A high percentage of road works that take place in the Royal Borough of Greenwich are carried out by private utility companies. Companies such as National Grid, BT and Thames Water dig up the pavements and roads in order to install, renew or repair their equipment. At present there are over 20 licensed utility companies who have worked in, or are planning to work in the Royal Borough.

Enquiries or complaints about a works on specific street

Contact the utility company carrying out the street works directly. You can find out which utility company is doing the works from the street works register.

Find road works or street works

You can search the street works register by road name or road number, by area name or by using the map. The register contains information on:

• the utility company doing the work
• planned start and ends dates
• location of the works
• a description of the works to be done.

Search the road and street works register

Utility company responsibilities and contact details

All the utility companies that work on public highways have to do so in accordance with the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991. The main provisions are that they must comply with requirements regarding:

• safety of excavations
• reinstatement standards
• qualifications of staff and
• notification to the Royal Borough of Greenwich of their proposed works.

Utility company contact details

• Thames Water
• UK Power Networks
• Openreach
• Virgin Media
• Southern Gas Networks

If you still need help after contacting the company responsible please telephone the Royal Borough of Greenwich's Network Management team.

If the site is on a road maintained by Transport for London (generally the main arterial routes through the borough) please contact TFL Street Management.

If it is not a utility or Transport for London company carrying out the works, you can also contact the Network Management team.

The council's responsibilities

The Royal Borough is responsible for the co-ordination and monitoring of street works carried out by utility companies. Information on planned street works are entered into the street works register. 

Monitoring of street works

As part of the monitoring process the Royal Borough inspects 30 per cent of the works carried out by utility companies. These inspections are done at each of three different stages every year. If we find anything wrong, we work with the company to resolve any issues. The utility company can incur a fine if they don't comply. In some cases the council can complete the works itself, and charge the company for costs incurred.

The Royal Borough has limited powers to charge companies for not completing their work as soon as is practicable. Companies can apply for an extension of time due to unforeseen circumstances.

Quarterly meetings are held with all the utility companies, the Metropolitan Police and Transport for London to discuss major planned projects and other related issues.

Traffic sensitive streets

The Royal Borough can declare roads as 'traffic sensitive streets' and limit the times street works can be carried out. This helps to keep traffic moving during peak periods.

Download a list of traffic sensitive streets in Royal Greenwich

Protecting our new footways and roads (Section 58 order)

Under the New Roads and Street Works Act we are able to prevent utility companies from excavating a newly resurfaced or constructed road or footway for a certain amount of time. This is done by issuing a Section 58 order against the streets affected.

The Section 58 order prevents utility companies from excavating the road for a period of between three to five years after the road has been resurfaced or reconstructed. In special cases, utility companies may be allowed to excavate in a road where a Section 58 order has been issued if there is an emergency or if they need to provide a new customer service.