For lots of people, parking outside their own house can be both a reason for stress and come at a financial cost if you need to buy a resident’s permit.
In certain urban regions, it can still be difficult to find a place to leave your car close to home.
A dropped kerb is a legal requirement if you want to drive over the pavement onto your residential or commercial property.
Any entry onto a public highway from a domestic or commercial driveway area should have a dropped kerb.
A dropped kerb permits vehicles to cross the pavement from the road to a driveway and it is a legal requirement to have a dropped kerb if you want to drive across the pavement onto your property.
Putting in a dropped kerb can make a significant improvement to easy access your property along with helping to make sure people do not park across your driveway.
The law pertaining to dropped kerbs states: If you plan to drive a vehicle over the footway into your driveway off a highway, then you will need a dropped kerb.
If you do not have dropped kerb, you must not drive over the footway. If you do this, you are breaking the law and enforcement action may be taken to prevent such practice.
The pavement may require to be reinforced in front of the building, and sometimes, it may be essential for lampposts, manhole covers and various other street furniture to be relocated.
Drop Kerb Specialists in Southwell
Dropped kerbs also referred to as vehicle access crossovers, are an alteration to the footpath. It involves lowering the kerb and preparing new foundations to the paving to enable a car to be driven onto the front area of a property.
The work involves lowering the kerbstones and strengthening the pavement to create a ramp, and must solely be performed by an authorised company with Street Works Accreditation, and who have the required Public Liability insurance to comply with the local authorities requirements.
Vehicle access cross overs consist normally of 3 or 4 dropped kerbs with a tapered or transition kerb on either side. The conventional maximum total width at road level of dropped kerbs for a VAC is 3.6 metres (i.e. normally 4 dropped kerbs).
We have many years experience in putting in drop kerbs and making an application for the relevant planning permission. We can work in partnership with your local county council to install a dropped kerb whilst complying with all essential regulations.
You can either apply to your local council for approval for a dropped kerb outside your building or we can apply to your local authority in your place.
We are members of the Streetworks Qualifications Register (SWQR). The SWQR holds information of qualified operators who have gained the proper qualifications in relation to the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, which is necessary for any contractor excavating a highway.
We focus on delivering a service that gets it correct the first time. By investing in high quality materials, equipment and processes, we make sure that we deliver lasting and affordable solutions that will last.
We pride ourselves on our exceptional workmanship and client care and we make sure that every job is performed to the finest quality standards.
Our team can check out your site to perform a free no-obligation survey. This allows our surfacing contractors to completely understand your needs and offer an accurate and competitive quote.
Local Kerb Dropping Contractors
The massive growth in demand for off-street parking has seen a growing number of people drop kerbs to establish car standing at the front of their properties.
Research by home insurer Direct Line shows that off-street parking is regarded by estate agents as a desirable feature which adds value to a property. This, coupled with increasing parking limitations in lots of residential areas, has brought about planning applications for dropped kerbs increase massively over recent years.
However while putting in car standing space to the front of your home may well add value to your property, there are many things to think about, not least environmental consequences, and flooding is a big issue.
When you replace a front garden with hard standing, rain can no longer absorb into the ground. As more and more households take this action, the collective effect severely increases the threat of flooding, so it’s essential to incorporate drainage in your plans.
Planning permission is generally required if you wish to drop the kerb outside your building to allow a car to cross the pavement. This is due to the fact that the pavement may need to be reinforced to take the weight of motor vehicles and help prevent them from damaging the surface or any pipes or cables underneath. It is in addition to ensure the new access will not be a safety hazard to other highway users.
You can learn if you need planning permission by getting in touch with your local council (you can find the relevant council at the government website). How much it costs to apply will depend upon your location.
If permission is given, you then you need to find a local professional to perform the work for you.
It’s definitely not a DIY job as the council will have requirements that contractors must meet. Several will only allow you to use their endorsed contractors, while others make it possible for you to use your own, provided that they are accredited to the requirements of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, and carry public liability insurance. In this case, there may be an additional charge for highway inspections by the council.
Southwell Vehicle Crossover Experts
However first it’s worth verifying if permission is likely to be granted. Below is a list of points to consider. If any among these criteria is not really met, planning permission is probably to be rejected:
- Your front garden must be big enough for you to park your vehicle completely on your property.
- The kerb must be at least 4.8 m from the front of your house; or 6m if the parking area is in front of a door or garage.
- The parking area must be at least 2.4 m wide.
- The proposed access to your property must be more than 10m away from a road junction; 15m away from busy junctions or on primary roads.
- It must be at least 1.5 m away from street lights and various other street furniture.
- It must meet visibility standards; this is dependent on the type of road.
- Appropriate drainage must be provided to remove the excess surface water.
The extraction of tree roots must be avoided. - The incline from your property to the road must not be too steep.
- Finally, you as the property owner must agree to the kerb being dropped; as an example, a renter can not apply on their landlord’s behalf.