Pavement Engineer Certificate
Applications are reviewed twice per year, in Spring and Autumn. Once an application is submitted, it will be assessed at the next panel meeting.
Recognition, validation and education are the cornerstone features of a quality professional certification which sets apart individuals who have shown they have established specialist knowledge and skills in a particular role. Beginning summer 2019, The IAT has been working with Highways England (HE) to develop a certification process for pavement engineering professionals. This process will help to set the discipline apart within highway design.
On its own, the pavement element of strategic road network, maintained by HE, is currently valued at £75Bn, which is 50% of the total value of the entire asset. In tranche 1 of the Road Investment Strategy (RIS1) HE set out to deliver £7.7Bn of improvements and with forthcoming RIS2 aiming at more than 150 schemes. The need to ensure quality scheme delivery is growing. This must be secured by consistency of knowledge and improved overall performance. In January 2018 HE published its vision and principals. The purpose of this document is to challenge thinking about the design and quality of our roads stating, “The road to good design requires competent pavement engineers…”. With most degree level courses aimed primarily at civil engineering, only handful of courses providing highway engineering modules with only a few of those in pavement engineering itself. HE is looking to industry, the IAT and other professional bodies to validate competency in this specialist field.
Obtaining the Certificate of Competency in Pavement Engineering will demonstrate the individual has a clear knowledge and understanding of:
- The function and engineering principals associated with pavements;
- Pavement failures, investigations and design (both rigid and flexible);
- Laboratory and site testing associated with road pavements;
- Value engineering, whole life costing and sustainability;
- Departures from Standard;
- Construction, materials and working with suppliers.
The certificate, recognised as a symbol of achievement, will demonstrate to Overseeing Organisations and Employers, an assurance of quality and commitment.
Currently, under HE’s Project Control Framework (PCF) Pavement design reports have been a requirement since 2017. These reports are checked and challenged at two stages:
- Preliminary Design, or Stage Gate Assessment Requirement 3 (SGAR 3)
- Pre-Construction, or Stage Gate Assessment Requirement 5 (SGAR 5)
With an update to the Design Manual in the form of CD 226, the pavement design engineer authorising the Design Certificate, shall be a certified pavement engineer.
The certification is primarily for those practitioners who are pavement engineers, involved in the delivery and signoff of pavement schemes from inception, development of design and through to construction. It is not intended or aimed at experts in the field. However, this does not preclude anyone from applying for certification.
The portal to apply for your Pavement Engineer Certificate is available here