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Repair criteria for highway defects

Find out how soon repairs are made by Suffolk Highways to repair defects on our roads.

It's not possible for repairs to be carried out everywhere at the same time, meaning repairs have to be prioritised using a risk-based approach.

The busier a road or footway is in terms of traffic, the greater the chance of defect causing a problem. Therefore Suffolk Highways gives greater priority to the repair of roads that carry the most vehicles. 

Suffolk Highways' approach is to define repair timescales that can be met across the entire county, regardless of whether the work is in an urban or rural environment. The categories of work and response times have been developed by reviewing the location (severity) and size (likelihood) of the defect and shown in the table below. 

Repair categories and response times
Category of repair Response time for work to start
Category 1 Within 2 hours
Category 2 Within 2 working days
Category 3 Within 5 working days
Category 4 Within 10 working days
Category 5 Within 20 working days
Category 6 Within 8/14 calendar weeks
Category 7 Potential future works
Category 8 Planned works

Categories 2 to 5 response times start at 12:01am the following working day to when the issue is assessed by Suffolk Highways and a decision made to order work.

You can find out more about the types of repair works we carry out by browsing the tabs below.

We rely on our safety inspections and reports from the public to inform us of damage to Suffolk roads.

Report a problem

You can report a problem quickly and easily by visiting our Report a highways issue webpage.

More information about how we provide highway maintenance is in our Highway Maintenance Operational Plan blow and details of the road classification Suffolk Highways has adopted are on our Categories of roads, footways and cycleways page on this website. 


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You can also find options to help yourself online, and phone us if needed.