Site waste Management plans

Are you affected?
What is required?
Further information
Industry tools

Are you affected?

Any single site construction project in England above £300k projected cost (excluding VAT) must have a Site Waste Management Plan in place before the work starts. It is the responsibility of the client or if self-build, the builder, to comply with this although it would normally be the construction company that would produce it. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not yet have a legal requirement for SWMPs. Plans are only required for projects started since 6 April 2008.

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What is required?

The Site Waste Management Plans Regulations 2008 are designed to improve resource efficiency by demanding better use of materials and reduce the opportunities for fly-tipping by ensuring the correct waste management procedures are applied. They operate through a Defra Guidance document for interpretation. SWMPs do not have to be submitted to a regulator, but they must be available for inspection by any one of a number of regulatory bodies – the EA and local authority bodies such as the Waste Disposal Authority and Planning authorities). Penalties for non-compliance are, effectively, unlimited and can result in the prosecution of a relevant manager or director as well as the company. They are live documents that must be updated with information such as the amount of waste that has been recycled and the persons who have dealt with the waste. Projects from £300-500k value will only require summary information whilst those >£500k will require more detailed information. At the end of a project, the following must happen:
For projects between £300k and £500k in cost the following information must be added within three months of the work being completed:
1. confirmation that the SWMP has been monitored on a regular basis to ensure that work is progressing according to the plan and that the plan was updated appropriately; and
2. an explanation of any differences between the first draft of the SWMP and actual performance.
For projects over £500k in cost as well as the information above, the following information must be added within three months of the work being completed:
3. an estimate of the cost savings that have been achieved by completing and implementing a SWMP.
SWMPs then have to be kept for two years after completion of the project. There are no set templates for SWMPs, but there are a number of organisations that provide support.

There is a specific Agency website dedicated to SWMP with a good, simple Guidance document.

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Further information

Defra

EA

Defra toolkit and non-statutory guidance

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Industry tools

Building Research Establishment

Construction Resource and Waste Platform

NHBC/WRAP template

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