Licences

Licences

Licences are entered into for various reasons in connection with construction projects.

Licences are used to give the owner of property a means of giving permission to a third party to access, occupy and/or use their property (or part of it) for a period of time and for specific purposes so that the third party (typically the contractor) is not trespassing by accessing that land for those purposes.

The most common licences entered into in respect of construction projects are:

•
oversail licence—licence entered into between a developer and/or its contractor and the owner of adjoining land over which the contractor’s crane needs to oversail (ie travel over) to give the developer and/or the contractor the adjoining owner’s permission for the crane to swing over their land and to agree the terms of use of the crane. See Practice Note: Oversail licences and Precedent: Crane oversailing licence—with tenant. With regard to the use of cranes, see also Q&A: Does the Tower Cranes register still exist?
•
scaffold licence—licence entered into where a contractor needs to erect scaffolding for the purposes of its works on land belonging

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Construction News

Construction law—a look at 2025 so far and ahead to the end of the year

Construction analysis: In this article, we look back on the key developments in construction law that emerged in the first half of 2025, and look ahead to what may come in the remainder of the year.

UKIFS announces £2.5bn funding commitment for world’s first prototype fusion power plant

UK Industrial Fusion Solutions (UKIFS) has announced an additional £2.5bn in funding for the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme, aimed at developing the world’s first prototype fusion power plant. The facility will be constructed at the site of the former West Burton A coal-fired power station near Retford and Gainsborough, and is expected to be operational by 2040. STEP operates by fusing the hydrogen gases—deuterium and tritium—which are heated to over 150 million ˚C and confined within a magnetic field. The resulting energy will be used to produce steam, which will turn a turbine to generate electricity.

ONS announces 0.9% increase in construction output for April 2025

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published data, indicating a 0.9% increase in construction output for April 2025. This was attributed to increases in new work (1.4%) and repair and maintenance (0.3%). At the sectoral level, six out of the nine sectors saw growth in April 2025, with the main contributors being infrastructure new work (2.0%), and private housing repair and maintenance (1.5%). Total construction output is estimated to have increased by 0.5% over the three months leading up to April 2025, attributed to increases in new work (0.9%) and repair and maintenance (0.1%).

Planning reform working paper—reforming site thresholds

Planning analysis: The government has published a working paper on reforming site size thresholds to support housing delivery on different types of sites. This means taking a gradated approach to the system as a whole—removing and streamlining disproportionate requirements on small and medium sites, while maintaining and strengthening requirements on major development. This analysis looks at the key proposals and implications.