LSBUD IS FOR ANYONE INVOLVED IN
LSBUD IS FOR ANYONE INVOLVED IN
National Safe Digging Awards – The Larries 2025!
The National Safe Digging Awards are back for their third year and we can’t wait to hear from you with all the fantastic things that are going on across the industry. The categories this year are as follows:
-
BEST PLANNING PROCESS
-
BEST SAFE WORKING CAMPAIGN
-
BEST DAMAGE REPORTING PROCESS
-
SAFE DIGGING HERO
-
BEST SAFE DIGGING INFLUENCER
Nominations are now open so if you know of an individual or organisation that is doing great work to help keep this country safe whilst digging and deserves to be recognised please do get in touch. You can learn more about the categories and make your nominations here.
LinesearchbeforeUdig
What is LSBUD?
LSBUD exists to help keep people safe.
With over 60%, and rising, of Great Britain’s utility infrastructure protected by LSBUD, it is firmly established as the national safe digging service.
It helps over 160 asset owners (‘Members’) protect over 2 million km of assets from damage by responding immediately to circa 4 million third party ‘User’ enquiries every year. The assets protected include over 2 million km of pipes and cables in the electricity, gas, high pressure fuel, water and telecoms / fibre optic networks.
With over 300,000 registered Users representing utility companies, contractors, councils, landowners and the public, LSBUD connects those that need the information with those that own the assets.
Hide
WHAT?
Need Utility Maps? – LinesearchbeforeUdig (LSBUD) is a free to use online search service that any individual (“User”) can use to check their works against over 160 asset owners’ (“Members”) utility assets. These assets include hundreds of thousands of kilometres of underground and overhead pipelines and cables in the electricity, gas, high pressure fuel/oil, heating, water and fibre optic networks. The service processes circa 4 million enquiries per annum- that’s more than one every 10 seconds
WHY?
There are many benefits of using the service, including:
- Keeping you safe by reducing the risk of death & injuries caused by asset strikes.
- Saving you time by receiving multiple responses to a single search to assist with locating services.
- Avoiding any unexpected costly damages to assets.
- Encouraging best practise for all stakeholders.
- Providing essential communication channels between asset owners and those working near their network.
WHO?
The service is designed to be used by anyone that needs to know where utility assets (pipelines and cables) are in order to work safely. This includes:
- Contractors
- Utilities
- Local Authorities
- Excavators
- Fencing installers
- Private Individuals
- Farmers
- Conveyancers
…and many more.
HOW?
The service can be broken down into three easy steps –
- You provide a few details of your works and submit a free online enquiry
- You receive an instant response showing which of our registered asset owners (“Members”) have assets near your site
- Our registered asset owners send you the plans of their assets relevant for your area, in accordance with their processes.
RECENT NEWS FROM LSBUD
LSBUD and the Road to Net Zero
LSBUD and the Road to Net Zero Everyone working within the Utility Sector is aware of the drive to greater environmental awareness on the Road to Net Zero and here at LSBUD we know that we all have a part to play if the UK is to transition successfully to Net Zero by...
Important Announcement – LSBUD Now Operational In Northern Ireland
Important Announcement - LSBUD Now Operational In Northern IrelandIn what has been a highly anticipated development, LSBUD is thrilled to announce that we are now fully operational in Northern Ireland. Not only is this a fantastic step forward for LSBUD, it is also...
LSBUD Welcomes Air Products PLC
LSBUD’s Latest New Member is Air Products PLC LSBUD are delighted to welcome Air Products PLC as our latest Member joining over 160 other assets owners who put their trust in the LSBUD solution. Air Products PLC develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates...
LSBUD Members
% of utility infrastructure protected in the UK
enquiries every year
kms of assets protected
utility and asset owners
Digging Up Britain 2024 Report
Damage Prevention Campaign
"We are delighted with the way that LSBUD has transformed our whole process of managing asset data requests. We now have a faster and more reactive solution that gives utilities, developers and local authorities unrivalled access to our asset data online, whilst at the same time, protecting our intellectual property rights. Most importantly, in making our data more widely available, we are dramatically reducing the likelihood of asset strikes helping everyone to work more safely and efficiently, leaving us more time to do what we do best - managing our network on behalf of our customers."
Mary Horsted
Network Planning and Administration Supervisor
"It has been refreshing to work with LSBUD on this project. I can’t think of another service provider that cares for its Members or the industry as much as LSBUD does. It is always thinking about how it can make safety better, and UKPN is pleased to be a part of that.”
Emily Wood
Cable Damage and Plan Provision Manager at UK Power Networks
“LSBUD has provided us with a fast, efficient and trouble-free way of distributing our network location data, ensuring that all have access to it. National Grid Electricity Distribution has worked with LSBUD for five years, and we’re immensely pleased with the service provided. LSBUD has massively reduced the number of mapping requests that need to be processed in-house, hugely reducing our workload in this capacity.”
Dave Burnford
Mapping Technical Team Manager at National Grid Electricity Distribution
“Our customers now have access to information about our network 24 hours a day, all year around. The portal helps customers with simple enquiries to self-serve, while our experienced team focus more on complex and challenging enquiries like high pressure pipelines. With LSBUD's support we have been able to give more customers better information. 7.5 million people rely on our network everyday and improving the information provided not only improves the customer experience, it also keeps our network safer."
Stephen Davies
Plant Protection Network Officer
Featured Case Study
Wales and West Utilities (WWU) has automated its mapping processes since 2018, freeing up more time for high-risk cases and reducing annual incidents, thanks to LSBUD.
With mapping requests quickly becoming unsustainable, WWU signed up to LSBUD’s collaborative portal in 2018,experiencing immediate and substantial improvements.
The system implemented by LSBUD has also helped the team accommodate more enquiries, without sacrificing on safety. In fact, between 2018-2023, the average number of searches per month has increased from around 2,050 to 52,700 (over 25 times greater), now accounting for over 630,000 enquiries a year.
Most notably, since joining the LSBUD system, WWU has witnessed a reduction in its annual incidents. In 2018, there were 1,553 damages across the entire network, a figure that had been rising since it was first tracked in 2012. By 2023, the total damages recorded had dropped to 1,228, the lowest it’s been since its records began. Given that total searches increased substantially over the same period, this is a staggering achievement and positive proof that sharing plans and escalating the riskiest searches through the LSBUD platform works at any scale.
