Temporary structures

 A temporary structure licence is needed to place a temporary structure on or over a street.  

A temporary structure is:

  • Scaffolding
  • Hoarding
  • Building materials, Portaloo or container
  • A crane or cherry picker on the public highway
  • A crane on a private site that will extend over a public road. 

Renew or apply for a temporary structure licence

Costs

The administration and inspection fee covers the time taken to process an application, and to inspect the site before and after the structure is put up. We also carry out monthly inspections. This means the fee varies depending on how long the structure is on site.

An application for one month costs £200 and each month after that will cost £50. 

You can apply for any length of time in months. There is no maximum time set, so you can  apply for longer than two years, if needed. To help you work out how much you need to pay, we have given some examples below.

Time structure will be on site

Fee for site inspections and administration

Up to 1 month

£207.50

2 months

£257.50

3 months

307.50

6 months

£457.50

1 year

£757.50

1 and 4 months

£957.50

2 years

£1,357.50

The deposit is based on the area of the street affected by the structure in square metres, at a cost of £40 per square metre. The area is worked out by multiplying the length by the width. We will refund your deposit if a licence is not given after a site inspection.

Temporarily closing a road or pavement

Cranes, scaffolds and hoardings may need a temporary road or pavement closure. To do this, apply for a temporary traffic order or if you need more information email nmtcustomerenquiries@ealing.gov.uk

We generally do not allow hoarding to cover the whole pavement, and usually need a minimum width of 1.2 metres for pedestrians to pass.

Parking suspensions

If you need to suspend parking, find out how to apply for this on the parking suspensions page.

Red routes

If you want to apply for a temporary structure licence on a red route, you will need to get permission from Transport for London (TfL) before we can approve the application.  

Displaying your licence

If we approve your application and issue you with a licence, you must clearly display it while the structure is on the street. The licence will need to be protected by being laminated or framed.

How long the licence is for

The licence is valid for the time stated. If you need to extend the licence, you must renew it at least seven working days before the end of the first licence. You will also need to pay for a renewal.

Deposit refunds

We will refund your deposit if:

  • If we cannot give you a licence for any reason 
  • When the work has finished and we have seen that there is no damage to the street.

The refund will be paid to the card used to make the original payment.  If there is any damage, we will take away the cost of repairing these from your deposit.

Request a deposit refund   

Renew or apply for a temporary structure licence