Streetworks Training
Qualifications for Operatives & Supervisors
The New Roads and Streetworks Act 1991 (NRSWA) requires organisations to ensure that work to install, renew, maintain and inspect underground apparatus in the street is controlled by competent people. To meet these requirements, organisations have to make sure that an operative, with the appropriate qualification(s), is on site when works are in progress.
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 three key certificates and the new certificate structure is as follows;
| O-series certificates, for operatives only | |
|---|---|
| LA | Location & avoidance of underground apparatus |
| O1 | Signing, lighting and guarding |
| O2 | Excavation in the highway |
| O3 | Reinstatement and compaction of backfill materials |
| O4 | Reinstatement of sub-base and base in non-bituminous materials |
| O5 | Reinstatement in cold lay bituminous materials |
| O6 | Reinstatement in hot-lay bituminous materials |
| O7 | Reinstatement of concrete slabs |
| O8 | Reinstatement of modular surfaces, concrete footways |
| S-series certificates, for supervisors only | |
|---|---|
| LA | Location & avoidance of underground apparatus |
| S1 | Monitoring Signing, lighting and guarding |
| S2 | Monitoring Excavation in the highway |
| S3 | Monitoring Reinstatement and compaction of backfill materials |
| S4 | Monitoring Reinstatement of sub-base and base in non-bituminous materials |
| S5 | Monitoring Reinstatement of bituminous materials |
| S6 | Monitoring Reinstatement of concrete slabs |
| S7 | Reinstatement of modular surfaces, concrete footways |
There is no requirement to hold any particular combination of non-key certificates. As long as you hold the key certificates (LA/O1 or LA/S1), you can choose to hold as many or as few of the others as you like to suit the work that you do. For example, if you only wanted to be qualified to carry out reinstatement in hot-lay bituminous materials, you would need the two key operative certificates (LA & O1) plus certificate O6. This principle applies similarly to supervisors. See examples in the table, below;
| Operator Qualifications (type of work) | Certificates required |
|---|---|
| Excavation in the highway/road |
LA Location and avoidance of underground apparatus O1 Signing, lighting and guarding O2 Excavation in the highway |
| Excavation, backfilling and reinstatement of construction layers with a cold lay bituminous surface |
LA Location and avoidance of underground apparatus O1 Signing, lighting and guarding O2 Excavation in the highway O3 Reinstatement and compaction of backfill materials O4 Reinstatement of sub-base and base in non-bituminous materials O5 Reinstatement in cold lay bituminous materials |
| Reinstatement of modular surfaces and concrete footways |
LA Location and avoidance of underground apparatus O1 Signing, lighting and guarding O8 Reinstatement of modular surfaces, concrete footways |
| Supervisor Qualifications (type of work) | Certificates required |
|---|---|
| Monitoring excavation in the highway/road |
LA Location and avoidance of underground apparatus S1 Monitoring signing, lighting and guarding S2 Monitoring excavation in the highway |
| Monitoring excavation, backfilling and reinstatement of construction layers with a cold lay bituminous surface. |
LA Location and avoidance of underground apparatus S1 Monitoring signing, lighting and guarding S2 Monitoring excavation in the highway S3 Monitoring reinstatement and compaction of backfill materials. S4 Monitoring reinstatement of sub-base and base in non-bituminous materials. S5 Monitoring reinstatement in cold lay bituminous materials. |
| Monitoring reinstatement of modular surfaces and concrete footways |
LA Location and avoidance of underground apparatus S1 Monitoring signing, lighting and guarding S7 Monitoring reinstatement of modular surfaces and concrete footways |