Before You Switch On · Handbook

Visual Check & Utility (STATs) Plans

Printed page 10

The first step in a utility survey is to combine a visual survey of the area with existing utility plans, remembering the most obvious indication that buried utilities are present will be a house, building, other structure or street furniture.

An average property will have some or all of the following:

01Electric
02BT/CATV
03Water
04Gas
05Drainage

A visual check should also include looking for features such as street lights, trench scars, valve boxes, manholes/comms boxes, pipeline markers, mains powered street furniture etc.

Fig 01Terraced street with parked cars and lighting columns: the everyday scene a visual check has to read for clues to what is buried.

A rural road surface with a gully grating set into the channel, the tarmac around it patched and scarred, grass verge and hedge behind. — Fig 02A gully and a patched road surface: both are visible evidence of something buried underneath.

A footway against a rendered wall, with a rectangular inspection cover set flush in the paving and a service pipe running down the wall to it. — Fig 03An inspection cover in the footway with the service running down the wall to meet it.

A concrete post at the roadside carrying a gas emergency control point box marked GAS, standing in gravel. — Fig 04A gas emergency control point: the supply it serves runs into the ground beneath it.

A bus shelter with an illuminated route sign, standing on a footpath with bollards and a clipped hedge alongside. — Fig 05Lit street furniture: a bus shelter is fed by a buried supply like any other.

A red telephone kiosk standing on a grass verge in front of a brick wall. — Fig 06A telephone kiosk means a buried comms cable running to it.

A pay and display parking machine on a paved parking area, cars parked alongside. — Fig 07A pay and display machine: mains powered street furniture, so a cable runs to it.

Utility Plans

Printed page 10

You must ensure:

01You have all relevant, up to date plans before work starts.
02You have the correct scale according to your company policy.
03You have all supporting information including legends/cross sections.
04You understand what the relevant abbreviations/symbols mean.

Remember:

01Utility plans should be treated as a guide and cannot be relied upon to be accurate.
02Old/redundant/other services may be present but not shown on plans.
03Some services will not be shown on plans.
04If the plan indicates you cannot work in a certain vicinity, this must be adhered to.

Fig 01A crew in hi-vis gathered round utility plans on site.

Pre-use Genny and CAT Checks

Printed page 12

Following a visual inspection to ensure the equipment is not obviously damaged, a calibration check must be undertaken. The following procedure is for Radiodetection CAT3 and CAT4 only.

Pull the on/off trigger on the unit; immediately as the display indicates all the icons, press and hold the depth button as indicated. The date is indicated as last calibration date or next calibration due date depending upon model and version. The screens that follow show the day, month and year in sequence; different models will vary. The figures below show the sequence on a CAT4.

Fig 01Hand holding a CAT4 with every display segment lit (8.8.8) during the power-on self-test.

Fig 02CAT4 display during the power-up sequence, reading 1.04-S.

Fig 03CAT4 display during the power-up sequence, reading 22-D.

Fig 04CAT4 display during the power-up sequence, reading 05-M.

Fig 05CAT4 display during the power-up sequence, reading 14-Y.

Filed under

Visual survey Plans and records Pre-use checks