Ecological Licensing & Mitigation for Building and Developments

We support your project from the first survey to licensing and implementing mitigation strategies, guiding you through each stage so you know exactly what’s needed and when.

Licensing & Mitigation Hierarchy

We start by considering if a protected species will be impacted by your proposed works. If there’s a bat roost in a building that is being demolished or substantially changed, then it’s very likely that the roost will be impacted.

In some cases, protected species will not be impacted, or it may be possible to work around them - in this case we’ll provide you with a clear method statement to stay compliant with the law (e.g. roofing works in winter when the bat roost is unoccupied and the roost is ‘back to normal’ by spring).

Obtaining a Licence

For a licence to be issued, three legal tests must be met:

  1. There must be a licensable purpose drawn from a set list.

  2. All reasonable alternatives must have been considered.

  3. The favourable conservation status of the protected species must be undiminished.

Obtaining a Licence for Bats

Our bat specialist ecologists are here to help with the licensing and mitigation process, with over 17 years of experience and hundreds of licences obtained. If you’d like our support reach out today.

Where works will impact a bat roost, we will prepare a bat protection plan. This aims to minimise disturbance or harm and provide compensatory roosting opportunities. These can vary from a small group of bat boxes to a specially created bat house depending on the species, roost type, and number of bats found.

License applications can take up to 8 weeks to process in Scotland (though usually less). Small, non-breeding roosts of our two least threatened species can be licensed rapidly under the BLIMP (bat low impact) licensing system. Our bat specialists are specially licensed by NatureScot to implement this system. During 2018-20 all urban bat roosts and 71% of rural bat roosts we found on surveys were able to be licensed this way.

If proposed works will disturb a protected species, for example by noise or vibration, or destroy or block access to a roost then continuing without a licence would constitute a criminal offence. In this case we would obtain a development licence on your behalf.