Est. 2005 · UK-wide trenchless installations07920 553 578·chris@swdd.co.uk
Accreditations
Trenchless work happens on live roads, railways, rivers and other people’s infrastructure, so competence and compliance are not optional. This page sets out the certifications our crews carry onto every site, along with the company accreditations, insurances and policies that procurement teams ask for at tender.
Full certificates, registration numbers and policy documents are available on request. Need them for a tender or PQQ? Get in touch and we will send them straight over.
The crew on your site
We keep the skilled work in-house, and the people who turn up to drill, weld and dig the supporting excavations carry the tickets to do it properly. We rarely subcontract, but when we do, our subcontractors come from an approved list and we check their accreditations and qualifications just as carefully. As standard on a SWDD job:
Every member of staff holds drill-rig operator certificates (machine-specific, from the manufacturer), with several certified across multiple machines. That includes the operatives carrying out the downhole tool changes, swapping drill bits and reamers, and running the guidance system that locates the drill head. It means the whole crew understands what is happening at every stage of the job, not just the lead driller.
Our staff are trained on the rest of our trenchless equipment directly by the manufacturers. For pipe ramming that training is delivered by TT‑UK, with the same manufacturer-led approach across our moling and ancillary plant.
All staff hold both butt-fusion and electrofusion welding certificates for the HDPE pipe and ducts we supply, weld and de-bead. Where a job calls for welded steel pipe, such as on pipe ramming, the work is carried out by coded welders.
All staff are CPCS plant operators (Construction Plant Competence Scheme) and hold the NVQ for excavator and plant work, so we can carry out our own groundworks and supporting excavations. On some jobs it is more cost-effective for the main contractor or client to provide this, where they already have machinery and personnel on site, avoiding multiple hires of similar equipment working in the same area.
For water-main and clean-water work our operatives hold EUSR registration (Energy & Utility Skills Register, including National Water Hygiene), so we can work compliantly on potable-water installations.
All staff hold CSCS cards (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) to at least Skilled Worker status, plus highways-sector inductions and asbestos awareness, confirming their trade competence and site health-and-safety knowledge.
Our management hold IOSH Managing Safely, and there is always a SSSTS-qualified supervisor on site (CITB Site Supervision Safety Training Scheme).
Every job carries a qualified NRSWA street-works supervisor and a qualified NRSWA street-works operative, so we can work safely and legally in the highway.
Alongside the crew tickets, the company holds the formal accreditations that infrastructure clients and main contractors look for at pre-qualification.
We are also working towards full ISO certification across quality, environmental and health-and-safety management:
Certificates and registration numbers available on request.
Memberships
We are members of the trenchless technology societies on both sides of the Atlantic, along with wider safety and business bodies, which keeps us close to the standards, research and best practice in our field.
United Kingdom Society for Trenchless Technology
Corporate member of the UK industry body for no-dig and trenchless methods.
North American Society for Trenchless Technology
Member of the leading international trenchless technology society.
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
Member of the long-established UK health-and-safety body.
Federation of Small Businesses
Member of the UK’s largest membership body supporting small and medium-sized businesses.
Insurance
We carry the cover that principal contractors and asset owners require, with indemnity to any principal. Current certificates are available on request.
£10 million
Employers’ Liability
£5 million
Public & Products Liability
£2 million
Professional Indemnity
In place
Contract Works & hired-in plant
Governance
Our policies are reviewed and signed off by the directors and briefed to the whole team. The full set is available on request; the headings below show what we maintain.
Tell us what your procurement process needs and we'll send our certificates, insurance details, policies and a plant list straight over.