The street works UK material classification protocol has introduced a mandatory, risk-based approach to the classification and management of excavated waste. For organisations carrying out applicable street works, one of the key requirements is completing a desktop risk assessment (DRA) during the planning stage, before excavation begins.
While the protocol provides a consistent framework for assessing potential contamination risks, completing DRAs at scale can be a time-consuming and complex process. It requires teams to interpret land-use data, apply specific search distances and risk categories, and bring information together from multiple sources.
That’s where Groundsure Street Works DRA comes in.
Taking the complexity out of desktop risk assessments
We’ve developed Groundsure Street Works DRA to make this important step in the street works process simpler, more consistent and easier to manage at scale.
The product instantly generates a site-specific, version-controlled report aligned with the original Street Works UK desktop risk assessment form, using carefully selected environmental data and defined logic to support the DRA methodology.
For Haley Kain, lead product manager at Groundsure, the aim was clear from the outset: “We developed our Street Works DRA product to take the complexity out of what can be a time-consuming and challenging part of the street works protocol.”
Bringing together Groundsure’s environmental expertise and extensive data capabilities has enabled the team to create a solution that can deliver site-specific information instantly, while helping users reduce the manual work involved in completing an assessment.
“It’s been really exciting to bring together the depth of Groundsure’s environmental expertise, along with our best-in-class data to deliver site-specific reports instantly.”
Built on trusted data
A key part of the challenge when completing a DRA is having access to the right information. The Street Works UK methodology requires users to consider existing and historical features that could indicate contamination, often involving searches across multiple online sources, none of which fully cover the requirements of the Protocol.
Groundsure brings together authoritative and proprietary datasets to help address this challenge. Its extensive historical mapping archive contains more than one million Ordnance Survey® maps dating back to the 1840s, alongside models including the national brownfield risk model and national mining and stability model.
Groundsure Street Works DRA uses this depth of environmental information to pre-fill key sections of the assessment, with clear data provenance and evidence tables showing the information identified. Editable fields and dropdown options then make the remaining sections quick and straightforward to complete.
As Haley explains, developing the product has been an iterative process, shaped by customer feedback:
“Through feedback and product iteration, we know the result is a process firms can trust.”
We’re helping organisations manage compliance with confidence
The result is a more streamlined approach to DRA completion, helping organisations reduce manual effort, identify potential contamination risks and maintain consistency across their street works processes.
With version-controlled, site-specific reports and clear evidence of the information used to inform the assessment, Groundsure street works DRA is designed to give contractors and regulators greater reassurance around Protocol compliance.
And ultimately, that’s what the product is designed to achieve:
“Helping them reduce manual effort, make confident decisions before work begins and manage compliance consistently at scale.”
Groundsure Street Works DRA is now available.
To learn more about how Groundsure street works DRA can support your street works processes, contact the Groundsure Insights team at Insightsteam@groundsure.com.
This article was submitted by Groundsure as part of an advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the advertiser and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
