If your development affects the public highway, whether that is a new access, a footpath, a dropped kerb or a junction improvement, it will usually fall under a Section 278 agreement with the local highway authority. The name comes from Section 278 of the Highways Act, and it is the mechanism that lets a developer carry out works on the adopted highway.
The process runs alongside your planning approval. Designs are agreed with the authority, an agreement is signed, and the works are then built to the approved drawings and specification, inspected as they go. Kerb lines, footways, crossings and surfacing all have to meet the authority’s standards.
The practical challenge is coordination. S278 works have to line up with the wider build programme, and delays at the highway boundary can hold up an entire site. That is where an experienced groundworks contractor earns their place, delivering the works to specification and keeping the authority’s inspectors on side. If you have an S278 obligation coming up, talk to us about how it fits your programme.