New to Christchurch and hit "provide as-built records / CAT" at project close-out? Here's what that actually means.

If you're a project manager finishing a civil job in greater Christchurch, you'll eventually be asked to hand the Council an as-built record. For most infrastructure assets that record is delivered in a Christchurch City Council (CCC) spreadsheet called a CAT sheet.

CAT stands for "Council As-built Template." It's a Microsoft Excel template that CCC publishes so contractors can deliver electronic asset data to the Council in a standard format. CCC's own wording is: "Use our IDS as-built template (CAT) to deliver electronic asset data to the Council" - and it must comply with two documents: IDS Part 12 (As-builts) and the supporting Survey As-built Guideline (SAG) (CCC, "As-built survey and data requirements").

A few terms, defined up front:

  • As-built (also called a record drawing or as-constructed record): a record of what was actually built, including any changes made on site, rather than what the original design drawings showed. As one industry explainer puts it, "the approved plans show what was intended. The as-built drawings show what actually happened" (Manifold, "What Are As-Built Drawings?").
  • Reticulation: the network of pipes and fittings that distribute water or carry away wastewater/stormwater (mains, laterals, manholes, valves, hydrants, etc.).
  • Invert level: the level (height) of the lowest inside point of a pipe or channel - it determines which way the contents flow (NASTT glossary).
  • IDS: CCC's Infrastructure Design Standard, which sets the technical requirements for designing land and asset developments (CCC, "Infrastructure Design Standards").

Why CAT sheets exist

When you build infrastructure that the Council will own and maintain - pipes, manholes, pump stations, sports fields, drainage channels - CCC needs an accurate digital record of exactly what's in the ground and where. The CAT sheet is how that record gets into CCC's asset systems.

As-builts aren't optional paperwork. IDS Part 12 makes them a contractual / consent requirement: "Where required by a condition of contract or as a condition of subdivision consent provide as-built records" (CCC, IDS Part 12: As-Built Records, April 2022). The same Part directs you to "Deliver asset data electronically using the CAT."

That data then flows into CCC's asset records, which feed the publicly accessible three-waters network maps (CCC, "Three waters asset network map") and inform property records used for Land Information Memoranda (LIMs) - the council reports buyers rely on when purchasing property (CCC, "Land Information Memorandum (LIM)").

What a CAT sheet captures

A CAT records assets as points (e.g. a manhole), lines (e.g. a pipe) and outlines/polygons (e.g. a pump chamber or a garden), each defined by X, Y and (where relevant) Z coordinates (CCC, Survey As-built Guideline). Alongside location, it captures attributes ("asset metadata") such as pipe/fitting material, size, type and class, manufacturer, valve positions, pit sizes and invert levels.

The one-line summary

A CAT sheet is the Council's standard Excel template for delivering an accurate digital as-built record of the assets you've built, so CCC can take them over and maintain them. Get it right and your close-out goes smoothly; get it wrong (or use the wrong datum) and CCC can't process it.

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