Had Drop Kerb done without planning permission

MeadowsVale

Section62 said:

MeadowsVale said:

Albermarle said:

A family member was buying a house, where the dropped kerb was obviously 'home made' .
Whilst conveyancing was ongoing, the council decided to relay the pavements/kerbs ( just part of an ongoing upgrade of local roads/pavements)
The supervisor had full records of who had permission for a dropped kerb, and a full kerb was reinstated at the property. Apparently you can not apply for a dropped kerb until at least two years after any such refurbishment.
So the house now has an inaccessible driveway.

There is nothing to say my kerb was obviously home made as it was installed by very competent ground workers who did my whole drive. Only thing missing was the council permit.  

If they really were 'very competent' they wouldn't have done the work without the highway authority's consent.  Competent contractors know why they need to have consent to work in the highway and wouldn't take the risk of doing anything unlawful.

For example, a competent contractor would contact all utilities and infrastructure providers to check for buried equipment before excavating in a road/footway.  Then carry out on-site checks before and during digging.  Did your contractors do any of this?  Possibly not, as the highway authority itself is one of the infrastructure providers who should be asked about what they've got lurking below the surface.  If a permitting system is in place in your area then the permit number/system is how information about plant (and other works) would be shared between parties.  No permit = probably no idea what might be there.

Ground workers can do a job which looks very nice on the surface, but that doesn't mean they are competent.

You've done what you've done, and that was your choice.  The important point here is people don't go away thinking that was a good moneysaving way of doing things.  You can end up with a big bill for the highway authority to put things back in order, and your ownership of the freehold land offers zero protection against that risk.

There is nothing under the pavement utility wise.

Section62

MeadowsVale said:

Section62 said:

MeadowsVale said:

Albermarle said:

A family member was buying a house, where the dropped kerb was obviously 'home made' .
Whilst conveyancing was ongoing, the council decided to relay the pavements/kerbs ( just part of an ongoing upgrade of local roads/pavements)
The supervisor had full records of who had permission for a dropped kerb, and a full kerb was reinstated at the property. Apparently you can not apply for a dropped kerb until at least two years after any such refurbishment.
So the house now has an inaccessible driveway.

There is nothing to say my kerb was obviously home made as it was installed by very competent ground workers who did my whole drive. Only thing missing was the council permit.  

If they really were 'very competent' they wouldn't have done the work without the highway authority's consent.  Competent contractors know why they need to have consent to work in the highway and wouldn't take the risk of doing anything unlawful.

For example, a competent contractor would contact all utilities and infrastructure providers to check for buried equipment before excavating in a road/footway.  Then carry out on-site checks before and during digging.  Did your contractors do any of this?  Possibly not, as the highway authority itself is one of the infrastructure providers who should be asked about what they've got lurking below the surface.  If a permitting system is in place in your area then the permit number/system is how information about plant (and other works) would be shared between parties.  No permit = probably no idea what might be there.

Ground workers can do a job which looks very nice on the surface, but that doesn't mean they are competent.

You've done what you've done, and that was your choice.  The important point here is people don't go away thinking that was a good moneysaving way of doing things.  You can end up with a big bill for the highway authority to put things back in order, and your ownership of the freehold land offers zero protection against that risk.

There is nothing under the pavement utility wise.

If I had a quid for every time someone has said that, just before finding something they weren't expecting, I'd have retired at 30.

The point was that going off-piste and digging holes in the highway without following the correct process puts people and equipment at risk.  Guess wrong and you can land yourself with a repair bill of 5 or 6 figures.  Or on the wrong end of a conviction for a HSWA offence, even manslaughter.  A competent contractor simply doesn't do that these days.

Nobody who lacks x-ray vision will know exactly what is under the surface, or 10mm deeper than the hole they have already dug.  But following the correct notification and coordination processes is necessary to help minimise the risk.  It is also a non-negotiable legal requirement if doing work on a highway.

Eldi_Dos

MeadowsVale said:

Section62 said:

MeadowsVale said:

Albermarle said:

A family member was buying a house, where the dropped kerb was obviously 'home made' .
Whilst conveyancing was ongoing, the council decided to relay the pavements/kerbs ( just part of an ongoing upgrade of local roads/pavements)
The supervisor had full records of who had permission for a dropped kerb, and a full kerb was reinstated at the property. Apparently you can not apply for a dropped kerb until at least two years after any such refurbishment.
So the house now has an inaccessible driveway.

There is nothing to say my kerb was obviously home made as it was installed by very competent ground workers who did my whole drive. Only thing missing was the council permit.  

If they really were 'very competent' they wouldn't have done the work without the highway authority's consent.  Competent contractors know why they need to have consent to work in the highway and wouldn't take the risk of doing anything unlawful.

For example, a competent contractor would contact all utilities and infrastructure providers to check for buried equipment before excavating in a road/footway.  Then carry out on-site checks before and during digging.  Did your contractors do any of this?  Possibly not, as the highway authority itself is one of the infrastructure providers who should be asked about what they've got lurking below the surface.  If a permitting system is in place in your area then the permit number/system is how information about plant (and other works) would be shared between parties.  No permit = probably no idea what might be there.

Ground workers can do a job which looks very nice on the surface, but that doesn't mean they are competent.

You've done what you've done, and that was your choice.  The important point here is people don't go away thinking that was a good moneysaving way of doing things.  You can end up with a big bill for the highway authority to put things back in order, and your ownership of the freehold land offers zero protection against that risk.

There is nothing under the pavement utility wise.

That would be very unusual in a urban setting, the most affluent and the most deprived areas in the country will all have plenty of services underground.

Even eco villages will be the same, one famous one up here was just like every where else when we worked through it.