Report Business Practice

Business Practice Working Group: November 2017 Meeting Update

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Tags: Featured

The mission of the AGS Business Practice Working Group (BPWG) is to address and, where appropriate, improve the business practices of not only the Association, but the general geotechnical and geoenvironmental community. Led by John Talbot, the BPWG takes a lead in promoting the AGS and enhancing its membership with the aim of regenerating the AGS and increasing its overall reach.

The group had its last meeting of the year on 23rd November in London, and is currently focusing efforts on the review & reform of the AGS and marketing;

Review & Reform of the AGS
Having made huge progress in reforming the working practices of the AGS over the last two years, the Group is working on this initiative to increase awareness of the Association through the AGS’ social media channels (Twitter and LinkedIn) and through the ongoing rejuvenation of the AGS website. Since January 2017, the AGS has seen a 30% increase in Twitter followers and 27% increase in LinkedIn followers.

The AGS is also working to increase the number of seminars it holds year on year. In 2017, we organised a Geotechnical Data Conference at the National Motorcycle Museum, which saw attendance from over 140 delegates. In 2018, we’ll be holding our annual Members’ Day event and a Ground Risk event in London this September.

Marketing of AGS to the Wider Geotechnical Community
This initiative started last year and is starting to gather momentum, thanks to the drafting of the AGS Business and Marketing Plans and the launch of AGS Magazine.

This is the second issue of AGS Magazine, which has a huge reach of 6,000 subscribers across the geotechnical and geoenvironmental industry. I’m sure this figure will continue to rise month on month.

Report Laboratories

AGS Laboratories Working Group: October 2017 Meeting Update

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Tags: Featured

The final AGS Laboratories Working Group meeting of the year took place on 17th October 2017 in London and the Laboratories Leader, Dimitris Xirouchakis of Structural Soils, has provided an update on the top three current issues the Laboratories Working Group are discussing.

Incorporation of the published EN and ISO standards to BS 1377, update of the chemical test methods in BS 1377 and the addition of rock testing methods to BS
Soil test methods in BS 1377:1990 are being replaced by the equivalent BS EN 17892 series. Despite the similarities, small differences exist and AGS members need to educate themselves and their clients, as the new tests will eventually appear in project specifications in the UK and potentially abroad, e.g. Middle East. Furthermore, any practical or nominal updates to BS 1377 will increase its applicability. The group believe the AGS need to adapt fast to the new technical standards being published.

Raise the profile and training and certification of laboratory technicians in geotechnical laboratories
This issue is important to the group as any effort to formalise the on-the-job training received by site and laboratory technicians, as is the case for engineers and geologists, will improve the services offered. The training can be improved by offering or supporting online training by partnering with other professional organisations or universities.

To increase participation in the Laboratories Working Group
Member participation of Laboratories Working Group meetings has waned recently even though many AGS member companies have laboratories. Testing services are an important component to AGS activities and strong participation to the Laboratory Working Group should reflect that. If you wish to attend AGS Laboratories Working Group meetings, please contact the AGS Secretariat by emailing ags@ags.org.uk.

Report Contaminated Land

Contaminated Land Working Group: October 2017 Meeting Update

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Tags: Featured

The AGS Contaminated Land Working Group, led by Vivien Dent (RSK) met on 11th October in London for their final meeting of the year. The group are currently focusing their efforts on three primary issues;

WASTE CLASSIFICATION IN SOILS – A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE
The Group feel there is uncertainty as to how to assess soils from construction sites. By producing the AGS stance on waste classification of soils, a unified approach across the industry can be adopted.

The Working Group have created an initial draft document which is currently being circulated for comment.

POSSIBLE UPDATES TO THE AGS COVER SYSTEM DOCUMENT
As the AGS/BRE/NHBC cover system document is over 13 years old, it is no longer used as much as it was. The Contaminated Land Working Group therefore feel that updates are required to bring the cover system up to date with current practices.

After reviewing the results of a questionnaire which was issued to Local Authorities, the Working Group have decided to compile a guidance note with updates, to make the document relevant once again. This will be a major focus for the Group in 2018.

GUIDELINES TO GOOD PRACTICE IN GEOENVIRONMENTAL GROUND INVESTIGATION
Where the standard of ground investigation varies greatly, the AGS would like to promote best practice and raise the standard of ground investigation where needed.

The Contaminated Land Working Group have therefore drafted a document to allow members to see where improvements can be made in relation to their own work. This draft document will be ready for circulation in due course.

Report Data Management

Data Management Group Report – 19 February 2015

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Tags: AGS5 BuildingSmart Characteristic values data data format digital files GDR ground modelling Jackie Bland open-file Website XML

Jackie Bland, Chair, Data Management Group writes:

Following our split of the committee to focus ourselves on both the Format and the marketing of the format, we have had one meeting which was entirely focussed on Ground Modelling / AGSi.

Ground Modelling – AGSi

AGS ground model objectives

  • Transfer of derived data
  • Contain only the content of geotechnical investigation report (GIR) – as defined by BS5930 / EC7
  • Characteristic values (GDR) not in scope
  • Purpose of interpretation must be clear

Publication

  • Publish as AGS4.1 (for public consultation) – as AGS format CSV
  • Develop and publish an XML version
    • Consider including GML
    • Release as beta version (2016-17)
    • Publish as AGS5 alongside a CSV version (2020)
  • Interface with other projects – BGS/Keynetix
    • Liaise with BuildingSmart / IFC class – open dialog with committee to establish method to progress collaboration

Conference at Geotechnica in July 2015

Julian Lovell has very kindly offered us a 2 hour slot at the exhibition which we will use as a marketing/educational opportunity for AGS4, BS8574, BIM and a workshop for AGS4i.

AGS Website

Following on from the last AGS main committee meeting in November, the website redevelopment will not include any change to the AGS Format web-pages. Instead, it will be left in its current state as a sub-site of the main website. Hilary Derbyshire will continue to maintain the pages (providing she doesn’t retire!) until more funding can be found to move it to the new platform.

Report Laboratories

Laboratories Working Group Report

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Tags: 341 526 BS 1377 BS/526/3 BSI CEN CEN TC consultation John Powell laboratories Labs UKAS WG6

John Powell, Chairman, Laboratories Working Group writes:

The meeting had 8 member attendees  and 7 apologies.

BSI Committee B/526/3

Revision of BS5930: Section 8- Laboratory Testing on Samples

The public consultation is now complete with around 1000 comments being received (many just editorial) with only about half a dozen of these being for the Labs section. Publication is anticipated later this year.

Future of BS 1377 and CEN TC 341 WG6

WG6 had progressed well –

  • Parts 1 (Water Content) and 2 (Density Tests) – both were published worldwide on 31/12/2014, in the UK as BS EN ISO 17892-1 and BS EN ISO 17892-2.
  • The corresponding parts of BS1377: Part 2 (Clauses 3.2 and 7 respectively) will be withdrawn by 30/06/2015. UKAS has issued a memo relating to these two tests. Labs that are accredited to the BS equivalents can have these added to their accreditation schedules by signing a self-declaration, rather than by application, fee and audit.
  • Parts 3 (Density of Solid Particles) and 4 (Particle Size Distribution) – are under final review taking into account public comments. It is expected they will be submitted for final formal vote within a month or so, and will be published around mid-year
  • Parts 5 (incremental oedometer) and 6 (fall cone) – are in public review now (BSI website until 18 April). Please take opportunity to comment.
  • Parts 7 (Unconfined Compression test on Fine Grained Soil), 8 (Unconsolidated Undrained Triaxial Test) & 9 (Consolidated Triaxial Compression Test on Water Saturated Soils) – are close to submission for public consultation, these are expected to be out during the second half of this year.
  • Parts 10 (Direct Sheer Test) & 11 (Determination of Permeability by Constant and Falling Head) and Part 12 (Determination of Atterberg Limits) – remain under review in WG6.

The AGS lab group are to considering if there any tests they would like to be standardised and brought to European level (and other AGS members are welcome to do the same via the Labs group).

An Introduction to Geotechnical Laboratory Testing for Routine Construction Projects

In reviewing the guide reference is made to “Selection of Geotechnical Soil Laboratory Testing” and the AGS Power Point presentation on “Ground Investigation Testing”. It was agreed that these also needed a detailed review.

The document “Selection of Geotechnical Soil Laboratory Testing” would need to be reviewed by a separate sub group of consultants and others and this would require approval from the Executive. John Powell agreed to raise it at the next Executive meeting on the 19th February 2015.

All to 3 documents to be reviewed together to ensure consistency.

Membership Drive for Laboratory Testing Organisations Only

John Powell announced the Executive had approved the proposed Laboratories Seminar. It was decided the seminar would be held in October, depending on venue availability and would be aimed towards clients and consultants educating them on what Laboratories can provide and the importance of sampling.

Proficiency testing

John Masters would be running a scheme in 2015. Test to be notified.

UKAS

UKAS are reinstating the Construction Technical Committee and the AGS had been invited to contribute and has asked for volunteers. Kevyn Brooks advised he had been asked to be involved also and was happy to represent the AGS.

Report Safety

Safety Group Report

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Tags: 16228 BDA BS CDM CPCS Guidance health Manual handling PPE safety safety alerts safety awareness standards training Website

Julian Lovell, Chairman, AGS Safety Working Group writes:

Below is the latest report from our Safety Group which this quarter has been tackling issues on guidance, the new CDM regulations and collaboration with the British Drilling Association (BDA).

AGS Safety Guidance

The working group has been working consistently to progress the guidance available to the industry. Progress has been steady throughout the year. Most guidance goes through two if not three reviews which effectively means 3 to 6 months from initial draft and the most effective reviews are carried out by the committee either in a face to face meeting or on one occasion an on-line meeting.

Guidance which has been published since the last meeting:

  • Use of Scaffolding/Temporary Working Platform
  • Lifting Operations and Equipment used in Drilling Operations Guidance on CSCS Registration
  • Driving at Work

Guidance close to completion:

  • PPE
  • Manual Handling
  • Training and Competence
  • AGS Health and Safety Training Standards Health Surveillance

Website

Currently all published guidance is freely available from the AGS website. The SWG has discussed this matter and believes that all of the safety guidance should be freely available in front of the member’s portal.

Where individual guidance links together we would like hyperlinks so that you can move between them. This should be part of the new website functionality specification. The web pages should have photographs and images and not just a list of links to guidance. The guidance will also be split into sections to try to make it easier to find what you want. Currently, we are waiting for the development of standard templates before we can provide further input to the new section within the new website.

BDA

The BDA has completed a new version of its Safety Manual and this is likely to be available digitally in the next month or so. Currently, they are deciding how and who it is distributed to but it is likely to be free to members. Unsure if it will be sold on the wider market.

There have also been ongoing discussions between the BDA and AGS regarding a closer working relationship. The AGS SWG has discussed on numerous occasions how much of an overlap there is and has offered to set up a joint working group. The BDA have reported back that they initially want to establish their own safety committee which has not met for over 12 months. They will then re-visit the idea of working with the AGS.

BDA have agreed to sponsor a session at Geotechnica which will be a Health and Safety session.

The BDA also spoke to the SWG about the BDA Audit. This scheme has been brought in to allow companies to assess the ongoing competence of the drill crews and to comply with BS 22475: Part 2. The auditee has to have already achieved the Land Drilling NVQ but this will look more closely in to how the driller is operating on site and complying with legislation, guidance and good practice. The BDA Training and Education Committee is currently working with Equipe to strengthen the Audit so that it requires the auditee to be able to prove a high standard of knowledge and application of both quality and safety. It is hoped that this will be linked in to the work to improve the current Land Drilling NVQs and in time to develop a Level 3 Advanced Lead Driller qualification.

Safety awareness and CSCS

The CSCS have been advised by the construction industry that there are too many loopholes in the CSCS card scheme. The CSCS card should represent the work activity being performed on site by that individual. The current clamp down has seen the requirement to attend a one day approved Health, Safety and Environmental awareness course if a GREEN labourer’s card is required. This is in addition to the CSCS touch screen test. Whilst this sounds initially like a good initiative to reduce the number of generic cards and promote training there are concerns. The concerns are that

  • it may lead to similar generic cards such as the WHITE Construction Related Operatives (CRO) card requiring something similar or being withdrawn
  • the promotion of generic Health and Safety training.
    The CRO card is commonly used across the geotechnical industry under the title Ground Specialist.New Standards BS EN 16228 – Drilling and foundation equipment.The new standard is seen to be the European wide requirements for rig guarding but they are actually a lot more detailed and cover all safety aspects of operating drilling equipment across sectors and rig types. Most organisations have still not looked to see if changes to UK practice or obligations on rig users or manufacturers has changed. AGS has told BDA that as the trade body for drilling they should be advising industry on these matters. One AGS member believes that it downgrades the importance of guarding in reference to trapping distances. There will undoubtedly be other areas which need to be considered. The BS was live from the end of October 2014.

    Construction Design and Management Regulations, 2015

    The changes to the CDM regulations was discussed, majority of the group felt more responsibility had been passed onto the client and they would now have to consider risk as well as the cost of the project. Julian Lovell noted the HSE encourages industry interpretation, and thought it was important guidance was produced to reflect the industry. The group agreed and recognised the re-education of clients would be the hardest transition. It was agreed joint industry guidance with the BDA and the Federation of Piling Specialists (FPS) would be ideal. Julian, Madeleine Bardsley, Adam Latimer and Jon Rayner agreed to contribute to the joint industry guidance on behalf of the AGS. Ann-Marie Casserly raised the proposal at the FPS Safety & Training meeting and Julian contacted BDA. Currently all parties agree that it would be a good initiative but neither FPS nor BDA could provide time or resources at the moment.

    Equipe are currently arranging a FREE one day seminar/discussion forum for Health and Safety in the geotechnical industry on 4th March at their training rooms near Banbury. The day is aimed to open up debate on HS&E matters including:

  • How the industry should adopt and interpret the requirements of CDM 2015
    • Can we educate the client?
    • Can CDMCs become Principal Designers?
    • Can the industry cope with the increased demand to act as Principal Contractor?
  • Will it increase resources and costs to complete CDM jobs?
  • Why companies might consider Health Surveillance

Safety Alerts

The Safety Working Group would like to receive copies of safety alerts relevant to member’s activities so that lessons can be learnt. The most valuable messages often come from Near Misses and it is hoped that we can start a regular item in the newsletter but we have to have items sent from the membership.

Report Loss Prevention

Loss Prevention Working Group Report

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Tags: advisor alerts Asbestos BS5930 collateral collateral warranties copyright damage damages expert ground investigation indemnity insurance loss prevention LPA net contribution clauses piling piling damage PPI professional professional indemnity insurance railway warranties witness

Hugh Mallett, Chairman LPWG writes:

The group is drafting articles and guidance on a number of issues that are important to AGS members, see below for the list of our ongoing work programme and soon to be available guidance.

General

The LPWG met once since the November Committee meeting – 22nd Jan 2015. No calls have been made to the Legal or Chemical Helplines since the last LPWG meeting.

A Griffiths & Armour publication on claims “Professional Indemnity Insurance: Lessons to be learnt” is to be made available to AGS members via the new website

LPWG generally agrees with putting some documents behind a paywall on the new AGS website. There is also support for a knowledge hub (e-learning) that could be considered as a future initiative for students.

Loss Prevention Alerts (LPAs) are still in high demand for downloading [20 LPAs downloaded >100 times between Oct and Jan].

New member has joined the  group, Nora Fung – Arup legal.

Recently Published

Newsletter

  1. Elvanite Vs Amec- Limitations of Liability
  2. BGS – Deposition of Data

LPAs

LPA 58 – Risks associated with as built drawings.
LPA 59 – The Consequences of Damage to Underground Services LPA 60 – What is meant by Supervision?

Work in Progress

  • LPAs
  • Summaries for the web site being reviewed and edited for accuracy.
  • Permission is being sought for publication of LPA 09 [Mott MacDonald case] online.
  • Contractors seeking contractual indemnities from their Sub Contractors. Ready for publication

Net Contribution Clauses: Newsletter article prepared. Authorisation to publish being sought from Griffiths & Armour.

Document on Ground Investigation Reporting (GIR/ GDR): Initial redraft prepared by J Strange – subject to further review/ comment. Now held to be consistent with revised BS5930.

Asbestos & deleterious materials: Newsletter article to be prepared [may also pick up discussion at Members Day]. Article on insurance cover re asbestos last published in 2011 to be re-published.

Collateral Warranties: Griffiths & Armour being approached to allow their Collateral Warranties – Basic Guide to be made available to AGS members. If permission is granted a short article highlighting its availability to be prepared for the Newsletter.

Expert Advisor and Expert Witness: Newsletter article being prepared. 1 of 2

Copyright Paper on copyright issues: drafted [advice to Members on copyright and on issues arising from use of reports and drawings in planning process].

PI Insurance for Contaminated Land: NEC3 contract requires insurance terms to be on an each and every claim basis. Aggregate cover only available for contaminated land (and asbestos and radioactivity). A newsletter article is being drafted.

Guide to report writing: Newsletter article drafted to advertise the guidance to AGS Members. The Guide itself was up-dated, but never published. Up-dated version to be retrieved, put on the web site and publicised in Newsletter.

Limitation period and defects liability: Article being drafted

Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Rights: issues for Staff on Secondment Loss Prevention Guidance drafted to address some of the issues arising from secondment of staff.

Signing contracts under duress: Newsletter article being prepared.

Client Guide: What Institutions, Trade Associations or other organisations might a Client expect a Geotechnical/Geoenvironmental Company and their employees to belong to? Paper in preparation.

Piling Damage to Live Railway Tunnel. Paper in preparation.

 

Report Contaminated Land

Contaminated Land Working Group Report

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Tags: Asbestos BS8485 Contaminated Land EA Environment Agency Land Forum Neil Parry NHBC SAGTA Sampling SiLC

Neil Parry, Chairman, CLG writes:

Our last meeting was held on 10th January 2015, 17 members attended. Below is a summary of ongoing activities.

Environment Agency (EA)

Further to the meeting with Bob MacIntyre (EA Hazardous Waste) a further (or extended) Working Group meeting is proposed once the Waste classification and assessment Technical Guidance WM3 has been published. Agreement from the Main Committee was required (Ann-Marie to forward additional room costs).

Sampling

A separate working group has been set up to look into sampling protocols for contaminated soil and waste. We have been in contact with Murray Lark from the BGS and he has agreed to contribute to the sub group.

NHBC

Karen Thornton reported on the statistics for NHBC and research projects on low energy, SUDS, soil stabilisation. A new Basement Construction chapter 5.4. A full review of standards is due to take place up to April this year.

Land Forum

Chaired by Seamus Lefroy-Brooks. Work being carried out on QMLC Scheme for competence.

C4SL

SAGTA held a meeting at the beginning of February. It was agreed that Karen Thornton would feed back information from the meeting to the CLWG.

Asbestos

A panel discussion on asbestos will be held on Members’ day.

UKWIR

Further to the AGS Position Statement on the UKWIR guidance (guidance for the selection of water pipes in contaminated land) further monitoring of the general water company requirements will be carried out.

SiLC

Roger Clarke reported that there has been a drive for more assessors as the numbers in SiLC increase.

BS8485

Code of practice for the characterization and remediation from ground gas in affected developments. Some progress on the new draft reported by CLWG members involved.