Building Surveying

Building Surveying

Reasons and Processes involved in Building Surveying

P2; Demonstrate basic understanding of the reasons for surveying building and identify the procedures, equipment and techniques used.

The 4 stages of a Building Survey are as follows;

• Preliminaries
• Reconnaissance
• Measurement
• Plotting

Types of Survey

Measured Survey

A Measured Survey or otherwise known as a dimensional survey is generally undertaken to produce/update drawings & records including room dimension

Measured surveys are usually commissioned by the Building Owner. E.g. Landlord.

Measured surveys are undertaken to update dimensions on an existing drawing. The surveyor will take measurements of all the walls in the building which are shown on the drawing. This is to produce an accurate scale drawing of the plans. This usually ranges from level measurements and linear measurements.

Measured surveys are commonly used in multiple surveys. A measured survey would be used when the following is planned.

• Building Surveys
• Insurance Surveys
• Alteration Surveys
• Demolition Surveys
• Extension Surveys

An onsite survey would be sketched and the measurements noted on the drawing. The drawing will later be drawn up on a CAD based program and produced to scale. It is mainly linear measurements which are taken to reproduce this drawing and any details would be added if required.

In some cases when there is uneven land an optical level would be used. This will take measurements of the various heights of the land. This can be used to examine how much an area has sunk overtime as the supports have got weaker.

Equipment used in a Measured Survey

• Steel/fibre tape
• Electronic distance measurement device
• Camera
• Binoculars
• PPE
• Basic Tool box

Building Survey

A Building Survey is formerly known as a structural report is a through and intrusive survey of the full building. The result is a report outlining the...