This page aims at providing more explanations on KLIM-CICC, the federal platform collecting information on cables and ducts.
More information:
What is KLIM-CICC?
KLIM-CICC (Kabels en Leidingen Informatie Meldpunt – Point de Contact fédéral d’Informations Câbles et Conduites) is an Internet platform enabling users to check the presence of underground infrastructure (cables/ducts) next to a work site. The purpose is to allow the safe design and execution of work on the public and private domain (which therefore differs from the regional platforms PoWalCo, GIPOD and Osiris, the purpose of which is to allow a concerted and optimal use of the public domain only).
KLIM-CICC is managed by non-profit organisation composed of about a hundred members, who are managers of underground infrastructures (hereafter named GCCs). Among these members are the managers of pipelines for the transmission of gaseous and other products, hereafter named the Transporters, due to the specific nature of their activity and its relevant legislation.
KLIM-CICC works on the basis of a plan request introduced on the Internet platform by the builder and/or the contractor for a zone they determine with a polygon. The GCCs operating infrastructures next to the working area are contacted by KLIM-CICC and each of them answers individually to the requester by sending them the plans and the safety measures to be complied with.
KLIM-CICC does not make available to applicants a global map indicating the presence of all the cables and ducts in Belgium.
Legal framework and obligations
The obligation of prior announcement of work to Transporters is an obligation laid down in a public federal legislation. Regional legislations also supplement and sometimes extend this legal framework. Here is an overview of the various applicable legislations:
- The base is the Act of 12 April 1965 on the transport of gaseous and other products by pipeline. Article 11 prescribes: “The partial occupation of the public domain or a private property must comply with its intended use. It does not cause any dispossession, but constitutes a legal servitude for public use forbidding any act likely to harm the gas transmission facilities or their operation.”
- The implementing Royal Decree of this Act of 21 September 1988 on the obligations and requirements of consultation and information to be complied with when carrying out work near installations for the transport of gaseous and other products by pipeline creates a “protected area” of 15 m on each side of the transport pipelines. The work completely or partially located in that area must be notified to the Transporters, during both the study phase and the implementation phase. All Transporters must be registered in KLIM-CICC, regardless of the region in which their networks are located.
At the regional level, a distinction can be made between the following legislations and obligations:
- Brussels: the Ordinance of 26 July 2013 on the access and exchange of information on underground cables, pipes and ducts, as well as its implementation order of 16 May 2014 on the access and exchange of information on underground cables, pipes and ducts lays down a double obligation: an obligation for all GCCs to register their networks in KLIM-CICC, and an obligation for everyone willing to carry out work on the Brussels region territory to announce this work via KLIM-CICC, both in the study phase and the implementation phase.
- Wallonia: a legal framework similar to the one in application in Brussels is being drafted and will be in force soon. In the meantime, in order to ensure that all active GCCs on Walloon territory are questioned, the plan applicants must still ask the municipal authorities and then question the GCCs communicated by the authorities.
- Flanders: the Decree of 14 March 2008 on the opening up and exchange of information on underground cables and pipelines lays down a double obligation: an obligation for all GCCs to register their networks in the Flemish region platform KLIP (for more information, see the web page about KLIP), and an obligation for each contractor carrying out work on the Flemish territory to announce this work via the same KLIP website. KLIP systematically uses KLIM-CICC to contact the Transporters concerned by the work and offers the applicant a consolidated plan with all the answers.
Regardless of the region concerned, the work may never start before all GCCs concerned have answered. The answers provided via KLIM-CICC remain available for 6 months.
Tariffs
The plan requests made on KLIM-CICC are free.
Calendar
The requests concerning plans in the implementation phase must be introduced in KLIM-CICC by taking into account that the GCC must respond within 15 working days, and that the start date of the work must be notified by phone at least 3 working days before the beginning of the work. The purpose of this phone notification is to plan a meeting on the spot to agree on the safety measures to be followed.
There is an exception for urgent repair work (caused by an incident), which can begin with no delay after a simple phone notification, as long as it is then confirmed as soon as possible via KLIM-CICC.