scope:

This standard covers all project works being executed on the national rail network, by Investment Projects including its Contractors, Asset Management Renewals, Route Track teams and Third Party or Outside Party at worksite level within a possession.

The standard also covers project works being executed by Network Operations - Infrastructure Maintenance on behalf of Investment Projects and Asset Management Renewals in circumstances where the Infrastructure Maintenance Delivery Manager deems the work to be of a complexity such that the equivalent Maintenance standard (NR/L3/MTC/MG0210) is not sufficient. This decision is at the discretion of the Infrastructure Maintenance Delivery Manager.

The following exclusions apply to this standard:

a) works being delivered solely under the jurisdiction of Network Operations - Infrastructure Maintenance (i.e. where there is no involvement or impact to planned works by either Investment Projects or Asset Management Renewals). These types of works are covered under NR/L3/MTC/MG0210 and are therefore excluded from the scope of this standard except where specifically mentioned.

b) for NDS specific activities and processes relating to access planning and the subsequent publication of the Weekly Operating Notice (WON), refer to NR/L2/NDS/202 and NR/L3/NDS/303.

c) this standard is not applicable to emergency works.

d) if work is presented for consideration according to timescales which render it unable to meet the requirements under this standard, all requirements not able to be met at that date are required to be completed by the next major milestone. For example, if work is presented at T-8, all previously undertaken Deliverability Reviews are required to be made available by T-6, if not before.

e) any work presented for consideration with less than 2 weeks before T-0 will not be bound by this standard. Such work is to be reviewed by a Regional, Functional, Route or Major Programme Director for suitability to proceed and the rationale for this decision recorded.

Purpose

The Delivering Work within Possessions Standard provides the procedures and governance for projects delivering works on the railway infrastructure. The purpose of the standard is to reduce and mitigate the risk of possession overruns through:

a) earlier and better understanding of the resources needed to deliver works within a possession;

b) assessing and managing risk in an iterative, consistent and robust way;

c) identifying decision points, and putting in place contingency measures in the eventuality of a worksite overrun leading to a possession overrun;

d) prioritising the operational need when assessing risk;

e) understanding and managing complex worksites and possessions more directly;

f) providing an objective and early assessment of worksite progress;

g) providing better, earlier and more coherent communication with customers before, during and after engineering work;

h) capturing the root causes of possession overruns, identifying trends and putting in place remedial actions.

Network Rail is fully committed to reduce both the number of possession overruns and their impact on the travelling public and the operational railway. The processes and controls contained within the Delivering Work within Possession standard are key in achieving this.

All requirements identified within the standard must be fully complied with. Failure to comply with the requirements in this standard may result in the cancellation of works.