Introduction: The Hidden Risk Beneath Every Construction Site
Service strikes remain one of the most common and costly incidents across construction sites in the UK, despite advances in safety procedures and planning tools. Damaging buried utilities such as gas, electricity, water, or telecommunications can have immediate and severe consequences, putting lives at risk, halting work, and triggering unplanned costs that quickly spiral.
Ground conditions are rarely as straightforward as drawings suggest. Records can be outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate, particularly on largely populated sites that have been developed and redeveloped over decades. Ground Penetrating Radar surveys offer a proactive solution, providing clarity on what lies below ground before work begins. By replacing assumptions with reliable data, GPR plays a vital role in protecting people.
What Is a Service Strike—and Why They Happen So Often
A service strike occurs when excavation or intrusive works damage an underground utility or structure. This can include live electrical cables, gas mains, fibre optic ducts, water pipes, drainage systems, or redundant infrastructure that was never properly recorded.
Service strikes happen frequently because many projects still rely heavily on historic records and utility drawings as their primary source of information. While these documents are useful, they are rarely definitive. Services may have been installed differently on site, altered during previous works, or added without accurate updates to records. Ground conditions also change over time, particularly in urban environments where layers of development overlap.
Traditional detection tools can help locate metallic services, but they often struggle to identify non-metallic utilities such as plastic pipes or concrete ducts. This leaves dangerous gaps in understanding.
The Human Cost: Protecting People and Site Safety
The most serious consequence of a service strike is the risk to human life. Striking a live electrical cable or gas main can result in severe injury or fatality, as well as fires, explosions, or toxic exposure. Even where injuries are avoided, near misses can have a lasting impact on workforce confidence and site morale.
Under UK health and safety legislation, employers have a clear duty to identify hazards and take reasonable steps to mitigate them. This includes understanding underground risks before excavation begins. Failing to do so can lead to investigations, enforcement action, and long-term reputational damage.
GPR surveys support safer sites by identifying buried services early, allowing method statements and excavation plans to be developed with confidence.
The Programme Impact: How Service Strikes Disrupt Construction Schedules
From a programme perspective, service strikes are rarely minor incidents. Even when damage appears limited, works often stop immediately while the issue is assessed. Investigations, emergency repairs, coordination with utility providers, and revised method statements can take days or weeks to resolve.
These delays rarely affect only one activity. Downstream trades may be forced to stand down or reschedule, materials may need to be re-ordered, and carefully planned sequences can unravel.
Early GPR surveys reduce this risk by identifying constraints before construction begins. When buried services are mapped accurately, excavation can be planned around them, diversions can be designed in advance, and unexpected stoppages are far less likely.
How GPR Surveys Identify Buried Services Accurately
Ground Penetrating Radar works by transmitting high-frequency radio waves into the ground and analysing the signals that are reflected back from subsurface features. Changes in material, voids, and buried objects create identifiable patterns that experienced surveyors can interpret.
One of the key advantages of GPR is its ability to detect both metallic and non-metallic services. This makes it particularly valuable on modern sites where plastic pipes, fibre optic cables, and concrete structures are common. GPR can also identify unknown obstructions and anomalies that are not shown on any records.
When carried out by skilled professionals, GPR provides a detailed and reliable picture of subsurface conditions, supporting safer and more efficient excavation planning.
When GPR Should Be Used on a Project
GPR surveys add value at multiple stages of a project. They are particularly effective during feasibility and design, pre-construction planning, and immediately before excavation.
They are essential on urban developments, live sites, infrastructure projects, and any location where underground records are unreliable. Early use of GPR allows risks to be addressed when they are easiest and cheapest to manage.
Best Practice: Turning Survey Data into Safer Site Decisions
The value of a GPR survey lies not just in data collection, but in how the information is interpreted and communicated. Clear reporting, marked-up drawings, and integration with site plans ensure findings can be acted upon effectively.
Working with experienced surveyors who understand construction workflows is critical. Accurate interpretation and practical recommendations allow teams to translate survey results into safer working practices on site.
Conclusion: Reduce Risk Before You Break Ground
Service strikes are not an inevitable part of construction. They are a predictable risk that can be significantly reduced with the right approach. Ground Penetrating Radar surveys provide clarity, protect people, maintain programme certainty, and safeguard project budgets by identifying underground risks before excavation begins.
At Intersect Surveys, we deliver reliable GPR surveys that support safer, smarter construction. Our experienced team works closely with clients to provide clear, actionable insight tailored to each site.
If you have an upcoming project or want to reduce risk before breaking ground, contact Intersect Surveys today to discuss your requirements.
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