Visual Surveying

In many authorities UKPMS Visual Surveys have multiple uses, typically to produce a performance indicator report and to ensure that they are allocating their budgets correctly.  UKPMS surveys are designed to be carried out by staff trained in the relevant survey techniques, who are able to record defects accurately and consistently in accordance with the definitions and procedures described in the UKPMS User Manual. 

Survey Types

At present there are two types of UKPMS visual survey; the Coarse Visual Inspection survey or CVI, is intended to be a coarse, rapid survey, usually carried out from a slow-moving vehicle, that allows a large part of a highways authority’s road network to be assessed each year.  The Detailed Visual Inspection survey or DVI is a more comprehensive survey, with defects identified by a larger number of more detailed classifications. The DVI is a walked survey that provides much more detailed information than the CVI, and is typically targeted at lengths already identified as defective and potentially in need of treatment either by the CVI, or from other sources of information.

A new Footway Network Survey, or FNS, has been incorporated into UKPMS and is currently available to use.  The FNS is a walked survey, intended to provide a simple, efficient and reliable survey to enable authorities to obtain a picture of the condition of their whole footway network. 

UKPMS User Manual

Volume 2 of the UKPMS User Manual has been updated under the PCIS Support Contract, providing the necessary information to carry out all UKPMS Visual Surveys.  It will also be of interest and relevance to managers, engineers and auditors who are responsible for arranging for surveys to be carried out and who have to interpret or assess the output produced from those surveys.   

Visual Survey Inspector Accreditation

It is recommended that all staff who undertake UKPMS surveys, manage surveyors or audit surveys should be accredited to the current nationally accepted standard.  A new Visual Survey Inspector accreditation scheme was introduced from 2nd April 2007.  To be accredited inspectors must have passed through this scheme.

You can become a visual survey inspector by following the accreditation procedure, booking an accreditation test and following the Visual Survey best practice guidance. This includes passing a test organised by an accredited Visual Survey Assessor. A list of current accredited visual survey inspectors is accessible on this website.

Once you start collecting pavement condition information via visual survey, the DCD accreditation procedures and DVI to CVI converter may be of use. 

DCD Software Accreditation

The Data Capture Device (DCD) forms one important link in the chain from the highway inspector’s eye to the pavement management system.  The software in the DCD is designed to make the process of recording and reporting the observed defects, and pavement condition, as simple and straightforward as possible.  But it also needs to be consistent between different manufacturers and service providers, and between different generations of the software.

DCD software was originally tested some years ago. Since then there have been changes in the UKPMS specification, and specifically in volume 2 of the UKPMS User Guide, revised in 2009.

The UKPMS Support Contractor has developed a new accredtation test for DCD Software, to ensure it meets UKPMS requirements.  If you provide DCD software to load visual survey data to UKPMS accredited systems and would like to have your software accredited, please contact Matthew Evans at TRL – mevans@trl.co.uk (01344 770657).