CSA S250 StandardMAPPING OF UNDERGROUND UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE

Bob Gaspirc, OLS, CLS, OAEM

Chair, CSA S250 Technical Committee

Manager, Mapping Services. City of Toronto

URISA - Ontario Chapter "Be Spatial'09" AGM Program and EXPO

May 5, 2009

Key Goal – improve decision making

You must:

• Be ready to produce utility “record” as evidence that an event, set of activities, or task occurred and was completed

• Have record containing relevant, factual, and timely data

• Be able to access and retrieve utility record

• Be able to to share, manipulate, analyze, distribute data

• Make and act on decisions using reliable and dependable utility map records

Why a Mapping Standard?

• Good records lead to informed decisions

• Codification of best practises

• Provides a technically neutral language

• Creates a consistent and repeatable approach to mapping and recording of facility information “as per CSA S250”

• Promotes communication among utility infrastructure stakeholders and reduces infrastructure life-cycle challenges

Expected outcomes

• Improved safety of company and contractor employees and the general public by decreasing utility hits/strikes

• Improved reliability and accuracy in the location of underground utility infrastructure mapping records and supporting data

• Lower cost in utility design life cycle by sharing accurate and complete utility records in a more timely fashion amongst all users (owners, municipalities, designers, contractors, locators, …)

Evidence of an event, activity, task

• As-built drawings, plans, sketches

• Circulation drawings, mark ups

• Design drawing

• Permit drawings, sketches

• Approved design drawing used for purposes of construction

• Field notes, locator notes, inspector notes,

• Digital representations of above

CSA s250 – Mapping of underground infrastructure

Standard needs to be:

• referenced and used within infrastructure design, construction, operation policies, practices, and procedures

• “these” documents are needed to demonstrates the “legal test phases” to be met :

• establish the integrity and authenticity of the recording system; and

• Supports and “the reliability of the entry.”

CSA s250: – Mapping of underground infrastructure

Applying the standard to an organization’s business will not eliminate the possibility of litigation, but it will make the production of electronic records easier and their acceptance in a legal proceeding more certain.

This standard is not intended to replace, reduce, or eliminate the “Call before you dig” requirements for field locates of buried utilities

Improved decision framework

Acts, regulations, by-laws, codes Results of court actions/decisions,

other legal proceeding

Enables Framework for collection, access

exchange, and distribution

Business policies, best practice, procedures, and operational requirements

STANDARDS

•ISO 15489 - records management•CAN/CGSB-72.34, Electronic records as documentary evidence•standards endorsed for the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) (DRM, metadata, web services etc)•CSA s250 – Mapping of Underground Utility Infrastructure

Technology neutral language Improves, enhances records management during design, construction, operation, retirement phase of plant

Why a CSA based standard?

• Provides management framework for administering technical committee

• Acts a facilitator; provides neutral third party forum, process, and structure for developing a consensus standard

• Part of the National Standards System; accredited by the Standards Council of Canada

Consensus based Standards are developed by stakeholders

business

• Cooperative work through common interest in particular subject area

consumer groups

industry labour government environmental groups

CSA’s Involvement in Civil Infrastructure

More than 400 publications relate to civil infrastructure…

Homes & Buildings

Transportation structures

Energy networks (electrical, petroleum, gas & alternative energy)

Water, waste, & storm water management

Industrial structures

Communications structures

Community, healthcare and recreational facilities

History and Background of Initiative

• No current mapping standard that addresses accuracy, process, and identification of underground plant

• Historically, high variability in the reliability, consistency & accuracy of mapping underground utilities

• The (Ontario and BC) Common Ground Alliance movement have introduced Mapping “Best Practices” for Damage Prevention

• Recent technological advancements allows for: Improved records capture (GPS, LIDAR, imagery) Better records storage (GIS, CADD systems) Enhanced access and sharing mechanisms

• Growing appetite to share utility mapping records

• Utility owners/operators already have internal standards

Build Up to Development of Standard

• 2005 to 2006 Q3 – ORCGA Mapping Best Practices finalized and committee dissolved

• 2006 Q1 to Q3 – RPWCO gathered support to develop a mapping standard

• 2006 Q3 – RPWCO approached CSA to conduct a study on the viability of developing a new mapping standard

• 2006 Q4 to 2007 Q2 – Feasibility Task Force

• 2007 Q2 – Call for participation nationwide to become member of committee to develop new CSA standard

• 2007 Q3 – New CSA S250 Technical Committee established and kick off

Creation of a New CSA Technical Committee

Technical Committee established consisting of subject matter experts, that also represent regional and end user interests.

Mandate:

The Committee shall be responsible for developing and maintaining standards related to mapping and recording of existing in-service underground utility infrastructure and related appurtenances below, at, or near grade and those that are either abandoned or that are reserved for future use.

15

Chair

AssociateMembers

CSA ProjectManager

Public Review / Enquiry

• User interest•General interest

•Carriers•Regulatory Authority

Voting Members:

What is the mandate of a this consensus based standard?

Mandate:

The Committee shall be responsible for developing and maintaining standards related to mapping and recording of existing in-service underground utility infrastructure and related appurtenances below, at, or near grade and those that are either abandoned or that are reserved for future use.

Committee Matrix

Interest categories

Min Max

• UI User Interest 4 7

• GI General Interest 4 7

• CA Carriers 4 7

• RA Regulatory Authority 4 7

Purpose of CSA 250 standard

• “… is to specify the mapping requirements of records that provide the identification and location of underground utility infrastructure

• This standard is intended to promote the use, and drive the advancement of mapping records, during the planning, design, construction, and operation of an underground utility”

1.1 Scope

• “This standard specifies the mapping requirements for the recording and depiction of underground utility infrastructure, and related appurtenances at or near grade”

• This standard applies to proposed existing, abandoned in-place, retired, or reserved for future use, underground utility infrastructure

Committee Meetings Held Thus Far

October 2007 (Toronto) - Kick-off and member training session

December 2007 (Mississauga) – Lifecycle of plant February 2008 (Mississauga) – Content development April 2008 (Mississauga) – Content development June 2008 (Vancouver) – Content development September 2008 (Mississauga) – Rough outline review November 2008 (Mississauga) – 1st reading of draft January 2009 (Calgary) – 2nd reading of draft

Teleconferences as required

Examples of Recent Committee Discussion…

Terminology –characteristics of a record Authenticity – what it purports to be Reliabiity – trusted as full and accurate

representation of the fact Integrity – complete and unaltered Useability – can be located, retrieved, presented,

and interpretted

Developing a methodology to qualify the level of reliability of mapping records information that is collected and used to depict the location and attributes of utility infrastructure

Quality levels envisioned to be as per ASCE 38-02, Standard Guideline for the Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface Utility Data

Examples of recent committee discussions …

• Feature description and symbology Common symbology and attributes to be used to

graphically represent utility infrastructure and its associated attributes

• Municipal utility coordination How will data get shared? What data needs to be shared? How do changes get communicated?

Map record accuracy

Spatial Accuracy Level

Description Geodetic Reference

1 Accurate to within +/- 10cm in the xyz projection coordinate system and referenced to an accepted geodetic datum within a 95% confidence level

absolute

2 Accurate to within +/- 30cm in the xyz projection coordinate system and referenced to an accepted geodetic datum within a 95% confidence level

Absolute

3 Accurate to within +/- 30cm in the xyz projection coordinate system and referenced to an acceptable topographic or cadastral feature within a 95% confidence level

Relative

4 Accurate to within +/- 100cm in the xyz projection coordinate system and referenced to an accepted geodetic datum within a 95% confidence level

Relative

0 No information available related to spatial accuracy N/A

TC - Challenges & Observations

• Need to remind ourselves of the benefits of having a standard

• Need to maintain interest in the standard by committee members and all stakeholders

• Need to assess how the standard will be embraced and then sustained

• Definitions: relative, absolute, content, accuracy, depth of cover, elevation

• Improved reliability and accuracy in the location of underground utility infrastructure mapping records & supporting data

• Improved safety of company & contractor employees and the general public by decreasing utility hits/strikes

• Lower cost in the utility design life cycle by sharing accurate & complete utility records in a timely fashion amongst all users (municipalities, carriers, contractors, designers, consultants, locators…)

Expected Outcomes

What does it mean to me>

Once CSA S250 is published, stakeholders may:

Ignore it

Use standard to support their records management frameworks

Voluntarily modify internal practices, processes, systems to meet or exceed standard

formally mandate implementation of all or part of CSA standard in regulatory/legislated framework

Next Steps - Timeline for Publication

Complete rough outline June 2009

Enquiry (public review) stage – Fall 2009

Approval by CSA Technical Committee – Winter 2009 / 2010

Ready for publication – Summer 2010

CSA “S250” – Mapping of underground utility infrastructure

Questions?

Thank-you!