Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is the legal mechanism by which local planning authorities secure developer contributions to community infrastructure, affordable housing, transport improvements and other public benefits as a condition of planning consent. Every housing development of meaningful size carries S106 obligations. Understanding how they affect the civils programme is essential for developers and their contractors.
The most common S106 obligations that affect civils delivery include on-site highway improvements (often executed under Section 278 agreements), off-site highway contributions, on-site drainage or SuDS provisions, provision of public open space with associated engineering works, and utilities connections funded by the developer as part of the scheme’s planning contributions.
Each of these introduces specific requirements to the civils programme. The on-site highway works have to meet the adoption authority’s standards. The off-site contributions may be paid before commencement, at first occupation, or at scheme completion. The drainage provisions may include monitoring or maintenance obligations that outlast the initial construction. The open space engineering works may have to be completed before residential occupation begins.
GCE’s approach on S106-heavy schemes is to review the planning obligations at scheme initiation and to build the civils programme around them explicitly. Where a S106 trigger requires completion of specific works before a particular occupation threshold, the programme delivers those works accordingly. Where a S106 contribution is due at a particular scheme milestone, the developer’s project management team is prepared for the cash flow implication.
The most common commercial issue on S106 delivery is where the civils contractor treats the S106 works as generic construction and does not appreciate the specific standards or timing constraints attached to them. The work gets done to a competent construction standard but not necessarily to the specific adoption standard, and reworks become necessary before the S106 obligation can be discharged.
For QSs pricing civils on S106-heavy schemes, the practical advice is to include the specific adoption or acceptance standards in the tender documentation. Where the standards are stated explicitly, the tenders come back priced against them. Where the standards are left generic, the tenders vary in what they actually include.
There is a specific issue around timing of S106 discharge that is often underestimated. Some S106 obligations require formal discharge by the planning authority before certain milestones can be met (typically before first occupation of specific plots or before completion of certain elements of the scheme). The discharge process has its own timeline, and the developer’s programme has to accommodate the authority’s review time.
On schemes where S106 obligations include ecology or biodiversity net gain provisions, the technical requirements can be substantial. Habitat creation works, translocation of species where required, monitoring across multiple seasons after completion. Each is a specific scope that the civils contractor either delivers themselves or coordinates with specialist ecology contractors. GCE’s approach is to identify the ecology scope at pre-construction and clarify the delivery arrangement before mobilisation.
For developers, the practical implication of S106 obligations on civils programmes is that early engagement between the planning consultant, the civils contractor and the developer’s project management team is essential. The S106 obligations become part of the civils delivery plan rather than a parallel administrative track. Where they are handled that way, the scheme discharges its planning obligations cleanly and completions happen on time.
Where the S106 obligations are handled as an administrative afterthought, the discharge process can become the critical path item at the end of the scheme, holding up handovers and completions while paperwork is finalised. This is entirely avoidable through proper pre-construction planning, but it requires the civils contractor to be part of the conversation from the beginning.
Talk to Globe Civil Engineering To discuss Section 106 obligations affecting your civils programme on your scheme, contact Globe Civil Engineering on 01223 890727 or email enquiries@theglobegroup.co.uk.
