Excavation Permits Procedure

Purpose statement

This procedure outlines the Excavation Permit process and shall address public safety, traffic egress and ingress and the availability of the proposed location in conjunction with other approved Town of Oakville (town) activities or other uses of the right of way.

Scope

This procedure applies to the permitting of excavation within a municipal right of way under the jurisdiction of the town including utility companies that have entered into a Municipal Access Agreement (MAA) or a Franchise Agreement.

Procedure

Permits and approval for excavations within the municipal right of way shall be issued by the Transportation and Engineering department and shall comply with all applicable by-laws, policy and regulations.

1. Application for a permit       

1.1 Applications for excavation permits must be submitted to the Director not less than ten business days in advance of the proposed construction date and shall include information that the Director may from time to time request, in the prescribed format, including any or all of the following:

  1. a completed application in the form prescribed by the Director;
  2. The excavation permit applicant must be the utility/servicing contractor doing the excavation with a town business license, with exceptions as outlined in the Town’s Business Licensing By-law, as amended.
  3. a detailed scalable plan showing: 
    1. all existing topographical and underground features/services, where applicable, and property boundary lines;
    2. the proposed construction location, including street name(s), municipal address(es) and a north arrow depicting true north;
    3. full engineering details with respect to the proposed work and its integration with existing features; and
    4. detail compliance with all relevant legislative, regulatory and applicable standards; 
  4.  a copy of all utility clearance certificates to which the location data (where utilities exist) will be transcribed by the applicant onto the detailed scalable plan;
  5. applicable permit fee(s) as set out in the town’s current rates and fees schedule, in the form acceptable to the Director;
  6. a security deposit in the form and amount acceptable to the Director representing the potential cost to repair any and all damages associated with the permitted excavation;
  7. a valid town Business License number for the contractor doing the excavation work. A certificate of general liability insurance  with the town named as a Certificate Holder is required from the business in accordance with the Town’s Business Licensing By-law, as amended;
  8. if required by the Director, a save harmless letter stating that the applicant agrees to indemnify fully and save harmless the Town of Oakville, its officers, agents and employees from and against any and all actions, claims, demands, damage, loss or expense whatsoever arising from or incidental to the issuing of such permission, the occupation, excavation, or construction of any part of the road hereunder, or in a form satisfactory to the Director; and
  9. where applicable, a traffic management plan in accordance with Book 7, Temporary Conditions of the Ontario Traffic Manual, for excavation work on non-local roads, and such plan shall be acceptable to the Director.
1.2 Excavation work that is done on non-local roads shall obtain a Temporary Street Occupation (TSO) permit.  Also see Temporary Street Occupation Permit Procedure.

1.3 Should additional approvals be required on an application, the application may be delayed.


2. Permit regulations

2.1 All activities must be completed within the time frame outlined on the approved permit.

2.2 The permit holder must be the contractor carrying out the work in the municipal right of way and provide the required securities. The permit is not transferable to different parties or contractors.

2.3 Permit fees are non-refundable in whole or part.

2.4 Every permit holder shall:

  1. obtain a utility locate report for every public/private utility and marked (within the permitted work zone) the location of their service prior to commencing work within the municipal right of way;
  2. notify the Right of Way Management section of the Transportation and Engineering department, a minimum of 48 hours prior to commencing any permitted work;
  3. shall keep the work site clean and safe at all times, which not to pose an unnecessary risk to the public;
  4. employ measures to minimize the creation and/or migration of dust, mud and debris emanating from the permitted work. The Director of Municipal Enforcement Services may direct the permit holder to improve the level of dust control and work site cleanliness as deemed necessary;
  5. comply with and be bound by the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, as amended; and
  6. be responsible for all temporary and/or permanent reinstatement of all areas disturbed by the permitted work as detailed on the permit and/or approved plans to the satisfaction of the Director.

2.5 The permit must be available on-site and available for review at all times when work is actively underway.

2.6 The Director may impose additional conditions on the permit restricting the work and/or period of work as deemed necessary.

2.7 The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the work complies with the permit conditions and all other applicable by-laws, regulations and legislation. 

2.8 The applicant may be required to provide public notice in accordance with the town’s Notice policy or when deemed necessary by the Director. Such compliance with the notice period may affect the planned commencement date of the permitted work however the town will not be responsible for such delays in complying with any public notice requirement.

2.9 The Director may at any time require a permit holder to provide material and compaction testing by a licensed material testing laboratory at the permit holder’s expense. Testing results shall be provided to the town directly from the testing laboratory. Any material or compaction that does not meet applicable standards shall be rectified at the permit holders expense.

2.10 Video inspection of underground infrastructure within the work zone will be required, at the discretion of the Director, when boring, jacking and/or tunnelling is employed for subsurface installations, or to confirm the permitted work was completed in accordance with town standards.

2.11 As a minimum, the warranty period for any issued permit shall be valid for a period of 12 months beyond the date of the completion of the permanent restoration of the work area within the municipal right of way.  The Director reserves the right to:

  1. extend the effective permit period where the permit holder undertakes remediation work on the initial permanent restoration work due to issues of unsatisfactory performance or for any reason deemed necessary by the Director;
  2. reduce the effective permit period where the permanent restoration works have, in the opinion of the Director, proven to be satisfactory or where other planned or permitted works in same area will disrupt the permanent restoration works completed by the permit holder; and 
  3. where the applicant is subject to the terms and conditions of a Municipal Access Agreement (MAA) or a Franchise Agreement, extend the warranty period to be coincident with the warranty requirements specified in the MAA or Franchise Agreement.

2.12 Steel road plates may, with approval from the Director, be used to temporarily bridge an open excavation and support vehicular travel for a period no greater than 24 hours. Where steel plates are used the permit holder shall satisfy the Director, through certification by a licensed Ontario Professional Engineer, that the plates are designed and installed to support the maximum permitted highway load. Any installed plates shall be set flush with the surrounding pavement.

2.13 All posted securities for the permitted works shall be retained by the town until the expiration of the permit. Requests for security reduction due to partial performance of the permanent restoration works shall not be permitted.

2.14 The permit holder shall maintain all temporary and permanent restoration works to the satisfaction of the Director.

2.15 Where the permit holder fails to comply with the conditions of the permit, the Director shall give verbal notice to the permit holder, specifying actions to be taken, which the permit holder must perform.

  1. The verbal notice shall be confirmed in writing and served on the permit holder by registered mail to the permit holder’s address as stated in the application form or personally by hand.
  2. If the permit holder does not act within the time prescribed in the written notice, the Director may order the work to be done at the permit holder's expense.
  3. All costs incurred by the town in performing such work shall be invoiced to the permit holder with an administrative fee of 50 per cent.
  4. Failure to pay the invoice will result in the costs being deducted from any permit security.
  5. Should there be no securities, the town reserves the right to take legal action against the permit holder, and revoke and/or reject any present and/or future Business License application under the permit holder’s name.

2.16 If the Director is of the opinion that the work has adversely affected traffic conditions and traffic flow, or created a situation which poses an unnecessary risk to the public, the Director shall direct the permit holder to undertake immediate steps to improve the situation and/or remove the risk.

  1. If the Director cannot make direct contact with the permit holder within a reasonable amount of time or if the permit holder fails to act upon the direction given by the Director within four hours, the Director may order the work to be done by the town or others at the permit holder’s expense.
  2. All costs incurred by the town in performing such work shall be invoiced to the permit holder with an administrative fee of 50 per cent
  3. Failure to pay the invoice will result in the costs being deducted from any permit deposit.
  4. Should there be no/inadequate securities, the town reserves the right to take legal action against the permit holder, and revoke and/or reject any present and/or future Business License application under the permit holder’s name.

2.17 The conditions placed on the permit shall be at the discretion of the Director.

3. Permit expiry

3.1 An excavation permit issued under this by-law shall be valid for a six month period from the date of issuance after which it is deemed expired and securities forfeited to the town unless the permit is renewed prior to expiry.  If renewed prior to expiry, renewals are valid for a six month period, after which the permit is deemed expired and the securities forfeited to the town, unless renewed again prior to expiry. 

3.2 A permit which has expired and the work is not complete at the time of expiry, then a new permit will be required to complete the work and new securities is required.

3.3 No new permit for other work within the town will be granted to the applicant if there are incomplete work under an expired permit and permit not renewed.

Definitions

Director, means the Director of the Transportation and Engineering Department of the Town of Oakville or their designate.

Local Road is as defined by Schedule C of the Town’s Transportation Plan within the Oakville Official Plan.

Non-Local Road, means not a local road.

Responsibilities

The Right of Way Management section of the Transportation and Engineering department is responsible for ensuring compliance, maintenance, interpretation of the procedure and the associated policy.  Where the excavation is part of a site alteration permit or planning application, the Planning and Development department and the Inspections section of the Building Services department are responsible for compliance of this procedure.

References

Municipal Rights of Way By-law
Use of Municipal Rights of Ways Policy
Town of Oakville's Current Rates and Fees Schedule

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