U1 exemption: construction waste limits and registration rules
A U1 exemption allows specified construction waste uses in England. Check material limits, registration charges, renewal rules and the EA public register.
A U1 exemption lets you use specified waste, such as concrete, bricks or soil, in construction in England without an environmental permit for that activity. You still have to meet its conditions and tonnage limits. Register with the Environment Agency where required before you operate. The EA's U1 guidance sets out the permitted uses.
It is not a waste licence for any construction waste on the site. These rules are England's, so do not treat them as the process in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Loads are not pre-approved.
Concrete, bricks and soil each need a check against the waste description, the construction purpose and the quantity limit. A register entry is not that check.
What does a U1 exemption allow?
U1 can cover repairs, alterations, maintenance or improvements to buildings and sites. The EA also lists construction noise bunds, tracks, paths, bridleways, drainage works and maintenance of existing linear networks. Imported soil can support landscaping within a construction project, but U1 doesn't cover standalone landscaping, levelling or reclamation. Check the permitted activities against the work you actually propose.
Waste must match both a listed code and its description. It must suit the intended use, meet engineering standards and stay within the quantity the job needs. A permitted code alone doesn't make the waste acceptable. The EA also requires waste to be free from contamination by pollutants such as plastic, asbestos fragments, oils or fuels. These conditions apply alongside the quantity limits.
U1 doesn't authorise treatment to make incoming waste suitable. Nor does it replace separate planning or flood-risk requirements. Waste outside its conditions needs another appropriate authorisation. See the EA's exclusions before you accept material.
U1 waste limits for common construction materials
These examples come from the EA's general construction tables. They are not a full acceptance list, and the totals include other wastes in the same table.
| Material examples | Waste codes | Combined table limit |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete, bricks, tiles and ceramics | 17 01 01, 17 01 02, 17 01 03 | 5,000 tonnes across guidance Table 1 |
| Construction and demolition soil and stones, excluding hazardous entry 17 05 03* | 17 05 04 | 1,000 tonnes across guidance Table 2 |
The EA guidance counts these construction limits over the three-year registration, while the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 count waste used or stored in each statutory table over any three-year period, so a renewal does not hand you a fresh allowance.
The 5,000-tonne figure is not an allowance for each material or each delivery. The soil allowance doesn't cover all soil, whatever its description or contamination. And neither figure permits more waste than the construction work needs. The full conditions still apply below the stated maximum.
Storage has a separate deadline: waste must not be stored for more than 12 months before use. That deadline creates no extra tonnage. A three-year registration doesn't mean three years of storage. For projects that combine activities, special road or drainage works, or linear-network maintenance, confirm the applicable limits with the EA before you accept waste. Use the full U1 activity tables, rather than adding allowances together yourself.
How to register a U1 waste exemption
For a construction-waste "U1 form", use the official waste exemption registration service. Prepare the operator's name and contact details, the exemption activity and the site location. You will need an address and postcode or grid reference, plus company details where they apply. The same service supports updates and deregistration. The registration page lists what to provide.
For an ordinary single-site, standalone U1 registration, the two published charges add up to £494.09. That is a £58.13 registration charge plus a £435.96 band 1 compliance charge. There is no VAT on those charges. They are not annual charges. The EA says you do not pay again until you register again. Charities, qualifying farm registrations, additional exemptions and linear-network operational areas have different charging rules. Check the EA charges page for your case.
Renewal and duplicate registrations
Registration lasts three years. You can renew in the month before expiry, not earlier. But you can't register again until the Environment Agency contacts you. The EA says it makes that contact a month before expiry. Miss the expiry date and the entry comes off the public register of exempt waste sites.
You can't register a second U1 at the same site, including one that another business has already registered there. That second registration would not increase the allowance. A separate storage exemption can't enlarge U1 storage either. Deregistering and registering again also fails to create a fresh allowance. The new registration inherits what remains until the original end date. The U1 guidance sets out these limits.
Check the waste exemption public register
Search the EA waste exemption public register by business name, registration number, address, postcode or exemption type. Locate the site and confirm the entry includes U1. Finding the operator's name alone doesn't show that the site has that activity registered.
An entry confirms registration, not that a particular load or project meets the conditions. Check the material and activity conditions separately. If the work is storage pending recovery elsewhere, S2 covers that distinct activity, subject to its own conditions. It can't supply extra U1 capacity.
RegAffairs AI has a cited answer on U1 permissions and registration.
Announced changes from January 2027
As at 1 November 2026, the EA's reform guidance still says the changes are subject to parliamentary approval. The EA says it expects that approval before 17 December 2026. It gives an intended start of 6 January 2027, and the stated U1 transition ends on 6 January 2028. This does not mean U1 ends in January 2027. Check the current reform guidance before you rely on those dates.
From 6 July 2027, the announced rules limit storage of each waste type to the lowest amount among the exemptions registered at the site. They also use that date for bringing a technically connected exemption into the environmental permit, or stopping that exempt activity. The U1 transition ending on 6 January 2028 does not move those dates. Check the announced rules rather than treating January 2028 as a grace period for every change.