1.1    This Standard supersedes IGE/SR/18 Edition 3, Communication 1828, which is now obsolete.

1.2    This Standard has been drafted by an Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers (IGEM) Panel, appointed by IGEM’s Gas Transmission and Distribution Committee, and have been approved by IGEM’s Technical Co-ordinating Committee on behalf of the Council of IGEM.

1.3    The purpose of this Standard is to ensure the continued integrity of gas assets and associated installations where works are being carried out in the vicinity. 

1.4    The aim of this Standard is to provide good practice for the gas industry to follow in relation to the management of works in the vicinity of gas assets and associated installations.

1.5    Significant amendments have been made compared to the Edition 3 of IGEM/SR/18. These include:

• addition to the scope to include industry good practice for the development and implementation of management systems to manage works in the vicinity of gas assets and associated installations to ensure their continued integrity. This is a development from Edition 3 which focused on the safe working practices to ensure the integrity of gas assets and associated installation
• provision of additional detail associated with the relevant legal and allied considerations
• document expansion to cover additional elements associated with damage prevention and asset protection.

1.6    This Standard makes use of the term “must”, “shall” and “should” when prescribing particular requirements. Notwithstanding Sub-Section 1.9:

• the term “must” identifies a requirement by law in Great Britain (GB) at the time of publication
• the term “shall” prescribes a requirement which, it is intended, will be complied with in full and without deviation
• the term “should” prescribes a requirement which, it is intended, will be complied with unless, after prior consideration, deviation is considered to be acceptable.

Note:    The phrase “prior consideration“ means that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment will be completed and documented to show that the alternative method delivers the same, or better level of protection.

Such a term may have different meanings when used in Legislation, or Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Approved Codes of Practice (ACoPs) or guidance, and reference needs to be made to such statutory Legislation or official guidance for information on legal obligations.

1.7    It is now widely accepted that the majority of accidents in industry generally are in some measure attributable to human as well as technical factors. People who initiated actions that caused or contributed to accidents might have acted in a more appropriate manner to prevent them.

To assist in the control of risk and proper management of these human factors, due regard is to be taken of HSG48 and HSG65.
1.8    The primary responsibility for compliance with legal duties relating to health and safety at work rests with the employer. The fact that certain employees, for example “responsible engineers”, are allowed to exercise their professional judgement does not allow employers to abrogate their primary responsibilities.  Employers are required to:

• have done everything to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that there are no better protective measures that can be taken other than relying on the exercise of professional judgement by “responsible engineers”
• have done everything to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that       “responsible engineers” have the skills, training, experience and personal qualities necessary for the proper exercise of professional judgement
• have systems and procedures in place to ensure that the exercise of professional judgement by “responsible engineers” is subject to appropriate monitoring and review

Note:    The responsible engineer is a suitably qualified, competent and experienced engineer appointed to be responsible for the execution and for approval of activities designated by their employer.

• not require “responsible engineers” to undertake tasks which would necessitate the exercise of professional judgement that is not within their competence.  There should be written procedures defining the extent to which “responsible engineers” can exercise their judgement.  When “responsible engineers” are asked to undertake tasks that deviate from this, they should refer the matter for higher review.

    
1.9    Notwithstanding Sub-Section 1.6, this Standard does not attempt to make the use of any method or specification obligatory against the judgement of the responsible engineer. Where new and better techniques are developed and proved, they should be adopted without waiting for modification of this Standard. Amendments to this Standard will be issued when necessary and their publication will be announced in the Journal of the IGEM and other publications as appropriate.  

1.10    Requests for interpretation of this Standard in relation to matters within its scope, but not precisely covered by the current text, are to be either:

• addressed to Technical Services, IGEM House, 26 & 28 High Street, Kegworth, DE74 2DA; or 
• emailed to [email protected]  

These will be submitted to the relevant Committee for consideration and advice, but in the context that the final responsibility is that of the engineer concerned.  If any advice is given by or on behalf of IGEM, this does not imply acceptance of liability for the consequences and does not relieve the responsible engineer of their obligations. 

1.11    This Standard was published in May 2026.

2.1    This Standard provides industry good practice to enable the operator/owner of the respective gas asset (hereafter referred to as the operator) to develop and implement management systems to manage works in the vicinity of gas assets and associated installations to ensure their continued integrity.

This Standard also includes guidance on safe working practices to be advised by the operator to the promoter/client responsible for the work (hereafter referred to as the promoter). 

Note 1:        HSG47 provides guidance on avoiding danger from underground services.

Note 2:        Usually, work will be carried out with respect to a service other than a gas asset, for example water pipes, but may on occasion be a promoter working on a different gas asset.  

2.2    This Standard covers all work in the vicinity of gas assets and associated installations of all materials and at any maximum operating pressure (MOP). The principles in this Standard also apply to emerging low carbon gas networks (e.g. hydrogen, hydrogen blends and CO₂).

Note:    The operator may deem that the risk associated with certain work types are adequately managed by the design and construction of the gas asset. This scenario could typically relate to landowners carrying out permitted duties on their land which is communicated through liaison with landowners and occupiers as appropriate. This may include activities such as:

•  Routine cultivation of arable land (where sufficient depth of cover exists)
• Domestic works (e.g. driveway works, dropped kerb installation)
• Topsoil stripping (where sufficient depth of cover exists and the ground cover is not permanently reduced or increased).

2.3    All pressures are gauge pressures unless otherwise stated.

2.4    Italicised text is informative and does not represent formal requirements.

2.5    Appendices are informative and do not represent formal requirements unless specifically referenced in the main sections via the prescriptive terms “must”, “shall” or “should”.