Photographic highway condition survey

If you have received planning permission for your development, you may need to do a photographic highway condition survey as part of a pre-commencement condition for your planning approval.

It involves taking photo(s) to show existing damages or defects on the public road within 20 metres of your site's entrance points before starting work. This public road can include:

• footpaths
• cycle ways
• pedestrian areas
• verges (roadside grass).

The survey is necessary to document any current issues with the footpaths or roads. If construction leads to any damage not noted in the survey, it must be fixed quickly to ensure the safety of all road users.

Required information

You will need to provide:

• your planning application reference
• the construction start date
• survey date
• site location
• photos of existing damages in the area.

View an example of a photographic highway condition survey (PDF, 460.2 KB)

Submitting the survey

You’ll need to submit the survey to the planning authority to meet the condition. It will be uploaded to the planning portal, along with other documents from your planning application. If needed, our highways inspectors, who do regular highway condition reviews, and follow up on reports of damage and defects, will do an inspection.

Repair damage caused by construction

Any damage caused by construction activities, which is not included in the photographic highway condition survey, will need to be repaired. This may be done by a contractor appointed by the developer, property owner or person(s) responsible for the damage subject to agreement by us via our reporting system.

Paying for repairs

If our contractors carry out the repairs, the costs will be covered by the developer, property owner, or anyone responsible for the damage. This is in line with Sections 59 and 131 of the Highways Act 1980, which allows the Highway Authority to recover repair costs for damage to the public road.

Report damage

Report any damage you notice while completing your survey to us using our reporting system.

If any damage occurs whilst works are happening which could cause an urgent safety risk to pedestrians and road users, the developer, contractor, or property owner must report this via our reporting system.

Damage can include:

• cracking and potholes on the highway from heavy construction vehicles
• cracked pavement from material deliveries
• damaged roadside grass
• damaged traffic signs
• damaged street furniture, for example, chairs
• harm caused by machinery or vehicles crossing or parking on the footpath.

The following photos show examples of damages at development entrance points across Kent.