How many copies of a transfer note are needed, and who keeps each one?
You need one copy of the transfer note for each party to the movement, which on a normal tip run means two: the business handing the waste over and the site taking it in. If a separate carrier is a party in its own right, that is three, and the duty of care is written about the record each party holds rather than the number of carbon sheets in the book.
Why the copy count is really a question about records
A transfer note exists so two parties can show they agree on what moved, what it was, who carried it and where it went. The duty of care is written around each party keeping that record and being able to produce it, not around how many leaves a pad has. So the count follows the parties: the business transferring the waste holds one, the site receiving it holds one, and a carrier who is a party to the transfer in its own right holds one too.
The two-part and three-part duplicate books come from exactly that, carbon paper being the cheapest way to put one signed sheet into two or three pairs of hands at a weighbridge, and our page on swapping the duplicate book for a digital transfer note record makes the case for replacing the book itself.
Who counts as a party
A party is whoever is handing the waste over, taking it in, or carrying it under its own registration. Work out the parties before you count anything else, because most of the confusion in a yard comes from treating the vehicle as a separate party when it belongs to the producer, or from treating a subcontracted haulier as part of the producer when it is not. Count the signatures, then count the copies.
What this means in the yard
- Your own copy is the one that matters to you. If an inspector asks, they ask the site for the site's record, not for the producer's.
- The other party's copy is their duty, not yours. You cannot fix a gap in their file by keeping a spare sheet in a drawer.
- A copy is only worth holding if it is legible and complete. A faint third carbon with a smudged EWC code is a record in name only.
- Where a broker or dealer arranged the load, expect them to ask for the note for their own file as well.
Who holds which copy, and what it is for
| Party | The copy they hold | What that copy has to show |
|---|---|---|
| The business handing the waste over | Its own copy of the signed note | That the load went to a person authorised to take it |
| The receiving site, your yard | The copy it signed on taking the load in | What came in, from whom, when, and under which codes |
| A carrier who is a party in its own right | A copy covering the movement it made | That it carried the described waste between those two addresses under its registration |
| A producer carrying its own waste | One copy, covering both roles | Nothing extra: the same party is transferor and carrier |
The Defra report is not one of the copies
A load coming into a permitted site is now reported into Defra's waste tracking service as well as written onto a note, and reporting it does not stand in for holding your own record. The two answer different questions. The note says you and the other party agreed on what moved. The report says the movement is in Defra's system inside the time the service allows, which is two working days from the receipt.
So nothing about the report changes the copy count. A reference held against a reported load proves the load went in; it does not prove what you wrote on the note, and it is not a copy the other party can call on. Keep both, the record you hold as a party to the transfer and the evidence that you reported the receipt. Our page on how long you have to keep waste transfer notes covers the clock on the first, and our page on what happens if your transfer notes are missing or incomplete covers what an inspection looks like when the record is not there.
Questions
How many copies of a waste transfer note do you need?
One for each party to the transfer. On a straightforward load coming into a skip yard that is two, the transferor and the receiving site. Where a haulier is a party in its own right rather than the producer's own vehicle, that is three. The number is not fixed in the paperwork so much as it follows who is signing, which is why books were printed in two-part and three-part versions.
Who keeps each copy?
The business handing the waste over keeps its own copy as proof it passed the load to an authorised person. The site receiving it keeps the copy it signed, and that is the one an inspector will ask the yard to produce. A carrier who is a party to the transfer keeps a copy covering the movement it made. Our page on how long you have to keep waste transfer notes covers the retention side.
Does the carrier need a copy as well as the producer and the site?
If the carrier is a separate party to the transfer, yes, because it is the party being asked to show it only handed waste to someone authorised to take it. If the producer carries its own waste in its own vehicle, the producer and the carrier are the same party and one copy covers both roles. The practical test is simple: count the signatures, then count the copies. Our page on who signs a waste transfer note goes into that in more detail.
Who keeps a copy when the note is digital?
The duty does not change: each party still needs to be able to produce its own record of the transfer, and our page on swapping the duplicate book for a digital transfer note record covers how that works in place of the pad. Skiplog holds the yard's side of it: the waste and its codes, the weight, when it came in, the form and the containers, POPs and hazard details, the carrier and vehicle, and the destination. Those records stay readable and exportable while the account is open, a lapsed trial does not lock them away, and a note you take off the register stays on file for the two years the regulations require. What the producer or the carrier keeps for its own file stays a matter between you and them.
Now that loads are reported to Defra, does that count as a copy?
No. Reporting the receipt of a load into Defra's waste tracking service and holding your own transfer note record are two separate duties, and the report does not stand in for the note. Skiplog is built for the spreadsheet route: a receipts screen exports the rows in Defra's template column order for your yard to upload, and after the download you confirm the loads went in, which marks each note reported. Defra's reference for an accepted load is stored against the note, and if a load is rejected you record the date on the notice, which sets the deadline for putting it right. Loads not yet reported sit on the dashboard grouped as overdue, due today and due tomorrow against the two working days the service allows, and a correction to a note Defra has already accepted is flagged with the reference it went in under.
What if the other party loses its copy?
Their gap is their problem and your record is still your record. You cannot be the file of record for a business you do not control, and keeping spare sheets for them does not transfer their duty to you. The practical defence is a complete, legible register on your side, written at the weighbridge rather than from memory at the end of the week. Our page on what happens if your transfer notes are missing or incomplete sets out what that looks like from an inspection.
Does a season ticket covering repeat collections need a copy for every load?
A season ticket is one note covering repeated identical collections over a period, so there is one note, and therefore one copy per party, rather than a sheet per load. The point of it is to avoid writing a fresh note for the same waste, from the same place, on the same round. It only holds while the description, the parties and the arrangement stay the same, and the moment the load changes it needs its own note. Our glossary page on the season ticket explains when it applies.
Is a hazardous load treated the same way?
No. Hazardous waste moves on a consignment note rather than a transfer note, and the parts and holders of that document work differently. Skiplog records transfer notes and does not produce consignment notes, so a hazardous movement needs handling outside it. Our glossary page on the hazardous waste consignment note, and the one on the asterisk in an EWC code, cover how to spot a load that falls into that regime.