In my heart, A deep and dark And lonely part, Wants her and Waits for her to Park.

The facilities alongside commercial space are crucial factors in creating an attractive development.  Property owners, developers or managers must consider the neighbouring area and location of any site, including parking facilities. Parking plays a major part in the working day of a commercial tenant, or indeed a visitor to the site, and therefore must be well managed by the owner.

Parking on private land and unregulated public space is an area of the parking industry which is unlegislated, and in many cases, attempts to manage parking on private land have been seen as underhand because of this lack of regulation. So, in an attempt to bring some common standards to the practice the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) made an announcement as part of a review in 2007 by the then Transport Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman. The DVLA announced it would only release electronic vehicle registration information to those enforcement and parking management companies that are members of an Accredited Trade Association, of which the British Parking Association (BPA) is the first.

Welcoming this development, the BPA launched a scheme to encourage further legitimacy and fairer parking in developments on private land and unregulated public space. The Approved Operator Scheme (AOS) is backed by a Code of Practice for Parking Enforcement on Private Land and Unregulated Car Parks and aims to encourage landowners to regulate their parking facilities by using only ‘approved operators’.

Only by undergoing rigorous and ongoing compliance tests can an operator remain as a member of the BPA Approved Operator Scheme – and in turn, only by being a member of the AOS can an operator gain electronic access to driver data from the DVLA, which is a key operating function for many parking enforcement companies. The creation of this chain marked a huge leap forward in informally regulating the industry, offering property owners and operators a more professional service. 

Working within the Code, approved operators are able to conduct a range of services, including vehicle immobilisation and removal, ticketing, or services such as back office functions, data management and debt recovery.

As well as offering the property owner/manager a great number of measurable benefits, working with an operator that is a member of the AOS also reassures motorists using approved parking facilities.

The Code requires that operators should maintain proper and adequate signage and information, ensure parking tickets and notices to owners include payment and appeals information, and use appropriate legal methods of ‘follow up’ enforcement actions. Using parking enforcement companies that comply with the Code can help to discourage negative perceptions and major issues concerning parking within a development. 

For example, in managing an out of town shopping centre, parking is key to the success of the venture. However, bad press and negative perception of over-zealous enforcement or exorbitant parking fines can really damage the reputation of the centre – and shoppers stay away. On the other hand, fair, well managed, parking is likely to go unnoticed – which is key – and allows centre management to focus on highlighting the positive aspects of the development to tenants and shoppers alike. 

Compliance with the Code is monitored by the BPA and members will be required to submit evidence of their compliance on an annual basis, highlighting any issues and identifying their proposed solutions. A dedicated Operations Manager, supported by a team of Development Managers from the BPA, also conducts regular spot check inspections to ensure that the principles of the Code are being maintained. Where members’ operations are found wanting, remedial action will be a requirement; where this does not happen and failure to comply with the Code persists, a member shall be suspended, and possibly expelled from the BPA. 

The AOS Scheme sets out to standardise activity in parking enforcement and encourage best practice amongst members. Raising standards has always been at the forefront of the BPA’s values, and this is projected throughout the AOS.

Since the launch of the AOS, there has been great interest from the off-street parking industry.  Many of the leading operators are operating within the scheme, and as clients, such as local authorities, commercial property operators and retail chains, demand improved services, more are currently going through the necessary processes to achieve compliance with the scheme. 

Many of the UK’s major supermarket chains have signed up approved operators to manage their car parking facilities at stores throughout the country. By using approved operators, these retailers are providing an additional level of service to their shopping experience. 

The AOS is a developing scheme and is constantly being developed. Improvement will always be driven by client demand. As the client keeps demanding better services, we will continue to work with them to ensure that their needs are met. In the meantime, look out for the AOS stamp of approval.