National Road Maintenance Condition Survey

The Department for Transport publishes an annual survey of the condition of public roads, footways, kerbs and verges in England and Wales. Results are derived from surveys of surface condition and structural condition which are collectively referred to as the National Road Maintenance Condition Survey (NRMCS). A similar survey exists for Scotland (the Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey).

The UK Roads Board advises on the conduct of the surveys, with a view to providing a firm national statistical basis for monitoring road condition and maintenance needs in England and Wales. Publication of the NRMCS annual report is overseen by the Roads Performance Management Group, which reports to the UK Roads Board.

NRMCS surveys are currently conducted using visual surveys of the carriageway, together with Deflectograph surveys of structural condition. With the development of Scanner automated condition surveys [14], opportunities exist for developing the NRMCS to use Scanner data. Information about the research to develop this is here.

NRMCS reports are available from the DfT website.