Line Searches before we dig

Location

Description

An online system which any third party can use to help them find utility pipes and cables in order to work safely. By undertaking a simple search, each enquirer gets an instant response for all the apparatus owned and/or operated by the Asset Owners. All enquirers (users) receive an instant response to their enquiry advising if their site is inside or outside an Area of Interest (AOI) that would be designated by NGN. The result of this filtering process means that enquirers receive faster response times and NGN only receive relevant enquiries, eliminating any wasted time checking enquiries that are not near our assets. At present there is approx 30,000 enquiries per month from enquirers who have plans to excavate nearby or close to our pipelines. The key benefit highlights are as follows: 1. Increased asset protection through significant annual enquiry volume growth 2. Less anticipated 3rd party damage to our assets 3. Reduced costs relating to internal investigations and legal support resulting from incidents 4. Increase in revenue from chargeable damages 5. Increased revenue from chargeable asset plans (mapping providers, conveyancers, land search companies) 6. Stakeholder recognition & brand awareness - over 3,000,000 searches per annum via LSBUD website 7. Increased customer service - search results provided to customer within 10 minutes versus current SLA of within 10 days. 8. Garden Mains (HSE challenge) - providing customers with mains inside their land boundary visibility of where the main is.

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• None found

Legal Justification

A Direct Award to LinesearchBeforeUdig (LSBUD) is justified due to the platform's unique market position, critical safety function, and lack of viable equivalent alternatives. 1. Market Uniqueness and Sole Supplier Characteristics LSBUD is the national safe digging service, protecting over 60% of Great Britain's utility infrastructure and processing around 4 million enquiries annually. Its extensive membership-160+ asset owners across electricity, gas, water, telecoms, and fuel networks-makes it the only UK platform with this level of asset coverage and integration. No alternative platform provides comparable reach, national adoption, or instant multi utility response capabilities. 2. Regulatory and Safety Imperatives Safe dig compliance, HSE expectations, and risk mitigation obligations rely on immediate, accurate asset data. LSBUD is specifically designed to reduce asset strikes and improve safety outcomes, offering instant AOI responses within seconds. Replicating this functionality elsewhere would introduce unacceptable delays and risks. 3. Operational Efficiency and Risk Reduction LSBUD's ability to filter enquiries ensures NGN only receives relevant requests, preventing thousands of potential unsafe excavations and supporting faster customer responses. The proven model is already widely used by major UK utilities, including UK Power Distribution, which relies on LSBUD for asset searches. 4. High Switching Barriers Switching would require rebuilding integrations with 160+ network operators, re establishing data sharing agreements, and implementing new operational procedures-an impractical and costly undertaking. The absence of equivalent providers creates a de facto sole supplier environment. Conclusion: Given LSBUD's national infrastructure role, unrivalled asset-owner participation, and essential contribution to safety and operational efficiency, a Direct Award is a proportionate, defensible route that ensures continuity, compliance, and risk minimisation.

Other Information

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