The NUAR platform aims to increase industry co-ordination underground and assist avoiding dangerous and costly strikes to cables and pipes.
NUAR is a government digital service, operated by Ordnance Survey (OS), that provides instant access to a secure and standardised map of underground pipes and cables in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It has been designed to improve the efficiency of how buried infrastructure is installed, maintained, operated and repaired, and provides secure access to data for asset owners across the public and private sectors. It brings together details of underground infrastructure into a centralised platform, with standardised formatting and styling, to augment existing safe digging practices.
In the year since NUAR was placed under OS control, use of the platform has grown by 115%, in terms of volume of transactions. Over 230 supply chain contractors have accessed underground asset information securely on behalf of asset owners.
All of the electrical grid distribution network operators, and water companies, have signed up to the platform, as have 70% of local authorities and 90% of highway authorities.
The next phase of government policy is to establish NUAR as a comprehensive statutory register, ensuring underground asset information is recorded and maintained consistently across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In June 2026, a memorandum of understanding was agreed between the Government Digital Service and online utility asset owner search service Linesearch BeforeUdig (LSBUD), to integrate NUAR with existing and proven safe-dig services. OS is also working with other service providers on safe digging practices.
OS’s chief product officer, Ash Wheeler, said: “It's great to see NUAR delivering on the potential identified eight years ago when the idea was first conceived.
“NUAR is having a significant impact on collaboration across industries that work underground and has demonstrated the power of bringing all this rich data into a service.
“The growing number of asset owners contributing data and using the platform, alongside supply chain contractors accessing it on their behalf to deliver projects, is a huge step forward.
“Collaboration is key, and the more users in the underground telecommunications and utilities sectors who engage with the platform, alongside existing safe dig practices, the more it will make life safer for people excavating under the ground.”
The long-term ambition for NUAR is to support safer excavation, reduce disruption and unlock economic benefits of at least £400 million a year through improved access to underground asset information.