‘’Valitrack offers a unique solution to an identified industry challenge for the geo-environmental remediation and construction industries. RemSoc (an industry society for land remediation) identified the need for better tracking and validation of material movement during remedial earthworks at its conference in Birmingham in September 2021 and subsequently set up a working group to develop industry good practices in this area (Practitioners Guide to Materials Tracking & Verification – RemSoc).  As well as the robust verification of material movement being recognised as a critical element of best practice and increased regulatory interest, there has been a wider increase in industry awareness of the importance of good soil management, of which tracking, recording, and reporting is a key elements.  This wider awareness of the importance of good soil management at construction sites has manifested itself in the development of a number of industry and regulatory working groups that have or are in the process of developing good practice guidance.  These include IEMA (IEMA publishes new land and soils guidance - IEMA), the British Soil Science Society (WWS3 - Benefitting from Soil - Management in Development and Construction - Jan 2022 (soils.org.uk)), The Soils in Planning and Construction Task Force (Soils in Planning and Construction Task Force | Sustainable Soils (lancs.ac.uk)) and the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (Sustainable management of surplus soils and aggregates (ciria.org)).  CL:AIRE is also currently commissioned by Defra to update Defra’s 2009 Sustainable Use of Soils in Construction Sites Guidance.  Valitrack very clearly sets out to address this developing need of our industry.’’

We have been in discussions regarding the Valitrack automated materials management solution for a number of months. In terms of supporting any Materials Management Plan scale the software offers a simple-to-use, yet a detailed solution for linking materials sampling and test data with tracking of excavated and deposited material all within the same platform allowing all the data necessary to be recorded for validation reporting to be held on a single platform.

A simple solution that will support both small-scale remediation projects to large-scale infrastructure projects in the capture of data and reporting required for any validation report’

Within the ground investigation industry, the requirement for better data precision and speed has become greater than ever. Submitting information in close to real-time using digital solutions allows our engineers and supporting managers to quickly make decisions as conditions are encountered.

Validation of data is also implemented to eliminate the impossible and restrict or highlight the improbable, prompting the engineer the cross check their work before submitting to the client. Allowing clients to view their data through an online portal means that they are fully informed on what is occurring on their project and builds confidence that the work is being monitored and delivered to a high standard.

At Waste Assess we are regularly commissioned to create validation reports for construction & demolition projects. The first step in this process is normally frustrating and time-consuming, collecting information from multiple involved subcontractors. Once collected the information has to be assessed for suitability and sufficiency prior to the development of a bespoke report for the main client. It is common to find record keeping has not been as required and the main contractor is left with additional validation requirements. 

We've been approached by several main contractors we work with looking for a system which would integrate all material movements into and out of site, provide a live picture of materials management and produce consistent, complete validation reports.

I was tasked with managing the MMP data collection alongside my usual environmental duties. I was alert to the demands of resources and time this would contribute to my workload; taking hundreds of samples whilst ensuring accurate records were kept for the eventual close-out report of the MMP.  On similar-sized projects I have worked on, I’ve worked alongside a soil scientist to deliver material management in compliance with an MMP. It was a pleasure to work with Joseph and his team to digitalise the process.

Valitrack lead to a decrease in the demand for resources and time whilst providing accurate records we could use to prove compliance to regulators.I was able to ensure a correct sampling frequency, pinpoint hazardous material samples, and track movements of non-hazardous material with a bespoke GIS tool. Not only did this save time, allowing me to undertake the work which had been handled by a separate person in the past, but the record-keeping was in tandem with the compliance criteria of our MMP ensuring we were working compliantly in an evidenced way, reducing our risk of mismanaging the material which could lead to legal implications and fines.’

Across the construction industry, there are a range of issues associated with materials management. These include, but are not limited to the following:

• Elevated costs for materials disposal where soils have not been properly managed or tracked resulting  for example in higher volumes of soils being disposed of as non-hazardous waste rather than inert waste with an associated lower landfill tax
• Keeping track of soils test results, ensuring these remain linked to specific materials stockpiles to avoid misclassification of materials and incorrect disposal, potentially resulting in environmental harm.  
• Elevated prosecution risk arising from poor materials test records and resultant improper classification and disposal of materials
• Additional costs associated with re testing soils following the movement of stockpiles
• Program delays associated with multiple iterations of soils testing
• Poor information flow and management as test and materials records are often managed via MS office based solutions on private hard drives. Different applications are also often used for materials tracking and test results which add administrative burden to the project team.
• Poor integration of management systems which complicates usability
• Complex validation of as-built/ materials management records with increased risk of non-compliance and elevated costs associated with data and information interrogation
• Lack of visibility for clients and regulator regarding materials management

A system such as Valitrack would significantly help address, if not solve,  these issues resulting in more efficient construction projects and associated reduced costs for clients and, in the case of government jobs, the UK taxpayer.

Reduced materials movements and waste would also reduce the carbon footprint associated with HGV and plant moments and, by extension reduce traffic on site and on roads, which would support H&S performance.

The system would also help adherence to the European Waste Framework Directive through better management of information with the overall outcome of more sustainable use of excavated materials and associated diversion from landfill.

Within the contaminated land industry there is significant variation in the reporting consistency of geotechnical, chemical and materials tracking data.  A system such as Valitrack would help to standardise the collection/presentation of the data and identify data gaps at the earliest opportunity to improve data quality and reliability.  The benefits are greater still when the system can be adapted to ensure the specific data collection requirements of individual projects are addressed with a bespoke solution.’