Ground Penetration

The university campuses are crisscrossed with underground services including electricity cables, communications cables (which include both wired and fibre optic circuits), gas mains, water mains, foul and surface water drainage. Contact with these services can have a serious or even fatal consequences to staff and contractors and can also cause serious disruption to the university’s core business.

The university procedure applies to the following work activities involving ground penetration to a depth of more than 300mm:

• Excavation
• Trenching
• Digging
• Vertical or horizontal drilling/boring
• Driving of metal piles into the ground
• Use of spikes to stabilise temporary structures such as marquees, etc.
• Tree felling and stump grinding

Ground Penetration Permit 

Routine grounds maintenance work, carried out in established cultivated areas, for example planting, turning over soil, etc. is not covered by these procedures.