If you wish to place a portable toilet on any part of the public highway (public road) in Hammersmith & Fulham, you must apply to us for a licence.
To ensure compliance with licence conditions, we only accept applications from building contractors. Residents cannot apply.
You may not place a portable toilet on any part of the footpath or a pedestrianised area.
You must apply for your portable toilet licence online. Please allow five working days for your application to be processed.
The minimum period for a portable toilet licence is 14 days.
You should always apply for a licence for the full duration of time that you will occupy highway. If you find you need it beyond this time, you will need to renew your licence at least 5 working days before the original licence expires. You will also need to renew any parking suspensions at least 5 working days before the date required.
Renewal of a licence is not automatic and depends on several factors including other planned works in the area, planned events in the borough and compliance with the original licence. Failure to meet the terms and conditions of your licence may result with it being revoked or a renewal application being refused. A revoked licence means you must immediately remove your portable toilet from the highway.
You do not need a licence to place a portable toilet on private land. However, you must take due care if using the highway to load or unload. If you need to cross a footway to gain access to private land, you must construct a temporary crossing on the footway to protect it and deploy a banksman with relevant traffic management in place.
If you need any advice please email the licensing and enforcement officer at highways_licensing2@lbhf.gov.uk or call us on 020 8753 4807 or 020 8753 3447.
How much does it cost?
A portable toilet licence fee is £110 per fortnight (14 days). There is no maximum fee applicable to this licence. If the licence expires before it is renewed, you will need to make a new application.
Licence fees are non-refundable unless the address is unsuitable and no alternative location can be agreed on.
Licence fees are paid for at the time of application by debit or credit card.
Parking suspensions
You must have a valid parking suspension in place before you place your portable toilet in a parking bay. It is an offence to place your portable toilet on the public highway in a parking bay which is not suspended for this purpose.
Please apply online for your parking suspension before your licence application at parking suspensions. You will need your parking bay suspension reference number for your licence application.
For lift and load operations, additional parking bay suspensions may be required and may be booked as required.
If there is no parking bay outside the address where you want to position your portable toilet, please email highways_licensing2@lbhf.gov.uk for advice on a suitable location. Please address your email to the licensing and enforcement officer.
Apply online via My Account
The link above will take you to My Account where you need to sign in (or create an account if you do not already have one) to then proceed to apply for a highways licence.
As part of the application the applicant for a licence must complete the declaration confirming that public liability insurance is in place at the time of the application, that public liability insurance will be in place for the duration of the highway licence period and provide evidence of their public liability insurance to a minimum value of £5 million as part of the application process.
Display of your licence
You must display a laminated copy of your current licence on the portable toilet cubicle where it stands on the highway at all times. Your licence must be visible to anyone using the public highway. If you do not display a valid licence you may be issued a fixed penalty notice (fine).
Your licence will be issued as an email with your company name, the address where the portable toilet will be sited, licence number and validity dates. If you have not received this before you are due to occupy the highway, contact a member of the licence team on the numbers provided above.
You must not place anything on our highway until you have received your licence.
Conditions of use
The licensee is entirely responsible for the portable toilet for the full duration of the time it is on the highway and must adhere to the following terms and conditions.
Failure to adhere to these terms and conditions may lead to enforcement action including fixed penalty notices (fines) or prosecution. If any of the safety requirements of this licence are not complied with, measures may be taken to mark, guard, light or remove the items and to clean or repair the highway. The licensee will be liable for all the costs incurred. The council operates a zero-tolerance policy for all safety issues.
When your portable toilet licence expires, you are required to remove your licensed highway item. A reminder email is sent to all licence holders advising that a licence is about to expire. Where a licence is required to continue, it is the licensee’s responsibility to renew it before its expiry date. If a licensee fails to do this, then an application must be made for a new licence.
When you apply for your highway licence, you must ensure that you provide your trading address or project office address where official correspondence can be sent and read by the licence holder. Your trading address or project office address may be different from your work site address, so please ensure that you provide the correct address for us to contact you. Failure to provide the correct contact address may cause your licence application to be refused or an existing licence revoked.
You must include a responsible manager’s contact phone number for both landline and mobile numbers, plus an email address.
If there is a change in the person responsible as named licence holder, then the council’s highway licence team must be advised of the replacement person’s name, contact phone numbers and email address.
Expired highway licences must be removed from site and replaced with a current licence as appropriate. It is confusing for the public and council inspectors if several licences, current and expired, are all displayed at the same time at the same location. Parking suspensions must be renewed where applicable.
Highway licences are not transferable between existing and replacement contractors. If a new contractor takes over responsibility for items on the public highway, the replacement contractor must apply for a new licence.
Any planned excavations in the highway must be approved by this council before digging works commence. A separate licence is required to authorise any such excavation of the highway so please contact the licensing team for further information on how to obtain the appropriate licence. Undertaking an excavation without the appropriate licence may lead to a prosecution.
If the public highway is damaged either by any licensed items placed upon it or the actions of any contractors working for the licensee, the costs incurred by the council to carry out repairs are to be paid by the licensee. This would include any repair costs or officer time fees in excess of any damage deposit required as part of a licence application.
Further to any planning consultation agreement, it is the licensee’s responsibility to consult local residents, businesses and other stakeholders where highway licensed items may impact on them. The council’s Licencing Team may advise on the specific local area to be consulted.
Highway licences may be revoked if planning consent violations occur which have a negative impact on the public highway. A revoked licence means you must immediately remove from the highway the item specified in this licence.
Terms and conditions
1. A laminated copy of the portable toilet licence (or subsequent renewal) shall be displayed prominently on site so that it can be seen safely by the public whilst the portable toilet is in place.
2. The portable toilet shall not be left on the public highway unlicensed.
3. All traffic and pedestrian management is to be set up in accordance with the Safety at Street Works and Road Works Code of Practice unless otherwise directed by a condition of the licence.
4. The portable toilet cubicle must not be sited within 20 metres of a:
(a) Road junction
(b) Bus stop stand or terminal
(c) Traffic signals (temporary or permanent)
(d) Pedestrian crossing
(e) School, hospital or works entrances and exits
5. The portable toilet cubicle shall not exceed the agreed dimensions and will be placed in the agreed location on the licence.
6. If placed in a parking bay the portable toilet cubicle should not exceed the width of the parking bay. Where portable toilet cubicles are to be sited in a designated parking bay, the suspension of that parking bay/space is to be arranged by the applicant with the parking control department.
7. The portable toilet cubicle must not be placed on yellow parking restriction lines (single or double).
8. The portable toilet cubicle should be in good condition and have the owners name and contact number clearly visible.
9. The portable toilet cubicle must be lit externally during the hours of darkness.
10. The portable toilet cubicle must not prevent access to statutory undertakers’ equipment or apparatus. Any disturbance or damage to utility plant will be the responsibility of the licensee.
11. The portable toilet cubicle must not be dragged or pushed along the highway or any way that would cause damage to the highway.
12. The portable toilet cubicle must be removed immediately if requested by the licence team to carry out works on the highway, whether emergency or planned maintenance or for an event on the highway.
13. Doors must not open onto footways or the centre of carriageways.
14. The licence granted will be exercised in such a manner as not to cause a nuisance, disturbance or danger to the occupiers of adjoining properties or the users of the highway.
15. The cost of repairing any damage including cleaning or removing any stains on the highway caused by the licence activities will be recovered from the licensee.
16. The highway will at all times be kept in a neat and tidy condition and free from obstructions.
17. Any form of pedestrian or traffic management needed must be in accordance with the Safety at Street and Road Works Code of Practice and agreed with a council officer.
18. The licensee must comply with any reasonable direction or instruction given by the highways licensing team
19. The signatory of the application is the person accepting responsibility for the compliance of all conditions and regulations associated with portable toilets on the highway