Commuted sums for the relief of maintenance and reconstruction of bridges (amended)

Access free from the ADEPT website.

A commuted sum is the calculated sum of money necessary to compensate for the transfer of a liability from one to another. The sum should be sufficient to provide for all future costs associated with taking on the liability. When bridges are transferred between owners, or adopted as public highway it may be appropriate for a commuted sum to be paid to the party which is taking on the liability.

These notes which were originally prepared for Derby City Council to complement the CSS 2008 best practice publication “Commuted sums for future maintenance in relation to Adoption and Transfer of Infrastructure Assets”, and are intended to provide further guidance on the application of commuted sums in respect of ownership and management of highway bridges. They are not intended to be prescriptive and are open to interpretation as required.

A methodology for determining sums is provided, which is based on a rational appraisal of the financial liability which accompanies maintenance and management of highway structures. However it is recognised that other authorities may consider they have more appropriate methods to be applied in particular cases. The suggested values for typical maintenance costs have been derived from the structures Toolkit as developed for CIPFA to predict maintenance costs for highway structures