The FIM began in 2010 by producing a manual and a questionnaire for those involved in roadworks – contractors, study bureaux, roads agencies and commissioning authorities like local councils – in order to help standardise the procedure of reporting work sites and determining how much disruption they are going to cause, as well as for how long. At each stage of the process, the parties involved are asked to consider if there are ways to reduce disruption to a minimum.

The website also provides a number of examples of best practice, where the FIM considers that a project was handled in such a way as to minimise problems. They include works in the centre of Mol in Antwerp province, works on the Lummen interchange on the E313 & E314 motorways, and a look back at works on the Antwerp Ring carried out in 2005.

The minimising of disruption caused by roadworks is of interest to commuters and residents, but of particular importance to business, as figures released by Unizo, the organisation that represents the self-employed, last week reveal. Last year, 1,289 small businesses in Flanders applied for compensation for losses incurred as a result of public works that forced them to close. More than 43,000 days were lost to closures, of which the businesses concerned (which only receive compensation for works that go on for longer than seven days) were compensated for 34,139 days. The total bill for the Participation Fund, a federal credit institution for the self-employed, came to €2.5 million, compared to €1.9 million the year before – although the level of compensation (€73.95 per day of closure) is so low that the true cost to business is much higher.

Until January 2010 there was no compensation available at all. Shops and other businesses disrupted by public works, such as pavements being dug up making access by customers difficult, were left to make do as best they could. In many cases, businesses simply could not cope with the blow to their income. In the first nine months of the system, the Enterprise Agency, which handles claims, approved 170 demands, for a total of €1.36 million, more than half of them in West Flanders.

Last year, the total was much higher, partly as a result of approaching municipal elections, when local councils tend to carry out works, and partly because of tough winters in recent years, which have severely affected road surfaces, water pipes, drains and other installations. Unizo offers information on its website for businesses that may be affected by public works.

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www.unizo.be