Unlocking data from the ground up: Mapping pile foundations across the UK

The Federation of Piling Specialists (FPS) Digital Progression Group has developed the FPS Piling Map – a national, publicly accessible, cloud-based GIS platform – designed to facilitate pile foundation data sharing across the UK. This initiative enables FPS members to signpost past projects, removing traditional barriers to data sharing while maintaining commercial confidentiality.

Built on proven Esri web-GIS technology and streamlined through standardised reporting processes, the platform offers consultants, designers, and clients improved access to historic project locations and ground behaviour data. This facilitates better design decisions, optimises foundation reuse, and supports sustainability by reducing embodied carbon and operational impacts. The FPS Piling Map is future-ready, with capacity for new data layers and automated workflows, laying the groundwork for continued digital innovation. The FPS Piling Map represents an important cultural step towards an industry where subsurface data is shared responsibly, efficiently, and for the collective good of the built environment. This complements the NUAR programme that focuses on shallow statutory utilities but does not extend to structural foundations and the wider private sector.