The credentials that matter in scanning and testing
CSCS, ProQual, PAS 128, UKAS, EuroGPR, insurance: which credentials matter when you commission concrete scanning, utility surveys or concrete testing, and how to check them in a minute.
By Terry Bagust, Co-founder and Managing Director
Nobody needs a licence to buy a GPR unit and offer surveys in the UK. So when you commission scanning, a utility survey or concrete testing, the credentials behind the work are how you tell a defensible job from a guess. Some matter a lot. Some are useful but optional. Here is how they fit together.
For the people on site
CSCS card. The construction industry’s standard site competency card. Anyone surveying on a commercial site should hold one at the right level. Every Corvus operative does.
ProQual Level 3 Certificate in Utility Mapping and Surveying. The qualification for utility surveyors working to PAS 128. If someone is drawing buried services for you to dig against, ask whether the person on site holds it. Our utility surveyors do.
DBS check. Worth asking for when the survey is in occupied homes. Our surveyors working in occupied homes hold one.
EuroGPR Certified Surveyor. EuroGPR is the European GPR association, and its certification scheme tests GPR theory, field practice and interpretation. It is a useful signal of individual competence, especially on post-tension and structural work. It is not a legal requirement in the UK and many competent UK surveyors do not hold it. If a surveyor says they are certified, check the number on the EuroGPR register. Corvus does not currently hold EuroGPR certification.
For the method
PAS 128:2022. The British specification for detecting and mapping buried utilities. It sets the survey types and the quality level that must be stated against every line on the drawing. If a utility drawing has no quality levels on it, it is not a PAS 128 survey.
BS EN 12504 series. The standards for testing concrete in structures: cores, rebound hammer, pull-out and ultrasonic testing. Testing should state which part it follows.
HSG47. The HSE guidance on avoiding danger from underground services. Any utility or ground scanning brief should sit inside it.
For the laboratory
UKAS accreditation. UKAS is the UK’s national accreditation body. A laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 for the relevant test method gives you results from a laboratory that has been independently assessed as competent for that test. For compressive strength testing of cores, ask for a UKAS-accredited lab and check the method is on its schedule. Accreditation covers the test, not the interpretation, which stays with your engineer.
Corvus does not hold UKAS accreditation itself. Our cores are tested by independent UKAS-accredited laboratories, named on request.
For the company
Insurance. Public liability, professional indemnity and employer’s liability. Ask for current certificates. Our public and products liability cover is £5,000,000 for each and every claim and our professional indemnity is £2,000,000.
Method statements and risk assessments. Issued before attendance, every time.
Pre-qualification schemes. Constructionline, CHAS and other SSIP schemes are often a procurement requirement on main contractor and public sector work. We are working towards Constructionline and an SSIP scheme in Corvus’s name, and our accreditations page will say so once we hold them.
How to check in a minute
- Ask for the surveyor’s name and any certificate numbers.
- Check EuroGPR and UKAS claims on their public registers. UKAS certificates carry the laboratory’s accreditation number.
- Ask for current insurance certificates.
- Ask for the method statement before the day, not on it.
A company that answers all four without fuss is one you can defend using. Our full, current list is on the accreditations page.
What this means for your job
Our current list is on the accreditations page.
