Frequently Asked Questions

digdat Utilities lets you access plans of underground assets 24/7, providing compliance with statutory requirements, protecting assets from damage and keeping contractors and the public safe.   Utility company assets currently available to view on digdat Utilities include Anglian Water, Bristol Water, Thames Water, Virgin Media, Hafren Dyfrdwy and Severn Trent Water
In addition, digdat Utilities offers the option to order prints of Ordnance Survey's (OS) large scale maps, OS MasterMap® Topography Layer

Yes. All users are required to register their own individual account in order to obtain Asset Plans or OS maps via digdat Utilities. Click here to register.

Access for individuals undertaking statutory work is free. You may be required to provide documentary evidence that your access is covered under statutory terms. If you are unsure, please contact the digdat service team for further guidance.

If you are not a statutory undertaker, for example, a developer, architect or member of public, you can still register to purchase maps showing Anglian Water's assets as well as OS Maps.

For all website queries please contact digdat using any of the details provided on our contact us page.

Anybody can apply for access to digdat Utilities to purchase Asset Plans of Anglian Water's, Hafren Dyfrdwy's and Severn Trent Water's  assets and OS Maps

You can only be approved for free access to satisfy statutory obligations. This usually means that you will  work for a local authority, a utility provider, a government body or an agent or contractor working on their behalf.

Documentary evidence may be required for statutory access.

If you have selected electronic delivery, once any applicable payment has been made, your Asset Plans and / or OS Maps will immediately begin to download to your account ready for viewing. Some larger file sizes may take a little longer and will download to your account within 30 minutes. If you have ordered printed copies, your request will be dispatched by first class post within two working days.

After confirming your request, you can pay online by credit or debit card using our secure payment system.

No. To ensure that all utilities’ assets are clearly displayed, we are unable to provide all assets on one plan. However, individual Asset Plans are generated for each asset type without the need to search for the same address multiple times.

Yes. You are able to save your order when confirming your request. You can then retrieve your order at a later date by logging into your account and viewing ‘My Plots’.

For those with statutory access, you can apply to add an additional service by going to ‘My account’ and selecting ‘My statutory access’. You are able to apply to each utility you require access to.  If your request is approved you will receive an email to notify you.

If you are not eligible for statutory access, you can still purchase asset plans for Anglian Water, Hafren Dyfrdwy and Severn Trent Water through digdat Utilities.

After proceeding to checkout, you can amend the delivery method to ‘Print Service’. The additional print and post charges will be added to your total order and your order will be dispatched to you by Royal Mail first class within two working days.

Yes. By selecting ‘My Plots’ you are able to view your order history. You can also view all saved plots, plots downloaded, scheduled plots and plots awaiting payment.

If you are trying to view an OS Map, the watermarks will appear over the map (this is so we conform with the terms of our Ordnance Survey licence). The watermarks are transparent enough to allow you to locate and select the area you require. Once you have ordered the OS Map, you will receive your selected area without the watermarks.

If you are trying to view a utility’s Asset Plans, the watermarks will show in the following instances:

- If you are not authorised to get free (statutory) access to Asset Plans, the watermarks will be visible until your order has been processed, at which point you will receive your selected plan without the watermarks.

- If you have requested statutory access but your access has not yet been authorised by the relevant utility. However, you are still able to purchase Asset Plans and OS Maps via digdat Utilities until you receive confirmation your access has been authorised.

- When the relevant utility has no assets within the area selected.

- When the selected area falls outside of the statutory viewing boundary that your account has been authorised to access.

This means there are no asset records for the utility datasets you have chosen within the area you are printing. You should zoom out to the maximum extent allowed to confirm there are no assets in the surrounding area. If assets come into view, a map will be displayed.

You can view our user guide Here.

Pricing for Ordnance Survey maps are based on the amount of information provided within the selected area and therefore the price will vary according to the size and density. All costs are confirmed when you proceed to the checkout.

If the area searched does not enclose any utility asset records, the service will not charge you for this request. This does not apply to Anglian Water, Hafren Dyfrdwy, Harlaxton Energy, Severn Trent, Severn Trent Connect, Southern Water and Virgin Media plans. You will still be able to print off a watermarked plan for your records providing evidence that in that search location, on that search date, there were no asset records present for that specific utility.

Your computer settings whilst using the browser Google Chrome may prevent you from viewing PDF's on the website. To view these, follow these steps;

- Open Google Chrome and type about:plugins into the website address bar and press 'Enter' to display the Chrome Plugins page.
- Look down the list of Plugins for 'Chrome PDF Viewer' and click on 'Disable', the plugin should now be greyed out.
- Now look through the list of Plugins for your own PDF Viewer plugin e.g. Adobe Acrobat and click on 'Enable'.

You should now be able to view the PDF but please contact our support team should you have any issues.

digdat Utilities only has information on owners assets that are available to access through the service.  In addition, the service has a link to www.digdatConnect.co.uk which provides up-to-date contact information of over 500 asset owners across Great Britain.  The link from digdat Utilities will take the centre of the map screen and open up digdat Connect in a new page with the map centred on the same point.  Just click on ‘find utilities’ and you will be presented with a report of companies’ contact details who may have assets in or close to the search area.

digdat Connect uses publicly available data to identify utility, local government and infrastructure companies in Great Britain that may have underground assets within a chosen area of interest.  digdat Connect is a free, internet-based search which is available 24/7.  The service provides a contact list of all providers that your search has identified. More information on can be found in our FAQs here

You can reset your password by clicking the "Forgotten your password?" link beside the login button.

A refresh email is sent to all statutory users every 60 days providing a code for you to enter to ensure your statutory access remains active. You have 14 days to refresh your account before it will expire.

You can log in to your digdat account and click 'My Account' and select the tab 'My Statutory Access'. Enter the code provided within your refresh email into the box to refresh your access to each utility.

If your account has already expired, you can re-request the code to be sent to your email address by logging into 'My Account'.

Once you have registered, you will immediately be able to purchase OS Maps and Asset Plans for Anglian Water. If you are applying for statutory access, your application will be dealt with by the relevant utility usually within two working days.

The service is free for PDF Asset Plans ordered by those with statutory access.

For other accounts, the total cost is shown when you proceed to the checkout after you have selected the area and Asset Plan / OS Map you wish to order.

The checkout section will also show the cost for the Asset Plans and / or OS Maps you have selected to be printed and posted to you.

Once your Asset Plan or OS Map has downloaded (indicated by a green tick), select ‘open file’ which will open a pdf of your map or plan. You can then print the pdf for your records.

You may need to download a pdf reader, such as Adobe which can be downloaded here

No. If you have selected download, once payment has been made, your Asset Plan or OS Map will immediately begin to download to your account to view.

Please note, some larger file sizes may take longer and will download to 'My Plots' usually within 30 minutes. You will receive an email to confirm once these scheduled plots are ready to view.  

Once your request has been submitted, it is not possible to amend it so you will need to submit a new request.

For larger plan sizes you must use the ‘Multiplot’ function where you will be able to select larger paper sizes.

An order recovery is available under 'My Plots - Order History - View', where you can view and print your initial map order. Order recovery is made available for orders which have not been delivered as a result of a server, system or technical failure and can be accessed up to 90 days from your initial order. After 90 days the order record will be greyed-out and you will not be able to recover the map. To comply with Crown Copyright, you acknowledge by using this service you have not yet received or printed the map(s) from your initial order.

Ordnance Survey maps are bound by Crown Copyright restrictions and can only be reproduced under the Licence which attract a Royalty Charge. All maps are ordered through digdat are Licensed Copies, fully complying with Crown Copyright, as such, any map successfully delivered and then subsequently lost would have to be re-ordered. However, if your map is not delivered or is corrupt as a result of a server, system or technical failure please use the order recovery service available under 'My Plots - Order History - View', which can be accessed up to 90 days from your initial order. After 90 days the order record will be greyed-out and you will not be able to recover the map. To comply with Crown Copyright, you acknowledge by using this service that you have not yet received or printed the map(s) from your initial order.

Anglian Water provides free access to view its underground assets via viewing apparatus in Henderson House, Lancaster Way, Ermine Business Park, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE29 6XU, Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.00pm, (Excluding Bank Holidays).

Southern Water provides free access to view their assets, to book an appointment please call 0330 303 0119 or email developerservice@southernwater.co.uk 

Utility companies have a statutory obligation to record their assets and make the data available to third parties such as Local Authorities (Unitary, County, Borough and District  Councils but not Town or Parish Councils), Government Bodies and other utilities that need to excavate in the highways. digdat therefore provides access to asset location maps free of charge to approved parties.

If you believe that the location of an asset is not as indicated on digdat please contact us using the form on our contact us page

All foul, surface and combined sewers that were publicly owned prior to 1 October 2011 will be displayed on the wastewater asset maps provided for the water companies. Service pipes, private sewers and drains, and former private sewers and drains transferred to the water companies on or after 1 October 2011 are generally not shown.

Please see the following PDF.

The Manhole Report is a list of depths and inverts for any public sewer assets within the plot area requested. Not all depth and invert level details are recorded and these are provided to you where available from the relevant utility provider.  

Asset maps over A2 page size are scheduled for production by the system to maintain performance. The scheduling process prevents large maps being produced until a period of low usage, this should take no longer than 30 minutes and users are sent an email once their scheduled maps are available.

We are currently experiencing large numbers of plot requests and you may find scheduled plots might take up to 24 hours before they are available

digdat Utilities is developed to cater for requests relating to Section 50 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991.  Simply login, search and download Asset Plans which are PAS128:D compliant.

Unlike sewers, where permission to build over or close to mains may be given, Anglian Water DO NOT permit any building over of water mains. Water mains operate at pressure, hence they have the potential to cause considerable damage for which Anglian Water could not be held liable.

There is a minimum and maximum depth at which service pipes should be laid. Minimum depth is 750mm and the maximum depth is 1350mm. If you wish to install a service pipe either deeper or shallower than these depths they must notify Anglian Water for permission. Important note: The water service pipe must be a minimum of 350mm away from any gas supply.

No. The existing mains water supply pipe will have to be either re-routed around the new extension or it will have to be installed in a duct so that it can be removed for maintenance or repair.

These can be emailed to developerservices@anglianwater.co.uk or can be sent via post to:

Anglian Water Services Ltd
Development Services Team
PO Box 495
Huntingdon
PE29 6YY
Telephone: 0345 60 66 087

When you apply for Building Regulations approval, Building Control should consult Anglian Water regarding any proposals to carry out work within 3 metres of the public sewer. We do, however, strongly recommend that you contact Anglian Water before this time, so that we can discuss and agree what works are acceptable within the vicinity of the public sewer. Please be aware that planning consent does not mean you have been granted approval to build over or within 3 metres of a public sewer.

Please visit http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/developers/ for further details regarding these matters.

'Wastewater' and 'Recycled Water' are two different terms to describe the same thing. Anglian Water has recently made a small but important change to the use of the term 'wastewater'. This will now be referred to as ‘used water’ or 'recycled water' – the change is intended to lead the way in changing perceptions about water and how it is used. No water is ‘waste’ water, it’s a precious resource that we borrow, use, clean and carefully recycle to use again and again.

For the purposes of digdat we have kept the wording consistent because other water companies around the country are still using the term 'wastewater' so you will still see reference to it. If you visit the Anglian Water website the term 'Recycled Water' will be used instead.

These can be emailed to developerservices@anglianwater.co.uk or can be sent via post to:

Anglian Water Services Ltd
Development Services Team
PO Box 495
Huntingdon
PE29 6YY
Telephone: 0345 60 66 087

Depth of cover can vary due to specific site conditions and safe digging practice must therefore be observed. The guideline depth of cover for telecommunication cable or duct routes (single or multiple way) in carriageways is 450mm or 600mm and in footways is 250mm or 350mm.

Virgin Media provide free access to view their asset data at the following location:

15 Eastgate Business Centre, Basildon. SS14 1AE. Tel: 01268 820 085.

In an area where Virgin Media do not own any assets, Ordnance Survey background data will be displayed. When printing, the watermark confirms there are no assets within the area requested. The area can be determined by the coordinates shown on the map.

The background data for Virgin Media and all other current services is now displayed using Ordnance Survey MasterMap Topography Layer.

You can purchase a Licensed Copy of Ordnance Survey's OS MasterMap Topography Layer, a highly detailed view of Great Britain's landscape including individual buildings, roads and areas of land.

You may select as many copies as you need at the time of ordering, these copies are Royalty Paid Licensed Copies and fully comply with Ordnance Survey's Crown Copyright Licence, any further copying is not permitted.

Once your request has been submitted, it is not possible to amend it so you will need to submit a new request. All copies of Ordnance Survey mapping is subject to Crown Copyright, to find out more about copying Ordnance Survey maps please refer to Ordnance Survey's licensing pages on their website.