Utility Diversions for Development Sites

What Is a Utility Diversion?

A utility diversion is the process of moving existing buried services, electricity cables, gas mains, water mains and telecoms, so new infrastructure can be built safely. Sites are rarely as clean as the drawings suggest: decades of infrastructure sit beneath most developments, and some of it is not on the records at all.

A diversion is needed whenever an existing main or cable conflicts with the proposed works, most commonly where a main runs through the footprint of planned foundations, a basement or deep groundworks, or crosses a planned access road or highway improvement that must be clear before construction begins. Getting these resolved, ideally before ground breaks, is what keeps a programme on track.

Utility Diversion Services

• Electricity cable diversions, LV, HV and EHV cables
• Gas main and service pipe diversions, to Gas Network Operator adoptable standards
• Water main and service pipe diversions, to water authority standards
• Section 278 highway coordination where the diversion runs through highway land
• Utility surveys and trial holes to confirm exact asset locations
• New route design agreed with the relevant network operator
• Diversion applications submitted and managed on your behalf
• Safe isolation, diversion and reinstatement with full completion documentation

Electricity, Gas and Water Diversions

Each utility is diverted to its own network operator's standards, and each has its own application process.

Where a project needs more than one utility diverted, we coordinate them together as part of a multi-utility approach, which saves significant programme time and cost against running separate diversions.

Section 278 and Highway Diversions

Many mains and cables run beneath adopted highways, roads, footpaths and verges. When a diversion falls within highway land, it must be coordinated with the local highway authority under a Section 278 Agreement (of the Highways Act 1980), in addition to the network operator’s own process. This is the single most complex and time-consuming part of a diversion, and where inexperienced facilitators most often cause delays.

The highway authority process runs separately from the network operator process, and both must be driven forward at the same time, in alignment with each other and with your construction programme. We manage both together through one point of contact, so neither holds the other up. Utility diversions can also affect Section 278 and Section 38 bonds: roads cannot be adopted until utilities are correctly installed, so unresolved diversions can hold up bond release.

Why Early Engagement Saves Money

Diversion costs for certain assets can run into hundreds of thousands, occasionally millions, of pounds, and a diversion discovered late can stretch a programme by months. The single biggest lever against this is early investigation.

Confirming exactly what is buried on your site, through utility searches and trial holes, before designs are fixed, lets you:

Late identification is what turns a manageable diversion into a programme-wrecking one. We investigate early so there are no surprises when the ground opens.

What We Need to Quote a Diversion

• The site address and development plans
• Any utility search results or asset records you hold
• Which services are known or suspected to conflict with the works
• Whether the affected assets run through highway land
• Your construction programme and key dates

Where records are incomplete or missing, we carry out surveys and trial holes to confirm exactly what is there and where.

How Long Does a Utility Diversion Take?

Diversion timescales vary widely with the utility, the asset, and whether highway land and a Section 278 Agreement are involved. A straightforward service diversion within a site boundary is far quicker than a main diversion under an adopted road, which can run to many months once the highway authority and network operator processes are added. This is exactly why early engagement matters: starting the process before it reaches the critical path is the difference between a diversion that delays your build and one that does not.

Our Utility Diversion Process

1. 1

   Survey and identification

   We confirm the exact location, size, pressure or voltage and material of the affected asset, with trial holes where needed.

2. 2

   Route design

   We design a new route and agree it with the relevant network operator.

3. 3

   Applications and Section 278

   We submit the diversion application and, where highway land is involved, coordinate the Section 278 process in parallel.

4. 4

   Diversion works

   Our accredited teams carry out safe isolation, diversion and installation to adoptable standards.

5. 5

   Reinstatement and documentation

   The route is reinstated and you receive full completion and adoption documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions