street works qualifications
New
Roads And Street Works Act 1991
The Legal Requirements
The New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 places a duty on undertakers
to ensure that work involving the installation of, renewal, maintenance
and inspection of underground apparatus in any street or road is under
the control of competent persons. To satisfy the requirements of the
Act, undertakers must ensure that, except in prescribed cases, the
execution of street works is supervised by a person having a prescribed
qualification as a 'supervisor'. In addition, whether or not the street
is broken up, they must ensure that a person having a prescribed qualification
as a 'trained operative' is present on the site at all times when
the work is in progress.
What is a prescribed qualification?
The Street Works ( Qualification of Supervisors and Operatives ) Regulations
1992 and the Roads Works ( Qualifications of Supervisors and Operatives
) ( Scotland ) Regulations 1992 which came into force in August 1992
defined the prescribed qualifications for various types and combinations
of work.
The Regulations define these in general as possession of a certificate
of competence issued by an approved body, plus registration of that
certificate in an approved register. The Regulations detail the qualifications
for both supervisors and operatives by reference to the various units
of competence in which they will be assessed.
| Qualifications for 'supervisors' |
| Unit 1 |
Location and Avoidance of undrerground apparatus |
| Unit 10 |
Monitoring Signing, Lighting and Guarding |
| Unit 11 |
Monitoring excavation in the road/highway |
| Unit 12 |
Monitoring reinstatement and compaction of backfill materials |
| Unit 13 |
Monitoring reinstatement of sub-base and road-base in non bituminous materials |
| Unit 14 |
Monitoring reinstatement of bituminous
materials |
| Unit 15 |
Monitoring reinstatement of concrete slabs |
| Unit 16 |
Monitoring reinstatement of modular surfaces and concrete footways |
From 5 August 1994 there is a legal requirement on undertakers
to ensure ( subject to exceptions ) that most types of street works
are supervised by a qualified supervisor.
| Qualification for 'trained operatives' |
| Unit 1 |
Location and Avoidance of undrerground apparatus |
| Unit 2 |
Signing, Lighting and Guarding |
| Unit 3 |
Excavation in the road/highway |
| Unit 4 |
Reinstatement and compaction of backfill materials |
| Unit 5 |
Reinstatement of sub-base and road-base in non bituminous materials |
| Unit 6 |
Reinstatement of coldlay bituminous
materials |
| Unit 7 |
Reinstatement of hot-lay
bituminous materials |
| Unit 8 |
Reinstatement of concrete slabs |
| Unit 9 |
Reinstatement of modular surfaces and concrete footways |
From 5 August 1997 undertakers must ensure that a person having
a prescribed qualification as a trained operative is on site whilst
street works are in progress.
A person may only act as a supervisor or a trained operative
for the type of work for which the person has the relevant qualification.
It may, therefore, be necessary for a number of persons having different
qualifications to be involved during the progress of the work through
it's various stages. There is, however, no limit to the number of
qualifications that may be held by one person. A supervisor qualification
does not qualify the holder to work as a qualified operative and vice
versa.
How are the assessments carried out?
Assessments for the qualifications are carried out by approved assessment
centres. Each qualification comprises a number of Units of Competence
covering specific work operations. The candidate is separately assessed
in individual units until they have met the requirement for a qualification.
The minimum standards of achievement for each of the units of competence
have been nationally agreed by a joint working party of the Highway
Authorites and the Utility organisations. This working party is also
responsible for the design, implementation and operation of the qualification
systems.
How are the qualified persons identified?
A Street Works Qualifications Register containing details of the qualifications
awarded by all awarding bodies is maintained by SCOTVEC. Each person
included in the register is issued with a personal identity card showing
the qualification or qualifications held by that person. The Registrar
will respond in writing to authorised telephone or written requests
for information about the qualification status of individuals. The
enquirer will be invoiced for this service.
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