Every so often a household project will come along that’s likely to generate far more waste than your average dustbin will hold. Domestic skip hire provides an easier and preferable alternative to the inconvenience of transporting several car-loads of messing waste to your local recycling centre, or hiring a van for the job. Skips for domestic hire are available in a range of sizes, which means there’s generally one that’s perfect for your project whether you’re de-cluttering your house, giving the garden a makeover, replacing a kitchen or bathroom, decorating or doing a bit of building.
Use our search comparison engine to show dozens of domestic skip hire companies in your area. The question is, how do you choose between them? Firstly, it’s important to safeguard yourself from any person or company who might attempt to dispose of your waste illegally. By entrusting your waste to fly-tippers you are potentially exposing yourself to prosecution, a fine and at worst a prison sentence.
Any company you use for domestic skip hire be licenced by the EA (go to the the Environment Agency’s online public registers to check if they are licensed or contact them by phone.
A further safeguard is to check whether a domestic skip hire company is a member of the National Skip Hire Association. This is a trade body for the skip hire industry which aims to promote ethical and responsible business practice amongst its members. Domestic skip hire companies that have membership of the NSHA agree to abide by the association’s professional code of conduct.
Having found some legitimate and licenced domestic skip hire companies in your area you need to check availability to obtain the best deal for the type of skip you require and the length of time you need it for. A tip worth remembering is that you should aim to choose a skip that is slightly larger than you need. It may seem cost-effective to go for the smaller of two skips, but overloading a skip is illegal and you could end up paying your domestic skip hire company for a second skip to collect and take away the extra waste that wouldn’t in the first.
Another tip is to work out exactly where your household skip will be situated. Access for delivery and collection by the skip hire company needs to be considered, as well as the fact that if any part of, or the entire skip encroaches on a public highway (a road, pavement or verge) you will need to obtain a skip permit from your local authority. Lastly, you need to be sure that your skip will not block access to neighbouring premises and that it is not placed within fifteen metres of a road junction.
Arranging the domestic skip hire itself is easy. All you have to do is phone the skip hire company, tell them what you need and how long you need it for and you’re away. Some domestic skip hire companies will take a credit card payment from you over the phone, and some will arrange your skip permit for you. After that, your skip should be delivered within twenty-four hours and you can get on with the job in hand.
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