Builders' merchants and trade counters.
Builders' merchants and trade counters combine customer visits with heavy goods deliveries. We design the yard and access so both work safely.
Main guide: Transport planning for commercial yards and open storage
These sites see a morning peak of trade customers and regular deliveries by rigid and articulated lorries, often with crane offloading. The layout has to separate them safely.
What the council focuses on
Access for heavy vehicles, the effect of HGVs on the local road network, customer parking, queuing at opening time and the safety of people walking past the access.
The evidence that answers it
- Trip generation from comparable merchants and trade counters.
- Swept paths for articulated and crane-mounted delivery vehicles.
- A yard layout separating customers, loading and storage.
- An access junction designed for heavy vehicles.
Yard design
Most safety concerns are about the yard: where vehicles load, where customers walk and how forklifts move. We review the layout with the operator before it is fixed.
What the application usually needs
- A Transport Statement with trade customer and delivery trips.
- A yard layout separating customers, forklifts and lorries.
- Swept paths for articulated lorries and crane vehicles.
- An access design for HGVs.
- A servicing and delivery management plan.
A typical case
A typical case is a builders’ merchant moving to a larger site with a yard and showroom. The council asks about lorries on local roads and early morning trade traffic. We show trips from comparable merchants, design the access for articulated vehicles, separate customer parking from forklift and lorry movements, and agree a route for deliveries away from residential streets.
Technical points
Builders’ merchants are busiest early in the morning, when trades collect materials. Deliveries out to sites are often by crane-mounted lorries, which need space to manoeuvre and load. Yard safety is a design issue as well as a planning one, so we design the layout so customers on foot do not share space with forklifts. Trade counters on industrial estates usually raise fewer issues but still need servicing and parking checks.
If highways raise concerns
Concerns usually relate to HGVs on local roads, early morning activity and yard safety. A routing plan, a well-designed yard and an access designed for the largest vehicle usually resolve them.
Where concerns relate to residential neighbours, we propose delivery hours and routes that keep lorries away from homes.
How we help
We provide the transport statement, access design and swept paths, and support discussions with the highway authority.
The same questions arise in Scotland and Wales, where they are assessed against NPF4 and Scottish guidance or Planning Policy Wales and TAN 18 rather than the NPPF.
To get a quote, send us:
- The site address or a location plan.
- The yard and showroom layout and opening hours.
- The fleet of delivery vehicles.
- Any pre-application advice or highways comments you already have.
Questions we get asked
Do builders’ merchants need a Transport Statement?
Usually, given the mix of HGVs, vans and customers. Trade counters may need only a short note.
When are builders’ merchants busiest?
Early weekday mornings, when trades collect materials before going to site.
How do you design the yard?
To separate customers, forklifts and lorries, with swept paths for the largest vehicles.
Will HGV routing be needed?
Sometimes, where a route through a residential area could be used. We propose a preferred route.
Can you help with an existing merchant expanding?
Yes. We compare existing and future activity and design any changes.
Related guidance.
Commercial yards and open storage
Read
For open storage, the delivery route is part of the site
Read
Warehousing and logistics
Read
Related services: Transport Statements · Swept path analysis · Site access design.
Guidance and sources
- GOV.UK: National Planning Policy FrameworkEngland. National policy on transport in planning decisions.
- GOV.UK: Travel Plans, Transport Assessments and StatementsEngland. Planning guidance on proportionate transport evidence.
Sources checked 8 November 2026. General information, not advice on a specific site.
Got a site in mind?
Send us the location and what is proposed. We will tell you what the council is likely to ask for, with a fixed fee.