July 2025 Vol. 80 No. 7
Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor: Missing as-built records fuel underground utility strike risks
(UI) — I am catching up to your recent article and wanted to share some additional thoughts.
Your message points out some glaring issues with our industry, and unfortunately true!
I see reference to “The root cause of frequent utility strikes tends to be two-fold.” However, I would like to point out one additional significant problem that so many seemingly discount and/or disregard.
The main issue that leads to so many of our industry’s challenges with existing underground utilities is the lacking requirements for accurate and complete as-built documentation by those who own the utilities installed. Every owner of every utility utilizing any trenchless method, should holistically engage in responsible practices for accurately documenting their own installations as-built locations. Then, all utility installer must be required to review, confirm compliance with, and require their own contractors to utilize that information for benchmarking their installation and as-built records. The result would be our industry significantly improving and helping to prevent so many of these ongoing challenges!
Simply stated, too many utility owners are not enforcing the importance and necessity for accurate and complete as-built records, which in-turn equates to their contractors following suit and missing the mark for locating those newly installed utility lines. Those issues are then magnified when placing all expectations for locating those prior installations on the locators or contractors for future/new installations.
One of the major contributors to this lackluster as-built responsiveness often seems to be associated with cost (generally by both owners and contractors) and the perceived notion that the additional cost required to accurately and completely record as-built utilities as they are installed. It is holistically worthy of consideration as the backend post installation service by the locators, as well as any subsequent new installations that contractors pre-installation locate responsibility, will suffice.
On the contrary, the current state of affairs of our industry you’ve so properly exposed with your recent article, are, if we’re completely honest with ourselves, the direct results of many years without significant focus on accurate and complete as-built documentation for all utility installation, no matter the commodity.
Thanks again for your continued efforts to help our industry improve and prosper through your publications.
[Reference article: Editor's Log]
Best regards,
David Paul Bearden, Jr.
Trenchless Services Lead
Senior Professional Associate
HDR
Paul.Bearden@hdrinc.com
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