Montana mandates the submission of accurate electronic as-builts by utility owners

Montana has recently revised its statutes governing the installation of utilities on state highway right-of-ways. The revised statutes require Administrative Rules regarding utility occupancy on state highway right-of-ways. The updated Administrative Rules mandate that as part of a new permitting process accurate electronic as-builts must be submitted to the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) upon completion of construction. The new Administrative Rules have teeth.  They require that the as-builts must be signed by a licensed professional engineer (PE) or professional land surveyor (PLS).  As-builts not signed by a PE or PLS are subject to inspection by the MDT to verify accuracy.  An online utility permitting system has been implemented to store, manage and share the as-built information among MDT and utility owners, and indirectly with construction contractors employed by network owners. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Robert Stapley of MDT and Eric Berkowitz of GEO.works about the new rules and the new permitting system in Montana.

Background

In 2019 the Montana Legislature enacted Senate Bill 76 which revised the laws relating to the occupancy of utilities on state highway rights-of-way. The bill allows the department to issue occupancy permits for installation, construction, maintenance, repair, or system upgrade of all utilities on state highways. Under this legislation the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) implemented a new rule governing "Electronic Utility Permitting for Right-of-Way Occupancy".

The rule requires that an "as built" survey showing the location (to survey grade) and other attributes of newly installed utility facilities must be submitted electronically to the MDT within 90 days of completion of construction. The as-built survey must be certified by a licensed professional engineer (PE) or professional land surveyor (PLS). Alternatively the as-built survey can be certified by an authorized officer of the utility owner. However, in this case the MDT reserves the right to conduct an audit and inspection to verify accuracy.  The permitting system helps MDT know when construction has started and when it is completed.  This enables MDT to efficiently schedule an inspection of the utility installation - did they install where they said they were going to and does it meet the criteria for an occupancy or encroachment ?  The utility operator is responsible for costs incurred to comply with the requirements of the permit they received.  Very importantly utilities can be held liable if during a future project the utility location accuracy is not within the certified accuracy and results in change orders, delays and other impacts to the project

Utility Permitting Administration System

In Montana the online system for managing information about the underground infrastructure was rolled out In January of this year. The Utility Permitting Administration System (UPAS) and Utility Location Data Repository Module (ULDR) was developed by Utility Mapping Services, Inc. (UMS) and GEO.works International. Since January the location of all new underground infrastructure in the state right-of-way has been captured in UPAS.  The UPAS server manages the shared database.  Maps of underground utilities are available to users over the web to any device with a browser including smartphones.  Access to the utility data requires MDT approval.

GEO.works has developed a platform agnostic 3-D Utility Location Database Interface. This interface provides the ability to query, edit, import, and access utility data included within MDT’s new 3-D Utility Location Database. It supports data flows to any applications which support .SHP and .CSV file formats, including ESRI, Autodesk and Bentley products, for viewing and design.

Currently UPAS does not provide access to the records databases maintained by network operators. The system is capable of doing so, but it was not within scope for this project.. UPAS is accessible to MDT and network operators, but not directly to construction contractors, who can only access the UPAS data when contracted by a network operator.

The permitting process is managed using UPAS and works as follows:

1. The permit applicant proposes a utility installation and requests access to see as-built data within a specific area on MDT ROW. Data for all known installations are stored in MDT’s secure 3-D as-built repository hosted as part of UPAS.

2. MDT accepts or rejects the request. If accepted, the applicant can view the data on-line or download the 3D data for use in their CAD or BIM design software.

3. The applicant continues the permit application describing the utilities to be installed and the location (in geographic coordinates) of the proposed installation. The system automatically detects mileposts, city, county and districts impacted.

4. MDT evaluates the application including external agencies such as FHWA

5. When the application is approved, a permit is issued.

6. UPAS automatically sends an email to the applicant, notifying them the permit is ready to be downloaded.

7. The permit holder is required to input the actual start date when traffic control begins. The system will automatically alert the required surveyor (PLS) to start as-built data collection in the field or to begin coordinating survey schedules.

8. When all work is completed, the permit holder inputs the actual end date.

9. Within 90 days from completion of construction, the surveyor uploads the as-built data for review and attribution by the utility owner.

10. Then MDT reviews the as-builts and verifies that the accuracy meet the requirements and that the data is properly attributed before the submitted as-built becomes part of the 3D Utility Repository.

At the completion of construction the installation must be surveyed to document accuracy and, in addition to location, other attributes that MDT has selected from the standard, for example, pipe size, material, shape, and others, must be reported. For small rural coops who may not have the necessary survey equipment and skills or the resources to hire a PLS, MDT can relax the targeted accuracy standards for installations in rural areas. In congested areas MDT expects a horizontal accuracy of ± 0.3 feet whereas in a rural area the accuracy requirement may ± 1.0 feet or more depending on the situation. UPAS can also accept a variety of GIS data for landbase and transportation networks.

This is a remarkable initiative that begins to address the challenge of how to capture and share accurate data about the location of underground infrastructure. Currently it only applies to new infrastructure, but with the rapidly evolving technology for capturing the location of underground utilities to survey-grade accuracy, in the future MDT will likely require a similar process for utilities exposed during excavation.