Road Opening Licence

Applicants must give a total of twenty one days notification to Dublin City Council to commence planned works to break open the public road.

What is a road opening licence?

• The licence allows the holder to excavate a section of public road i.e. carriageway, footway and associated grass verge
• It will only be issued to the main contractor or developer. Road opening licences are not issued to private individuals or sub-contractors

Requesting a road opening licence

Step 1: Make sure you qualify for a licence

You qualify for a licence if you are:

• A main contractor or developer
• With minimum cover of €6.5 million with specific indemnity to Dublin City Council on policy

Step 2: Contact other major utilities to request permission to dig

Contact all utilities who may have underground cables or services in the place you intend to dig:

• Visit ESB Networks website: "Safe Digging"
• Visit Gas Networks Ireland website: "Dial before you Dig"
• Email Eir before you dig: "Click before you dig"

Step 3: On-line application using MapRoad Licensing

Please apply for a road opening licence on Map Road Licencing at their website:

• Visit Road Management Office MapRoad Licensing system

If you have any queries relating to the MRL system, please contact their support team here

Step 4: Information to be provided to Dublin City Council

Please include and upload the following information in the documents folder tab of your licence application:

• A drawing of all proposed excavation areas
• A site specific Traffic Management Plan
• Pre-works photographs of all surfaced areas to be excavated
• A description of your proposed works programme with dates
• If you are digging a connection to a surface water sewer you will require a drainage licence from the Dublin City Council Drainage Department
• Foul sewer and water connections must be applied to Irish Water ([email protected])
• A copy of payment of your Licence fee including the reference number of the licence application only after an invoice has been issued(see below)

Licence fee

The amount of the fee depends on the size of the hole and type of repair needed (see here for more details). We will evaluate your request. If your request is granted, you must adhere to the following rules:

• You must pay Dublin City Council a deposit equal to the cost of permanently reinstating the excavation you make
• This deposit will be held during the guarantee period of the licence for a minimum of 2 years while the long term impact charge to the public road or footpath is retained by Dublin City Council
• Your deposit will be refunded after a T5 closeout certificate on the MapRoad Licensing system has been received from the applicant asking for the reinstatement to be taken in charge, providing your repair work has not degraded. The amount refunded to you will exclude the cost of any long-term impact charge to the public road or footpath
• If the permanent reinstatement fails, the applicant must bring the reinstatement to Road Maintenance Services' standard before it can be taken in charge and deposit returned. Otherwise, the deposit will be used to pay for the opening to be properly reinstated by Road Maintenance Services
• Please be advised that payments be made only after an invoice has been issued. (see here for more details)