Will you be sending wastewater to the sewer?

You'll also be required to pay user charges for some sites.

The application process

Please get in touch to find out whether you need a trade waste discharge consent before you do any building work. A waste officer will inspect your premises and its trade waste discharge, and where appropriate identify potential issues and additional requirements, such as amended drainage plans.

Note that:

• depending on your business type, we may undertake regular testing as part of a monitoring schedule
• you may be required to pay for the wastewater your business discharges
• you must be able to supply written proof that grease traps and sumps are being regularly cleaned and maintained.
• a consent fee applies; we set this annually and scale it according to the risks associated with your discharge and site management practices.

Higher-risk businesses may incur other fees, such as:

• conditional consent fees
• user charges based on volume, solids content and strength
• fees for monitoring by accredited laboratories to check that discharges comply with consents.

Consents are renewed annually.

Ready to apply?

To apply for a trade waste discharge consent, you’ll need to provide:

• for non-complex sites such as retail food businesses, a completed Application for Trade Waste Licence or Registration (PDF 105 kb)
• for complex sites, a completed Application for a Consent to Discharge Trade Waste (PDF 109 kb).

When we receive your application we’ll send you an invoice for the consent fee (more complex sites may also be charged an application fee) – and once your application is processed and the fee paid, send you the consent and any associated conditions.

How long will it take?

The application processing time varies, but it’s usually about a week.

Applications involving building work won’t be fully processed until the works are complete and we’ve inspected the finished premises. We prefer to inspect new premises when we can meet the actual operators.