17320 version 2

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Supervise civil construction earthworks

Level / 4
Credits / 15

Purpose People credited with this unit standard are able to: estimate quantities of material to be excavated and calculate haul distances; interpret machine performance tables; plan the utilisation of earthmoving plant and equipment; describe the control of surface drainage at earthworks; describe specific requirements for excavation sites; and supervise earthworks operations.

Subfield / Civil Works and Services
Domain / Civil Construction Supervision
Status / Registered
Status date / 25 September 2006
Date version published / 25 September 2006
Planned review date / 31 December 2012
Entry information / Recommended: Unit 12564, Supervise earthworks preparation for civil construction; or demonstrate equivalent knowledge and skills.
Replacement information / This unit standard replaced unit standard 6444.
Accreditation / Evaluation of documentation and visit by NZQA and industry.
Standard setting body (SSB) / Infrastructure ITO
Accreditation and Moderation Action Plan (AMAP) reference / 0101

This AMAP can be accessed at http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/framework/search/index.do.

Special notes

1 The following legislation and regulations must be complied with: Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992; Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995; and Resource Management Act 1991.

2 Assessment against this unit standard must take place in a workplace environment.

Assessment parameters will be dependent on company and site specific equipment, procedures, and practices. Practices must reflect industry best practice and comply with legislative requirements.

3 The requirements within the following codes of practice and guidelines applying to civil construction operations must be complied with as appropriate to the context of assessment for this unit standard: The Official New Zealand Truck Loading Code, LTSA (Auckland: MacMillan, 1999) ISBN: 047306104X available from local book shops published by Land Transport NZ; Operator Safety Manual for Earthmoving Machinery, 2002 available from Infrastructure ITO http://www.infrastructureito.org.nz; and the New Zealand Contractors Federation, http://www.nzcontractors.co.nz;

Approved Code of Practice for Safety in Excavation and Shafts for Foundations (Wellington: Department of Labour, 1995) available from the Occupational, Safety and Health service http://www.osh.dol.govt.nz/order/catalogue/135.shtml.

4 Definitions

Company requirements include the policy, procedures, and methodologies of the company. They include legislative and regulatory requirements which may apply across the company or to a specific site. Requirements are documented in the company’s health and safety plans, traffic management plans, contract work programmes, quality assurance programmes, policies, and procedural documents.

Contract specifications include plans, diagrams, and special technical conditions. They do not include special administrative conditions.

Technical procedures mean the procedures and or diagrams for the carrying out of a construction process.

Notifiable work is defined by the Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995 as:

a Any restricted work, as that term is defined in regulation 2 (1) of the [Health and Safety in Employment (Asbestos) Regulations 1998];

b Any logging operation or tree-felling operation, being an operation that is undertaken for commercial purposes;

c Any construction work of one or more of the following kinds:

i Work in which a risk arises that any person may fall 5 metres or more, other than-

A Work in connection with a residential building up to and including 2 full storeys:

B Work on overhead telecommunications lines and overhead power lines:

C Work carried out from a ladder only:

D Maintenance and repair work of a minor or routine nature:

ii The erection or dismantling of scaffolding from which any person may fall 5 metres or more:

iii Work using a lifting appliance where the appliance has to lift a mass of 500 kilograms or more a vertical distance of 5 metres or more, other than work using an excavator, a fork-lift, or a self-propelled mobile crane:

iv Work in any pit, shaft, trench, or other excavation in which any person is required to work in a space more than 1.5 metres deep and having a depth greater than the horizontal width at the top:

v Work in any drive, excavation, or heading in which any person is required to work with a ground cover overhead:

vi Work in any excavation in which any face has a vertical height of more than 5 metres and an average slope steeper than a ratio of 1 horizontal to 2 vertical:

vii Work in which any explosive is used or in which any explosive is kept on the site for the purpose of being used:

viii Work in which any person breathes air that is or has been compressed or a respiratory medium other than air.

5 Machine manufacturer’s manuals provide performance tables for comparing different items of plant.

Elements and performance criteria

Element 1

Estimate quantities of material to be excavated and calculate haul distances.

Performance criteria

1.1 Contour maps are used to estimate quantities of excavation material.

Range rectangular areas of similar topography, average heights determined from corners of rectangular sections.

1.2 Drawings of profiles and cross-sections are used to calculate quantities of excavation material.

1.3 Average haul distances are calculated between cuts and fills.

1.4 Optimum locations of stockpiles and/or dumps are determined using average haul distances, quantities of material, and machine capacity.

1.5 Economical hauls are determined using costs of excavating and hauling, and comparing spoiling, and borrowing options with solely cut-to-fill.

Element 2

Interpret machine performance tables.

Performance criteria

2.1 Gradeability performance of items of plant is determined from grade and rolling resistance tables.

Range wheeled, tracked.

2.2 Comparison of performance tables for wheeled and tracked vehicles identifies plant working conditions, effect on ground, and suitability for tasks involved.

2.3 Machine manufacturer’s production tables are interpreted in relation to comparing productivity of available machines.

Range tables – total mass, speed, rimpull, drawbar pull, breakout force, bucket type and size;

machines – wheeled, tracked.

Element 3

Plan the utilisation of earthmoving plant and equipment.

Performance criteria

3.1 Factors impacting on productivity of machinery are determined from site visit, and initial selection of plant and equipment is made.

Range may include but is not limited to – types of soil, type of excavation, site restrictions, proximity to labour, materials, supplies, repair facilities, altitude, weather.

3.2 Total cycle times are calculated using average haul distance, haul-and-return time, and manoeuvre, dump, and wait times.

3.3 Production costs are calculated from payload capacities, recycle times, number of cycles per hour, and operating costs.

Range comparison of different combinations of plant.

3.4 Overhead costs are determined from company documentation.

3.5  Final selection of plant and equipment is based on total cost of each item of machinery involved, and its suitability for the type of work.

Range production costs, overheads.

Element 4

Describe the control of surface drainage at earthworks.

Performance criteria

4.1 Description identifies reasons for and methods of controlling natural drainage and surface run-off during earthworks.

Range reasons include but are not limited to – instability of cut and fill areas, Resource Management Act 1991 and Territorial Resource Management Plan, local authority requirements;

control includes but is not limited to – location of outlets.

4.2 Description identifies progressive shaping and rolling to waterproof earthworks and explains the importance of waterproofing in different site conditions.

Range conditions – soil type, height of excavation, weather.

4.3 Description identifies temporary drainage systems for use during operations.

Range includes but is not limited to – materials, silt ponds, vee-drains, temporary piping.

4.4 Description identifies components of permanent drainage control systems and stages at which these may be installed in accordance with contract specifications.

Element 5

Describe specific requirements for excavation sites.

Performance criteria

5.1 Notifiable works are identified in accordance with Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 and Health and Safety in Employment Regulations 1995.

5.2 Concept of safe slope is described for different types of soils in terms of the degree of arc from horizontal.

Range three of the following – boulders, screened gravel, gravel, sand, silt, clay, pumice, scoria.

5.3 Methods of securing slopes for safety are described in accordance with technical procedures and their uses are compared for cohesive and non-cohesive soils.

Range compaction, cementing, protection, supporting.

5.4 Methods of temporarily supporting cut faces and increasing their stability are described in accordance with technical procedures, and their suitability for different sites is compared.

Range timber shoring, sheet piles, surface membranes, rock bolting, grouting.

Element 6

Supervise earthworks operations.

Performance criteria

6.1 Productivity targets and monitoring systems are confirmed in accordance with company requirements.

6.2 Workflow for operations is organised to achieve minimal waste and delay.

Range includes but is not limited to – contingency plans for adverse weather, unsuitable material and its replacement.

6.3 Productivity is measured in accordance with company requirements.

Range time sheets, machine hours, tally dockets, productivity analysis.

6.4 Resources are organised to meet job targets in accordance with contract specifications.

Range signage, site facilities, labour, materials, plant, equipment, fuels.

6.5 Quality assurance systems for earthmoving projects are implemented in accordance with company requirements.

Please note

Providers must be accredited by the Qualifications Authority, or an inter-institutional body with delegated authority for quality assurance, before they can report credits from assessment against unit standards or deliver courses of study leading to that assessment.

Industry Training Organisations must be accredited by the Qualifications Authority before they can register credits from assessment against unit standards.

Accredited providers and Industry Training Organisations assessing against unit standards must engage with the moderation system that applies to those standards.

Accreditation requirements and an outline of the moderation system that applies to this standard are outlined in the Accreditation and Moderation Action Plan (AMAP). The AMAP also includes useful information about special requirements for organisations wishing to develop education and training programmes, such as minimum qualifications for tutors and assessors, and special resource requirements.

Comments on this unit standard

Please contact Infrastructure ITO if you wish to suggest changes to the content of this unit standard.

Ó New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2014