New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (c. 22)

Product Information

When serving a notice under NRSWA on Highways England as authority for the strategic road network, you must use the TRSG version of the street reference. New style cards will be as shown in Figure 1 (although in practice, there may be some minor differences). The examples shown are for someone who holds all the possible operative and/or supervisor qualifications, as appropriate.

You can keep using your old style card until it expires. However, if you add a new certificate before the card expires, a new style card will be issued to you showing the new certificate together with any unexpired certificates from your previous card. The unexpired certificates will be converted to their new equivalents while retaining their original expiry dates. Your new style street works card will no longer have an expiry date. Every new certificate will last for 5 years so each one will have its own expiry date. This will happen automatically when your old style card expires - there is no need for you to convert to the new style by a certain date. However, if you add a new certificate to your old style card, the replacement card will be to the new style.Trunk Road Street Gazetteer (TRSG). This is the Highways Agency’s own gazetteer of the strategic road network. Certificates issued in Scotland after 4/9/17 will directly correlate with those issued in England. For example, certificate O2 in Scotland will be equivalent to certificate O2 in England. Table 2: supervisor certificate equivalents for England Certificates below(1) issued in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland before 4/9/17(2) and England before 6/4/17 Highways England employs Managing Agent Contractors (MACs) and Asset Support Contracts (ASCs) to manage its roads, known as the strategic road network, in given geographical areas. There were 16 units before - now there are 16 certificates, namely LA, O1 to O8, and S1 to S7 (the units have become individual certificates). There are 3 key certificates and the new certificate structure is as follows: Common to operatives and supervisors: LA - Location & avoidance of underground apparatus KEY CERTIFICATE O-series certificates, for operatives only:

These MAC/ ASC/ DBFO/ PFI contractors have authority to exercise Highways England’s legal powers and obligation under the Highways Act 1980 and New Roads & Street Works Act ( NRSWA) 1991. LA and O1 are the only two key certificates for operatives. If you are an operative, you therefore need the following to be qualified to excavate or reinstate: If a key certificate expires, you won’t lose the other certificates altogether - they will become valid again once the expired key certificate is renewed.

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You will be able to renew any certificate at any point in its lifetime. Training is not compulsory when renewing but assessment centres can provide it if you want it. Sections of Highways England’s roads fall within Local Highways Authority (LHA) areas, but the LHAs have no responsibility as a highway authority or street authority for the Highways England road network. It follows that an English operative will need to hold LA, O1 and O2 to be technically equivalent to holding Excavation in the highway in Wales/Northern Ireland or Excavation in the road in Scotland. Only applies to certificates that have been obtained or renewed by undertaking assessment or reassessment. You can also renew a certificate when it has more than a year left to go. In this case the renewed certificate will last for a fixed 6 years from the date of renewal (5 years if, for some reason, a certificate is renewed in its first year). You might want to do this if you have certificates expiring at different dates and you want to renew them all at the same time.

on 6 April 2017, new regulations came into force in England, The Street Works (Qualifications of Operatives and Supervisors) (England) Regulations 2016 You can renew your certificates by undergoing reassessment but you can choose to do so by undergoing assessment if you want. The difference is as follows. Assessment is what takes place when you first obtain a certificate, and it involves a practical and theoretical assessment of your skills. Reassessment, which is intentionally less burdensome for certificate renewal purposes, involves only a theoretical assessment. However, the regulations allow you to renew a certificate by undergoing the original assessment if you choose to. Table 1: operative certificate equivalents for England Certificates below(1) issued in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland before 4/9/17(2) and England before 6/4/17candidates - you can be qualified as an operative, a supervisor, or both. A supervisor qualification does not mean you are qualified to work as an operative. However, if you hold operative and supervisor qualifications, you For example, a certificate in Excavation in the highway in Wales/Northern Ireland (or Excavation in the road in Scotland) will be equivalent in England to: When a certificate approaches expiry you will be able to renew it at any time in its last year without losing the unexpired portion. For example, if you renew a certificate with 10 months life left in it, the renewed certificate will last for 5 years and 10 months from the date of renewal.

You won’t need to be reassessed in the key certificates more than once every five years. As long as they are current, you can add as many other certificates as you like, and when you like. the changes do not affect your existing certificates or street works cards - they will remain valid until they expire O8 - Reinstatement of modular surfaces, concrete footways S-series certificates, for supervisors only: there is no requirement to hold any particular combination of (non-key) certificates - you can tailor these certificates to the work you actually do The centre of your choice will assess you in theoretical knowledge and practical skills in your chosen subjects. You can ask for training before assessment if you want but training is not compulsory.if you renew your old style certificates on a like-for-like basis, you will be reassessed in the same subjects as before Highways England has also appointed a number of Design, Build, Finance and Operate ( DBFO) or Private Finance Initiative ( PFI) contracts for specific roads in MAC areas. Location and avoidance is another activity that does not come under the definition of street works. You therefore don’t need to hold an LA certificate to simply carry out location and avoidance of underground apparatus. (However, if you still want a card showing LA on its own, that is possible with the new style card.) 5. Renewing certificates LA and S1 are the only two key certificates for supervisors. If you are a supervisor, you therefore need the following to be qualified to monitor excavation or reinstatement: