Important note: Anywhere below where you see a double asterisk** this relates to a point in the applications process whereby fees or costs may increase, but whereby we are still able to give a full refund at this point, for all fees paid so far. If you like, our customer has a right to change their mind and ‘walk away’ with all fees paid up until that point, being returned to them in full.
Bond payments.
Our Fact Sheet here explains bonds in further detail.We will not always know at the quoting stage whether or not a bond will be requested from us, by Highways, and we will never know the exact amount, with this being confirmed later on at the consultation stage between us and Highways, after the Section 50 application has been submitted.
But our initial quote will always make mention of the possibility of a bond.
Quoted depths of public sewers
On all quotes for sewer connections, we will always quote the maximum depth of sewer. This will be the invert level of the sewer. We will ascertain the depth of a public sewer by a variety of means including:
- Information from public records/water authority asset plans
- Information given to us by our customer
- Site survey
A site survey will normally be carried out prior to us starting on site, but even in the event that we do a site survey, we won’t always be able to confirm depth of the sewer by lifting manhole covers etc. Sometimes we won’t be able to lift manhole covers prior to traffic management being on site, sometimes our representative who comes to site won’t be able to lift a manhole cover on his own etc.
In the event that we come to carry out the work and a sewer that we expected to be 2m deep is, for example, 2.2m deep, then the extra dig depth, time involved, extra muck away and extra materials etc, will be charged as extra, with the customer given as much notice as possible.
Existing pipe materials & sizes
We will always assume public sewers to be ‘vitrified clay’ pipes, unless a Water Authority drawing details them to be another material, for example ductile iron, or MDPE etc. In the event that a public sewer pipe is not marked as being a material other than clay, and it turns out to be another type of material, then the extra cost as a result of this, will be chargeable to the customer** Examples include an asbestos pipe, not marked as such on a drawing. We will also assume the pipe size on a Water Authority drawing to be correct. If the size of the pipe is different then the extra cost will be chargeable to the customer. Both the pipe material and size may be confirmed at a site meeting prior to works starting, but this is not always possible. For example, if we have quoted for a junction insertion on a 225mm pipe, and the pipe turns out to be 300mm, the extra cost in this instance for materials alone, is £300
Traffic management type & associated fees
At the time of quoting we will always quote the type of traffic management we expect Highways to require, for example ‘Give & Take’ or ‘2-way traffic lights’ etc. We are unable to take advice from Highways in advance of submission of a Section 50 to Highways, as the fee we pay them as part of the application is for them to engage with us and often to meet us on site etc. As and when Highways require a higher level of traffic management than we have allowed for, these extra costs will be communicated to our customer**
In a few very exceptional cases, Highways will make changes to what they require from us, part way through the works being carried out. Examples include for traffic lights to be upgraded from 2-way to 3-way, or for the traffic lights to be ‘manually-controlled’. To manually control lights can be particularly expensive, and can cost anything from £350-£450/day. Unfortunately, it is quite common for traffic lights to be decided upon as the method of traffic management, but for Highways not to detail ‘manual controlling’ until the actual licence is issued by Highways, and this can sometimes be only days before the works start.
Any such extra costs will always be chargeable to our customer, and of course once on site it is too late for the customer to cancel their order.
Water Authority sign-off
When a sewer connection is completed, this will usually be inspected by the Water Authority (WA) and a ‘sign-off’ of some sort issued, whether it be by email or on their online portal. And of course we repect that our customer will want to see this prior to making final payment to us. Most WAs will require that not only the connection be done and passed before the sign-off is issued, but they will usually require the demarcation chamber to be in as well, and to have been inspected. In most instances we do not fit the demarcation chamber, our customer will normally take care of this. In the event that we do not cover fitting of the demarcation chamber in our quote, and this has not been installed when the WA come to inspect our connection to the public sewer, the job as a whole will not be signed off by the WA, and a second inspection will be required at a later date. Our sewer connection quotes will usually detail ‘payment on completion’, and despite the job not having been signed off by the WA – in the event that our customer has not yet installed the demarcation chamber – these payment terms will still stand and we will still expect payment on completion.
Building Control sign-off
Building Control (BC) will rarely be concerned with the connection onto the public sewer, but will sometimes be concerned with the lateral pipework. In the event that this needs inspecting, it will be our customer’s responsibility to arrange inspection by BC, as the person who appointed BC.
CCTV Surveys
Unless specifically stated in our quotation, a CCTV survey of installed pipework will not have been included.
In some cases, Building Control may request a CCTV survey, and they often request this after the drainage work has been completed. If a CCTV survey is required, then we can quote for this, but we do need to know in advance, please. Alternatively, customers are welcome to arrange their own CCTV survey independently.
Adoption of pipework by water authority
Under a Section 106 connection to the public sewer, the water authority will always adopt the connection onto their sewer. This may be by way of junction insertion, saddle or construction of new manhole. The pipework between the connection and private property (also known as the ‘lateral’) will not normally be adopted, regardless of the fact that it is often in the Highway. Whether the lateral is adopted, or not, is dependent on many factors, including which Water Authority the S106 approval comes from:
Anglian Water will not ordinarily adopt the lateral under a S106 agreement, unless an extra fee is paid. We will always assume our customer does not wish for the lateral to be adopted, unless we are told otherwise*
Severn Trent will normally adopt the first 15 metres from the connection point under a Section 106 agreement*
Thames Water will not normally adopt the lateral under a S106 agreement
*Even in the event that the Water Authority is willing to adopt some or all of the lateral, this will be normally be subject to their main criteria that the pipework is laid without any bends; water authorities tend not to allow bends on their network. As we are laying pipework amongst other services in the Highway, it is quite common that a slow bend may be required on pipework we lay, which will prohibit adoption. In the event that pipework must be adopted, we require clear instruction of this at the start of the quoting stage.
For laterals to be adopted properly, the best way to achieve this is with a Section 102 or a Section 104, these must be completed by our customer, we cannot act as agent and apply for a S102/S104.
