Custom software for excavation notifications and the careful excavation process
Since the CROW 500 came into effect, preventing damage from excavation no longer rests solely with the machine operator. The guideline places the duty of care on the entire chain: the client, the designer, the excavation contractor and the network operator each have their own share. This means that for every excavation site, something must be demonstrably in place, not merely agreed.
What the guideline requires of the chain
The CROW 500 is the elaboration of the careful excavation process and follows the earlier publications 250 and 308. Where previously the focus was mainly on the excavation contractor, this guideline explicitly defines the roles of the client and the network operator. The Supreme Court has ruled that the guideline serves as the standard of care in excavation damage cases and that its wording carries considerable weight.
There is also the legal side: under the WIBON, the excavation contractor must investigate cables and pipelines in the area where digging will take place. This investigation begins with an excavation notification, in practice the KLIC notification. That notification must be submitted at least three working days before work starts and is valid for a maximum of twenty working days. If the work runs longer, a new notification should be in place.
Where there is uncertainty about the exact location, localisation is required, for example through trial trenches. If the actual situation turns out to deviate from what was supplied, this should be reported to the Kadaster. These are not isolated actions; they are steps in a single process that you must be able to account for afterwards.
And that's where the gap is. Notifications are submitted, drawings are downloaded and trial trenches are dug, but the evidence of all that is scattered across mailboxes, phones and a folder on a server. When damage occurs, the question is not whether someone meant well, but what was actually recorded.
How we build this
The core is the excavation site, not the project and not the notification. A single site can cover multiple notifications, multiple crews and several weeks, and everything that happens there should be linked to that site.
Each excavation site gets its own file with the area, the client and the works. Notifications, drawings and observations are attached to it, not to a person.
Every notification has a validity period. The system monitors that period and warns you before any digging takes place without a valid notification.
The risk assessment, the decisions taken and the locating work belong to the site, along with who carried them out and when. That is the part that matters when damage occurs.
If the position differs from the data supplied, the deviation is recorded with photos and position and prepared for reporting to the Kadaster.
What the software actually does
The file per excavation site carries the whole picture. What else you need depends on your role in the chain and on how many sites are running at the same time.
Notifications with validity
Every excavation notification has a start date and a validity of twenty working days. The system shows which sites are approaching that limit.
Risk assessment per site
The assessment belongs to the area and the works. We record which risks were identified and which measure followed from them.
Recording locating work
Where a trial trench was dug, what was found and at which position. With photos and timestamps, so it can be accounted for afterwards.
Reporting a deviating position
A deviation that is found is recorded and prepared for reporting to the Kadaster, rather than remaining stuck in a group chat.
Roles in the chain
Client, designer, excavation contractor and supervisor each see their own part. It remains visible who took which step.
A file for later
In the event of damage or dispute, you can produce the full course of the site: notifications, assessments, observations and photos, in order.
Who we build for
Your role in the excavation chain determines what you need from the software. Four situations.
Contractors and excavation firms
They submit the notifications and do the locating. For them, what matters most is that no digging takes place on an expired notification.
Clients and municipalities
Since the guideline, they have their own share in the preparation. They want to be able to demonstrate what was supplied and agreed.
Network operators
They provide the data and have an interest in feedback on deviating locations, ideally with position and image.
Engineering and consultancy firms
Those who prepare for multiple clients want one way of working, not a different folder for every project.
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Guidelines are revised, notification forms change, and the requirements for what must be available on site have been tightened in recent years. Deadlines, roles and risk categories should be configurable and not hard-coded.
Why Appfront
The site is the file, not the notification
A single excavation site often has multiple notifications and crews. Whoever administers per notification loses the history of the location itself.
A deadline you have to remember does not work
The validity of a notification is the most predictable cause of error. It should be monitored by the system.
Recording it at the moment itself
A trench permit filled in at the office in the evening is a thing of the past. We build the record where the work actually happens.
We don't define your duty of care
What counts as careful in a specific case is a question of professional expertise and law. We make sure that what you do remains demonstrably so.
Security and privacy
An excavation file contains data on the location of cables and pipelines, which is information that should not circulate widely. We set access per role and per location, give a subcontractor only the locations they work on, and log who views what. Integrations with your existing software run through secure integrations.
For this subject, the reliability of the timing is the key point. A risk assessment that was completed after an incident is no longer preparation. We record notifications, analyses and observations as unalterable entries with time, location and person, and any correction appears as a visible correction alongside the original entry. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy.
Frequently asked questions about the careful excavation process
A notification must be submitted at least three working days before work starts and is valid for a maximum of twenty working days. If the work continues beyond that, a new notification should be in place. That is exactly the sort of deadline you don't want to track by hand.
Yes. The guideline defines the roles of client, designer, groundworker and network operator. Preventing excavation damage is a shared responsibility across the chain, not only the concern of whoever operates the machine.
A discrepancy between the data supplied and the actual situation should be reported to the Kadaster (Land Registry). Software helps mainly by recording the finding, with its position and imagery, at the moment it is observed.
The guideline calls for investigating what lies in the area and for measures that suit the situation. How extensive that needs to be depends on the location and the work involved. Whatever you choose, it must be possible to account for it afterwards.
Usually not. Many companies submit notifications through an existing route. We build the layer around it: the file, deadline monitoring and on-site recording, connected to what you already use.
Yes. The digital map of the excavation site is described on our page about the CROW 500 app.
Do you know today at which location the notification is being handled?
Take an ongoing job and look up when the excavation notification was submitted. If you have to dig through a mailbox to find out, that is the gap a damage claim slips through. We build this as a standalone application and as part of a wider custom software project.