---
id: KB-NO-020
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/regulation/waste-generated-by-someone-else-on-your-premises
idioma: en
categoria: normativa
subcategoria: residuos
audiencia: usuario
nivel: avanzado
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-NO-003, KB-CN-011, KB-IU-027]
citadoPor: [KB-NO-026]
---

# Waste generated by someone else on your premises

_A contractor comes to do a job and leaves waste. Who answers for it is not always whoever produced it._

**Responde a:** waste from works at my company · the installer takes the waste away · who is the waste producer · contractor waste responsibility

A refurbishment in the warehouse, a machine swap, a maintenance visit leaving used oil or filters, rubble from a small job. Someone comes, works, and when they finish there is something to remove. The question rarely asked in time is whose waste that is.

## The three situations that get confused

| How it was arranged | Who manages it | What to hold |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Agreed the contractor takes it | They do, with their manager | The agreement in writing and their removal documents |
| It stays in your skip | You do | Like any waste of your own |
| Nobody discussed it | Decided once it is in the yard | The case to avoid |
| The waste is hazardous | It depends, and everything changes | Check before anyone comes in |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The third row creates the real problem: **if it was not agreed, the waste stays where it lands, and whoever holds the premises usually answers for it**. Whoever came to work leaves, and what remains in your yard becomes yours for practical purposes. A phone call afterwards does not fix it: the quote does, by writing down who removes it and with what documentation. One line in the contract saves the entire conversation.

## What to ask of whoever comes to work

1. **That they state what waste they will produce** — Before starting, not after: it changes who may remove it.
2. **Who removes it and to which manager** — And that the manager is authorised for that waste type.
3. **The removal documents, in your file** — Even if they manage it, the question will come to you.
4. **And what happens to whatever is not taken that day** — What stays «until next week» stays for months.

> [!WARNING]
> One case is especially delicate and common: **hazardous waste arriving mixed in with general waste**. A tin of solvent in the rubble skip, oily rags among packaging offcuts. From that moment the whole skip changes category, and you answer for that skip. So say where each thing goes before they start, rather than trusting the visitor to know: at their own premises it may be crystal clear and at yours they know where nothing is.

## If you are the ones working at someone else's site

**En corto**

- Ask who removes it before quoting: it changes the price and the liability.
- Take your own away unless agreed otherwise, and record it.
- And hand the client the removal documents even if they do not ask.

> [!NOTE]
> Who holds producer status for a waste, what duties come with it and how it is shared when a contractor is involved is determined by the applicable waste rules and by what was agreed. **Your adviser settles that before the work is signed**; here we explain why it is worth discussing beforehand.

**Is the contractor saying they will take it enough?**

Have them say it in writing and pass you the removal documentation.

**What if unexpected waste turns up?**

Stop and decide: improvising in the yard is expensive.

**Does this apply to small maintenance?**

Yes, and that is where it is most forgotten: filters, oils, lamps, batteries.

## Ejemplos

**A company replaces a machine and the installer leaves used oil and packaging in the yard.**

- Agrees in writing who removes what before the work starts

→ The waste leaves with whoever produced it and its removal paperwork stays on file.

**An outside company leaves waste and nobody records it.**

- Records what was left, when and by whom

→ The waste has a known origin.

**It is assumed whoever generated it takes it away.**

- Agrees it in writing before the work

→ Responsibility is decided beforehand rather than after.

**The waste sits for weeks and nobody claims it.**

- Flags what has sat too long

→ The case is faced at one month rather than one year.

**It is removed mixed with your own.**

- Records the origin before combining

→ The history stays true.

**Nobody knows which companies left waste this year.**

- Checks the register by supplier

→ The question is answered with a figure.