In order to establish accurate records of the implementation of departures, it is important to record for each location, whether a departure is ‘incorporated’, or ‘not incorporated’ into the works; whether anticipated cost benefits have been realised; and whether any approval conditions set as part of determination have been adhered to and its evidence uploaded to the departure record.
Post Determination actions
It is incumbent on the National Highways (NH) Project Manager (PM) to make sure that the Post Determination stage has been completed in DAS for all the departures on their scheme.
Please note that only schemes that have their ‘Open For Traffic’ (OFT) date after 1st April 2015 require closing out departures at Post Determination stage.
The following steps needs to be undertaken by the NH PM (where necessary the Project Manager can re-assign the role of Project Manager to a different Project Manager to assist with the completion of Post-Determination) – See Notes 4, 5 & 6:
- Search DAS for the list of departures under the relevant PIN and make sure that it aligns with the scheme’s “Departures from Standards Checklist” – See Notes 1, 2 & 3
- Update the Post Determination Stage to change the status from “To be Confirmed” to either “Incorporated” or “Not Incorporated” as relevant and add the date incorporated i.e. date open to traffic or incorporation into the works
- For Departures that were created post 1st April 2020 when the Post Determination stage was implemented then If the Departure was approved with conditions, the NH PM should liaise with SES / the Designer and attach any relevant documentation at the Post Determination Stage to close out any conditions from SES in respect of the Departure
- Add the Realised cost benefit; if not incorporated into works then the realised cost benefit shall be zero. If the figure isn’t available, then please add a 0 and this will close out the departure
- Untick the Confidentiality box as appropriate – Applications can be marked as confidential if they are submitted during a scheme’s tender phase, potentially providing competitive advantage. Once incorporated into works, there is typically no reason to keep the departure marked as confidential
- For Departures that were created post 5th May 2022 when Condition Management was implemented then if the Departure was approved with conditions, NH PM to confirm whether each condition was adhered to and attach any relevant documentation as evidence using the attachment feature after liaising with SES / Designer. The comments section should record any attachments as evidence i.e. Technical Notes, email correspondence between SES, Designer, Contractor and NH PM
- Where no details were found on the Departures from Standards Checklist (PCF Product), H&S file or handover documents to close out departures at Post Determination stage then refer to text below on legacy schemes
Note 1: The Post Determination dashboard accessible via “My filters” on the DAS home page only identifies DAS 3 records where Post Determination actions are outstanding.
Note 2: A search in DAS for your scheme PIN should give you a full list of departures that you need to close out at post determination stage i.e. DAS 2 records as well as DAS 3 records for your PIN.
Note 3: The information about whether a departure was incorporated should be in the scheme’s ‘Departures from Standards Checklist’ PCF product, H&S file, or handover documents.
Note 4: All departures that were determined on or before the 31st of March 2020 should be counted as ‘DAS 2.0’ records for the purpose of post determination stage. This means that the PMs need only update the status (incorporated/not incorporated) at the post-determination stage as well as the date for incorporation into the works which could also be the date that the scheme opened to traffic
Note 5: Where necessary the PM can re-assign their role to a different PM to assist with the completion of the Post-Determination section. The ‘Assign’button can be accessed within the ‘Submission’ section of the departure application form. DAS Admin have administrative tools that facilitate bulk re-assignment for scenarios where PMs have left the business. Applications migrated from DAS 2.0 can sometimes have data issues that mean they are not picked up during bulk transfers – please contact DAS Admin if expected applications are not visible.
Note 6: All rejected and withdrawn departures are automatically identified as “not incorporated” and do not require closing out at Post Determination.
Legacy Schemes with Open for Traffic (OFT) Date Post 1st April 2015
The following agreed text (with NH Legal) will need to be added to each relevant departure record for Legacy Schemes where no details were found on the Departures from Standards Checklist (PCF Product), H&S file or handover documents to close out departures at Post Determination stage:
“National Highways has searched the handover records for this scheme and has not found evidence of departure [departure reference number] to demonstrate whether the departure has been incorporated into the works or not. National Highways has been unable to obtain this information from suppliers that worked on the scheme and still cannot ascertain if the departure was incorporated into the works or not. National Highways has also searched our operational records since the scheme opened for traffic and are not aware of any safety concerns being raised in relation to the subject of the departure.
I therefore declare that National Highways cannot say if the departure was incorporated into the works or not. I declare that there is no evidence of safety concerns having been raised in relation to these works.
[Signed]
[Title]
[Date] “
The above text needs to be entered in the comments section of the Post Determination Stage for each departure record, but the Status (under location field) needs to be left as “To be Confirmed”.
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