The Survey House Services

Learn More About Our Services

With professional land surveyors, building surveyors and survey consultants situated across the UK, our friendly team consistently deliver different types of survey solutions at cost effective prices with the latest surveying equipment and quality assurance to meet the individual needs of our broad range of clients.

Each member of our experienced team has proven experience in displaying a high level of detail during each and every assessment. We work hard to operate within quick and effective delivery times, meeting survey requirements while ensuring that your needs are met, whether that involves satisfying a local planning authority in an application for planning permission or making the corresponding report easy to understand for you and your design team.

Our Survey Services

Across several years of continuing success undertaking numerous building and land surveys, The Survey House has been a helping hand in planning projects, all while offering competitive prices and a cost effective solution. Between clients who want an accurate depiction of a property in a CAD format, a form of assessment that gathers data to retrieve detailed information on a development site or structure to reduce cost in the long-term, and topographic surveys that assess the layout of the land and all features within it while outlining important components such as the boundary line and ground surfaces, we are capable of meeting the specific needs of all our clients.

For an accurate representation of your development site, exact best fit measurements of your property or insights into additional details associated with your next project, please contact The Survey House for a free quotation. Either get in touch using the telephone number at the top of this page, using our helpful quote form or on our dedicated contact page, and we can determine your needs and look at arranging a consultant property or land surveyor to visit your site for an assessment.

Topographical Surveys

A form of land survey with more detail than a typical ordnance survey, our topographical survey services and topographical drawings are designed to enable clients to receive additional information on both natural and man-made features on a site, as well as features adjacent to the site such as post boxes, drainage ditches, service cover positions and tree positions, and the site levels and site boundaries between neighbouring areas.

Through the use of highly specialised survey equipment such as control stations, total stations and laser scanning technology, topographical surveyors conduct a topographic survey as a method of retrieving data about hidden and visible site features including spot levels, natural topographic features and drainage details before turning the high accuracy measurements into CAD drawings.

Creating an accurate picture of the area of land and all new buildings and existing buildings present in three-dimensional points on a scaled survey drawing using a point cloud system, topo surveys on brownfield sites or greenfield sites can contribute to the early stage of the planning process, preventing unforeseen issues and eliminating the risk of costly errors.

Measured Building Surveys

A type of building survey, our measured building surveys act as a clear representation of the building, showing all the structural elements and architectural features on a property to offer impactful insight to property developers, construction companies and anyone else contributing to the planning process of projects involving existing commercial or residential properties.

Alongside a traditional approach using simple surveying equipment tools such as a tape measure, a building surveyor would also utilise more advanced technology including a total station and laser scanners as part of a measured survey to ensure that the measurements are recorded accurately through the use of point cloud data.

Internal and external elevations are recorded with key structural and architectural elements included in an effort to give developers and other stakeholders insightful data on the entire building size and measurements. More specifically, a measured building survey would feature floor plans, elevations and cross sections of the property. A completed site plan and floor plan would then be displayed in the form of scaled survey drawings, allowing anyone involved in the project to see an overview of the building.

Condition Reports

A level of analysis often used by individuals purchasing a new property or homeowners of older buildings that want to provide easily accessible maintenance history to potential buyers, our condition reports set out a basic overview of a property’s condition in the form of a building survey, with information of existing repair work and obvious defects highlighted and detailed.

During a visit to the property, chartered surveyors will use a condition report as a method of determining the existence, severity and effects of obvious surface level issues as well as underlying and potentially hidden possible risks that may have otherwise been ignored or gone undetected. Although often confused with other similar assessments, a RICS condition report is classed as a level 1 survey, making it a more detailed survey than a mortgage provider’s valuation survey but not as comprehensive as a Level 2 RICS Homebuyers Report or a Level 3 RICS Building Survey.

Applicable to standard and non-standard construction projects, unique and conventional properties, and simply for instances where professional advice is needed on building control issues or to justify the overall purchase price as set by the owner, condition reports could be suggested for any number of reasons, and in some cases, legal advisers may even suggest ordering RICS condition reports on an assortment of property types with the intention of proving that the building is in a reasonable condition based on a predetermined and universal traffic light system.

Utility Mapping

Sharing similarities with a topographic survey, our utility mapping services focus on using ground penetrating radar technology to identify each underground utility on a site. Land surveyors can then determine the location of all unknown utilities and buried services on the site, and by following the trail with complete accuracy, they can gauge the route of each subsurface utility in a non-destructive way, or – at worst – source locations and routes using non-destructive digging techniques.

A land surveyor undertaking utility mapping surveys will run a ground penetrating radar over the applicable area, and the signal sent into the ground will reflect back to show distances between the device and all underground utilities situated within the ground. An assessment booked in any number of industries, underground utility mapping is often used in the preliminary stages of projects on brownfield sites to determine pipes and wires in the ground below.

As part of the quality service provided during utility locating, the land surveyor will complete the utility mapping exercise by creating an accurate map of the site containing data collected during the survey. Costly mistakes caused by an otherwise devastating lack of knowledge in regards to hidden pipes and wires on the site can then be avoided, and having the correct information early will save considerable time and money for multiple stakeholders in the planning process.

Visual Impact Assessments

A unique form of survey, our Visual Impact Assessments (VIA) revolve around gauging the aesthetic value in a piece of land. Consultants involved in the process would then determine the potential impact on the site following the completion of proposed development projects based on the significance of alterations and the reaction of individuals that will come into contact with it, now or in the future.

Landscape character can be a difficult thing to quantify, but consultant surveyors are suitably trained in breaking down the visual impacts on a site based on a planning project. In some cases, however, a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) may be needed, with the main difference being that a Visual Impact Assessment is broad while a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment looks closer at certain aspects such as the type of visual effects on the landscape.

The level of visual impact will be set by categorising individuals who would typically see the area into being situated in low sensitivity, medium sensitivity or high sensitivity areas. A consultant will then evaluate the landscape and visual effects it has and cross-reference these factors alongside the nature of the proposed development and if it is likely to have significant effects on the visual environment and the physical appearance of the area.

3D Surveys

An accurate method of collecting key data, our 3D surveys offer an opportunity to retrieve precise information about an existing building or object. Using 3D laser scanning equipment, an accurate survey on a site can be undertaken to gather pinpoint area measurements, making future decisions easier to make due to the scan data being utterly exact to the dimensions of structures or items on the site.

Once at the site, a 3D survey consultant would use a 3D laser and other appropriate pieces of equipment to record points across the site using point clouds. The raw data added to the point cloud will then reflect the presence of features on the site, with an area measurement and level of dimensional control that are identical to the site and all objects recorded during the assessment.

Often preferred to traditional methods, the use of 3D laser scanning technology has become more common in recent times due to the level of accuracy and the range of formats the resulting map can be presented as to clients. Similar 3D laser equipment is used for topographical surveys. However, while a topographical survey would look at the land itself, a 3D survey would focus solely on individual items on the land.