If you place or maintain apparatus in a street in Northern Ireland, whether as a utility with a statutory right or as the holder of a street works licence, you are an undertaker under the Street Works (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. DfI Roads co-ordinates and controls street works: it inspects works in progress, can direct timing to reduce disruption, inspects completed reinstatements and can prosecute undertakers who fail to comply. The duties below apply to you. If you are a contractor, agree with the undertaker who gives the notices and who answers for qualifications and reinstatement, because each is a separate offence.
- Statutory source
- Street Works (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, as amended in 2007, and regulations made under it
- Who enforces
- DfI Roads, for the Department for Infrastructure as street authority
- The register
- The Department keeps a street works register (Article 13). DfI Roads and the utilities operate it as NISRANS, the Northern Ireland Street works Registration and Notification System, a web-based system that also records inspection results. The Street Works (Register, Notices, Directions and Designations) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 prescribe what goes in it
- Advance notice
- In prescribed cases give the prescribed advance notice of street works to DfI. Failure is an offence with a fine up to level 4, which is £2,500 (Article 14)
- Notice of starting date
- Before breaking up or opening a street, or tunnelling or boring under it, give at least 7 working days' notice (or the prescribed period) to the street authority, other relevant authorities and anyone with apparatus likely to be affected. Starting without notice is an offence with a fine up to level 4 (£2,500). The notice ceases to have effect if the works are not substantially begun within 7 working days of the starting date (Article 15)
- Safety
- Guard and light every part of the street that is open or obstructed, and place the traffic signs reasonably required, complying with any DfI directions. Failure is an offence with a fine up to level 5, which is £5,000. DfI can take the steps it thinks necessary and recover its costs (Article 25)
- Qualified people
- Works that break up the street, or involve tunnelling or boring, must be supervised by a person with a prescribed supervisor qualification, and at least one trained operative with the prescribed qualification must be on site whenever they are in progress. Failure is an offence with a fine up to level 5 (£5,000) (Article 27 and the 1998 Regulations)
- Reinstatement
- Begin reinstating as soon as reasonably practicable, tell DfI by the end of the next working day after the reinstatement is completed, stating whether it is permanent or interim, and complete a permanent reinstatement within 6 months (or the prescribed period) of an interim one. Failure to give the notice is an offence with a fine up to level 4 (£2,500). Any other failure is an offence with a fine up to level 5 (£5,000) (Article 30)
- Materials and workmanship
- Use the prescribed materials and workmanship, and make sure the reinstatement meets the prescribed performance standards for the prescribed period. Failure is an offence with a fine up to level 5 (£5,000) (Article 31). DfI Roads says undertakers typically maintain reinstatements for 2 years
- Remedial works
- If you fail your reinstatement duties, DfI can require you to carry out remedial works within a period of at least 7 working days, and, if you do not, do them and recover the cost. It can act at once if there is danger to street users. You bear the cost of the joint inspection and of inspecting the remedial works (Article 32)
- Inspection fees
- You pay DfI the prescribed fee for each inspection of your works, subject to any scheme under which you pay only for a proportion or number of excavations (Article 35). DfI Roads inspects a random 10 per cent sample at three stages: works in progress, reinstatements within 6 months of completion, and reinstatements within the 3 months before the end of the warranty period
- Charge for overrunning works
- DfI may make regulations requiring a charge where works exceed a prescribed period and are not completed in a reasonable period (Article 34)
- Restriction after substantial road works
- Where DfI plans substantial road works (works for road purposes), it can publish a notice restricting street works in that part of the street for the 12 months after they are completed. Breaking up or opening the street in breach of the restriction, other than for emergency works, with DfI's consent or in a prescribed case, is an offence with a fine up to level 5 (£5,000), and you must reimburse DfI's reasonable costs of reinstating the street (Article 18). A similar restriction following substantial street works (Article 18A and Schedule 1A, inserted in 2007) is not yet in force
- Streets with special engineering difficulties
- In a designated street you may not open it, except in an emergency, until a plan and section of the works are settled with the relevant authorities. Failure is an offence with a fine up to level 5 (£5,000) (Schedule 2)
- Fixed penalties
- Not yet in force. The Street Works (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 inserted a fixed penalty scheme (Article 52A and Schedule 2A), but the only commencement order made under it (SR 2007/365) brought in other provisions. When commenced, a street authority officer will be able to offer a fixed penalty for a listed notice offence, not exceeding 30 per cent of the maximum fine, payable within 29 days, with a discounted amount of no more than 25 per cent of the maximum fine if paid within 15 days. Until then, breaches are prosecuted
What you must do
- Register and notify through NISRANS. Enter advance notices, starting-date notices and completion notices in the system in the form the 2002 Regulations prescribe. The prescribed periods depend on the category of works, so check the Regulations and the Code of Practice for the Co-ordination of Street Works and Works for Road Purposes before each job.
- Consult on sewers. If the works affect a public sewer, consult the sewer authority before you give the starting-date notice (Article 48).
- Make the site safe. Guard, light and sign the works and follow the Safety at Street Works and Road Works code of practice.
- Staff it with qualified people. Make sure a qualified supervisor and a trained operative are in place. Qualifications are certificates of competence from approved bodies under the Street Works (Qualifications of Supervisors and Operatives) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998.
- Reinstate to the specification. Follow the Code of Practice Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Roads (2nd Edition). Notify DfI by the end of the next working day after completion, and finish any interim reinstatement within 6 months.
- Record the apparatus. Keep records of underground apparatus and follow the Code of Practice for Recording of Underground Apparatus in Streets.
- Expect inspections. DfI Roads inspects samples of works. Pay the inspection fee, and meet any remedial notice within the period it sets.
Utilities and DfI Roads agree the codes of practice through the Northern Ireland Road Authority and Utility Committees (NIRAUC) before the Department endorses them. The six codes are: Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Roads (2nd Edition); Measures Necessary Where Apparatus is Affected by Major Works (Diversionary Works) 2nd Edition; Co-ordination of Street Works and Works for Road Purposes and Related Matters; Recording of Underground Apparatus in Streets; Inspections (2nd Edition); and Safety at Street Works and Road Works.