Contact:
  • Street Lighting Department
  • Address:
    Bath and North East Somerset Council, Floor 2 South, Riverside, Temple Street, Keynsham, Bristol, BS32 0BW.
  • E-mail:
    Council Connect@bathnes.gov.uk
  • Telephone:
    01225 394041
  • Fax:
    01225 394338
  • Minicom:
    01225 477309
  • Page Updated:
    22/11/2008
  • Author:
    J Doherty
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POLICY DOCUMENT 1- MAINTAINING A SAFE ILLUMINATED STREET FURNITURE INFRASTRUCTURE (PDF - 110kb) POLICY DOCUMENT 1- MAINTAINING A SAFE ILLUMINATED STREET FURNITURE INFRASTRUCTURE (PDF - 110kb)

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Street Lighting

Policy Document 1 - Maintaining a safe illuminated street furniture infrastructure (page 1)

 

To download this document as a printable PDF please click the link in 'Related Documents' on the right of this screen.

1) INTRODUCTION

Bath and North East Somerset Council recognises that street lighting is important to Householders, Parish Councils, Residents Associations and Motorists. It is important as amenity lighting; for security reasons; to assist in the reduction of crime; the reduction of the fear of crime; and as a measure to assist with the reduction of night time accidents.

The Council has a duty to ensure that all Illuminated Street Furniture i.e. streetlights and illuminated traffic signs remain operational. Consequently a Policy for the maintenance of Illuminated Street Furniture installations on the public highway has been developed.

This documentation has been produced by the Transportation and Highways Service and was approved by the Planning Transportation and Environment Committee of Bath and North East Somerset Council on 21 September 2000. A Periodic review of this Policy was last undertaken during May 2005 (Issue 1.2).

The Policy outlines the basic principles and standards applied to the maintenance of Illuminated Street Furniture within the administrative area of Bath and North East Somerset. It sets out the aims of the authority with respect to maintaining Illuminated Street Furniture assets and the procedures put in place to achieve those aims. The overall objective is to manage and maintain a safe and efficient system of Illuminated Street Furniture that ensures the safety of all road users, pedestrians and cyclists.

 

The Main Aims

 

  • Ensure that 98% of Illuminated Street Furniture is functioning correctly at all times as specified in the maintenance contract.
  • Ensure faulty Illuminated Street Furniture is , wherever possible, repaired within the timescales specified within this policy.
  • Visit all Illuminated Street Furniture on a regular basis in accordance with the timescale specified within this policy to undertake planned preventative maintenance and to verify their structural and electrical condition.
  • Ensure the appropriate quality of light is being provided by replacing all lamps within Illuminated Street Furniture on a regular basis in accordance with the timescale specified within this policy.
  • Develop a risk management strategy to undertake an effective planned renewal programme for the replacement of obsolete, inefficient and component life expired equipment utilising the available budgets.
  • Ensure compliance with the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 is met by periodically tested and inspecting all Illuminated Street Furniture and rectifying identified defects.
  • Develop further the management information system used for assisting in the maintenance of all Illuminated Street Furniture.

 

2) BENEFITS OF GOOD ROAD LIGHTING

Lighting makes an important contribution to highway safety for both drivers and pedestrians and enhances both the appearance and vitality of the community. The introduction of the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act placed an obligation on the Council to develop and implement safer community strategies. The provision of modern highway lighting is one of the ways the Council demonstrates its commitment to a safer and more attractive community. Studies have shown that good highway lighting can reduce the number of night time road accidents thus increasing night time safety for road users by 30%. Analysis of highway lighting schemes indicate they are a cost effective solution to assist in reducing night time road traffic accidents. The installation of modern highway lighting provides secondary benefits in terms of crime reduction. Recent research has shown that the capital costs of highway lighting installations can be recouped, as a result of lower levels of crime, in less than two years.

Further details about the research associated with these studies can be found in Street Lighting Policy Document 3, Notes for Guidance and Consultation Document for New or Replacement Street Lighting Schemes.

3) WHY MAINTAIN

The Highways Act 1980 makes Highway Authorities i.e. the Council responsible for the provision of road lighting on adopted highways or potentially adopted highways within its administrative area.

This legislation does not require the provision of road lighting in every location. However, where road lighting is provided, the highway authority has a duty of care with respect to maintaining that lighting in a safe condition. Maintenance standards are a matter for the organisation to determine. The two possible approaches for maintaining Illuminated Street Furniture are:-

a) Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM). The objective of this approach is to regularly visit assets to undertake routine maintenance activities.

b) Reactive Maintenance. The objective of this is to visit assets only when they are known to have failed.

There are economic consequences with either approach. Reactive maintenance reduces the life expectancy of the asset as no regular preventative measures are undertaken. Furthermore the condition of the asset remains unknown and repeated visits may be necessary to rectify problems. Consequently a comparatively high level of capital investment needs to be available.

Planned Preventative Maintenance enables routine maintenance and repairs to be carried out on a regular basis. Additionally the structural and electrical condition of the assets can be checked. Analysis of data thus obtained allows life expectancy to be forecast, enabling a more controlled approach towards capital expenditure. The Council adopts the Planned Preventative Maintenance policy because this enables existing assets life to be extended and facilitates the management and control of budgetary provision.

The policy when replacing life expired equipment and components is to specify well engineered quality products so that the assets reliability is improved thus reducing long term maintenance costs.

4) PRINCIPLES OF CONTRACT

The contract for the maintenance of Illuminated Street Furniture currently being used was developed as a result of Compulsory Competitive Tendering legislation. The contract contains provisions for Planned Maintenance, Rectification of Faults and New Works. The contract with respect to rectification of faults is performance related. The contractor is required to keep 98% of Illuminated Street Furniture functioning correctly at all times.

In addition to this it is important that the contractor undertakes effective repairs first time so the amount of repeat visit’s are also monitored. The contractor is required to ensure that the amount of repeat visits in any two month period remains below 5% of the total number of faults issued within the period.

If the Contractor meets the above targets he receives full payment. If the Contractor fails to reach the predetermined targets then the payment is reduced for poor performance. An enhancement payment for good performance is awarded when the contractor exceeds the targets. This approach provides the Contractor with incentives to ensuring good performance and the provision of quality services.

For all other works the Contractor receives payment for the work activities undertaken.