Reporting Potholes and other Road Defects

Following the recent snow and rain, the problem with potholes on our roads has become more noticeable. If you have concerns about any road in the city you can report this to the City Council through a link in their web page:

https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/roads-transport-and-parking/report-road-and-pavement-faults-and-potholes

On their website, the Council has this to say about potholes:

"a pothole is: a sharp edged hole anywhere in the road surface where part or all of the surface layers have been removed. In order for us to consider it a defect and therefore fill it, it generally needs to be more than 50mm deep. However, some potholes in the city centre or on crucial access roads that are deeper than 35mm will be filled. How quickly they are filled depends on the severity and location. If the pothole is in a footway, it needs to be more than 20mm deep before it will be treated as urgent.

Potholes can return after being repaired if, in the first instance, it is more practical to do a temporary repair in order to get this done quickly and prevent further deterioration. We may do this if the road is due to be completely resurfaced soon."

In case of an emergency the Council can be contacted on 03000 200 292.

The Council aims to resolve emergency reports within 2-24, with other serious defects being repaired within 7 working days.

It should be noted that Aberdeen City Council is not responsible for maintaining any private or 'unadopted' roads or trunk roads. Trunk roads such as the A90 North Anderson Drive are the responsibility of Transport Scotland. Go to BEAR Scotland for more information on trunk roads in the North East.

There are numerous private (unadopted) roads, lanes and footways in Aberdeen, many of which are used by the public. The Council have a duty to maintain roads on the Statutory List of Public Roads however but have no obligation to take care of private roads. If you want to find out whether a road has been adopted by the Council, you can call 03000 200 292.

If the defect is to damaged or dislodged manhole covers, some of these will be the responsibility of utility companies, such as Scottish Water, electricity and telecommunications companies. It should say on the cover who is responsible. Please contact the utility company in question direct if the manhole cover belongs to them. If it is not clear who the cover belongs to, please call us on 03000 200 292 in order that further investigation can be carried out.