Roads and pavements

• How do I report a problem?
• How do I report an emergency?
• How do I report problems on a private street?
• What happens once I have submitted the report?
• How long will it take?
• How will I be kept up to date?

Our team of Highways Inspectors carry out regular inspections of roads and footways for defects and hazards, as well as responding to specific issues reported by members of the public.

A new reactive maintenance strategy has been introduced which reflects current national guidance on best practice. This strategy sets out a robust defect inspection, recording, and rectification regime for safety inspections to address faults that represent a risk to all road users. It defines the way in which defects are prioritised, in order to ensure the safety of the travelling public, while minimising unnecessary 'early-stage' repairs to minor defects. Once a defect exceeds the investigatory levels, it is then risk assessed based on impact and probability, and this defines the risk factor and response time required.

Details of these are set out in the Highways Maintenance Plan - April 2018, (PDF 588KB).

How do I report a problem?

Register or log in to My Account (if you want to view the progress of your reports) or log in anonymously here. 

Select the location of the problem and the correct category from the drop-down menu to report problems with carriageways, footways and street furniture including:

• Potholes (where the surface of a road or footway has eroded and a hollow has formed)
• Street Furniture defects (traffic bollards or sign poles knocked down or broken, sign plates hanging loose, fencing or pedestrian guard railing sticking out into the pavement or road)
• Inspection cover missing or damaged
• Drainage issues on the highway, or if a gully or drain cover is missing
• Damaged or missing kerbs
• Spillages on the highway

We require as much of the following information as possible to investigate and respond to your report:

• Street name and area
• Location on street, ie: is it near a house number or road junction?
• Description and detail of the damage
• Your name, a contact number and email address
• Date and approximate time of damage
• Persons or vehicle registration responsible for damage (if known)
• Were the police in attendance?

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How do I report an emergency?

To report defects on the carriageway where there is an immediate and serious danger to the public, please call 020 8489 1335 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm), and 020 8489 0000 outside of normal working hours.

Examples of such emergencies would be an oil spillage on the carriageway, a sinkhole, or a road traffic collision with street furniture making the footway or carriageway unsafe to use.

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How do I report problems on a private street?

A private street is a street that has not been adopted by Haringey Council and is therefore not maintained by us. Unadopted streets generally do not meet the standard of adopted streets. The responsibility for private streets lies with the street owners, who are usually the people who live on the street, but could be a housing association.

• See the private streets/road adoption page for more information

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What happens once I have submitted the report?

Emergencies will be inspected within two hours of being notified. All other defects will be inspected within 10 working days.

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How long will it take?

Defects that are risk assessed as hazardous or serious will be prioritised.

• Hazardous defects will be made safe within 24 hours, with a permanent repair following.
• Serious defects will be repaired within 7 days.

We will aim to repair other defects that are not serious or hazardous within 28 working days where possible. We do not have the resources to repair every defect within the 28 working days timescale and so we will prioritise depending on the risk of the defect.

Low-risk defects will be categorised as low priority and may take significantly longer than 28 working days to repair.

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How will I be kept up to date?

We will contact you by email to let you know the result of the inspection, and again when the repair has been completed.

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