Installing cables and pipes

You may lay cables and pipes in the ground only with permission from the municipality. Permission is not necessary if it is your own land and you are doing it without machinery.

Are you using a machine for digging? Then you must also file an excavation report. You do this at the Kabels en Leidingen Informatiecentrum (KLIC) of the Kadaster. All information about the location of cables and pipelines is stored centrally at the Land Registry.

Does it involve pipes for hazardous substances? If so, you also submit a notification via the Environment Desk.

By cables and pipes we mean:

• Electricity and gas lines from Enexis network
• Water pipes from WML
• Cables for telecommunications from telecom companies

Consent Decree

The telecommunications company requests a consent decree from the municipality. In most cases, the municipality gives permission. This decision is valid for 6 months for an area. Within those 6 months, the cables must be laid.

• Notify the municipality of the start of the work one week in advance.
• Local residents will be notified by the contractor about what work is involved and how long it will take.
• This does not apply in the event of a malfunction. The malfunction must be resolved as soon as possible.

When no consent

There are places within the municipality, where the ground is well full. This is mainly due to the abundance of telecommunications facilities. So other cable and pipe operators can make repairs with the greatest difficulty in the event of failure. Often damage is a result. The municipality asks providers to use each other's facilities. 

• You make the KLIC notification at the earliest 20 working days and at the latest 3 working days before the excavation work.
• Only for pipelines with hazardous content, such as gas: the cable and pipeline information you get from the Land Registry is digitally present at the excavation site during excavation.

The municipality decides within 8 weeks of receiving your application. The municipality may extend this period once by 6 weeks.

You can object to the decision on your application. Do this within 6 weeks. Do you then disagree with the decision on the objection? Then file an appeal with the court.