Terms and definitions

Contents

Advice

Optional provision conveying advice on a specific topic and helping the user understand how to fulfil the requirement.

Chief Highway Engineer Memoranda (National Highways only)

Means of providing internal information / communication / procedures in connection with the works on National Highways’ motorway and all-purpose trunk road network.

Clause

Paragraph providing a requirement or a requirement and related advice.

Collaborative Authoring and Review System

Tool used for the authoring and review of DMRB and MCHW documents.

Construction Works

Everything that is constructed or results from construction operations in accordance with BS ISO 6707-1.

Constructor requirements

Requirements contained in the SHW both as core requirements (i.e. common across the Overseeing Organisations), Nationally Determined Requirements (i.e. those relevant to a specific Overseeing Organisation) and Work Specific Inputs.

NOTE 1: Constructor requirements will apply for every contract in which the associated objects, materials or activities are specified.

Consultation report

Deliverable that is part of an overall technical document management system, which is used to record the people and organisations that have been consulted or simply informed during the Technical Standards Committee process and to provide a summary of the consultation including any items raised by the consultees that have been agreed to be addressed in future work.

Content Specialist

Person supporting the delivering of high quality RADs fully in line with this Manual for the Development of Documents (MDD).

Customer service standard

Standards which:

draw on customer insight and seek to address key customer, communities, and stakeholders, needs and expectations;
are aligned to the customer service strategy of the Overseeing Organisation;
can either:
- reinforce existing policy / standard (in which case the new standard will signpost the existing policy rather than duplicate);
- introduce a new standard where one does not currently exist; or
- seek to identify and address behaviours that are preventing existing policy to be followed.

Departures Approval System (DAS)

The National Highways system for submitting and seeking approval for departures. Other Overseeing Organisations can have similar systems for tracking the submission and approval of departures.

Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO)

Delivery approach through which a single entity designs, builds, finances and operates a project for a specified period.

Document change summary

Deliverable that is part of an overall technical document management system, which is used for categories B, C, D of change to present incremental changes made to the RAD.

Document Development Plan

Deliverable that is part of an overall technical document management system, which is used to plan and define the directions of development work for RADs.

EU Directive

EU Directives are binding in terms of goals, but it is left up to the member states to decide what action they need to take to achieve those goals.

NOTE: Directives require enabling legislation to transpose them into member state law.

EU Regulation

EU Regulations are conventional acts of a national legislature.

NOTE: Regulations are directly applicable in that they do not need to be turned into national law; they are binding in their entirety and take immediate effect on a specific date.

European Standardisation Organisations (EOSs)

European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC) or European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

Group Manager

National Highways leader accountable for a programme often referred to as a portfolio, i.e. a structured collection of Projects.

Impact assessment report

Deliverable that is part of an overall technical document management system, which is used to identify the impacts of the RAD development work (including when there is no impact or a negative impact) on the following aspects:

health safety and wellbeing;
equality, diversity and inclusion;
carbon management, sustainable development and good design;
customer satisfaction;
commercial aspects;
other aspects including policy, legal, contractual implications

It also contains information on opportunities of innovation that can be realised implementing the RAD under consideration and provides information about publication and dissemination plans as needed.

Incremental change

Change to specific requirements (category B), advice (category C), notes or spelling mistakes (category D), which do not belong to the category “major revision”.

NOTE: Incremental changes follow shorter governance processes compared to that followed for major revision, which are proportionate to the change being made.

Instructions for Specifier (IfS) document

Published form of a document showing both the constructor requirements and the specifier instructions.

Major revision

Policy change, rewrite of a document or development of a new document, which follow a complete governance process (category A).

Motorway and all-purpose trunk roads

Collective term to indicate those parts of the UK highway and road network for which one of the Overseeing Organisations is or acts on behalf of the highway or road authority.

NOTE: Department for Infrastructure Northern Ireland also manages local roads and their application is dealt with through National Application Annexes in the DMRB.

National Highway Authority

National Highways operating under licence from the Department for Transport (DfT).

NOTE: The term ‘National Highway Authority’ is for use specifically within the context of the Construction Products Regulation.

Overseeing Organisations

National Highways and the highways or roads authorities of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and their successors.

NOTE: The meaning of Overseeing Organisation is typically defined by the contract under which the works are procured.

Portfolio Leader

National Highways leader of an Innovation Programme Portfolio.

NOTE: A portfolio is a structured collection of Projects. Accountability for a Portfolio always remains with a National Highways Group Manager, although the role of Portfolio Leader can be delegated to other National Highways staff.

Requirement

Provision conveying criteria to be fulfilled in order to comply with the document.

Requirements and Advice Documents (RADs)

Collective term for Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) documents, National Application Annexes (NAAs) to the DMRB or Nationally Determined Requirements (NDRs) for MCHW, Specification for Highway Works (SHW), Instructions for Specifiers (IfS), Works Specific Inputs (WSI), Highways Construction Drawings (HCD), Chief Highway Engineer Memoranda (CHE Memos).

Safety Engineering and Standards (SES) Directorate

National Highways directorate providing professional and technical solutions to outward facing parts of the organisation.

NOTE: Safety Engineering and Standards was formerly Professional and Technical Solutions (PTS) Directorate and NetServ.

Specification for Highways Works (SHW) document

Published form of a document only showing constructor requirements.

Technical Standards Group (TSG)

National Highways team responsible for the process of developing and publishing RADs.

NOTE: TSG was formerly called Technical Assurance and Governance Group (TAGG).

Technical Author

Person responsible for sponsoring a RAD through the development process.

NOTE 1: Generally technical authors are employed by National Highways or one of the other Overseeing Organisations.

NOTE 2: The term “technical author” replaces the term “document owner”. Document ownership now resides with the TSC chair of the discipline relevant to the document under consideration.

NOTE 3: Technical authors can be supported by authoring teams including technical specialists in the Overseeing Organisations or from the supply chain.

Technical Standards Committee (TSC)

A committee formed to provide peer review, in order to guide and advise on the production and development of RADs.

NOTE: Technical Standards Committees (TSCs) form an essential part of the governance process by which National Highways develops new and updates existing RADs. They are peer review / governance committees of invited members who represent various interested parties from National Highways, other governmental bodies and parts of the highways industry.

Technical Specialist

Person employed by the Overseeing Organisations or individual from a supplier firm providing specific technical support.

UK legislation

UK Regulations are conventional acts of a national legislature.

NOTE: Regulations are directly applicable in that they do not need to be turned into national law; they are binding in their entirety and take immediate effect on a specific date.

United Kingdom Standardisation Organisations (UKSOs)

BEIS Committee for Standardisation designates UK designated standards.

Works graphical information

Model and/or set of drawings associated with the construction works, which are not part of the MCHW.

NOTE: Such model and/or set of drawings are developed at project/scheme level.

Works specific inputs

Works specific content to be used in conjunction with SHW constructor requirements on a project/scheme specific basis.

Works specific requirements

Text requirements which are used in conjunction with relevant SHW requirements for the particular scheme/project.

Works specification

Set of requirements dealing with the works, which can include requirements on geometry, constructor design, performance, activities, verification, documentation submission and limitations of construction activities.

NOTE: Work specification consists of the SHW and the works specific inputs.