When renovating your home, carrying out a clear-out, or undertaking any kind of construction work, hiring a skip is a great way to dispose of your waste. This way, you can be sure you're managing waste legally and safely, and you won't have bulky waste cluttering up your living space.
However, if you're hiring a skip in Birmingham, it's important to make sure you follow the law. Aside from the potential fines you could face, you'll also want to make sure your waste gets removed as smoothly as possible. In this article, I'll take you through the key legal requirements for hiring a skip in Birmingham so you can confidently manage your waste without any legal problems.
Obtaining a Skip Permit
There is a legal requirement that, if a skip is to be placed on a public road or pavement (eg because there is no room for it on your property, or because you want to minimise disruption to marketing or loading by getting the skip placed as close as possible to the front door), you need to obtain a skip permit.
How to Obtain a Skip Permit
Application for permit: Applying for the permit is mandatory. Apply to the Birmingham City Council for your permit. Their contact details are listed here. or here.
Apply in Advance: Apply well ahead of the date you plan to have the skip delivered to your address. This is due to processing times.
Period of Permit: Permits are issued for a particular time period, usually one, two, three or four weeks. You will need to apply for a renewal before the permit issued to you expires if you need the skip for a longer period of time.
Skip Placement and Safety
It is important that you hire a skip in the right place and that you place it correctly, ensuring all safety measures are followed. Skip location must be approved by local authorities, otherwise you may be asked to move your discarded materials according to city laws.
Placement Guidelines
Not to Obstruct: Skips should not be positioned to obstruct any access point or driveway, including fire escapes or hydrants. They should be placed in a way that causes minimal interference with pedestrians and road traffic.
Visibility: Public road skips should have proper visibility so that they don’t cause accidents. The usage of reflective speed breakers, lights and traffic cones on the skip should make it easily visible, especially at night.
Safety Considerations
1. Waste: Make sure to load the waste evenly. Never overfill the skip as it could spill over and endanger people walking or driving past. Overfilled skips may incur fines. Skip Calculator: 2.04 Cubic Yard When DIYing, having too much waste is a common problem. To save time and money, it is a good idea to measure how much waste you have and hire a skip that is the perfect size for your project.
Items Not Allowed: Some items are not allowed to go into a skip such as asbestos, TVs, fridge-freezers, batteries, fluorescent tubes, clinical and medical waste, tyres and paint. Check individually with your skip hire company to get their full list of what is not allowed.
Environmental Regulations
There are various regulations in Birmingham so that the environmental problem is solved by the appropriate recyling of waste, these are requirements that companies that supply a skip must adhere to.
Waste Disposal
Licenced Waste Carriers: Make sure your skip hire company is registered as a licenced waste carrier to guarantee that your rubbish is disposed of legally and in accordance with the law.
Recycling and disposal: Find out from your skip hire firm how they deploy their recycling methods. Reputable firms will require you to separate certain products (timber, brick/concrete, soil) from the mixed waste in order to reduce the impact on the environment.
Fines and Penalties
Violating skip hire rules and regulations can lead to heavy fines and penalties. It is therefore important to follow all the rules to avoid extra expenses.
Common Violations
Ban: Loading is prohibited on a Tuesday.Fine: You need a permit to put a skip on a public highway, and if you don’t get one you can be fined by Birmingham City Council.
Obstruction: Improper placement that causes obstruction can result in penalties.
Overfilled Skips: Failure to pare down your rubbish will only result in you being fined by the skip hire company or the local authorities.
It is obvious that things are more complicated than they might appear at first glance when it comes to the legal responsibilities of taking a skip in Birmingham. Figuring out permits, skip placement, environmental rules, and common violations are some of the things that are necessary to do when it comes to dealing with this process. Fortunately, there are clear rules that can help you to ensure that you are doing things in a responsible way and in accordance with the law. Ultimately, choosing a licensed skip hire company will guarantee that you are doing things in the right way.