It is estimated that there are around four million kilometres of buried pipes and cables in the UK, with a hole dug every seven seconds to install, fix, maintain or repair these assets in the water, gas, electricity and telecoms sectors. Each year there are around 60,000 accidental asset strikes, causing around £2.4 billion worth of economic cost, putting workers’ lives at risk and disrupting people’s daily lives.

The NUAR programme is led by the Geospatial Commission, part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). It is aimed at creating a single, comprehensive data-sharing platform on the location and condition of underground assets.

Its fundamental purpose is to streamline the data-sharing process, reduce the risk of potentially lethal utility asset strikes and promote more efficient management and maintenance of underground assets.

The initial launch of NUAR contains data from the public and private sector organisations that...