Getting utility reinstatements right first time
- robball6
- Jul 10
- 3 min read
On 3 July the Transport Select Committee published the findings into an inquiry into street works; that is work carried out to install, repair and maintain utilities, involving digging up and then reinstating roads.
Among the several recommendations from the committee, whose role is to scrutinise the Department for Transport (DfT) and provide information and advice to Parliament, is the suggestion that utility companies should have to come back and repair any reinstatements that fail within five years. Current regulations only hold them responsible for two years or three for deep trenches.
As one might expect, local authorities support this idea while utility companies are less enthusiastic. While it’s possible to see both sides of the argument, a better approach might be to find a new way to carry out reinstatements that ensures they don’t need to be revisited. (Yes, we have been working on one).
The five-year guarantee period isn’t a new idea. In 2019, when the code of practice for street works, Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways (SROH) was being updated, the DfT consulted on doing it but no change materialised. Meanwhile, in Scotland the guarantee period is longer at six years.
As any driver will have noticed, cracks and potholes often form around reinstated utility trenches. The joint between the new asphalt in the trench and the existing highway is a weak point; if the workmanship and materials used at that joint are not properly controlled, tiny cracks can widen over time to become potholes.
Other problems can occur if the new material has not been properly compacted, leaving voids that are too big. These close over time, leading the surface over the repair to sink to a lower level to the surrounding road.
Such defects lead to issues for road users; they can cause damage to cars and lead to accidents for cyclists. Where reinstatements are in footpaths, they create hazards for pedestrians, buggies and wheelchair users.
In many cases, these defects only become apparent after the two-year guarantee period has passed. Factors such as the frequency and weight of traffic and weather conditions impact on how quickly cracks and potholes form. This means that the local authority – and tax payers – have to foot the bill for sorting them out.
The Asphalt Industry Alliance’s 2025 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey of local highway authorities found that they were spending an average of 2.8% of their maintenance budgets to repair reinstatements that had failed prematurely. This equates to £66.8 million for 2023/34 in England and Wales – cash that was sorely needed elsewhere.
While local authorities told the Select Committee Inquiry that a longer guarantee period would encourage higher-standard, longer lasting reinstatement, the utility companies disagreed. They said that longer guarantee periods would mean that contractors would charge more to cover the risk of failure. They also argued that most reinstatements that last for two years tend to remain good for 10-to-15 years meaning consumers would be paying more through the utility companies for little benefit.
One solution would be to improve the reinstatement methodology. Thermal Road Repairs has developed a specialist utility trench reinstatement heater which can be used to create a seamless bond between the existing and new material, removing potential weak points and the need for any follow-up repairs. Our technology has also been used by utility companies and local authorities to sort our failed reinstatements.
The Select Committee report chastises the DfT for not following up on a promise it made in 2019, after a consultation on street works, to further investigate the financial implications of increasing the guarantee period. Surely, if such a calculation took into account the costs of disruption to road users, damage to vehicles and the financial impact of accidents – as well as the more obvious costs for rework – the right decision would be to push for changes that ensure reinstatements are done ‘right first time’.
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