Movement of Soil on Construction Sites

Movement of Soil on Construction Sites, What You Need To Know

More Information from CLAIRE on the CoP

This CoP is directly applicable to those who commission earthworks, their appointed engineers, contractors (including specialist remediation contractors), consultants and regulatory authorities. All of these parties have a role to play if a site is being developed under this CoP. It will be of particular interest to landowners and developers.
The CoP is voluntary and applies to England and Wales only. It remains the case that demonstrating if a material is waste or not, or when it ceases to be waste, can be made without reference to this CoP on a case by case basis. It is likely, however, that an acceptable site specific demonstration will draw upon very similar lines of evidence to those detailed in this CoP.

The CoP relates to excavated material, which includes:

• Soil, both top soil and sub-soil, parent material and underlying geology;
• Soil and mineral based dredging
• Ground based infrastructure that is capable of reuse within earthworks projects, 
e.g. road base, concrete floors
• Made ground;
  Source segregated aggregate material arising from demolition activities, such as 
crushed brick and concrete, to be reused on the site of production within 
earthworks projects or as sub-base or drainage materials; and
• Stockpiled excavated materials that include the above

The following materials are outside the scope of the CoP:

• Soils which have been contaminated with injurious invasive weeds except for soils that are used on the site of production in accordance with relevant best practice guidance, e.g. Japanese Knotweed Code of Practice;
• Specific excavated infrastructure material, such as pipework and storage tanks
• General construction wastes, e.g. plasterboard, glass, wood, etc;
• Demolition wastes not included in paragraph 1.10 above
• Extractive waste within the scope of Mining Waste Directive (2006), for which alternative regulatory provisions have been made

This document applies to both uncontaminated and contaminated material from anthropogenic and natural sources excavated:

• For use on the site from which it has been excavated, either without treatment or after on-site treatment as part of the development of that land (i.e. Site of Origin scenario)
• For use directly without treatment at another development site subject to the material meeting the requirements set out in Appendix 2 (i.e. Direct Transfer scenario)
• For the use in the development of land other than the site from which the material has been excavated, following treatment at an authorised Hub site8 including a fixed
• Soil Treatment Facility (STF) acting in this capacity (i.e. Cluster Project scenario)
• Or a Combination thereof

The CoP sets out clearly what construction sites need to do when moving soil around or between construction sites and is an excellent tool to understand if any excavated material should be classified as waste.

If the requirements of this Code are complied with the material will not be waste. If the material is waste an Environmental Permit will be required to lawfully deposit or re-use it unless the material is “uncontaminated soil and other naturally occurring material excavated in the course of construction activities where it is certain that the material will be used for the purposes of construction in its natural state on the site from which it was excavated”, which is excluded from waste regulation by the Waste Framework Directive (2008)

Or if you would like your development to be compliant with all aspects of this CoP just call and we can provide all the services required, pragmatically and very cost effectively.