CIL Commencement Notice: A Developer's Step-by-Step Guide

Missing a CIL commencement notice can turn a planned instalment schedule into an immediate demand for the full amount — plus a surcharge on top. It is one of the more expensive administrative errors a developer can make on a scheme with a CIL liability, and the window to avoid it is narrow: the notice must arrive with the charging authority before you break ground.

This guide explains the commencement notice requirement, what you have to submit, what triggers the surcharge, and how the authority handles situations where no notice was received.

This covers England only. This is general guidance, not legal advice. Always check your local charging authority's published CIL guidance and take professional advice on your specific scheme.

What a CIL Commencement Notice Is

A commencement notice is a formal written notification to the collecting authority stating the date on which a chargeable development is intended to begin. It is required under Regulation 67 of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010.

It is not the same as notification of the commencement of works under the Town and Country Planning Act or Building Regulations. CIL has its own form and its own process — submitting notice under another regime does not satisfy the CIL requirement.

When the Commencement Notice Must Be Submitted

The Regulations are clear on timing. Under Regulation 67, a commencement notice must be submitted "no later than the day before the day on which the chargeable development is to be commenced."

In practice: if works are planned to start on Tuesday, the commencement notice must be received by the collecting authority on Monday at the latest. Most charging authorities publish forms and email submission routes on their CIL pages — check how they accept submissions and factor in processing time.

This is the hard deadline. There is no grace period in the Regulations and no mechanism to cure a late notice retrospectively. Once development has commenced without a valid notice in the authority's hands, the surcharge provisions apply.

What the Commencement Notice Must Contain

Under Regulation 67, the notice must:

1. Identify the liability notice — referencing the specific notice the authority has already issued in respect of the chargeable development.
2. State the intended commencement date — the date on which development is to begin.
3. Include any other particulars required by the official form — charging authorities use a standard CIL Form 6 (Commencement Notice) for this purpose.

Additionally, the person submitting the notice must serve a copy on each person known to them as an owner of the relevant land.

Sending a copy to the right landowners is often overlooked on schemes with multiple title interests. Get the land ownership picture clear before submitting.

What Happens If You Don't Submit the Notice

Under Regulation 83 of the CIL Regulations 2010, a collecting authority may — and for certain types of development, must — impose a surcharge if development commences without a valid commencement notice being received.

The surcharge is: 20% of the chargeable amount, or £2,500, whichever is the lower amount.

For developments that have been granted charitable relief, social housing relief, residential annexe exemption, or self-build housing exemption, the surcharge becomes mandatory (not discretionary) and is calculated at 20% of the notional chargeable amount (i.e. what CIL would have been without the relief), capped at £2,500. In those cases, failing to submit the commencement notice before works start can also put the relief itself at risk.

Two points on this:

• The surcharge is per development, not per day. But it stacks: if you also failed to assume liability before commencement (a separate form), a further surcharge under Regulation 80 can apply — £50 per liable party.
• Charging authorities can waive the surcharge if its amount falls below their reasonable administrative costs of enforcement. In practice, this discretion is narrow; don't rely on it.

Loss of Instalment Rights

Missing the commencement notice also breaks the payment framework that unlocks instalments. The right to pay CIL in instalments depends on a valid commencement notice being received before works begin. Without one, the authority's demand notice cannot follow the instalment policy.

For a scheme with a substantial CIL liability, losing instalments — and receiving a demand for the full amount immediately — can be a materially larger financial consequence than the surcharge itself.

What Happens When No Notice Is Received: Deemed Commencement

Under Regulation 68 of the CIL Regulations 2010, if the collecting authority has not received a commencement notice but has reason to believe development has started, it must determine a deemed commencement date.

The authority uses whatever evidence it has — a site inspection, a condition discharge application, building control notification, satellite imagery — to establish when works began. That deemed date then becomes the commencement date for the purposes of calculating what is due and when.

The practical implication: even if no notice was submitted, the authority will not simply write off the liability. It will investigate, determine a date, and issue a demand. The surcharge and potential loss of instalments follow from that determination.

The Commencement Notice in Context

The commencement notice is one step in the CIL notice sequence. The full sequence a developer typically moves through is:

1. Liability Notice — issued by the charging authority after planning permission is granted. Sets out the calculated CIL amount.
2. Assumption of Liability — form submitted by the developer before commencement, registering who is taking on the CIL obligation and unlocking reliefs and instalment rights.
3. Commencement Notice (Reg 67) — submitted the day before works start at the latest.
4. Demand Notice — issued by the authority after receiving the commencement notice, setting out the payment amounts and due dates under the instalment policy.

The commencement notice is the trigger that starts the payment clock. If it is not in on time, the payment mechanism works against you rather than for you.

Practical Steps Before Breaking Ground

Before any work starts on a scheme with a CIL liability:

1. Confirm you have assumed liability — if not, submit the form now. Do not wait until the last minute.
2. Locate CIL Form 6 on your charging authority's website and prepare it.
3. Identify the correct submission route — email, online portal, or post — and verify the authority's stated processing-time requirements. Some authorities request advance notice of 3-5 working days.
4. Serve copies on all known landowners as required.
5. Keep evidence of submission and receipt — a date-stamped email acknowledgement from the authority is the clearest record. If you cannot get acknowledgement before the deadline, a tracked-delivery postal submission creates an evidence trail.
6. Diary the liability date — once the demand notice issues, payment due dates run from commencement. Have those dates visible to your finance team.

If a scheme has multiple phases or buildings within a single planning permission, check whether each triggers a separate CIL commencement notice requirement. Phased development is a common source of missed notices.

Summary

The CIL commencement notice is a short form with a hard deadline: received by the collecting authority no later than the day before works begin. Miss it and you risk a surcharge of 20% of the CIL amount (capped at £2,500), potential loss of instalment rights, and — if reliefs apply — possible loss of the relief itself. The authority has statutory powers to determine a deemed commencement date if no notice arrives. Submit early, keep the acknowledgement, and make sure all known landowners receive a copy.

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For more on how CIL and Section 106 sit alongside each other on a development, see our guide to the Community Infrastructure Levy for developers and our guide to S106 vs CIL.

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Disclaimer: This is general guidance on the CIL Regulations as published. It does not constitute legal advice. Verify specific requirements with your professional advisers and your local charging authority.

Sources

• CIL Regulations 2010, Regulation 67 — Commencement notices
• CIL Regulations 2010, Regulation 68 — Deemed commencement of chargeable development
• CIL Regulations 2010, Regulation 83 — Surcharge for failure to submit a commencement notice
• GOV.UK — Community Infrastructure Levy guidance