Working on streets and in parks

You can reserve a street or park area from the City as a temporary work area. Notify the City if you are going to excavate in a street or park area. If the work affects traffic, make a plan for temporary traffic arrangements.

On this page

You can rent a street or park area as a temporary work area for activities such as construction, lifting, property renovation, moving house, snow removal, or a film or TV production. You need to do this if you want to place equipment such as scaffolding, a hoist, a skip or a shipping container in the area.

Notify the City if you want to excavate in a street or park area. If you are not the person in charge of the work, attach a power of attorney from the person in charge. The person in charge of the work is the one whose structure is being built, maintained or repaired in the work, i.e. typically the person who orders the work.

Report any work on the streets and in parks at least seven days before the scheduled start of the work. You may only start work once you have received a decision from the City and the conditions for starting work laid down in it have been met.

If the work will affect the arrangements for pedestrian, bicycle or motor vehicle traffic, or if you reserve parking spaces for other use with street signs urging vehicle owners to move their parked vehicles, make a temporary traffic arrangements plan. Attach the plan to your notification.

Report excavation work in a street or park area

Submit the notification at least seven days before you plan to start work. Send the notification to luvat@hel.fi.

Processing time

The average processing time is seven days.

Additional information

The service is subject to a fee. See the prices in the fees section.

Fill in a form

Report the rental of a street or park as a work area

Notification about work in a public area (PDF, in Finnish)

Rent a street or park area as a temporary work area

Submit the notification at least seven days before you plan to start work. Send the notification and its attachments to luvat@hel.fi.

Processing time

The average processing time is five days.

Additional information

Notification attachments:

- A plan for temporary traffic arrangements if the work will affect the arrangements for pedestrian, bicycle or motor vehicle traffic, or if you reserve parking spaces for other use with street signs urging vehicle owners to move their parked vehicles.
- A power of attorney if the notification is submitted by someone other than the person responsible for the work. The contractor may submit the notification if it is appropriate for practical reasons relating to the work.

The area rental is subject to a fee. See the prices in the fees section.

Fill in a form

Report the rental of a street or park as a work area

Rent a street or park area as a temporary work area (PDF, in Finnish)

Report changes, functional status and completion

Report any changes to the duration of the work and the functional status of the area during the winter season within the approved work period at the latest. Report any changes to the size of the work area before implementing the changes.

Send the notification and its attachments to luvat@hel.fi.

Fill in a form

Request an extension and report changes, functional status and completion

Notification of changes, functional status and completion (PDF, in Finnish)

Instructions for excavation work in street and park areas

Order an up-to-date cable report before any excavation, drilling or quarrying works. 

Order a cable report and read more on the Cable information page

The City may require quality assurance tests to be carried out on the excavations. 

If the requirements set are not met, the addressee will pay the costs of the quality assurance tests. 

Read the instructions on quality assurance tests (PDF, in Finnish)

If your work area is located in an area significant to traffic and the size of the excavation area is more than 120 square metres, compile a nuisance management plan and attach it to the application. 

See the map for areas where a nuisance management plan is required (PDF, in Finnish)

Nuisance management plan (PDF, in Finnish)

If the excavation work area is in normal use during the winter season (1 December–14 May), you can report that the status of the work is functional, and the fee for using the area will be suspended.

The roadway, bicycle path and pavement must be temporarily paved with asphalt up to the surface. All traffic control devices must be removed from the terrain. Rock dust or fine crushed aggregate can be used on pavements and other areas as long as this is agreed upon in advance with an inspector. 

If temporary surfacing is not carried out and a notification on the status of the work being functional is not submitted, billing will continue until the instructions are followed.

Final surfacing corresponding to the street class must be carried out by 14 May or billing will continue on 15 May until the work has been received in an approved manner.

The work is considered complete once asphalt surfaces have been asphalted in accordance with the surfacing instructions for excavation work, the seams of the asphalt have been treated with adhesive, green spaces have been restored and the excavated area has been restored overall to its previous state or a better state in accordance with the instructions. The site must also be cleared of all temporary traffic control devices.

Send the City a notification of completion so that the City can inspect the work and stop the billing. 

Instructions for temporary traffic arrangements and planning

Make a temporary traffic arrangements plan if the work will affect the arrangements for pedestrian, bicycle or motor vehicle traffic, or if you reserve parking spaces for other use with street signs urging vehicle owners to move their parked vehicles. 

The plan must always be up to date. Update the plan if traffic arrangements need to be changed as the work progresses. 

Draw the plan on a base map. Include these points in the plan:   

  • the temporary routes for different modes of traffic
  • temporary traffic signs and traffic control devices
  • possible driving speed reductions
  • a description of the site’s impact on public transport and changes to public transport stops
  • the impacts of the arrangements on taxi ranks and charging points
  • the locations and areas of effect of street signs urging vehicle owners to move their parked vehicles
  • other changes that have an impact on permanent traffic arrangements
  • protection and fencing of the work site
  • impact on the arrangements of other work sites.

Checklist for temporary traffic arrangements (PDF, in Finnish)

Instructions and standard solution images for temporary traffic arrangements (PDF, in Finnish)

Instructions on different types of work:

Fees, responsibilities and current area rentals and excavation notifications

The rent of a public area depends on the size and location of the area and the duration of the work. 

Read more about fees

For longer-term work, the billing for the area will only stop once you have notified us of the completion of the work and the work has been accepted. 

If an excavation work is not completed within two weeks of the end date of the validity of the decision or a written request, the City will have the right to complete the work without consulting the applicant. The applicant will be required to cover the costs of the work.

If the notification was submitted by a contractor who is unable to meet their obligations, the City will collect the fees from the party that authorised the contractor. 

The rate will change as of 1 March 2025

 

The client and contractor are jointly and severally responsible for the safety of the construction site.

For work on a public worksite, there must be at least one person with a valid qualification from national street work training on site. 

The City has the right to correct any deficiencies that pose an immediate danger to the use of the public area without consulting the decision’s addressee, the lessee or the contractor. The costs of these measures will be passed on to the party indicated in the power of attorney as being responsible for the costs of the decision and rent.

You can find current area rentals and excavation notifications in the Helsinki Map Service. It contains information on the project, including the following:

  • purpose of work
  • applicant and contractor
  • period of validity
  • address.

See area rentals and excavation notifications in the Helsinki Map Service (external link, in Finnish)

Contact information

For more information, email luvat@hel.fi (the link will open your default email program) or contact our customer service, tel. +358 9 310 22111.

You can also contact the inspector responsible for the area. 

Inspectors’ contact information in the Helsinki Map Service (external link, in Finnish)

Inspectors’ contact information (PDF, in Finnish) 

You might be interested in

Cable information
Order a cable report before starting any excavation, drilling or quarrying works.
Placement agreement
You will need to make a placement agreement with the city if you want to place permanent structures, such as cable connections, access routes, underground building foundations or fences, on the street or in a park.
Event notifications and permits
Are you planning to organise an event in Helsinki? We have compiled on this page a checklist for organisers of common notifications and permissions that an event organiser must take into account.