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Construction Management Plans in Kensington and Chelsea

Kensington and Chelsea manages construction differently from most London boroughs. Rather than a free-form Construction Management Plan, RBKC’s Code of Construction Practice prescribes exactly what each site must submit, the council’s Construction Management Team must approve those documents in writing before work can start, and a Construction Bond pays for officers to monitor the site until it finishes. Add a ban on noisy Saturday work, a tightly drawn basement policy and prescriptive construction traffic rules, and the documents need to be started as soon as planning permission is granted. Here is how the system works.

Kensington and Chelsea at a glance

Working hours
Noisy work 8am–6pm Mon–Fri only, none on Saturdays
Submit
Checklist and SCMP at least eight weeks before start
Document
SCMP on RBKC’s template, plus a CTMP where required
Council charges
Construction Bond £5,000–£17,500 a year inc. VAT
On this page

    The RBKC Code of Construction Practice

    RBKC’s Code of Construction Practice (adopted April 2019, with a summary document published in October 2024) is the framework every construction project in the borough operates under, and Policy GB7 of the 2024 Local Plan requires relevant developments to comply with it. Each site is placed in one of three categories before work starts, and the Construction Management Team has the final say on which:

    • Category 1 (highest impact): major developments (10+ homes or 1,000+ sq m), full demolition and reconstruction (including facade retention schemes), any basement excavation or extension, or a full-size piling rig for three months or more. Requires a Section 61 prior consent application, a CTMP, the signed Code checklist and a Site Construction Management Plan (SCMP).
    • Category 2: partial demolition, residential and commercial extensions, or a minor basement within the property curtilage with under 50 cubic metres of excavated material, typically 3–12 months on site. Requires the signed checklist and an SCMP; a CTMP may also be required, particularly on constrained sites, and a Section 61 application must be considered, failing which the council will serve a Section 60 notice.
    • Category 3: internal refurbishment and cosmetic external works lasting under three months. No formal submission, although the Code’s terms still apply and the council may serve a Section 60 notice.

    Approval, the Construction Bond and Discharging the Condition

    Category 1 and 2 sites receive a pre-commencement condition: no development may start until the Code checklist (Appendix A) and the SCMP have been approved in writing by the council’s Construction Management Team, and copies with that approval have been submitted to the local planning authority. Both documents go directly to the Construction Management Team. The SCMP is completed on RBKC’s own template (April 2019) and covers neighbour consultation, working hours, the programme, demolition and construction methodology such as piling, site layout, the licences to be applied for, noise and vibration mitigation, dust and air quality, and confirmation of Considerate Constructors Scheme registration.

    RBKC strongly advises submitting at least eight weeks before work is due to start, and the checklist itself commits the signatory to providing the documents at least eight weeks before commencement, including site preparation works. The checklist is a legally binding agreement between the owner or developer and the council, and it is not valid until the fee is paid. Once the documents are satisfactory, the Construction Management Team has the Construction Bond invoiced; only when payment is confirmed does it tell the planning officer that the condition can be discharged.

    The bond funds the council’s monitoring of the site. Officers score the site’s compliance at a first visit when work starts, and the score sets visits anywhere from weekly (very poor) to six-monthly (excellent). Monitoring time is charged against the bond, a standard £363.84 processing and administration fee is deducted at completion, and the unspent balance is repaid. Projects that overrun their planned length pay for the extra time, and licence and parking suspension fees are always charged separately. The bond is charged per year or part year of the projected programme:

    • Category 1 domestic projects: £8,500 including VAT (£7,083.33 excluding VAT)
    • Category 1 non-domestic projects: £17,500 including VAT (£14,583.33 excluding VAT)
    • Category 2: £5,000 including VAT (£4,166.67 excluding VAT); Category 3 sites pay nothing

    CTMP Requirements in Kensington and Chelsea

    RBKC requires a draft Construction Traffic Management Plan with every planning application for basement development, and the Code requires a CTMP for all Category 1 sites before work begins; constrained Category 2 sites and major schemes may need one too. A CTMP condition is discharged through a formal application to the Department of Planning and Place, which consults the Transport Planning Team, using RBKC’s CTMP pro-forma (2019). RBKC says approval can take up to eight weeks. Submissions not on the pro-forma can be returned, and ambiguous wording such as “generally”, “approximate” or “likely to be” will get a CTMP rejected, so a robust worst case must be stated instead. Notable RBKC rules include:

    • Deliveries and collections only 9.30am–4.30pm Monday to Friday, cut to 9.30am–3pm in term time where a school is on the route; none at weekends or on public holidays, and no construction traffic on Portobello Road or Golborne Road on Fridays
    • Documented neighbour consultation before submission, including the street’s residents’ association, with RBKC recommending at least two weeks for responses; comments on a draft CTMP must be answered in the final version
    • A minimum 1.2m clear footway and 3m clear carriageway maintained at all times; where 3m cannot be kept, narrow-bodied vehicles no more than 2m wide are required, and any temporary blockage is allowed only between 9.30am and 3pm
    • For residential basement extensions, no more than one vehicle servicing the site on the highway at any time, except when a concrete pump is working with a concrete wagon; vehicles may not wait or stack on any road in the borough
    • No skips on streets with 90% overnight occupancy of residents’ bays where other spoil removal methods could reasonably be used, and grab lorries working from the road are unacceptable in most locations
    • FORS Silver accreditation expected of all construction vehicle operators, and banksmen holding at least a Site Access Traffic Marshal qualification

    Working Hours, Noise and Section 61

    Noisy work audible at the site boundary is permitted 8am–6pm Monday to Friday only, with none on Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays. RBKC’s Code introduced the ban on noisy Saturday work in 2016, and the council says it was the first local authority in the country to do so. High impact activities (demolition, percussive ground-breaking and excavation, percussive piling and pile break-out) are further restricted to 9am–12 noon and 2pm–5.30pm on weekdays. Concrete deliveries and waste collections count as noisy works, so concrete pours must be sized and programmed to finish within permitted hours.

    Every site is controlled through either a Section 60 notice or a Section 61 prior consent. A Section 61 application is mandatory on Category 1 sites and must be received by the Construction Management Team at least 28 days before works start, with noise predictions; RBKC advises engaging an acoustic consultant, recommends sending a draft first, and will not issue a consent once construction has begun. The Code sets a daily limit of 70 dB LAeq,10hr at the nearest occupied premises (unless ambient levels already exceed 65 dB), with a first action trigger of 73 dB LAeq,1hr, and noise monitoring must be carried out on Category 1 sites unless otherwise agreed.

    Neighbour engagement starts before the planning application. On Category 1 and 2 sites the architect or developer must contact neighbouring occupiers and local residents’ groups before the application is submitted, neighbours should get at least two weeks’ notice before works start, and the contractor must respond to complaints within three working days. Category 1 sites must also draw up a neighbour liaison strategy, and RBKC recommends contact with the residents’ association and regular meetings with residents.

    Basements, Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas

    Basement applications in the borough rose from 46 in 2001 to 450 in 2013, and Policy CD11 of the Local Plan 2024 (adopted July 2024) controls them tightly: no more than 50 per cent of the garden or open part of the site and no more than one storey (with exceptions only on large sites), at least one metre of soil above any part of a basement beneath a garden, no further basement floors where a basement has already been permitted or built, and no excavation underneath a listed building, including vaults. Criteria K and L also require that construction traffic, noise, vibration and dust are kept to acceptable levels for the duration of the works.

    At application stage a basement needs a Construction Method Statement signed by a Chartered Civil Engineer (MICE) or Chartered Structural Engineer (MIStructE), covering ground and groundwater conditions, temporary works and how structural stability will be safeguarded, together with a draft CTMP; a full CTMP then follows by condition. The Basements SPD (April 2016), which the 2024 Local Plan still points to for what must be submitted, says consultation on the plans and the Construction Method Statement should target immediate neighbours, while CTMP consultation should be wider. Any basement excavation or extension makes the site Category 1 under the Code unless it is a minor basement under 50 cubic metres.

    Heritage adds a further layer: conservation areas cover more than 73 per cent of the borough, and there are over 4,000 listed buildings. Where particularly vulnerable historic buildings may be affected, the council may consult an independent Chartered Structural Engineer at the applicant’s expense, and the SPD sets additional Construction Method Statement requirements for listed buildings.

    Highways Licences and Parking Suspensions

    Nothing can go on the highway without a licence, and RBKC grants licences for temporary structures and parking suspensions only after the CTMP condition has been discharged; suspensions are limited to those agreed in the CTMP, normally end at 4.30pm on weekdays and are not issued for weekends or bank holidays unless the CTMP specifies an exception. Only registered companies can apply for highways licences, and on red routes some licences, including scaffold licences, are issued by TfL instead. Current RBKC fees and lead times:

    • Scaffolding, hoarding and gantries: £717 per three-month licence, plus a £69 non-refundable deposit admin holding fee; RBKC reviews applications within 10 working days of payment
    • Skips: £153 per one-month licence, with fines of up to £1,000 for an unlicensed skip
    • Mobile cranes, cherry pickers and aerial work platforms: £788 for the duration of the works, applied for at least 10 working days ahead
    • Temporary traffic orders for road and footway closures: £2,594, applied for at least six weeks ahead (up to 12 weeks where major or TfL roads are affected)
    • Parking suspensions: 10 working days’ notice for permit bays and two for pay-by-phone bays, at £82 per space per day for days 1–5, £123 for days 6–42 and £164 from day 43; short-notice permit bay suspensions (five working days) cost an extra £408

    Air Quality, Dust and Site Standards

    The entire borough is an Air Quality Management Area. Every site must keep a dust log, inspect at least daily during general works, keep skips, chutes and stockpiles covered and use water suppression; major and strategic sites must also follow the Mayor of London’s Control of Dust and Emissions SPG, and large high-risk sites may need real-time dust monitoring with baseline readings before works start. Policy GB6 of the 2024 Local Plan requires a Dust Risk Assessment for all major development and for minor schemes involving dusty works such as basement excavation.

    Non-road mobile machinery must meet Stage IIIB or the London NRMM Low Emission Zone requirements, whichever is more stringent; lorries must meet Euro VI, all vehicles must comply with the LEZ and ULEZ, and engines must not be left idling. Contractors on Category 1 sites and on every basement site must be members of the Considerate Constructors Scheme, and Category 1 and 2 sites should display a hoarding notice with the developer’s, contractor’s and site manager’s contact details and the hours of work.

    How CMP Construct Helps in Kensington and Chelsea

    CMP Construct prepares council-compliant Construction Management Plans across Kensington and Chelsea and more than 20 London boroughs. We draft most plans within 7–10 working days, submit in the format RBKC expects, and handle officer comments through to discharge of your condition. Where your condition also asks for a Construction Traffic Management Plan (CTMP), a Construction Logistics Plan (CLP) or a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP), we produce them as one consistent package. New to the process? Start with our complete guide to Construction Management Plans or see what a CMP costs.

    Official Kensington and Chelsea Guidance

    The council documents below set out RBKC's own requirements. We work to these day to day; they are linked here so you can verify any requirement directly:

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Other London Boroughs

    Comparing boroughs? See construction working hours across London, basement rules in each borough and which councils expect their own CMP template, or go straight to another borough’s guide: