Building Surveying

Building Surveys

Our team of Chartered, Senior and Assistant Building Surveyors possess wide ranging skills and knowledge to enable us to offer our private and public sector clients a variety of surveys, comprehensive written reports and other related services.

We strive to maintain and build on a strong surveying background with fresh design and excellence in all services we provide. The wide range of services we provide can be tailored specifically to meet our clients’ needs and our experience ranges from the design and management of domestic extensions, refurbishments, basements and new builds, renovation of listed buildings and the design and management of multi-million-pound education and healthcare projects. Some of the core Building Surveying services we provide include:

Building Surveys

A condition survey is a visual inspection of a property to assess the current condition and life expectancy of the property’s components, for example, roofs, windows, walls and electrical and mechanical installations. The survey may be used as a basis for identifying future maintenance requirements on a property, allowing the client to forecast financial budgets for property repairs.

A building survey is a more detailed assessment of the current condition of a property in a comprehensive report format. The survey will generally need to be intrusive to establish the condition of particular areas or components, for example, the condition of the timber within a sub-floor void, but can also include removing small samples of materials to test for asbestos and carrying CCTV drainage surveys to the below ground drainage.

The type of inspection and report can be tailored to the needs of the client depending on their specific requirements.

RICS Level 1, 2 and 3 surveys
Damp inspections
Leak detection
CCTV drainage survey
Asbestos sampling
NICEIC inspection
Acoustic testing
Fire engineer's report
EPC assessment

DAMP INSPECTION

CRACK DIAGNOSIS

BULIDING SURVEYS

STRUCTURAL SURVEYS

Identification & Analysis of Building Defects

Building components can fail for various reasons such as age, lack of maintenance, poor quality products or poor workmanship. This can often have a significant impact on the occupant’s comfort within the property and can have a knock-on effect on the condition of other building components. Our team is experienced in helping clients with the diagnosis, prognosis and remediation of building defects. The defects that we typically encounter in properties include; blocked or defective drainage, plumbing leaks, roof leaks, timber decay, structural issues and condensation.

Following our investigations and appraisal into the defects observed in a property, we can produce detailed Defect Reports outlining our observations, conclusions, and recommendations for remedial works. Our single point consultancy allows us to work with other specialists who may be required to fully diagnose the cause of a defect.

Furthermore, we can provide budget costings and specifications, and project manage the remedial works through the appointment of a suitable contractor to successful completion.

Defects

Measured Surveys / Topographical Surveys

Measured surveys involve taking measurements of sites or buildings in order to produce accurate drawings to scale. This is typically required if a client plans to carry out works such as extensions, alterations or refurbishment works and will always be requested by Local Planning Authorities and Building Control bodies.

Traditionally measured surveys are carried out with a tape measure and laser measures (disto). Ever-changing technology means buildings can now be measured with laser scanning to produce 2D and 3D drawings. We work closely with several specialists in this field and can tailor this service to the client’s budget.

Domestic and commercial
Laser disto technology
Floorplans, elevations and sections
2D and 3D topographical plans
Planning and construction drawings
Drone surveys
GPR (ground penetrating radar) surveys
Ground investigation reports
Revit modelling (BIM)

Measured Surveys

Licenses

Licenses for Alteration (Leaseholder Enquiry)

Typically, most leases require tenants to obtain formal approval from their landlord in the form of a Licence to Alter, to carry out alterations to a building they currently or intend to occupy. We can advise Tenants upon the requirements relating to such approvals and we can advise Landlords as their surveyors upon the Tenant’s proposed alterations, establishing any impact of the proposals on the Landlord’s interests and carrying out technical review of proposals.

We can also supervise the building works in progress or at completion to ensure they comply with the details of the Licence to Alter.

Schedule of Condition

A Schedule of Condition is required when it is necessary or desirable to record the condition of a property, typically before work commences to a neighbouring property, which may cause damage, or at the commencement of a lease in association with Landlord and Tenant matters. They can be predominantly photographic or detailed text and photographs and we tailor these to meet our clients’ specific requirements.

Schedules of Condition are also required for other legal or practical purposes, such as to accompany Party Wall Awards and they help to avoid disputes related to the condition of a property at a particular time.