Groundworkers for sewers, cables and pipes in The Hague
You need groundworkers who dig by hand near cables and pipes. Beforehand, we go through the instructions and certificates your work requires.
Submitting a request places you under no obligation.
What our groundworkers do in and around your trench
They do the hand digging where your machine cannot or may not go.
- Digging trenches and holes by hand and trimming them to depth
- Locating and exposing cables and pipes in trial holes
- Assisting your excavator operator by guiding and signalling
- Helping with sewer work, gullies, manholes and house connections
- Laying and covering ducts, cables and fibre
- Backfilling trenches in layers and compacting them
For these types of companies
- Civil engineering contractors replacing sewers
- Cable and pipe contractors
- Contractors for district heating and fibre
- Paving and earthmoving companies
Hand digging where cables and pipes lie
Instructions discussed per candidate
With every candidate, we ask about VCA, the careful digging instruction and experience with sewers or cables.
Your drawing and your team leader
Our groundworkers work from your utility information and follow your team leader. If unsure about a cable, they stop digging.
Call us about planning and staffing
If the start moves or the staffing changes, you call our team.
More people in a busy phase
If the trench work needs more people for a while, we agree that beforehand.
Instructions and certificates discussed for each candidate
VCA Basis
Always requiredAlmost every infrastructure client asks for this safety certificate.
Personal protective equipment
Always requiredThe worker pays nothing for S3 safety boots, helmet, hearing protection and high visibility clothing.
Careful digging instruction (CROW 500)
Often asked forThis is not a statutory personal certificate, but clients often ask for it as a toolbox talk or course.
GPI
Often asked forThis online site induction is valid for 12 months. Many large contractors ask for it.
BEI or VIAG
Sometimes asked forThis instruction is needed for work on or near electricity and gas networks.
Planning around project, frost and shifted hours
Start at 07:00
The working day generally starts at 07:00, Monday to Friday.
Nights and weekends in infrastructure
If your contract specification includes night or weekend work, tell us in your request.
Frost, summer break and project length
The work continues all year, with a dip during frost. We plan the summer construction break with you beforehand.
From your request to the first working day
At every step you deal with our team.
You tell us who you need
You call us or fill in the request with the occupation, the number of people and the start date.
We discuss the work
We contact you about the tasks, the working hours and the requirements for the people.
We propose candidates
You receive candidates who suit the work, with their experience and their certificates.
The worker starts
Groos arranges the contract and the pay, and we stay in touch with you for as long as the assignment runs.
Pay, excavation notification and a safe trench
- Equivalent pay applies to the groundworker, so wages and allowances are at least those of your own people in the same role.
- The excavating party, so you or your main contractor, submits the excavation notification (KLIC) and keeps the utility information on site.
- The Arbowet (Working Conditions Act) makes a safe workplace and instruction your responsibility. A trench must therefore be shored or battered back.
Questions from contractors about hiring groundworkers
Who submits the excavation notification when I hire groundworkers?
The excavating party keeps doing that, so you or your main contractor. Our groundworkers work from the drawing kept on site.
Have your groundworkers had the careful digging instruction?
Not every candidate has had it, and we tell you so beforehand. If you need proof, put that in your request.
May your groundworkers work near gas and electricity networks?
That often requires a BEI or VIAG instruction. Without a formal designation, the worker only works under supervision.
Do your groundworkers also operate a mini excavator?
No, that is the work of an excavator operator, whom you request separately. Compacting with a plate compactor is part of groundwork.
What hourly rate do you charge for a groundworker?
Experience, working hours and project length set the rate. The hourly rate is in the proposal you get after your request.
What wage does a groundworker get on my project?
The hourly wage is not below that of your own groundworkers with the same tasks. Someone with years in the trench earns more than a newcomer.
Need groundworkers before the first trench is opened?
Let us know how many people you need in the trench and from when. We then get in touch about instructions and start time.
Do you need people at short notice? Then call us directly.