History

WHAT IS THE NEW SOUTH WALES STREETS OPENING CONFERENCE?

Originally formed in 1909 by the Lord Mayor of Sydney as the Sydney Streets Opening Conference, the Conference is an unincorporated group of representatives from organisations with an interest in underground Services, poles and enclosures placed within the boundaries of streets, associated footways and public spaces. The Conference agrees on space allocations for utility Services and sets codes of practice or guidelines relating to these Services. The Conference seeks to co-ordinate the interests of Utility/Service Providers, Local Councils and any body which has a requirement to excavate within a public right of way.

As a logical result of the widespread use of Conference decisions in many locations outside the Sydney Metropolitan boundaries, the Conference was reconstituted in 1995 to be able to cover the whole State and changed its name to the New South Wales Streets Opening Conference.

For the purposes of this Guide to Codes and Practices, the Conference objectives can be summarised as:
• foster co-ordination of underground utility works, avoid damage to other underground Services, and minimise the impact of those activities on the local natural and built environments;
• establish agreed footway allocations and practices for the provision of utility Services;
• minimise interference to traffic and pedestrian flow caused by road openings for the installation, operation and maintenance of utility Services;
• encourage the use of agreed codes and practices for the excavation, back filling and re-instatement of roadways and footways.

The Conference also recommends specifications for Trenchless Techniques, excavation, backfilling and restoration of roadways and footways.

In recent years, as a consequence of the National Competition Policy, there has been a deregulation of the market with a subsequent expansion in the number of Utility/Service Providers. Whereas previously there were at most one or two providers in the generation, distribution, supply and sale chain, there now may be many competitors providing any elements of the chain for a given utility. Similarly, some existing Utility/Service Providers are choosing to become multi-service providers.

Over the last five years, the NSW Streets Opening Conference has sought to rationalise and make formal the terms of agreement between all parties and to set down the recommended standards of work through a documented restoration specification and the codes and work practices guides contained in this publication. The outcome of this process has been realised through the publication of various agreements, specifications and codes.

View the 2009 Centenary Publication A Centenary of Utilities Cooperation (3.8MB PDF)