Archaeology charging schedule

The charges are for our expertise in quality controlling archaeological work to ensure compliance with national and local planning policy. The charges also apply to any developments which fall outside local planning authority decision making such as utility pipelines, cables and national infrastructure projects. Charges also apply to all permitted development. There are no charges for most community led projects.

Charging is based on standard or routine involvement in projects, by type and size, and an estimated number of visits allocated that will cover the majority of cases. If further work is required due to unforeseen site circumstances, additional charges will be calculated on a pro rata basis.

There is a flat fee with add-on charges for specific points of contact and specific stages in the archaeological planning process.

We do not charge for initial pre-application advice (up to an hour of officer time). However, developers, their agents and archaeological organisations acting on behalf of developers are required to pay for the team’s advice during the planning process.

For desk-based assessments, palaeoenvironmental assessments and geophysical survey, where no site monitoring visit is required, no charges will be raised unless further work stages of archaeological work are required.

What you need to do

You will be required to complete a simple online application form to initiate the work, and we will raise an invoice which will be sent to you following the production of your brief. The charge will be invoiced based on the details submitted on the request form; therefore archaeological contractors and agents must ensure their client is aware of the charges.

Payment must have been made before each stage of archaeological investigation has been completed. Failure to pay will result in the delay of approval of the stage of archaeological work.

What about charges for work already in progress?

Charges are applied to all new casework and for new stages of on-going archaeological investigations.

What you need to know

• A brief remains valid for one year
• A brief will usually be provided within 15 working days from application
• On request, a 'fast track' brief can be provided within 5 working days for an additional 50% charge on the standard tariff. We will get back to you within two working days if we cannot meet your fast-track request
• Comments on standard reports are usually made within 30 days of submission of the relevant documentation (by negotiation for major projects)
• Approval of a submitted WSI will usually be completed within 15 working days. Where a WSI or report fails to meet required standards and / or substantive changes are required additional charges are made at the standard rate of £60 per hour
• All charges in the Schedule are exclusive of 20% VAT.

What's included in the charge

The charge is inclusive of: production of the project brief, review of the Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI), monitoring of the fieldwork and scrutiny of the report (per stage and phase of work) to ensure that planning requirements are fulfilled. Any development sites within a historic urban core as defined by the HER will incur an additional 25% charge to the amounts in the table below.

• An administration charge of £30 will be added if brief request forms are submitted with incorrect information for invoicing purposes, requiring replacement invoices to be issued

The planning advice charges do not include any searches of the Historic Environment Record (HER). Find out about the HER charges in the next section on this page.

The number of monitoring site visits allowed for per category is included in the table below, any additional visits required can be charged at the standard rate of £60 per hour plus travel cost.

Planning advice charges

Note:

• Pre-app advice, before a brief is commissioned by the developer, is free of charge (up to an hour of officer time). Complex sites are charged on a case-by-case basis
• Meetings and site visits at a developer's request are charged at £60 per hour plus travel costs
• Hectares is shown in the table below as ha. E.g., 0.5ha

Our policy of charging developers and their agents, consultants and contractors to consult the Historic Environment Record (HER) is for commercial purposes or to reproduce digital data derived from the HER.

A Historic Environment Record data request form must be completed before a search will be undertaken.

The standard response time for a:

• standard search is 10 working days
• priority search is 5 working days for double the standard fee

What's included in the charge

A HER search comprises reports on requested HER datasets provided by email in PDF format, as well as exported HER mapping in GIS or PDF format. Reproduction rights for HER mapping are included in the search fee. HER charges cover the staff time to service an enquiry and include time taken to extract the relevant datasets and prepare reports, mapping and data.

Charges

Note:

• the data is provided on a site by site basis. This can be a specific development site(s) or a generalised discrete area(s)
• the charges exclude VAT at 20% 
• An administration charge of £30 will be added if HER data request forms are submitted with incorrect information for invoicing purposes, requiring replacement invoices to be issued

Our policy of charging for Historic Environment information requests and advice for Woodland creation, management or deforestation is to cover staff time to compile and prepare the information. Request should be made by filling out via our Historic Environment Record Data Request Form.

Along with the form, please submit any supporting information such as PDF maps or GIS shapefile of the proposed Woodland parcels by email to archaeology.HER@suffolk.gov.uk 

The standard response time for a woodland search is 15 working days.

What's included in the charge

A UK Forestry Standard HER search comprises reports both full information and summary lists in PDF Format, as well as exported HER mapping and Historic Landscape Characterisation in either GIS or PDF format for any known Historic environment monuments within 500m of the proposed boundary or parcel.

Where required, information and advice is also included on how to manage known and potential historic environment features, the historic landscape character and included advice on the requirement for specialist archaeological survey or mitigation.

HER charges cover the staff time to service an enquiry and includes time taken to extract the relevant datasets, prepare reports, mapping and advice.

Charges

Note:

• the data is provided on a site by site basis. This can be a specific development site(s) or a generalised discrete area(s)
• PDF mapping is included within the charge
• the charges exclude VAT at 20%
• An administration charge of £30 will be added if HER data request forms are submitted with incorrect information for invoicing purposes, requiring replacement invoices to be issued

Description of work charge

Standard Search

• Up to 50 hectares
• 15 working days £150

Large Search

Searches of woodland parcels totalling above 50 hectares may be subject to additional charge for staff time. For a quote please email: archaeology.HER@suffolk.gov.uk

Our policy of charging for Historic Environment information requests and advice for Natural England for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Agriculture) screening decision, is to cover staff time to compile and prepare the information. Request should be made by filling out via our Historic Environment Record Data Request Form.

Along with the form, please submit any supporting information such as PDF maps or GIS shapefile of the proposed land parcels by email to archaeology.HER@suffolk.gov.uk

The standard response time for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Agriculture) screening decision is 15 working days.

What's included in the charge

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Agriculture) screening decision comprises of completion of section 2 of the Historic Environment and Archaeology Form, a detailed report of any heritage assets affected by or near to the project area in PDF format, as well as exported HER mapping in either GIS or PDF format for any known Historic environment monuments within 500m of the proposed project area.

HER charges cover the staff time to service an enquiry and includes time taken to extract the relevant datasets, prepare reports, mapping and advice.

Charges

Note:

• the data is provided on a site by site basis. This can be a specific project area(s) or a generalised discrete area(s)
• PDF mapping is included within the charge
• the charges exclude VAT at 20%
• An administration charge of £30 will be added if HER data request forms are submitted with incorrect information for invoicing purposes, requiring replacement invoices to be issued

Description of work charge

Standard Search

• Up to 50 hectares
• 15 working days £150

Large Search

Searches for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Agriculture) screening decision totalling over 50 hectares may be subject to additional charge for staff time. For a quote please email: archaeology.HER@suffolk.gov.uk

The charges:

• include the administration costs associated with deposition and as a contribution towards long term storage
• exclude VAT at 20%

Quotes and tailored deposition timetables (for backlogs and infrastructure projects with more than 450 boxes) can be issued as required to depositors and last one year from the date of issue. After this time the quote becomes invalid and the box fee will default to the fee advertised at time of deposition.

Any additional work needed to be carried out by Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service staff to ensure the archive meets depositional and conservation standards will be charged, after discussion, to the depositing organisation.

Email archaeology.archives@suffolk.gov.uk or call 01284 741230 to discuss and obtain a quote.

Find out more about archaeological archives service.