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Welcome to the June edition of our regular National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) newsletter for asset owners, keeping you informed on key project updates, platform improvements and ways to meet the team.
The next phase in NUAR’s development is here
This week saw NUAR enter the latest important phase in its development, officially moving from minimum viable produce (MVP) into 'public beta' on the journey to being fully operational by the end of 2025. This change means the limit on users per organisation is removed and utility providers and contractors can now choose NUAR as their primary means to access underground asset data. Read more here.
Welcoming Openreach to NUAR
In another major development, Openreach has become the latest asset owner to agree to share their data in NUAR. With the most extensive fibre and fastest growing digital network in the country, this is a significant addition to the platform that will take the total distance of buried assets mapped by NUAR to over 3 million kms, representing over 300 different asset owners.
Data (Use and Access) Act achieves Royal Assent
Last week the Bill achieved Royal Assent. This puts NUAR on a statutory footing and updates the existing legislation which governs the sharing of underground asset information. Whilst there are no immediate changes as a result of The Bill, it will allow NUAR to serve as a comprehensive statutory register of asset information and contains measures to allow it to be operated sustainably into the future.
To mark this milestone, last Thursday members of the NUAR team from GDS and Ordnance Survey joined The Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation & Technology and Rt Hon Sir Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London alongside colleagues from the Greater London Authority to see NUAR in action at a Thames Water and UK Power Networks dig site in Southwest London.
Growing the NUAR ecosystem
As NUAR continues to evolve the OS team is focusing on coverage, currency and consistency of asset features and attribution.
To date, 96% of major gas, water and electricity asset owners across England, Wales and NI are published in the platform. 60% of our top 10 telecommunications organisations are also published with the remaining 40% working closely with OS and are at various stages of the onboarding process. OS continue to work with asset owners to improve coverage and currency amongst the independent networks and telecommunications companies.
75% of Local Highways Authority data is also published within the platform with all but four Highways Authority data providers progressing through the data transformation process.
In addition, NUAR has supplementary data from local authorities, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) conservation areas, tree preservation orders and wildlife corridors amongst other data layers.
The above statistics mean NUAR currently has approximately 2.45million km of utility networks platform (which will increase past 3 million kms when Openreach data is live) and a highest record total submission weekly feature count in May of 115,851,661. As a result, many asset owners are considering how NUAR will integrate with (or start to replace) existing services.
Benefits from using NUAR are already being surfaced, with Lincolnshire County Council realising around 75% in efficiency savings through more streamlined processes and time savings in gathering information.
“NUAR provides a central place for all asset owner information. This allows processes to be streamlined and the timeframe for gathering information to be significantly expediated, delivering time/efficiency savings of around 75%.”
Lincolnshire County Council
Unlocking NUAR's full potential
Richard Duffield, NUAR Discovery Project Lead, has shared his insights on expanding access to NUAR. The next phase of the Discovery project, the NUAR enhancements testing phase, focuses on seven potential enhancements to the NUAR service that could expand access to NUAR data to new audiences, for new purposes, through new channels.
While improving access to underground asset data is already unlocking over £400 million in annual economic benefits, Richard’s blog explores and broader use cases, such as network planning, EV infrastructure, flood planning and emergency response, which could deliver additional economic and social benefits.
You can read Richard’s blog in full: Unlocking NUAR’s full potential: opportunities ahead – Geospatial Insights.
Platform improvements
To coincide with the shift into public beta and the removal of user limits, a range of other enhancements have also been rolled out. These include:
- New quick access coverage list in the map view which allows users to see at a glance all the Asset Owners which NUAR holds for their operational area, allowing rapid confirmation that NUAR will provide the data they need at the click of a button.
- Clear labelling of every pipe, cable and cabinet with how recently that data was refreshed, allowing users to make quick, well-informed judgements on how current the data they are using for their safe dig decision-making is.
- Data currency dashboard for administrators which reports the percentage of Asset Owners who have refreshed their data according to the agreed update schedules making the management of data refreshes quicker and simpler.
- For Northern Ireland users: backdrop mapping will now be available at a similar ‘up-time’ rate as the service in England and Wales (99.5% or higher). Additionally, the mapping will use lighter styling to make utility assets stand out more clearly. Users will also now be able to switch to a high contrast mode to enhance visibility in poor lighting situations such as direct sunlight.
What's next?
The NUAR platform has already been scaled and made more resilient in advance of the removal of restrictions on user numbers and currently operates with an uptime exceeding 99.5%. We will continue to strengthen the reliability and scalability of the service as usage of the platform accelerates.
We're continually collecting user feedback and over the next six months as NUAR heads towards becoming fully operational, the focus for functional enhancements will be on providing notifications of works as well as incremental improvements to the PDFs.
Access across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will also be enabled for National Asset Owners as well as opening up the platform for Tier 2 contractors to securely access underground data.
NUAR user webinars
If you are a registered NUAR user, we would love you to join one of our monthly training sessions. In these webinars, we will take you through the basics of what NUAR is and why it is useful; then guide you through a step-by-step demonstration of all the key features that will help you get the most out of the platform.
Register here:
- Mastering NUAR Administration: Step-by-step, Tuesday 8 July, 14:30 – 15:00
- Getting started on NUAR as a user, Wednesday 9 July, 14:00-14:30
- Being a NUAR Data Lead, Monday 14 July, 14:00-14:45
- Induction for NUAR Service Adoption Champions,Wednesday 16 July, 14:00-15:00
- Mastering NUAR Administration: Step-by-step, Tuesday 22 July, 14:00-14:30
- Getting started on NUAR as a user, Wednesday 23 July, 14:00-14:30
What can I use NUAR for?
As more organisations are adopting NUAR, here’s a reminder of how NUAR can be currently used. The end user terms and conditions, which all users agree to when accessing the platform for the first time, explains NUAR can be used for the avoidance of utility strikes and undertaking statutory duties in respect to the design, construction, maintenance, operation or improvement of underground assets under sections 79-82 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 91 (and equivalent provisions contained in The Street Works (Northern Ireland) Order 1995) and/or carrying out safe working practices under HSG47.
Examples of what is allowed:
- Assessing and managing site safety, site orientation, reconnaissance, risk assessments, excavations, site surveys or ground investigations.
Examples of what is not allowed:
- Buying land, selling land, business case development, conveyancing, determining best location(s) for network expansion (e.g. heat, broadband, etc.), determining best location(s) for new assets (e.g. trees, EV charge points, etc) or coordination of street works.
Events Attended
Utility Week Live
The OS NUAR team attended the Utility Week Live Conference, 20 – 21 June at the NEC in Birmingham. Many asset owners and contractors in attendance had already onboarded with NUAR and have realised the benefits.
The team presented and sat on the panel of the ‘Harnessing technology and innovation to transform field operations and improve supply chain management’ session on the Customer stage with Scottish Water and TotalMobile. Discussion explored how to work together to better ensure safety of field operations, in which NUAR has the potential to play a significant role. It was a fantastic conference with lots of great questions from the audience, and high levels of positivity around NUAR.
IQGeo Event
GDS presented an update at the IQGeo event in London, alongside OS supporting, demonstrating and showcasing the transformative potential of NUAR.
Attendees showed great engagement and curiosity — from exploring how data sharing can enhance telecoms planning and reduce excavation costs, to improving infrastructure security protocols.
The conversations clearly reflected a shared vision for smarter, safer, and more efficient infrastructure management. There was also interest from overseas attendees — a testament to the global interest in NUAR.
GeoPlace Conference
NUAR was represented at the GeoPlace conference in May, providing demos to custodians and hosting a couple of roundtables
Richard Duffield outlined the next stages of the NUAR enhancements from the GDS perspective, while asset owners and systems suppliers presented their own use cases. Marisa Hayes discussed the use of NUAR by street works crews, highlighting the level of detail available on the platform. Presenters were delighted to sign up another user, further supporting the rollout to asset owners.
Want a NUAR update at the next HAUC/RAUC meeting?
NUAR Project Team Account Managers are available to attend regional and national HAUC meetings to provide NUAR updates, such as recent/upcoming developments, and answer any questions from the forum attendees.
If you are part of a regional HAUC or regional GIS forums, we welcome the opportunity to provide you with a quick NUAR project update.
To arrange this, please contact us at [email protected].
Any questions?
If you have any questions, or if you want to speak to our onboarding team about signing up to NUAR, please contact our Service Desk on email at [email protected].