Skip Clerk UK skip reference

Permits

Skip permit: Devon County Council

First published 4 September 2026. Last checked 25 September 2026.

If the skip sits on a public road in the Devon County Council highway area, only a skip provider can apply for the licence. Devon’s page (checked 25 September 2026) lists £110.50 for a standard licence, at least ten working days’ notice, and a maximum of 28 days. A skip wholly on private land you control does not need this licence.

You do not apply as a householder. Tell the hire firm at booking and give them more than ten working days. Do not put the skip on the pavement – GOV.UK is blunt about that.

When you need one

The statutory hook is Highways Act 1980, section 139: a builder’s skip must not be deposited on a highway without the highway authority’s permission.

Who applies

Devon’s page: all applications must be made by skip providers on behalf of their customers. Providers need Traffic Signs Manual Chapter 8 competence and a minimum of £5 million public liability insurance. You ask them to apply when you book.

Fee, notice and duration

Figures below are from Devon County Council’s skip licence page and the 2026/27 highways licence fees page on 4 September 2026 (fees from 1 April 2026). They will change. Recheck those pages, not this one, on the day you book.

Item What Devon published
Standard permit £110.50 (10 or more working days’ notice). Application costs exempt from tax.
Emergency £166.00 where fewer than 10 working days’ notice is accepted in an exceptional emergency
Extension or amendment £87.00
Site visit (if required) £103.95
Notice Minimum 10 working days before the skip goes on the road
Duration Maximum 28 days
Who applies Skip providers only – not the householder. Chapter 8 + £5m PL

Depositing a skip before the due date is an offence under section 139.

Neighbours

Torquay, Paignton and Brixham are Torbay – Skip permit: Torbay Council. Plymouth is a neighbouring unitary – Skip permit: Plymouth City Council. County map: Skip hire in Devon.

A sensible order

  1. Can it sit wholly on the drive? If yes, book that and skip the licence.
  2. If it has to go on the road, tell the hire firm at booking. They apply. Give them more than ten working days.
  3. Check their waste-carrier number – how to check a waste carrier licence.
  4. Size the job on the size guide. Keep plasterboard out of a mixed skip unless they say otherwise – plasterboard and skips.

Skip Clerk has no hire partners yet and no skip-hire prices on this page. The £110.50 figures are Devon County Council’s published permit fees, dated to the council page check above, not a hire quote. When we add a booking link it will be marked as an affiliate link.

Towns in this council

Local skip-hire guides that sit under Devon County Council. The permit rules on this page apply when the skip sits on the public road.

All areas: Skip hire by town.

Sources