Car parking

These regulations are approved and current and supersede previously issued regulations and car parking information.

All parking is subject to availability; at peak times parking availability cannot be guaranteed. This may be due to reduced capacity, increased demand, safety reasons or other commitments.

All persons entering the car park do so at their own risk and neither the University nor any person acting on its behalf is in any way responsible for any loss, injury or damage sustained by them or for loss or damage to vehicles and their contents left within the car park. This does not exclude liability caused by the University's negligence or other breach of duty. If your vehicle is damaged in any way whilst in the car park, or should you lose the vehicle or any of your personal possessions from it whilst it is in the car park please inform the Security and Community Safety team as soon as possible.

Entrance to the South Kensington car park is via Exhibition Road; the postcode to use for satellite navigation is SW7 2BX. You must obey the one way system at all times.

Monday to Friday between 07:00 – 18:00 hours (during office hours)

• The South Kensington campus operates a designated car parking scheme for staff permit holders and pre-booked visitors during office hours.

Monday- Friday 18:00-00:00 and Saturday-Sunday 07:00-00:00 (outside of office hours)

• The car park is open to the public on a chargeable basis outside of office hours, subject to availability.
• Subject to availability staff may park free of charge outside of office hours, on presentation of valid College ID at the Exhibition Road Gatehouse.  Please note that as we are open to the paying public out of hours, we cannot guarantee staff a parking space; when the car park is full you will be refused entry.
  
• Staff must be the driver of the car or they will be charged the published rate of £4.00 per hour.
• There is a £31.00 fee if exiting after midnight.
  

Overnight parking is prohibited in all cases unless prior authorisation is obtained, please contact Tony Shepherd should there be a need to park overnight.  For all authorised overnight car parking requests payment is required for each night at £31.00 per night.

University-owned vehicles

All University-owned vehicles based at South Kensington, such as pool cars, mini buses, Security vehicles etc., must be registered with the Vehicle Access Team and will be issued with digital permits via the ANPR system. Registered University vehicles will be issued with a designated parking space.

General information

• In exceptional circumstances the University reserves the right to close part of or all of the car park without prior notice.
• The University reserves the right to refuse entry to its car park facilities.  Vehicles are parked at their owner’s risk.
• Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) is used by the University for the purposes of parking control and enforcement and the good and safe management of its car parks.
• All vehicles, with the exception of annual permit holders, must use the Exhibition Road entrance/exit.
• Parking of coaches, buses, motor-homes, caravans and minibuses is not permitted.
• The height restriction in the car park is 4.0m
• Parking bays measure 4.8m x 2.4m
• A one-way traffic system operates on the South Kensington Campus; vehicles must follow the route as directed by signage and road markings.
• The Campus speed limit is 10 mph. If, in the opinion of authorised personnel, a vehicle is exceeding this limit, a verbal or written warning may be issued and the incident recorded.
• Vehicles of persistent offenders will be excluded from the Campus.
• The Vehicle Access Team and Security have authority to direct traffic on the campus, refuse entry to the car park, exercise control over parking and ensure compliance with the University's parking arrangements.
• All barriers are monitored by CCTV and each barrier has an intercom for direct contact with the Security Control Room should assistance be required.
• Electric vehicle charging is free for staff. Once the car is charged it must be removed from the charging bay to enable other staff members to use.

Throughout the year, on occasions car parking spaces will be need to be reallocated due to special University events or other requirements; spaces will be clearly marked as reserved or cordoned off, and where possible alternative parking spaces will be allocated to those users affected.

Less frequently there may be a requirement for the University to suspend use of the car park entirely for a day or so, for example for the Great Exhibition Road Festival and other University events; we will always endeavour to give advance notice to car park users; the parking permit rate takes these occasional suspensions into account; in consequence for such circumstances no reimbursement of users’ parking fees will normally be made.

Unacceptable conduct

The following are examples of unacceptable behaviour:

• Abusive or threatening behaviour towards Security or the Vehicle Access Team
• Making a false statement to obtain a permit
• Parking without displaying a current permit or valid ticket
• Parking in a prohibited area or on a double yellow line
• Operating a vehicle in an unsafe manner
• Exceeding the speed limit
• Causing obstruction to other vehicles
• Parking in another parking bay without permission
• Misuse of ID card
• Use of an expired ID card to gain parking without payment
• Members of staff parking as visitors
• Leaving a charged electric vehicle in a charging bay, preventing its use by others
• Parking a non-electric vehicle in a charging bay

Unacceptable conduct or failure to comply with the car parking regulations may incur a charge of £100 payable within 28 days, reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days. University parking bans may also be issued.

Anyone who parks on University property in contravention of a University parking ban will immediately be subject to further action involving the Property Division, the member of staff’s own Department and the Police.

Motorcycles

Only staff and postgraduate students may park their motorcycle on campus. Contractors or members of the public are not allowed to use Imperial motorcycle bays.

All motorcycles parked on campus must be registered and display an Imperial permit. Any unregistered bikes on site that do not clearly display a valid parking permit will be issued with a Parking Charge Notice (PCN). All motorcycles must park in marked motorcycle bays.

 Spaces on campus are for the use of daily commuters only and not as long term parking facilities e.g. ( Weekend /overnight/ holidays including Bank Holiday) 

 Motorcycle parking will be monitored. A Parking Charge Notice (PCN) will be issued if in breach of the terms and conditions as stated on the signage shown in designated motorcycle bays.

EV vehicles

We provide a limited number of charging points for Electric Vehicles (EVs) on our campuses. 

• Electric Vehicles can use these EV charging points free of charge.
• Staff permit holders, daily parking users, visitors or guests can use the EV charging points for a maximum of 1.5 hours. After the 1.5 hour charging period we ask that you remove your vehicle to allow other users to us this charging bay.  Persistent failure to follow this requirement will result in loss of parking rights.
• The charging points should only be used as a 'top up only' for EVs and are not designed for extended use. They should not be used as the primary means through which your EV is charged.