Cost of installing dropped kerbs – part 3

Questions and Answers from Transportation and Street Services – 6th July 2006

I’ve now had a fuller explanation as to what is happening with the issue of reducing the cost of installing dropped kerbs to allow parking in front gardens?

Hopefully, we should have a new system of charging in August. A report is going to the Cabinet member for Transportation next week.

The proposal is to give residents a list of accredited contractors from whom they can get quotes. At the moment there are 11 accredited contractors.

If the report is approved, then the cost of installing dropped kerbs will be

Cost of contractor + £140 administration by the Council

The administration figure covers the cost of sending a Council officer out to initially inspect the site to see if a dropped kerb is feasible – for example are there trees in the way? Or is the dropped kerb too close to a junction. The inspector will sketch the site, which any contractor can then use to provide an estimate. The inspector will also provide an estimate of how much it will cost to use Council workers to install the dropped kerb.

Once the resident has a quote that they want to pursue, the Council will supervise the work of the contractor to check that it is done to Council standards.

In Warwickshire where the householder employs the contractor, they have to pay VAT. No VAT is payable by the resident if the system described above is used by Birmingham City Council