The failure to identify the location of buried services can result in increased project costs and delays. They can pose a great challenge when uncovered unexpectedly during excavation, and when damaged, can take considerable time to repair, costing the project a great deal of time and money.

More importantly, utilities beneath the ground can cause explosions, fires and electric shocks if workers strike cables during work. Thousands of workers each year are injured due to this occurrence, and some incidents are even fatal.

The mistake many firms make is performing inadequate detection, surveying and research before carrying out digging work near utilities. Even if you already have access to service drawings and records, these can be inaccurate and ongoing detection by trained experts in CAT and Genny is needed to ensure safety.

Ultimately, we must all be proactive in our effects to detect and map utilities before any underground work takes place. Making assumptions or entrusting the task to unqualified individuals can lead to a number of severe consequences, including loss of life.

What are Utilities?

Utilities, or underground services, are what we rely on to power our homes, communities and businesses. Electric cables provide homes with energy to use our lights and technology, while gas pipes allow us to keep warm in winter. Even water pipes and phone cables are vital to our daily lives and we would be at a serious disadvantage without them, even for just a day.

The installation and proper use of these utilities require comprehensive and complex networks that only the most capable and qualified individuals have any place in dealing with. In fact, an accidental cable strike due to lack of diligence is considered a serious violation when it cuts off power and services to local homes and businesses.

We must therefore be careful in our observation of these utilities and the network of structures and cables beneath our feet.

What is Utility Survey

To avoid striking them, we carry out utility surveys and map the presence of any and all existing cables. This helps us to locate them if they need repairing in the future and stops us from accidentally hitting them when we need to excavate nearby.

A new survey can be carried out by a construction firm, but there are also existing surveys that can be used to identify the location of major cables and utilities. These surveys can help locate the positions of buried services and prevent costly delays.

Utility surveys are used across all locations and projects from industrial and commercial new builds to rural areas. They can include information on anything from underground pipelines and wires to water, power, gas, telecommunications, fibre optics, drainage and sewage services.

Any large scale development that involves significant excavation will need to carry out its own survey to be cross-referenced with existing records. The best way to do this is with careful planning and industry-leading CAT and Genny tools to verify the location of underground services, taking out the guesswork in the cable avoidance process.

Important Reasons to Conduct Utility Surveys

One of the most important benefits of utility surveys is the cost and time savings on a project. Even minor errors in the location of utilities can cause lengthy delays that can be difficult to fix. But more importantly, utility surveys can stop people from getting hurt due to cable strike accidents.

If you want to learn about utility surveys or would like to inquire about one of our CAT and Genny courses or level 5 utility surveyors courses, we’ll happily let you know how you and your team can start conducting effective utility surveys.