scope:

This Network Rail standard specifies all surveying activities for which a co-ordinated Topographic, Engineering, Land, or Measured Building survey is required. This standard is applicable to individual project scopes during the life-cycle of a renewal or project.

It is intended to be used by the Project Manager or Designated Project Engineer (DPE), in consultation with the Senior Survey Engineer or team or the Project Survey Systems Engineer (Client's Survey Manager), to define the most suitable survey techniques.

This standard is also applicable to commercial remits.

Purpose

This standard has been written to enable Network Rail to utilise and specify appropriately all high accuracy (better than ±100mm in position) Topographic, Engineering, Land and Measured building surveying associated with Track, Building and Civils, Signalling, Control and Plant, OLE, and Property. Such surveys are not an automatic requirement for all projects. It specifically excludes ground investigation, geotechnical, building condition, dilapidation surveys and surveys associated with Network Rail owned and operated measurement trains.

The standard is intended to provide a clear and unequivocal way to project manager and specify survey work, by identifying key stages to deliver good quality work to satisfy current needs and also assist with those for the future. "Survey once and use many times" thus providing better value for the money spent.

This standard fits with Network Rail policy on sustainability in that it seeks to embed good sustainability policy and practice into our maintaining, renewing and enhancing the railway. It also provides guidance and seeks to raise the competency of those involved with specifying and managing surveying activities.

This is the initial document of a suite of standards that provides a strategy and general introduction, establishing some basic principles that should be applied across all disciplines. Further standards have been written covering the main disciplines for which this form of surveying is utilised. A guidance note (NR/GN/TRK/3103, Survey and Mapping techniques) has been written that provides guidance on current techniques and the suitability of their application for the various stages of the GRIP process. However, consultation with the Senior Survey Engineer or team or the Project Survey Systems Engineer (Client's Survey Manager) is recommended as the technology in use for Surveying is a rapidly changing field of activity.

In conjunction with the standard, a number of training courses are being created to develop the understanding of Topographic, Land, Engineering and Measured building surveying appropriate for identified needs within Network Rail for Project management, Contracts and procurement and other parts of the organisation.

The standard seeks to minimise site visits by specifying that all information needed is collected in an appropriate manner, first time, preventing the need for re-visits and emissions created by more vehicle traffic and the exposure of staff to further safety risks. Multiple visits to site may also be limited by better forward planning, especially when possessions are involved, deriving the most efficient use of time and also driving down costs.

Network Rail considers that economic sustainability is about exceeding the expectations of our customers, suppliers, stakeholders and funders. To do this, we need to exploit the railway asset base more effectively by improving the way data collected by our surveys is utilised in the corporate asset information systems in addition to its initial use for projects. This way, Network Rail gets better value from the investment in good survey information.

The full hierarchy of the standards is given in more detail in Appendix A.

This standard is intended to be used with the discipline document related to the type of survey required.

NOTE For example, where a track survey and then a design for S&C renewal is needed, this standard and NR/L3/TRK/3101 would be consulted to understand what is required. A project survey strategy would be defined as specified in this standard and the detailed specification would be derived from NR/L3/TRK/3101.

A value-added benefit of appropriate techniques and standards being used is that of a digital model of the infrastructure for future use in the corporate asset information systems is created.