Choosing streetworks and permit
management software.

Start with the permit reality of your programme

For utilities, telecoms, fibre and civils contractors working in the highway, a start date on the programme is only as reliable as the permit behind it. Notice periods, permit conditions, traffic management and coordination with other works all shape when a gang can actually begin.

Before comparing suppliers, map how a typical job moves from forward planning to completion and reinstatement: who raises the application, who tracks the response, who updates the programme and who tells the site team. That map shows which hand-offs the system has to support.

Know which authority systems you need to work with

In England, permit applications and notices are exchanged with highway authorities through the Department for Transport’s Street Manager service. Elsewhere in the UK, different notice and register arrangements apply, so a contractor working across nations may need more than one route.

Ask each supplier exactly which provider connections they support, what information is exchanged and in which direction, and how a failed submission is reported. Confirm which steps remain manual and which decisions stay with the highway authority or your streetworks team. A connection that exists in principle may still need configuration and access arrangements for your organisation.

Keep permits visible in the delivery programme

Planners need to see which jobs depend on a permit decision, which are approved and which are at risk. A permit register on its own does not show the knock-on effect on gangs, plant and the coming week. Look for a system that shows permit status in the context of the job and the programme.

In a demonstration, ask the supplier to delay a permit decision and amend a planned start. Follow the change through to the gang allocation and the field team, and check who is told and when.

Manage conditions, variations and traffic management

Permits often carry conditions on working hours, duration, traffic management and coordination. Those conditions need to reach the people organising and supervising the work rather than staying in an office inbox. Traffic Management Plans and the related registers should sit alongside the streetworks record.

Test a change that needs a permit variation or extension. Check how the request is raised, how revised conditions reach site and how the history is kept for later review.

Capture site evidence for inspections and disputes

Highway authorities can inspect works in progress and completed reinstatements, and overruns or breaches of permit conditions can lead to charges or fixed penalty notices. Evidence recorded at the time, such as photographs, signing, lighting and guarding checks, start and stop times and reinstatement records, helps the streetworks team respond with facts.

Ask how evidence is captured against the job in the field, how it is found again weeks later and who can see it. Confirm the supported behaviour when a device loses connectivity.

Check the people, plant and documents behind each permit

A permit is only part of readiness. Street works need qualified supervisors and operatives, suitable vehicles and plant, and current RAMS and drawings. If those are tracked in separate places, a job can be approved on paper and still not be ready to start.

Ask how the system shows the combined readiness of a job, from permit to competent gang and available plant, and who is responsible for each dependency.

Questions to ask in a demonstration

• Which streetworks provider connections are supported for the areas we work in, and what is exchanged?
• How does a delayed or refused permit change the programme and the gang allocation?
• Where are permit conditions, variations and extensions recorded, and how do they reach site?
• How are Traffic Management Plans and registers kept with the streetworks record?
• What evidence can the field team capture against the job, and how is it retrieved for an inspection or dispute?
• Which steps stay manual, and who owns each decision?
• How are permits at risk and outstanding actions reported?

How Stratal approaches streetworks

In Stratal, streetworks and permits sit close to the delivery programme, with Traffic Management Plans and TM registers managed alongside streetworks workflows. Stratal includes UK provider integration architecture and Street Manager / EToN-style integration capability where configured; the provider, access arrangements and supported workflow are confirmed during deployment planning.

Permits connect to planning and resources and document control, so a job and its dependencies can be reviewed together.