Paragraph 44 Maintenance of the NH works

Following the issue of the Final Certificate, the Company must maintain those parts of the NH works that it is required to maintain under the DLOA, in accordance with the DLOA.

If the Company fails to maintain any part of the NH works which it is required to maintain pursuant to the DLOA and National Highways reasonably considers that such failure to maintain is causing or may cause a danger to road users or damage to the strategic road network or a National Highways asset or structure, or excessive delays to road users, National Highways may by notice in writing require the Company, at the Company’s own expense, to comply with the requirements of this Part of this Schedule.

If within 28 days on which a notice under sub-paragraph (2) is served on the Company (or in the event of there being in the reasonable opinion of National Highways a danger to or delay to road users within such lesser period as National Highways may stipulate), the Company has failed to take the steps required by that notice, National Highways may carry out such works as it reasonably considers necessary and may recover from the Company any expenditure reasonably incurred by it in so doing.

The Company must, prior to the commencement of any works of maintenance to the HE works for which it is responsible pursuant to the DLOA, give National Highways 28 days’ notice in writing of the date on which such maintenance works will start unless otherwise agreed by National Highways, acting reasonably; and where carrying out maintenance works following a notice served on it by National Highways pursuant to paragraph 44(2), the Company must give as much notice as is reasonably practicable.

Nothing in this Part of this Schedule prevents National Highways from carrying out any work or taking any such action as it reasonably believes to be necessary in respect of any part of the NH works that the Company are required to maintain pursuant to the DLOA without prior notice to the Company in the event of emergency or to prevent the occurrence of danger or significant delay to road users and National Highways may recover from the Company any reasonable expenditure incurred by National Highways in so doing.

If, for the purposes of maintaining the works pursuant to this paragraph 44, the Company needs to occupy any road space, the Company must comply with the National Highways road space booking requirements and no maintenance works for which a road space booking is required is to commence without a road space booking having first been secured.

The Company must comply with any reasonable requirements that National Highways may notify to the Company, such requirements to be notified to the Company not less than 7 days in advance of the planned commencement date of the maintenance works.

The provisions of paragraph 35(1) apply to the opening of any part of the trunk road following occupation of any road space under paragraph 43(1).