RIAS CPD: Donald Rumsfeld and the PUMA, Conquering Uncertainty and Improving Reliability in Underground Utility Mapping.
Thursday 25 January 2024, 12.30-13.30 (online).
The online recording of this event can be made available on request.
Event description:
Understanding the location of underground utilities is paramount to ensure the safety of workers, prevent costly damage to infrastructure, and adhere to legal requirements. It also plays a critical role in optimizing the design and execution of construction projects.
However, the application of utility mapping methods varies widely and delivery of such services was largely unregulated and subject to considerable exploitative business practices in the early years of development.
This CPD will introduce the main methods used for utility mapping in the UK and cover the steps taken by interested stakeholders within the Built Environment sector to improve standards, starting with the development of the BSI Specification PAS128 and introducing The Survey Association’s new accreditation scheme for utility mapping companies – PUMA, and why you should choose a PUMA accredited TSA member to carry out your underground mapping work.
About the speaker:
Sam Roberts, Director of Met Consultancy Group & Technical Committee Chair of The Survey Association
Sam graduated in Archaeology from Durham University in 1998 and spent some time researching how soil geochemistry affects buried objects before starting a career in field archaeology, quickly finding an aptitude for land survey and geophysics.
He joined Met in 2006 as a Project Surveyor and was made Director in 2012 after developing their underground utility mapping and geophysics department. His career path through research, cultural heritage and the survey industry has had at its core a love of geoscience. He is passionate about education and improving standards in our industry.
Sam has had a long involvement with improving standards in Utility Mapping within the UK, starting with his involvement as Vice Chair (and later Chair) of the Utility Mapping Association in 2012 which brought industry together to fund and develop the first PAS128 specification, through helping to write guidance documents on utility mapping for The Survey Association and acting as a founding member for the Utilities and Subsurface Mapping panel working for the Chartered Institute of Civil Engineering Surveyors. For the last few years, Sam has led the drive to introduce an accreditation scheme for utility mapping companies, and the result is PUMA: PAS128 Utility Mapping Accreditation (https://www.tsa-uk.org.uk/puma/).
He believes it is vital to disseminate knowledge and communicate a better understanding of the technology at our disposal, and how it can be used to provide more effective solutions to the problems we face in our environment. Contributing to TSA’s Technical Committee and the work it produces is one way he can help achieve this.
Please note: this CPD is free and exclusive to current RIAS members only. To join or find out more, please see here
Sam Roberts, Director of Met Consultancy Group & Technical Committee Chair of The Survey Association
Read Sam’s blog on TSA’s new Accreditation Scheme for Survey Companies offering PAS128 utility surveys here