Permits

The Permits page helps you keep each receiving site inside the limits on its permit. Your permit lists the waste types a site is allowed to take and how much. Consigns tracks your jobs against those limits, so you can see how much room is left before you book more in.

You will find it under Permits in the Compliance part of the menu.

What a permit limit is

A permit limit is one yearly figure, for one waste type, at one receiving site. You set it up by choosing:

• The receiving site the limit belongs to. Add your sites first under Destinations.
• The EWC code the limit covers. Your permit lists the codes each site is allowed to take, so you pick the right one. A limit always applies to a single waste type, not to everything at once.
• The yearly limit in tonnes, which is how much of that waste you may take in across the permit year.
• When the permit year starts, so completed jobs count against the right year.

You can add a note too, such as the permit number or any conditions.

Taken in versus held on site

Each limit can track two different things, and it helps to keep them apart:

• Taken in is how much of that waste you have received across the permit year. This is your yearly limit, sometimes called throughput. Completed jobs add to it automatically.
• On site now is how much you are holding at the site at this moment. If your permit also caps how much you may store at once, add a stock limit and Consigns tracks this as well.

The yearly figure only goes up as waste comes in. The on-site figure goes up when waste arrives and down when it leaves.

Opening balance

If you already have some of a waste on site when you start using Consigns, set an opening balance on that limit. This tells Consigns how much was there at the start, so the "on site now" figure is right from day one. Saving an opening balance again replaces the figure rather than adding to it.

Recording waste out

When waste leaves a site for onward disposal or treatment, use Record waste out on that limit. Enter how much left and, if you like, where it went. This lowers the amount held on site.

Recording waste out does not change how much you have taken in this permit year. Taking waste in and sending it on are two separate things, and Consigns keeps both.

If a stock-take shows the on-site figure is a little out, use Adjust stock to correct it. Each correction is kept as a record.

Warnings before you go over

Each limit shows a bar and a status, so a quick look tells you which sites are fine, which are close to the limit, and which have gone over. You can filter the list to show just the ones that need attention.

On the Pro plan and above, Consigns warns you as a limit gets close and flags it when it is passed, so a site does not quietly go over its permit. Recording limits and figures works on any plan.

Where the figures come from

The "taken in" figure builds from your completed jobs. For a job to count against the right limit, it needs to be linked to the receiving site. The new-job form asks "Where is the waste going?" for exactly this reason, so the load is tied to the right site and permit. See the Destinations and receiving sites guide for how the default site is chosen.

Related help

• Destinations and receiving sites - add the sites your permit limits belong to.
• DEFRA Digital Waste Tracking - send your waste movements to DEFRA.
• Documents and exports - keep your permit and registration dates in one place.