Before you dig

Find the buried services first

HSE's guidance on underground services sets out three parts to safe digging: plan the work, locate and identify buried services, then dig safely. LinesearchbeforeUdig (LSBUD) is free for anyone to register and use; members often reply within minutes, but some take up to 10 days. It only answers for its members, and LSBUD says it is your responsibility to find and contact every other owner of pipes and cables in the area. The government's National Underground Asset Register is currently for utility providers and their contractors.¹²³⁴

Gas, water and electricity owners here

Gas: Wales & West Utilities covers Wales and the South West of England and runs its own Dial before you dig service. It asks for contact at least 10 working days before work starts, and its plans are free. Water: Wessex Water serves Somerset and most of Wiltshire; Bristol Water supplies North Somerset and parts of Bath and North East Somerset. Electricity: National Grid Electricity Distribution sends its cable plans through LSBUD and says not every owner is on LSBUD, so ask the others directly. We haven't confirmed which electricity network serves each council area, so check yours on LSBUD.⁵⁶⁷⁸³

Paving a front garden

For a house in England, the Planning Portal says you don't need planning permission for a permeable surface (such as gravel, permeable block paving or porous asphalt) or where rainwater runs to a lawn or border. Covering more than 5 square metres with a traditional impermeable surface that doesn't drain to a permeable area needs permission. These allowances are for houses, not flats or maisonettes, and an Article 4 direction can remove them.⁹¹⁰

Dropped kerb (vehicle crossing)

Driving over the pavement or verge to your drive needs a vehicle crossing, which the highway authority controls under section 184 of the Highways Act 1980. In all four councils whose pages we could read, the work has to be done by an approved or accredited contractor, not by you.¹¹

• Wiltshire: Wiltshire Council's website blocked our checks, so we can't tell you its fee or process. Find its dropped kerb page through GOV.UK.¹²
• Swindon: You need a licence and a contractor from the council's approved list. The licence fee is £203 for homes (£304 for commercial). You'll need planning permission if, for example, the property is divided into flats or the crossing is on an A, B or C class road.¹³
• Somerset: The fee is £388.30, non-refundable, and the permit is valid for 3 months. Work must be done by a contractor accredited to work on the highway. Planning permission is needed if the access is onto an A, B or C classified road, or the property is a flat or maisonette.¹⁴
• Bath and North East Somerset: The administration fee is £205.26 and a licence is valid for 12 months. You must use one of the council's accredited and insured companies. The dropped kerb should be 10 metres from junctions, signals or roundabouts (15 metres on classified roads), and in some cases you'll need planning permission first.¹⁵
• North Somerset: Dropped kerbs can only be installed by a New Roads and Street Works Act accredited contractor. The council asks you to read its dropped kerb policy before applying.¹⁶

Building regulations

GOV.UK says you must check whether you need building regulations approval before you put up or change a building, and you may need approval from a building control body. Footings for an extension or a new home are part of that work.¹⁷

Digging near a neighbour's building

HSE lists undermining nearby structures as a key risk of excavation. Under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, if you dig within 3 metres of a neighbour's building and below the bottom of its foundations (or within 6 metres, in some cases), you must serve notice on them at least one month before you start. GOV.UK explains the notices and what happens if you can't agree.¹⁸¹⁹²⁰

Ponds and changing ground levels

Planning permission is needed for development, and government guidance lists engineering operations such as groundworks as development. Whether your pond or level change needs permission is the council's call: ask its planning team before you dig.²¹

Ditches, streams and land drains

Work on or near a main river may need a flood risk activity permit from the Environment Agency, including activity within 8 metres of the bank (16 metres on a tidal river). For other watercourses, such as ditches and streams, the Environment Agency says to check with your council (the lead local flood authority) or the internal drainage board whether you need land drainage consent. Owners must let water flow naturally.²²²³

• Somerset: Somerset Council consents work on ordinary watercourses outside internal drainage board areas, at £50 per structure, and decides within two months. Inside a drainage board area you apply to the board.²⁴

Self-build registers

Councils keep registers of people looking for a plot to build their own home. Somerset Council says joining doesn’t guarantee a plot will be found.²⁵²⁶

• Somerset: Somerset Council keeps a self-build and custom housebuilding register.²⁶
• Swindon: Swindon's register costs £111.35 including VAT to join.²⁵

Hedges

To remove a countryside hedgerow you must give the council written notice, and it has 42 days to respond. A hedge in or around a private garden isn't covered. On or next to farmland, hedges covered by the rules must not be cut or trimmed from 1 March to 31 August.²⁷²⁸

Nesting birds

All wild birds, their eggs and nests are protected. It's an offence to intentionally damage or destroy a nest while it's in use or being built, with an unlimited fine and up to 6 months in prison for each offence. GOV.UK says the main nesting season runs from 1 March to 31 August.²⁹²⁷

Protected trees

To cut down, top, lop or uproot a tree with a Tree Preservation Order you must first apply to the council for consent, unless an exception applies. In a conservation area you must give the council 6 weeks' notice before most work on trees.³⁰

Who drives the machine

HSE says excavator drivers should be trained, competent and authorised to operate the specific machine, and dumpers should be driven by trained and competent operators. Ask the yard what it expects before you hire a machine to drive yourself.³¹³²

Trenches and holes can collapse

HSE says no ground can be relied on to stand unsupported in all circumstances, and a cubic metre of soil can weigh over 1.5 tonnes. Decide what temporary support you need before you dig. Don't park plant or vehicles close to the sides: the extra load makes collapse more likely. Spoil heaps can fall back in, and edges where people could fall need barriers.¹⁸

Dumpers overturn

HSE says over 60% of dumper deaths involve the driver being crushed when the dumper overturns. Check the dumper has roll-over protection and wear the seatbelt, don’t load above the top edge of the dumper’s skip, and put wheel stops at a safe distance from the edge of any trench or pit you tip into.³²

Work on your own home

Under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, someone having work done on their own home is a domestic client. HSE says the client duties normally pass to the contractor on a single-contractor job, or to the principal contractor where there is more than one.³³

A skip on the road

A builders’ skip must not be put on the highway (the road or pavement) without the highway authority’s permission, under section 139 of the Highways Act 1980. In every council whose page we could read, the skip firm or contractor applies, not the householder.³⁴

• Wiltshire: Wiltshire Council's website blocked our checks, so we can't tell you its fee or process. Find its skip licence page through GOV.UK.¹²
• Swindon: The skip hire company applies. A licence costs £95, lasts 21 days and needs at least five working days to process.³⁵
• Somerset: Only the appointed contractor can apply. The licence costs £109, lasts 28 days, and needs at least 10 working days' notice.³⁶
• Bath and North East Somerset: Only a supplier or contractor can apply; homeowners can apply only together with them. Urgent applications take 2 days, others up to 5.³⁷
• North Somerset: The company providing the skip applies, at least five working days before it's needed. Permits run from one day to 28 days.³⁸

Where the spoil goes

If someone takes your soil or rubble away, you can check they're a registered waste carrier on the Environment Agency's public register. Soil containing invasive plants such as Japanese knotweed may count as controlled waste and must go through a registered waste carrier.³⁹⁴⁰