Section 50 street works licence

Under the New Roads and Street Works Act (NRSWA) a Section 50 licence allows a person without a statutory right (a private person or organisation), to place, retain and remove apparatus in the street, and to do work necessary for that purpose.

An apparatus could be a:

drain
fibre optic cable
duct
sewer, water or gas pipe

Section 50 of the NRSWA, and Schedule 3, govern the licence system. The licensee is then effectively acting as a statutory undertaker and is governed by the obligations imposed under NRSWA, the Traffic Management Act (TMA) and other regulations.

Wiltshire Council must keep a record of all street works, and apparatus installed, under licences it has granted. Details of licences must be included in the Street Works Register.

Non-compliance with any requirement of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 may result in severe financial penalties.

No works are permitted to start without the duly authorised licences. Any unauthorised works on the public highway may be subject to consideration for prosecution.

Private apparatus may not be allowed to run longitudinally in the highway. The preferred option is for private apparatus to run through private land by means of Wayleave Agreements with the owners. If this is not possible and the development cannot be facilitated in any other way, then a private apparatus may run longitudinally in the highway where it is deemed necessary to meet a genuine public need and if supported by a surety.

A company or contractor may apply on behalf of the land or property owner, but the licence application must be signed by and will remain in the possession of the land or property owner.

Once the licence is issued to the owner of the apparatus it stays with that property for the duration that it is in the ground, this may form part of the deeds associated with the property or land and as such should be transferred to new owners, you will need to inform us of the change.

If repair work is needed in the future the same licence can be used, you will need to inform us of this and the Statutory Undertaker responses will need to be reapplied for if the 3-month validation has passed.

When you apply you become a 'work undertaker' and must read the Guidance for applicants to understand your responsibilities. As the licence holder, you can be fined if you don't meet the statutory duties imposed by the New Roads and Street Works Act (NRSWA).

Before you apply, you must:

read the Guidance in the Application section below
appoint an accredited contractor to do the work as you'll need to attach a copy of the supervisor and operative's street work qualification card to your application
have a public liability insurance of at least £5 million up to the completion of the works and attach a copy as proof

You will also need to check whether you need to apply for:

portable signals and have traffic signs in place
road closures, which need twelve weeks' notice

You must apply at least four weeks before your proposed start date, but 12 weeks if a road closure is required. We may agree to a shorter period in emergency cases. Contact S50Application@wiltshire.gov.uk if you need more details about emergency applications.

You'll need to supply the following documents along with your completed application form:

a scale plan
a copy of the supervisor's street works qualification card (SWQR)
a copy of the operative's street works qualification card (SWQR)
a copy of contractor's insurance certificate
proof of permission to connect or adoption agreement (if applicable)

S50 Licence Application Form (PDF) [1MB] (opens new window)

S50 Guidance Notes (OpenDocument text format) [727KB] (opens new window)

Portable Traffic Signals Application form (PDF) [263KB] (opens new window)

Road Closure Application Form (PDF) [204KB] (opens new window)

Applications received without the submission of all the required information will not be processed. Your application may require a site meeting with our Technicians to determine the appropriate traffic control, subsequent to this there may be further licences / applications required.

We will contact you for payment after we have received your completed application. We accept payment by debit card, credit card, or BACS. Please note our fees are subject to annual review.

New apparatus - £523 (admin fee £275, capitalised fee £98, inspection fee £150).

Existing apparatus - £425 (admin fee £275, inspection fee £150).

Urgent applications (pre-agreed only) - As for new or existing apparatus plus an additional charge of £142 between 3 and 19 days prior to start date.

Retrospective application - As for new or existing apparatus above plus an additional charge of £112.50.

Application pre-site fee - £50.

Additional inspection fees - £120 per cycle for non-compliant works.

Cash deposit fees (if required) - if a cash deposit is deemed necessary the application has an additional admin fee of £473 and capitalised fee of £147. Please note: inspections and permitting fees will be determined at time of calculation of bond value. Additional deposit charges are calculated using volumes based on TMC rates, with a minimum deposit of £5k

Additional inspection fees will be incurred based on the duration of the works, calculated using working (Monday to Friday) days. Work with a duration of 16 to 30 days will incur an additional £150, work with a duration of more than 30 days will incur an additional £300.

Please note: inspection fees of £150 are included for 1 inspection during the works, 1 inspection within 6 months of works and 1 inspection between 6 and 24 or 36 months of completion.

Wiltshire Council may require a cash deposit as security on Section 50 Licences that are over a certain risk value, we will use the information on the application to calculate the risk value and the amount of a cash deposit and advise you if this is required.