Five sites, three water companies, one spreadsheet
Your firm lays sewers on housing sites that will be adopted by the water company under an adoption agreement arranged by the developer. Each site has inspections during construction, a CCTV survey before the maintenance period, snag lists from the water company's inspector, remedial works, and eventually adoption. Different water companies do it differently. Your contracts manager keeps a spreadsheet that is correct for the sites he is closest to.
Then a housebuilder asks why a site finished two years ago still is not adopted, and the answer is buried in emails.
Why adoptions stall
Adoption runs over years, well past the time your gang is on site. Stages depend on the water company's inspector, the developer, and your remedial works, and nobody owns the whole process. The details of each agreement are held by the developer, not by you, so you often find out about a requirement late.
- Adoption stages differ by water company and agreement.
- Inspection and snag reports arrive by email to different people.
- CCTV survey reports are PDFs that are hard to track.
- Remedial works are raised and done without a closed-out record.
- Maintenance period dates are not tracked by anyone in particular.
What stalled adoptions cost
Money held back by housebuilders until adoption, depending on your subcontract. Remedial work done years later, when gangs and materials have to be brought back. Housebuilders who are frustrated with slow adoptions choose other groundworkers. And staff time spent every year re-establishing where each site is. What your agreements and subcontracts require is for your contracts manager and advisers; we deal with knowing where you are.
The adoption tracker we build
- Each site is set up with the adopting water company, the developer, the agreement reference and the stages that apply, from a template per water company that you can adjust.
- Inspections are recorded as they happen, with the inspector's report filed against the stage and the sewer lengths it covers.
- CCTV survey reports are read for the defects they list, which become remedial items against each length or manhole.
- Remedial works are assigned to a gang, completed with photos and resurveyed where needed, then closed.
- Key dates, such as the start and end of the maintenance period, are tracked and you are reminded ahead of them.
- Certificates and correspondence are filed against the stage.
- Each site has a status view you can share with the housebuilder: which stages are done, what is outstanding, who it is waiting on.
| Site | Stage | Waiting on |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 2, north estate | Maintenance period | End date approaching |
| Phase 1, river site | Pre-adoption CCTV | Remedial items from survey |
| Phase 3, north estate | Construction inspections | Inspector visit |
| Hill road site | Adoption | Developer's paperwork |
Adoptions that keep moving
Every site's adoption position is on one screen, with what it is waiting on. Remedial items from surveys become a list the gangs can work through rather than a PDF in an inbox. Maintenance periods do not end with nobody ready. Housebuilders get clear answers when they ask, and you can show them the waiting is not always yours.
When a contracts manager leaves, the adoption history of their sites stays with you.
Are your sewer adoptions tracked like this?
- One person knows the adoption status of each site.
- CCTV survey defects are not tracked to closure.
- Maintenance period dates catch you out.
- Housebuilders ask about adoption and you have to look it up.
- Old sites still are not adopted years later.