Subsurface utility engineering. Delivered as data, not just paint.
Orbital is a spatial-intelligence specialist serving Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. We deliver subsurface utility engineering to AS 5488 quality levels QL-A, QL-B, QL-C and QL-D — coordinated and documented to the standard your designers, BIM teams and asset records actually need.
Where physical excavation is required, we work in strategic alliance with Vac2U — South East Queensland’s leading hydro vacuum excavation operator. You get one project lead, one CAD deliverable, and the precision of two specialists at the top of their respective fields.
Subsurface utility engineering is a data discipline, not a digging discipline
When you specify utility location work to AS 5488, you’re not buying paint on the ground. You’re buying a coordinated spatial dataset that tells your design team and your asset owner exactly where every underground service sits and how confident they can be in that position.
That dataset is the product. The field work — marking, locating, surveying, vacuum potholing — is how the dataset is produced. Orbital and Vac2U together specialise in producing it cleanly, consistently, and to a standard your audit chain can rely on.
AS 5488 settles the conversation about quality. Four quality levels, defined methodology for each, and a clear statement on every feature in the CAD plan of how much confidence to attach to that position. Orbital works to AS 5488 on every commercial engagement, designating quality level per service, and delivering a CAD package layered to the standard your designer is using.
The four AS 5488 quality levels at a glance
Most projects don’t need QL-A across the whole site. The right approach is usually a tiered specification — QL-B for the general site, QL-A at the critical crossings and high-consequence services. This table sets out what each level means and what the Orbital + Vac2U partnership delivers at each.
| Quality Level | Method | What our partnership delivers | When buyers want this |
|---|---|---|---|
| QL-D | Records review only — existing plans, asset owner drawings. | Orbital collates utility records from DBYD, council, asset owner GIS exports. Indicative location is overlaid onto site plans. No physical investigation. | Early-stage feasibility, desktop planning, route alignment studies. |
| QL-C | Surface visible features only — pit lids, valves, hydrants, exposed services correlated to records. | Orbital site walks the project with survey kit; surface features captured to survey-grade coordinates and correlated against QL-D records. | Concept design, scoping, preliminary cost estimates. |
| QL-B | Designation — utilities located using geophysical methods (EMF, GPR). Position known horizontally; depth indicative. | Orbital deploys Radiodetection RD8100M for EMF tracing, RD1500 GPR for non-conductive services. Marked on ground and captured to GNSS for the CAD deliverable. | Detail design, clash detection, build-over applications, most council and utility work. |
| QL-A | Verification — utility physically exposed using non-destructive vacuum excavation, depth and dimension confirmed. | Orbital sets the pothole locations from the QL-B locate. Our strategic alliance partner Vac2U exposes each service with hydro vacuum excavation. Orbital surveys, measures and records the verified position to CAD. | Critical clashes, risk-sensitive crossings, final design verification, deep services near footings. |
If you’re scoping a project and not sure of the right QL mix, send us the brief. We’ll come back with a recommendation, a fixed-price quote, and a clear statement of which services will be designated at which level.
How the Orbital + Vac2U alliance works
Subsurface utility engineering at QL-A requires two distinct capabilities — accurate non-invasive location, and safe physical exposure of the service once located. Most operators do one well and the other badly. Few do both at consulting-engineering standard.
Orbital and Vac2U have structured a strategic alliance so each business stays focused on what it does best.
Orbital — the spatial intelligence side
We locate using EMF and GPR. We survey to GDA2020 Zone 56 with GNSS RTK and total station. We capture point cloud, textured 3D mesh and orthomosaic where the project needs it. We designate to AS 5488 quality levels. We deliver DWG, PDF, .las / .laz point cloud, .osgb / .fbx / .i3s mesh, Wincan reports and CAD-ready data your designers can drop straight into Bentley iTwin, Revit, Civil 3D, AutoCAD or ArcGIS Pro.
Vac2U — the precision excavation side
Vac2U operates South East Queensland’s most capable hydro-vacuum excavation fleet — 3,000-litre units through to the 10,000-litre Thor. Seven-plus years of non-destructive digging, vacuum loading, jet rodding and drain cleaning across Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba and Northern NSW. When QL-A verification or non-destructive utility exposure is required, Vac2U’s trucks and crews are how it gets done safely.
On a typical AS 5488 engagement, Orbital scopes the work, designates the quality levels, runs the locate, sets the pothole positions, and produces the CAD deliverable. Vac2U is brought in for the verification phase — exposing the services we’ve located, with our surveyor on site to record verified position, depth, diameter and material direct to the survey database. The deliverable lands as one CAD package, one report, one invoice.
The alliance is a deliberate business model, not an ad-hoc referral. It’s why we can take on QL-A scopes that smaller locators can’t, and why our QL-B work is unusually accurate — when we know we have access to verification on call, we can be more confident in our designations.
What you receive — the deliverable is the product
Every AS 5488 engagement from Orbital ends with the spatial dataset in your project drive:
- On-site marking — paint and pegs, colour-coded to AS/NZS standards, photographed and georeferenced.
- Survey-grade coordinates — captured live with GNSS RTK or total station, GDA2020 Zone 56, accuracy stated per feature.
- CAD deliverable — DWG and PDF, layered by service type, every feature tagged by AS 5488 quality level so your designer knows what they’re looking at.
- Vacuum excavation pothole log (QL-A) — depth, diameter, material and photo for every exposed point. Recorded direct to the survey database by our surveyor on site with the Vac2U crew.
- Orthomosaic from drone photogrammetry where the project warrants it — high-resolution aerial overlay for context.
- Point cloud (.las / .laz / .ply / .pcd / .s3mb) and textured 3D mesh (.osgb / .obj / .fbx / .i3s / .s3md / .ply) where above-ground spatial context is part of the brief.
- Wincan-compatible CCTV reports where stormwater or sewer inspection is in scope.
- AS 5488-compliant cover sheet stating the quality levels applied, methods used, equipment used and any service-by-service exceptions.
Equipment and certifications you can write into your specification
Procurement teams and project auditors ask for this detail. The full picture is here:
- CERTLOC certified locating organisation. Locators individually CERTLOC-credentialed.
- Member of NULCA (National Utility Locating Contractors Association).
- Radiodetection RD8100M receivers paired with TX-10 transmitters for EMF locating — current-gen, factory-supported, calibrated to schedule.
- Radiodetection RD1500 dual-frequency GPR for non-conductive services in both cohesive and non-cohesive SEQ soils.
- GNSS RTK and total station survey kit — GDA2020 Zone 56 native, sub-50mm typical accuracy.
- Visible-light drone photogrammetry for above-ground capture, supported by GNSS RTK and total station geometry capture for survey-grade ground control and feature accuracy.
- Vac2U fleet for non-destructive excavation — 3,000L to 10,000L hydro vacuum trucks, jet rodders, drain cleaners, tipper trucks.
- Coordinated delivery — one project lead, one CAD package, one invoice, one point of accountability for the whole engagement.
Where this work fits
Engineering consultancies designing infrastructure projects across SEQ. We slot into your scope as the SUE sub-consultant and deliver to your CAD spec, with Vac2U’s vac trucks coordinated through us when QL-A verification is required.
Civil contractors on jobs where utility strikes equal program slip and liability exposure. We give your site supervisor the certainty needed to authorise excavation — and the standing alliance with Vac2U means we can mobilise verification at short notice.
Asset owners and councils managing capital works, build-over applications and adaptive-reuse projects. Our deliverable becomes part of your as-built record.
Architects working on existing-conditions projects where below-ground constraints affect the design envelope, or where adaptive reuse demands a precise as-built model of services beneath the slab.
Why engineering buyers in Brisbane choose Orbital + Vac2U
Brisbane-based, owner-led, twenty-three years of locating experience in South East Queensland. Orbital’s managing director Jamie Ware brought thirteen years of Australian Army technical-trade discipline into the business at the outset, and has spent the last two decades embedding that discipline into how we locate, document and deliver.
Twenty-three years means we’ve seen the ground change. The growth of subsurface utility engineering as a recognised discipline. The arrival of AS 5488 as the Australian standard. The shift from “two cans of paint and a clipboard” to GNSS RTK and CAD deliverables. We’ve been the spatial-intelligence operator inside that shift, not a survivor of it.
Jamie has also trained a number of locators who currently work across the South East Queensland industry. If you have hired locating services in this market in the last decade, there is a reasonable chance the locator on your job learnt the craft from him. The original-source advantage matters: methodologies are passed on intact, not reverse-engineered from someone else’s marks.
Vac2U brings seven-plus years of hydro vacuum excavation specialisation, a fleet that no individual locator could justify owning, and a safety record that holds up to civil-contracting-grade scrutiny. Our alliance gives engineering buyers access to both depths of capability through a single point of contact.
We don’t pretend to do everything ourselves. We specialise in the data, our alliance partner specialises in the excavation, and the project benefits from both.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need QL-A across the whole site, or only at specific crossings?
Almost always only at specific crossings. QL-A means physical exposure with vacuum excavation, which is necessarily slower and more expensive at scale. The sensible approach is QL-B across the general site, with QL-A at the locations where a strike would be high-consequence — major utilities under footings, deep services close to design depth, critical service crossings. We’ll recommend the QL split when scoping the job, and Vac2U is coordinated through us for any QL-A points the design requires.
Will you deliver into BIM workflows?
Yes. We deliver DWG with sensible layering and metadata that drops cleanly into Revit, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and IFC workflows. For projects that need it we deliver point cloud in .las / .laz / .ply / .pcd / .s3mb, and textured 3D mesh in .osgb / .obj / .fbx / .i3s / .s3md / .ply — matched to Bentley iTwin, Autodesk, Esri ArcGIS Pro or SuperMap platforms. For larger engagements we coordinate directly with your BIM lead, including LOD specifications and naming conventions.
How does the Orbital + Vac2U alliance work commercially for a client?
From your side it’s a single engagement with Orbital. We scope the work, run the locate, designate the quality levels, and where vacuum excavation is required Vac2U is coordinated through us. You receive one CAD package, one report and one invoice. The alliance is structured so neither party has to do something they’re not specialised in, and so quality control of the spatial data stays with Orbital end to end.
How long does an AS 5488 locate take?
Depends on site size, access, and the QL mix specified. A typical commercial site of around 2,000 square metres with QL-B coverage and a handful of QL-A potholes is one to two days on site plus another day or two for survey processing and CAD delivery. Larger sites, constrained access or higher QL-A counts take longer. We quote a realistic program after a site visit or detailed scope review.
What about deep services or services in highly conductive soils?
Deep services beyond 3 metres, services in saline coastal soils, or non-conductive utilities like orange PE gas mains are exactly why both EMF and GPR are in our locating kit. Where neither method gives a confident response, we’ll be honest and recommend QL-A verification at that specific point through the Vac2U alliance — not pretend we located something we didn’t.
Can you handle build-over application requirements?
Yes. CCTV pipe inspection to WSAA standards with Wincan-compatible reporting is a routine part of our build-over scope, alongside the AS 5488 locate. We’ve delivered this for multiple Brisbane City Council, Logan City Council and Sunshine Coast Council build-over applications.
How do you charge for AS 5488 work?
Per scope, not from a fixed price list. Every site is different — a 200 sqm residential block on flat ground is a different conversation to a 5,000 sqm commercial site with restricted access. Send us the scope and we’ll come back with a fixed-price quote, a recommended QL split, and a clear statement of the Vac2U mobilisation cost if QL-A is included.
Related Orbital services
- Underground service locating — EMF and GPR
- CCTV pipe inspection with Wincan reporting
- Vacuum excavation through the Vac2U alliance
- CAD drawings — DWG and PDF as-builts
- Point cloud capture
- Industries we serve — engineering consultants
- Our alliance partners
Tell us about your project.
Send us the brief. We’ll come back with a fixed-price quote, a recommended QL split, and a clear scope for any Vac2U coordination.