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RAMS for Council Highway Licences

Skip, cherry picker, mobile crane or materials going on the road or pavement? If the council wants a method statement before it will grant the licence, we write it. Project-specific, remote, for any UK council. From £120.

🛣️ Highway licences 📍 Any UK council 💷 From £120

Anything placed on the public highway, even for a day, usually needs the council's permission. More and more councils ask for a risk assessment and method statement before they'll issue it.

Licences we write RAMS for

  • MEWPs, cherry pickers and access platforms on the road or footway, e.g. for signage, gutters, roofing or tree work
  • Mobile cranes and lorry-mounted cranes, e.g. for lifting steel, HVAC units, roof trusses or hot tubs
  • Builders' skips on the highway (Highways Act 1980, s.139)
  • Building materials or excavations left in the street (s.171)
  • Temporary obstructions such as welfare units, containers or barriers
  • Hoardings and scaffolding, which have their own pages: hoarding licence RAMS and scaffold licence RAMS

What the council wants to see

  • Exactly where the equipment sits, and the footway and carriageway space left
  • How pedestrians and traffic are kept away, with barriers, signs, cones and banksmen
  • The lift or work sequence from set-up to clearing the highway
  • Ground conditions, outriggers and overhead hazards such as cables and trees
  • Who is competent to operate (e.g. IPAF, CPCS, NPORS) and supervise
  • Working hours, lighting and what happens if something goes wrong

How it works

  1. Send photos of the location and the council's licence form or email.
  2. Tell us the equipment, the operator and the date and time window.
  3. Receive a signed, submission-ready PDF, usually within 72 hours. Same-day is available for urgent jobs.
  4. Submit it with your application. One revision round is included.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a council licence for a cherry picker or MEWP on the road?
Often, yes. Many councils require a licence or permit before a MEWP, cherry picker or mobile crane is set up on the highway, and many ask for a RAMS with it. Check your council's highways pages, because rules and names vary.
Is a lift plan the same as a RAMS?
No. A crane lift plan is prepared by the crane hire company's appointed person. The RAMS covers the wider job: the public, traffic management, sequence and emergencies. Councils often ask for both.
Can you write RAMS for any council?
Yes. We work remotely from photos, plans and your answers, so we can support applications anywhere in the UK.
How much does it cost?
From £120 for a single activity at a single location, with a fixed quote before we start.
Please note: licence types, names and requirements differ between councils, and the decision rests with the highway authority. AB SiteSafe prepares the RAMS. It doesn't apply for licences, provide traffic management or produce crane lift plans.

Need Highway Licence RAMS?

Tell us what's going on the highway, and we'll quote the same day.

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