Technical & Development Services Group
www.t-d-s.com
“Provides engineering related and specialised services to the construction industry”
Paul Fleming – Associate Development Director
Tom Greasley – Development Engineer
www.t-d-s.com
Technical & Development Services works closely with Hertfordshire County Council throughout the Highway Adoption
process.
Our Clients in this area include:
We are responsible for Highway Adoptions on a number of sites in Hertfordshire, including:
• Napsbury Hospital, London Colney for
Crest Nicholson
• Hatfield Garden Village, Hatfield for
Taylor Wimpey & Rialto Homes
www.t-d-s.com
• Metropolitan Station Approach,
Watford for Linden Homes
“A developers focus will be on profits from selling houses, not ensuring roads are adopted…”
www.t-d-s.com
• Increased liability
• Maintenance expenditure
• Increased costs of remedial works
• Bond overrun charges / Bond limits
• Bad public relations
This is not always true. An unadopted road can leave the developer with:
Issues Developers have with Hertfordshire County Council’s (HCC) Highway Adoption Process
www.t-d-s.com
• Lack of cohesion between HCC & Mouchel
• Lack of inter-departmental cohesion
• Difficulty to achieve Technical Approval
• Response times
• Multiple inspections & work requests
• Amount of fees charged
• Safety Audits
• Poor reputation amongst developers
Quotes from Developers on Herts Adoptions…
www.t-d-s.com
“It takes far too long to get technical comments, approvals and for the legal
process associated with the S38 Agreements to take place. This, I believe, is
the remit of Mouchel. Because this process takes far too long the developments
are often complete prior to the agreements being completed and we end up with
abortive works and protracted adoption periods.”
“I am not the only one
with gripes, especially
the multiple visits and
their consequences.”
“We constantly get
asked to pay fees
without any evidence of
work being carried out .”
“There seems to
be a lack of trust.”
Lack of cohesion between HCC & Mouchel
www.t-d-s.com
• When a developer submits drawings for Technical Approval, they have
already spent a long time in working with the relevant HCC Guide for Highway
Design.
• The drawings should be checked by HCC, returned to the developer who will
make changes and re-submit for Technical Approval.
• Sometimes the drawings have to be submitted for approval over 5 times,
when more and more changes are found. This often delays the signature of
the Section 38 Agreement.
• Some of these changes contradict what was originally asked by HCC.
• A developer cannot wait for these changes and then constructs the road
without the Section 38 Agreement in place.
Technical Approval
www.t-d-s.com
• When a Developer has Technical Approval, there is an agreed scheme for
both parties to work to.
• Once the road is constructed, there should be inspections by Herts Highways
to check whether the road is correct.
• One of the main frustrations of Developers is when Herts Highways try to
differ from the approval drawings and request additional works.
• A Developer will rarely wish to pay for additional works, even less so if the
Council is going back on an Agreement which the Developer worked so hard
to get.
Issues with Fees
www.t-d-s.com
Most Developers have the view that HCC unfairly asks for increases in fees as
an income generator. A detailed breakdown of the fess is rarely provided when
requested by the developer.
The following items charged to developers are not uncommon:
• Inspecting site when no remedial works have been carried out and when
the developer has not asked for an inspection.
• Fees for completing works the developer has already done, e.g. lining
works.
• Inspection fees for Section 38 Agreements on completed roads being the
same as if the road was not yet constructed.
Lack of inter-departmental cohesion
www.t-d-s.com
• A prime example of this issue is in street lighting.
• Whenever new street lighting is installed on a development, it is inspected by
the Street Lighting Department at HCC.
• This is the last item before adoption.
• Despite the urgency required, inspections can often take over 4 months to be
carried out.
• This time delay means additional remedial works appear, which Herts
Highways expect the developer to pay for.
• The developer is not happy to pay for these works, as they are through no
fault of it’s own.
Multiple Inspections
www.t-d-s.com
• It is often the case in Hertfordshire that multiple inspections of highway works
for adoptions are carried out.
• This is usually due to personnel changes or a change in responsibility for the
scheme.
• A developer will complete remedial works under the premise that the site will
be adopted by Hertfordshire County Council.
• Additional works are then required which leaves the Developer feeling like the
“goalposts are always moving”.
• This can, and often does, leave Hertfordshire with a poor reputation.
Safety Audits
www.t-d-s.com
• Once a site is constructed to the standard of HCC, in accordance with the
Technically Approved drawings and has served it’s maintenance period, it
should be adopted by HCC.
• Often, especially on S.278 Agreements, HCC carries out a Stage 3 Safety
Audit on the highways.
• This creates another delay which slows the momentum of the adoption.
• The Safety Audit usually requests more remedial works to be carried out by
the developer, even though the site has been constructed correctly.
Case Study – Metropolitan Station Approach, Cassiobury, Watford
www.t-d-s.com
• Initial meeting held with Herts Highways to review the adoption on 9th October
2008.
• Inspection held same day. Remedial list of outstanding works agreed.
• Remedial works completed February 2009 and adoption requested.
• TDS informed in April 2009 there is no S.38 Agreement in place.
• Additional street lighting and highway remedial works required.
• Street Lighting Certificates sent to Herts Highways in May 2009.
• TDS constantly chased for Street Lighting Inspection, finally carried out in
November 2009.
Case Study – Metropolitan Station Approach, Cassiobury, Watford
www.t-d-s.com
• Additional remedial works requested in November 2009.
• Herts Highways then requested a cheque for £3,000 to cover fees to cover
additional inspections, checking as-built drawings and preparing the adoption
certificates.
• Linden doesn’t wish to pay additional fees as this was not detailed when the
site was first inspected with Herts Highways back in October 2008.
• Despite this, Linden requested invoice to pay fees in December 2009, which
has still not been received from Herts Highways.
• Currently, the site has not been progressed through no fault of the developer.
How HCC can improve Highway Adoptions…
www.t-d-s.com
• Ensure that the Technical Approval stage is quick and efficient to allow the
developer to start on site with approved drawings.
• Be clear on fees to be charged from the outset of the Agreement.
• Claim all fees at the start of the project – do not allow them to be seen as a
way of income generation.
• Do not try to claim additional fees for minor works.
• Request remedial works only once.
• Ensure a highway or street lighting inspection is carried out 30 days from the
date of the request.
• Take a common sense approach to progress adoptions.