Custom software for excavation notifications and KLIC information
An excavation notification has an expiry date, and a schedule does not. You must notify no later than three working days before start, the work slips a week because of rain or a permit, and the data the machine operator is working from has gone out of date. That is not an administrative nuisance but the moment damage occurs.
Why the notification should be tied to the schedule
The Dutch Information Exchange on Above and Underground Networks Act (Wet informatie-uitwisseling bovengrondse en ondergrondse netten) requires you to notify mechanical excavation work. You submit that excavation notification no earlier than twenty working days and no later than three working days before start. The Kadaster informs the relevant network operators, who are obliged to supply their location data.
For plans that are not yet fixed, there is the orientation request. It gives you an overview of what lies underground without you having to dig, and it is explicitly not a substitute for the excavation notification. Anyone who puts a spade in the ground on the back of an orientation request does not comply with the law.
The practical bottleneck is the time between notifying and digging. Work shifts, notifications expire, and by the time the machine operator starts, it is not always clear which data applies. On top of that, the excavator is obliged to report a deviating location if they encounter one, and that is an action in the trench, not in the office.
This page is about managing excavation data in the office system. What the excavation crew needs in the trench, even without signal, is covered by the excavation data app for the trench.
How we build this
The excavation site and its schedule are the unit here. If the notification is attached to it, its validity moves with the work instead of expiring unnoticed.
Which activity belongs to which notification and which validity period. At most companies these sit in two systems that have no knowledge of each other.
The maps and drawing package need to be available at the excavation site. That means on a device that works without a connection.
Encountering and reporting is an obligation. We build it as an action of a few taps with a photo, because nothing beyond that happens in a wet trench.
When excavation damage occurs, the question concerns the day itself: which data applied, who was present, what was found. We set up the record-keeping around that question.
What the software actually does
The register of excavation sites with their notifications carries everything. Which components you need depends on how many sites you have open at once.
Excavation sites with their notifications
For each site, which notification is in place, for which period, and which network operators have supplied data. That makes it possible to answer which data applied on a given day.
Validity monitored against the schedule
If the work shifts, the system warns that the notification is expiring before the machine starts. That is the most common cause of digging on outdated data.
Maps available at the excavation site
The supplied data is on the operator's device, even without signal. In a trench outside built-up areas, that is the normal situation.
Reporting a deviating location from the field
Encounter, record with location and photo, and forward. The obligation to report a deviating location thus reaches the right party instead of getting lost in a WhatsApp message.
Image of the trench with timestamp
What was found and how it lay. In a dispute over excavation damage, that is the most convincing piece of evidence and the quickest to record.
File per site retained
Notification, supplied data, checks and reports of discrepancies, all in one place. In the event of damage, the notification itself is not the evidence; it's the whole picture around it.
Who we build for
How much this saves depends on how much excavation work you have running at once. Four situations.
Civil, road and hydraulic engineering
Many locations at once and schedules that keep shifting. The value lies in monitoring validity; with dozens of open notifications, that can't be done from memory. The safety side of the work runs through your RI&E with action plan.
Laying and maintaining connections
Short jobs at many addresses, often with a small crew. The notification per address is the work itself and needs to be doable in a few taps, or it gets skipped.
Municipalities and public space managers
You are both the client and the network operator for your own cables and pipes. That raises the question from two sides: supplying what someone else requests, and reporting on time yourself. For data exchange with the Kadaster, there is a dedicated integration.
Earthworks and transport
You dig on behalf of another party and are yourself the excavator. Responsibility then rests with you, even if the notification was submitted by the client; record clearly who did what. If you work on a site covered by the Wwke, additional access rules apply.
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Data is delivered to the Kadaster in a fixed format. We assess which integration options exist and how the files are structured on a case-by-case basis before promising anything.
Why Appfront
A notification lapses, a schedule slips
We tie validity to the schedule and warn before the machine starts. That is the most common cause of digging on outdated data.
The data belongs in the trench, not in the office
We make sure the maps are on the device and work without signal, because that is where the decision is made.
Reporting a deviating location has to fit in a few taps
Finding and reporting is a legal obligation. Anything that requires more than a photo and a place simply doesn't happen in practice.
Your project administration already exists
Locations, schedules and contractors are already in place. We align with these through integrations, rather than creating a second schedule.
Security and privacy
Location data for cables and pipes is not public information. It was provided to you for a specific excavation job and is not to be stored or passed on. We therefore restrict access to the people on that project, link the data to the notification it was supplied for, and record who has viewed it.
There is a tension on retention that you need to resolve explicitly. In the event of excavation damage, you need the data as it was at the time to show what you relied on, so discarding it straight after the job is unwise. At the same time, you should not keep or reuse it indefinitely for a later job, as you would then be digging based on outdated information. We therefore keep the supplied data linked to its notification, with a retention period, and without it being usable as a current source. For how we handle security internally, see our information security policy; reports from outside come through our CVD policy.
Frequently asked questions about WIBON and excavation notifications
Twenty working days at the earliest and no later than three working days before mechanical excavation begins. This lower limit is where schedules tend to go wrong: if you notify too early, the information will be out of date by the time work starts, and if you notify too late, you are not allowed to begin. That is why we tie the notification to the schedule rather than treating it as a one-off action.
No. An orientation request is intended for surveying an area while the plans are not yet final. Before any actual digging takes place, an excavation notification is required. Anyone who starts digging on the basis of an orientation request is not complying with the law and will be in a poor position if damage occurs.
The information about the location of the networks that you received with your notification must be available at the excavation site. In practice, this means digitally, on a device that works without signal, as a printout that is three weeks old in a site cabin is not where the machine operator is standing.
In that case, you are obliged to report it. What helps is keeping that report as small as possible: a photo, the location and a brief description, from the trench. Anything that requires more effort does not happen at the time itself, and not afterwards either.
The groundworker is the person carrying out the excavation and therefore bears the obligations relating to the digging itself. The fact that someone else submitted the notification does not release you from the duty to work with the correct information. For this reason, record for each location who did what; in the event of damage, that is the first question asked.
Data is delivered through a fixed route and in a fixed format. What can be processed automatically changes over time and depends on your role. We assess this at the time of building and do not promise an integration before we have seen what is available.
In the event of damage, the discussion centres on the day itself: which data applied, who was present, what was found and reported. A file per location containing the data supplied, the checks and the photographs answers those questions without reconstruction. It does not determine whether you are liable; it does show whether you can demonstrate what you did.
That depends on the number of simultaneous locations, whether the field side needs to be included, and whether it needs to integrate with your planning. A register with validity monitoring is usually quick to put to use and removes the greatest risk; the map view on the device takes more effort. We give a reasoned estimate after the discovery phase.
Tie excavation notifications to the schedule?
Look at how many open excavation notifications you have now and for how many of them the work has been postponed. That number is your risk today. We build this as a standalone application and as part of a broader custom software project.