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Gas, electricity, telecommunication and water supply companies are allowed to carry out work in the road without getting permission from the Council.

These companies are also known as 'Statutory Undertakers'.

If you are not a gas, electricity, telecommunication or water supply company you must get permission from Â鶹ÊÓƵ before carrying out excavations on the highway.

The type of consent you need will depend on the nature and impact of the work you want to carry out.

The need for consent is mainly determined under the .

The full Code of Practice should be consulted. 

Below is an extract of the Code of Practice referring to included and excluded works:

Work promoters (gas, electricity, telecommunication and water supply companies) must register, or notice, all works that:

1. involve the breaking up or resurfacing of any street
2. involve opening the carriageway or cycle of traffic-sensitive street at traffic-sensitive times
3. require any form of temporary traffic control as defined in the Code of Practice for Safety at Street Works and Road Works
4. reduce the lanes available on a carriageway of three or more lanes
5. require a temporary traffic regulation order or notice, or the suspension of pedestrian facilities

Work promoters do no need to register the following works in advance.

However, where reinstatement is carried out it must be registered within 10 days of completion.

• traffic census surveys - because disclosure prior to a census can encourage a change in normal traffic flows
• pole testing involving excavation - does not require registration in advance, unless one or more of rules 2-6 above, apply
• core holes - not exceeding 150mm in diameter do not require registration in advance, unless one or more of rules 2-6 above apply
• road markings - that are not part of a larger set of works and do not reduce the width of the carriageway, as they do not involve breaking up of the highway