Commissioned by New Zealand’s Drainage Managers Group, the manual is being developed by ProjectMax, a New Zealand Civil Engineering Consultancy with extensive experience in running CCTV and sewer rehabilitation projects.

Philip McFarlane, a ProjectMax Director said “the manual is being updated as significant changes have occurred in the CCTV industry since the manual was last updated in 1999. These changes include a greater use of software in CCTV work, evolving asset management systems and the use of new mediums such as DVDs for recording CCTV inspections. The manual is being designed to meet these and other needs of end users.”

As part of the development of the manual, ProjectMax surveyed end users through an online survey. Philip said that utilising technology is one of the cornerstones of ProjectMax and the online email survey allowed end users to comment on the manual quickly and easily. “We were really pleased with the survey response rate of 48 per cent and the constructive comments received.”

“Respondents commented that they did not want to see any major changes to the CCTV codes, but wanted better photographs of defects, which we have taken on board when preparing the new manual.” To encourage feedback, ProjectMax promised to gift money to Oxfam Water Survival for every response received. As a result $NZ500 was donated.

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Philip says the new manual is designed to be easy to read and useful for all levels of users, from CCTV operators to council engineers. It is hoped the manual will help raise the quality of CCTV work completed and ensure clients get the best use out of CCTV results. The manual will also be available on CD to encourage CCTV operators to use the manual as a reference tool when at their computers.

The new pipe inspection manual has been developed by ProjectMax Directors, Jock Styles, Steve Apeldoorn and Philip McFarlane. ProjectMax provides consulting and project management services to Local Authorities and Utility operators. One of its specialities is the project management and design of sewer investigations and rehabilitation contracts. Past projects ProjectMax has been involved in include North Shore City Council’s ProjectCare, Metrowater critical sewer investigation and Waitakere City Council inflow and infiltration reduction.

“At ProjectMax we enjoy solving client problems, using a holistic engineering approach and technology to make everyone’s job easier.” One example is ProjectMax’s development of InfilMax, an online reporting tool for the administration of sewer investigation and rehabilitation projects. InfilMax provides the contractor, consultant and client with real-time information on the status of the works, highlights any areas where rework is required and allows deliverables, such as log sheets, to be downloaded directly from the internet.