Any public service agency such as Electricity, Water, Sewerage and Telecommunications etc proposing to undertake any excavation work in, on, under or over roads reserve (includes carriageway, footpath, median, verges etc.) must obtain proper approval from all other Utilities in standard forms as shown in the attachment. The approval can either be (a) General service notifications (GSN) for minor works or (b) Wayleave for medium and large projects involving excavation length more than 50 meters.
Any private developer wishing to carry out a private project such building construction and maintenance, property development etc must also take these permissions if their excavation work is likely to affect the adjacent road and traffic movement. All private applicants should contact Central Planning Unit (CPU) of this Ministry to obtain these permissions.
A.General Service Notifications (GSN):
A General Service Notification is required for projects where
1. Length of excavation is less than 50 meters.
2. Excavation does not cross more than half width of the roadway
3. All works are within minor internal roads only. GSN is not applicable for excavation on major highways and avenues.
It is processed electronically through specially designed software called Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS) developed and managed for this purpose by Central Planning Unit (CPU) of Ministry of Works
Processing time for GSNs normally takes one week.
B.Wayleave:
A wayleave is required for projects with length exceeding 50 metres. Wayleave is applied in standard forms (as shown in the attachment) and circulated to various stakeholders through an inter-ministry circulatory procedure managed and operated by Central Planning Unit of Ministry of Works.
Processing of a wayleave application normally takes two weeks time but may require few more weeks for projects requiring difficult and complex co-ordinations between various stakeholders
In addition to GSN and wayleave approval, further additional approvals named
(a) Undersecretary's Permission and
(b) Ministerial Permission are also required for excavation on major Highway/Avenues and also on roads constructed within last two years. Processing of Ministerial and Undersecretary's permission normally takes two to three weeks time.
