Corehard Ltd Announces Six‑Month Milestone in PFI Street Lighting Exit & Succession Strategy

Corehard Ltd today confirmed that it has completed the first six months of intensive collaboration with key stakeholders to shape the early stages of a PFI street lighting exit and successor‑service strategy. This work has centred on developing a structured expiry and succession programme, establishing governance pathways, and aligning all parties around a clear, evidence‑led transition plan.

Over the coming years, Corehard Ltd will continue its role as project manager for the full PFI expiry, coordinating technical, commercial and operational activities to ensure a controlled, compliant and well‑sequenced handback. The company’s involvement positions stakeholders for a smooth transition into the post‑PFI operating model and long‑term service arrangements.

The Street works lane rental consultation outcome has now been published on the .GOV website.

The government has decided to proceed with the proposals outlined in the consultation. These include:

requiring at least 50% of any surplus lane rental funds to be spent on highway maintenance
doubling the level of fixed penalty notices that can be issued for 5 street works offences
allowing overrun charges to apply at weekends and bank holidays
Street works: fines and lane rental surplus funds – outcome – GOV.UK

A City of London Court decision on 5 December 2024 has confirmed that failing to reinstate High Friction Surfacing (HFS) can lawfully be treated as a Section 74 overrun, even when the carriageway remains open to traffic.

The case involved a 12‑month‑old omission where HFS had not been replaced. The authority applied overrun charges only from the point of notifying the undertaker until permanent reinstatement—21 working days on a Category One road, totalling £195,000. The undertaker argued the charge was time‑barred under Regulation 9(11), but the court rejected this defence, upholding the full amount plus around £30,000 interest and costs.

Key Points

• HFS forms part of reinstatement and must be completed for interim or permanent closure.
• Warning signs alone do not constitute reinstatement.
• Possession can be established without physical occupation.
• Missing HFS is treated as non-completion.

The ruling provides a clear interpretation of reinstatement obligations and reinforces authorities’ ability to pursue overrun charges where essential elements, such as HFS, are not reinstated.

A collaboration between Corehard Ltd and London Borough of Enfield has led to the development of a full suite of refresher and training materials for the Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in the Highway.

The initiative began with early discussions with Paul Wilkins at Enfield and built on a generic presentation delivered six months earlier outlining changes in the latest SROH edition. That presentation, shared with industry participants including JAG UK CEO David Capon, received strong feedback and prompted further exploration into simplifying and clarifying key areas of the Code of Practice.

This led to a draft presentation focused on Section 2 performance requirements, trialled across multiple forums to test whether a wider expansion was viable. Positive responses and repeated requests for broader material confirmed the need for a full, objective set of training aids covering the entire document.

The completed suite now provides clear, accessible guidance for operatives, engineers, undertakers and local authorities, reflecting extensive industry feedback while remaining aligned with statutory and technical requirements.

We have since produced client‑specific versions of these aids, enabling targeted focus on the precise elements each organisation needs to address.

Please contact us if you would like further information.

Modern societies depend on the reliable performance of their infrastructure, and in the UK much of that infrastructure lies beneath the road surface. Routine maintenance often requires access by open‑cut excavation, a process that can alter pavement behaviour and influence how loads are transmitted to the buried assets below.

A recent study examined these effects with the aim of strengthening and clarifying existing guidance. A fully instrumented site trial was undertaken in which two pipes were installed via trenching: one reinstated to the higher end of the UK Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in the Highway (SROH), and the other to the lower end.

The trench reinstated to the lower specification experienced significant serviceability failure, including settlements of around 70 mm and deflections reaching 2000 mm. The higher‑specification trench also showed signs of distress, though at a substantially reduced level. The findings indicate that open‑cut trenching weakens the surrounding road structure, even when reinstatement meets the upper limits of current specification requirements.