Parking permits for builders

[Vlado]

Hello, we are about to have an extension built. We live in a Southwark CPZ and will need to arrange parking for the builders. I don't think they will give me a 1-month residents permit for the builders' van, and daily visitors permits will take it to around ?90 for the month (as opposed to ?15 for a resident's permit!). What a racket. I'd be really interested to hear how others have dealt with this. Thanks!

[kibris]

Thats the only way you can do it but ask if you can buy two weeks at a time as they may be cheaper. They will not let you buy a Res one because they say that they dont live there.

[macutd]

and that's another reason why we should oppose CPZs

[hammerman]

Not sure how you made it ?90 Vlado? If there's one van needing a permit it would cost ?20 for 10 5 hour permits if your restriction is less than 5 hours i.e. those 10 visitors permits would cover 2 weeks i.e. Monday to Friday. You would have to create an account as the resident. Correct me if I'm wrong though!

[Vlado]

So my calculation was that for any given month, you would need 2 x non-discounted books of 10 all day parking vouchers @ ?45 each. Our CPZ runs from 8.30 til 18.30, and I was rather hoping that the builders would be at it for mote than 5 hours a day, but you never know...

[Vlado]

TBH I don't object to the principle of paying to park. I just don't like the fact that the Council can get away with charging such ridiculous rates for non-resident parking and not offer a more reasonable system for e.g. tradesmen.

[tomskip]

But that's what Residents Only parking usually entails. I'm quite certain that parking rates for non-residents is cheaper in the SE postcodes than almost anywhere else in London.

[almost peckham]

?3 or ?4 per working day to park as a business expense is very small. The builders should easily be able to bear it or if the resident is paying it is a tiny proportion of an extension cost. This is a business going on with the expectation of the publicly-maintained realm being available as a free facility. If the materials are being delivered at the beginning of the job and with people like screwfix doing same day delivery for all the forgotten odds and ends what do the builders need a van for? Perhaps they could come by public transport? Slightly devil's advocate-y, I know, but there are other ways of looking at it.

[rendelharris]

Quite agree with AP - with extensions costing many tens of thousands one wouldn't have thought ?90 here or there would be worth worrying about.

Also, the point is that CPZs are supposed (if we ignore for a moment the "Southwark are trying to eliminate private cars" theorists) to make it easier for residents to park. Given that in many ED streets there will be four or five houses undergoing works, with sometimes three or four different trades working on site at the same time, one can easily end up with twenty-odd vans in the road (no exaggeration, just glanced out of my window and I can see half a dozen in less than a quarter of my street). Something has to be done to discourage this if the aim is to keep parking clear for residents, surely?

A builder friend of mine takes (as far as possible) all materials and tools needed to the site at the start of a job, then cycles for the duration of the build and collects everything at the end. Not a bad way forward?

[first mate]

RH a nice idea but just not realistic. I cannot think of many loft conversions or extensions that could ever get built your way..( and I speak as one sick to the back teeth with the amount of building and associated disruption in my area). But 'builders on bikes' has a certain ring about it. I see it working perhaps for an odd job man/ woman who lives very locally.

[rendelharris]

first mate Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> RH a nice idea but just not realistic. I cannot

> think of many loft conversions or extensions that

> could ever get built your way..( and I speak as

> one sick to the back teeth with the amount of

> building and associated disruption in my area).

> But 'builders on bikes' has a certain ring about

> it. I see it working perhaps for an odd job man/

> woman who lives very locally.

It works for my friend, is all I can say, and he's certainly not an odd job man - loft conversions, extensions, garden offices etc. He gets the materials delivered, not sure if that costs a lot more...he does work at the high end of the market, I admit, so maybe if budget was a prime consideration it might not be as viable, but as I said, he and his partner certainly get plenty done on this model.

[Saffron]

rendelharris Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> first mate Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > RH a nice idea but just not realistic. I cannot

> > think of many loft conversions or extensions

> that

> > could ever get built your way..( and I speak as

> > one sick to the back teeth with the amount of

> > building and associated disruption in my area).

> > But 'builders on bikes' has a certain ring

> about

> > it. I see it working perhaps for an odd job

> man/

> > woman who lives very locally.

>

> It works for my friend, is all I can say, and he's

> certainly not an odd job man - loft conversions,

> extensions, garden offices etc. He gets the

> materials delivered, not sure if that costs a lot

> more...he does work at the high end of the market,

> I admit, so maybe if budget was a prime

> consideration it might not be as viable, but as I

> said, he and his partner certainly get plenty done

> on this model.

My husband does this as well, and he's not an odd job man. He works at the mid-level of the market. He leaves tools securely on site at the start of a job, and gets materials delivered. It does not add notably to the cost. He takes public transport or cycles.

[first mate]

So what happens in terms of skips and large deliveries of building materials like bags of sand/ bricks etc.., not to forget portaloos, which often end up clogging up sections of road? What wbout various contractors like plumbers and electricians who might be needed just for a few days? Do they also cycle in? I am sure individual builders might manage to cycle but not convinced this reduces the impact of the build in total, where there are generally many builders on site.

[Saffron]

All of these concerns can be addressed in various ways, even in complex teams. I've see it work, though you're free to remain unconvinced of course. xx

[rendelharris]

first mate Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> So what happens in terms of skips and large

> deliveries of building materials like bags of

> sand/ bricks etc.., not to forget portaloos, which

> often end up clogging up sections of road? What

> wbout various contractors like plumbers and

> electricians who might be needed just for a few

> days? Do they also cycle in? I am sure individual

> builders might manage to cycle but not convinced

> this reduces the impact of the build in total,

> where there are generally many builders on site.

Nearly all contractors get their bricks and other large materials delivered anyway, I don't know any who go and fetch them in their vans. So inevitably there will be temporary street blockages as deliveries unload, but builders who do as my friend and Saffron's husband do leave more free parking spaces for residents. Still, you know, keep on telling us it ain't so, what would we know?!

(I've occasionally worked for my friend as an unskilled dogsbody when work's been slack - I cycled too and his business partner got the train in, so that was three parking spaces freed up for a start)

[B&G]

We recently had a loft extension done and the builders were around for about 10 weeks. But they were all local workers so there was never a van. The exception was the odd lorry coming to drop off materials but they soon bugger off. Are you sure your builders actually need a parking space? They don't tend to pack up their stuff at the end of each day (basically just arrive with a packed lunch that can be perfectly easily carried on the bus).

[first mate]

RH,

I have not said "it ain't so" I have simply said it has not been my experience thus far and from what I have observed. Clearly it is possible for some builders to cycle to their work or for others to use public transport- you and Saffron are evidence of that, it just hasn't caught on in a widespread fashion from what I can see. Perhaps this is mere obstinacy and resistance to change or perhaps there are other reasons.

[monica]

My hubby was in the building trade for 20 years, before he was diagnosed with epilepsy. In his time when the congestion charges came in, his firm use to charge the clients the congestion charge fees, by ways of adding to the bill.

It worked for both building firm and client. My hubby's firm use to do a lot of work in town and were based in Peckham.

I think its swings and roundabouts, difficult to see tradesman cycle to work if they are in their vans every ten minutes, looking for tools and materials, or having 20 minute tea break. :)