Parking permit conditions

1. Trades parking permit details

For the purposes of the terms and conditions, a 'business' is defined as a trade involving workers who are engaged in activities such as, decorating, plumbing, kitchen and bathroom installations, which require their attendance for lengthy periods at premises which are not their permanent place of employment, and for which their vehicle is an essential base for materials and equipment throughout the working day.

There is no restriction as to the location of the business or the number of trades’ permits that a business may apply for.

View annual Trades Permit cost

2. Business and vehicle application requirements

Business requirements

1. The applicant must pay non-domestic rates for the business premises. Any business claiming small business relief should indicate this on the application form in the space provided.
2. The business must undertake a qualifying trade.

Vehicle requirements

The vehicle must:

1. Be permanently liveried (business name and contact details must be clear and legible from a distance of 20m)
2. Be less than 3.2m high, less than 6.5m long and less than 5 tonnes in weight
3. Not be built to carry 12 or more passengers and cannot be drawing a trailer when using a Trades permit
4. Be owned hired or leased to the business or applicant
5. Be insured for business use
6. Be essential to the daily operation of the business

3. Permitted parking areas

The trades permit is valid for all day parking in pay and display and shared use parking places. The trades permit may only be used within operational On-Street permit parking bays between the hours of 9.00am and 4.30pm, Monday to Saturday, in all of Highland Resident Permit Zones or Streets (providing no further parking restrictions are in force). Trades’ permits do not allow parking in any other designated parking bays or restricted areas and vehicles must obey the relevant parking restrictions at all times. A trades’ permit does not guarantee the holder a parking space.

4. Assigning a trade permit to a vehicle

The trades permit can only be used by one registered vehicle at any given time. The permit can be assigned to the other registered vehicle by simply swapping the permit between vehicles. The responsibility lies with the permit holder to ensure that the permit is clearly displayed on the vehicle to which it has been assigned at all times. Any registered vehicles which are not clearly displaying the retailers’ permit must park in accordance with the parking regulations and will not be afforded any additional parking concessions.

5. Display of permit

Where a paper permit is issued the trades’ permit should be clearly displayed on the front windscreen or nearside window of the registered vehicle to which it has been assigned whenever it is in use.

6. Conditions of use

Permits are offered in terms of and subject to the provisions of:

• The Highland Council (Prohibition and restriction of waiting and loading and parking places) (Decriminalised parking enforcement and consolidation) Order 2016 as amended and
• The Highland Council (Off-Street parking places) (Decriminalised parking enforcement and consolidation) Order 2016 as amended

1. Trades’ permits can only be used for registered vehicles which must meet the application requirements at all times when using the permit. If, for any reason, the business or vehicle no longer meets the permit application requirements then the permit can no longer be used for that business or vehicle. The Council reserves the right to request an inspection of any registered vehicle at any time.
2. A trades’ permit is only considered to be valid when displayed on a pre-registered vehicle. Any registered vehicles not displaying the trades’ permit must park in accordance with any parking regulations. Trades’ permits will not be recognised if displayed on unregistered vehicles.
3. Trades’ permits must be clearly displayed on the front windscreen of the registered vehicle for which it is being used. Any vehicles displaying an obscured or illegible permit may be issued with a parking ticket.
4. Trades’ permit holders must obey the relevant traffic laws and parking restrictions at all times and must move or relocate their vehicle if requested to do so by a Police Officer or Parking Enforcement Officer.
5. Trades’ permits are not to be used for staff commuter parking.

7. Change of vehicle

Permit holders can change their registered vehicles free of charge as often as they want, however each new vehicle must meet the application requirements before it can be registered to a permit. Applicants wishing to add or remove vehicles should contact the Permit Team.

8. Change of address

In the event that a business changes address, the permit holder must contact the Permit Team at their earliest opportunity to arrange for the amendment of their permit details.

9. Lost or stolen permits

If a business permit is lost or stolen then the permit holder must contact the Permit Team at their earliest opportunity. The cost for a replacement permit is 10% of the original charge.

10. Permit renewals

It is the responsibility of the permit holder to ensure that their parking permit is renewed on time. Permit holders can renew their "trades" parking permit by using the online permit service.

11. Voluntary surrender of permit

A permit holder may relinquish their permit at any time. Refunds are only available for annual permits at £15 for each complete month which remains unexpired.

12. Misuse of permits

The Council reserves the right to revoke trades’ permits without refund if they have reason to believe that the permit is being misused (for instance is being primarily used for staff commuting or is not being regularly used by the business throughout the working day). Permit holders are also required to relinquish their permits if their business or vehicle no longer meets the permit application requirements, if a new or replacement permit is issued by the Permit Team or if they are requested to do so in writing by the Council.

13. Offences and penalties

It is a criminal offence under section 115 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, for any person to lend or allow to be used a permit with intent to deceive; or for any person to make or have in their possession any document so closely resembling a permit as to be calculated to deceive; or for any person to forge or alter a permit. If such an offence is triable on indictment the maximum penalty is 2 years imprisonment. If such an offence is triable summarily the maximum fine is currently £2,000.

It is also a criminal offence under section 115 of the 1984 act for a person to knowingly make a false statement in order to obtain a permit for himself or any other person. The maximum fine for such an offence is currently £2,000.