and shall be positioned so that its longer sides are parallel to the edge of the carriageway and as near to the edge of the carriageway as is reasonably practicable and 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 Council
• where a maximum of two skips are 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
• each skip shall not exceed five metres in length by two metres in width
• each skip or group of skips shall, while on the highway, be marked, guarded and lit in accordance with the following requirements:-

• each skip shall be guarded by at least three traffic cones placed on the carriageway in an oblique line on the approach side of the skip. Where two or more skips are deposited in a row, so that the distance between adjacent skips does not exceed two metres, the row shall be guarded as if it were one skip
• at night (that is to say between half-an-hour after sunset and half-an-hour before sunrise), a road danger 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 two metres and shall also be placed between each cone and the next
• the ends of each skip, that is to say the sides of the skip facing traffic in both directions, shall be painted yellow and shall be fitted with vertical red and yellow fluorescent reflective markings on each end

The markings must comply with British Standard BS AU152:1970 and must be marked with that number.

The markings shall be fitted as near as the construction of the skip allows to the top outer corners of the ends of the skip, subject to an overriding maximum height of 1.5m above the ground for the top of the marking.

The markings must not be fitted to any lid and should only be fitted to a door where there is no alternative location on the end of the skip. Where a marking is fitted to a door, the door should be kept closed, unless loading is actually taking place. The painting and markings shall at all times be kept clean.

• no skip when standing in the highway, shall contain any inflammable, explosive, noxious or dangerous material or any material which is likely to putrefy or which otherwise is, or is likely to become, a nuisance to users of the highway
• no skip shall be used in such a way that any of its contents fall on to the highway, or that there is an escape of dust from the contents of the skip when standing in the highway
• each skip shall be removed for emptying as soon as practicable and in any case not later than two working days after it has been filled
• no skip shall be on the highway outside the period of permission specified
• 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
• no skip shall be positioned less than 15m from a junction unless authorised by an officer of the Council
• the Council reserves the right to specify any other relevant conditions relating to the placement of a skip which will form part of these Regulations
• the company, as a condition of the issue of this permit, must indemnify and insure and keep insured the Council in respect of any claims made in respect of the depositing of skips in the highway
• notwithstanding any evidence of agreement to the contrary, the contractor undertakes that they shall not attempt to assign, sub-let or under-let or otherwise dispose of ownership or title of any skips licensed by the Council unless specifically authorised to do so by the Council in writing    

Your permit will last for a maximum of one week from the date of issue

To apply for a permit - please visit the Licence - Skip Permits page for more details

Skips must not be sited on a footpath. Any complaints about the locations or safety of skips should be reported using the following eform:

• Report illegal and dangerous skips