How often we inspect
We inspect all pavements at least once a year as part of our regular safety inspections. In some locations, we carry out more regular safety inspections.
Minor repairs such as potholes and trip hazards are also repaired throughout the year as they come to our attention and meet our safety standards.
If you report a pavement problem online, we will send out an inspector to look at it. We will repair any safety hazards that we find during these inspections. More information can be found on our Highways Safety Inspections page.
Types of maintenance
Surrey County Council is responsible for maintaining all pavements in Surrey except those that are privately owned.
We use a number of engineering techniques to maintain Surrey’s footways. These include:
Pavement slurry
Slurry sealing may be carried out as a low-cost alternative to reconstruction as it waterproofs the pavement and can extend its life by up to 10 years. If we replace kerbstones as part of the scheme, this may result in an alteration of height of the pavements.
We can not guarantee the profile of the pavement will stay the same and access to driveways will remain unaltered once the new surface has gone down. Drives with steep inclines in or out may find that low profile cars find access more difficult.
These works are weather dependent and bad weather may mean works are postponed.
Pavement patching
Patching may be carried out where sections of a pavement have deteriorated, but the whole area does not need replacing.
Pavement reconstruction
Reconstruction is carried out when a more durable repair is required as it reduces the need for future maintenance works.
Reconstruction of pavements includes replacing block paving with asphalt pavements, which are less of a safety hazard and are easier and cheaper to maintain. Reconstruction schemes will involve replacement of kerb stones which may result in an alteration of height of the pavements.
We cannot guarantee the profile of the pavement will stay the same, and access to driveways will remain unaltered once the new surface has gone down. Drives with steep inclines in or out may find that low profile cars find access more difficult.