Early contractor involvement can save you thousands on your development project

Since April 2010, changes to Waste Regulations now require Developers / Land Owners to apply for an environmental permit if they need to receive soils or top soil from other construction sites in the UK.

Prior to the change, a "paragragh 19 waste management exemption" would normally have been applied for.  This process was relatively quick and cost effective, with an exemption usually being obtained within a month.

However, this process has now been replaced with a "U1 exemption" which requires the submission of a waste recovery plan and is limited to 5,000 tones for typical soils.

For volumes greater than this, you are required to apply for an "environmental permit" which requires the following:

• Potential pre-application discussion
• A suitably technically qualified person (EPOC)
• Detailed supporting documents
• A cheque for £1900 (per annum)

In addition to this, the process is now taking in excess of 3 months!!!

There is another way...

In September 2008, Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments (CL:AIRE) published the Definition of Waste: Development Industry Code of Practice.  This document sets out good practice in dealing with excavated materials and their re-use.

Through early contractor involvement, industry expertise, knowledge and experience and the use of a well thought through Material Management Plan (MMP), McAuliffe can use the code of practice to help manage your waste more cost effectively.

This could not only save you thousands toward the cost of an environmental permit, it also promotes pro-active and sustainable benefits to your development before you start on site by:

• A detailed assessment of the development and existing levels (cut and fill) to determine a suplus or shortfall
• Allowing you to quantify volumes of re-usuable aggregates from existing structures (SWMP requirement)
• Allowing you to quantify volumes of clean cover / top soil from site to be imported
• Allowing you to quantify volumes of soils to be treated and re-used on site
• Improving your environmental credentials by reducing off site disposal at landfills
• Allowing you to incorporate other sites you may have with disposal or shortfall requirements

Early contractor involvement is the key to its success as the initial declaration should be submitted prior to starting on-site which then allows other sites, reffered to as Donor Sites, to be added.

Our one stop shop approach, including removal of the waste as well as completing all the necessary paperwork required for a CL:AIRE declaration on your behalf with our in-house qualified people, removes the complexities and misunderstanding of this whole process.

To discuss your development requirements, get in touch today or upload your project via our website and see if we can save you £'000s.

Download a full copy of the CL:AIRE guidance:

Definitions of Waste: Development Industry Code of Practice