Deviations from Standards

Derogation:
GUIDANCE ON APPLICATIONS FOR DEROGATIONS

The requirements contained in Railway Group Standards (RGS) are mandatory on all Duty Holders.

It is recognised that there may be circumstances where it is not reasonably practicable to comply, either in total or in part, with all the requirements contained within Railway Group Standards. In these cases it is necessary to formalise the situation in accordance with the requirements of the Railway Group Standards Code (RGSC). This document provides guidance on how to apply the requirements contained in the RGSC.

Derogation (DGN) - Definition

This is where the Duty Holder proposes an alternative practice to that required by the RGS in a particular situation or for a particular piece of equipment due to particular problems, which apply only in limited circumstances. The Duty Holder does not intend to employ this alternative practice in all cases.

If the application is agreed, the Duty Holder will be issued with a Certificate of Derogation. The limits to the application of the alternative practice will be clearly stated in the certificate.

Completing the Application Form

All applications should be submitted in electronic format to proposalsanddeviations@rssb.co.uk. A signed copy should also be supplied.

Note: The applicant should be prepared to present the case for the application to the relevant Standards Committee(s)

Specific items to consider for Derogations

a) Where non compliant equipment or procedures are used in specific unusual circumstances and extra controls are routinely used to reduce overall risks to an acceptable level.
b) Where the costs of complying with the RGS far outweigh the benefits for a particular item of plant, equipment or rolling stock or in a particular unusual location.
c) Where a particular item of plant, equipment or rolling stock was originally built to a previous RGS and is still assessed as safe to use on the infrastructure.
d) Where a specific geographical location is so unusual that specific procedures have been developed which are more practicable than the RGS requirement.
e) In all cases, a Derogation will be limited in scope in one or more of the following ways:

A particular class of locomotive or type of rolling stock.
A specific production run of the item in question.
Certain makes of equipment.
Plant or Equipment used for specific operations only.
A particular procedure where a number of specific factors are present.
A defined geographic location.
Conditions attached to Derogations

Certificates of derogation will not normally contain an expiry date and are valid providing the original circumstances remain unchanged. It is the responsibility of the holder of the certificate to check that the original assumptions and conclusions remain valid whenever any material changes occur.
Certificates of derogation may become redundant if the relevant RGS is revised or if the equipment or plant is no longer used or if geographic factors change. In these cases, it would be helpful if the Certificate holder could return the certificate to RSSB so that it can be cancelled.

Treatment of Derogations on publication of a new RGS.

In order to clarify the circumstances where a Railway Group Member is in possession of a Derogation against a Railway Group Standard which has been re-issued or superseded, the Briefing Note for the new document will set out the situation for all certificates in force at the time of publication.

General guidance is set out below:

When an RGS is superseded by a new issue of the same RGS.
A Derogation automatically applies to the new issue of the RGS unless otherwise advised.

When an RGS is superseded by a new issue of a new RGS (ie an RGS with a different reference number).
A Derogation automatically applies to the new issue of the RGS unless otherwise advised by RSSB. The certificate will not normally be revised to reflect the new RGS number.

In all cases, the new RGSs and particularly the compliance requirements and Briefing Notes should be studied by the holder of a DGN to ensure that their particular circumstances are adequately covered. The alternative controls agreed for the Derogation should also be reconsidered in relation to the requirements of the new RGS.

Download - Deviation application form