Why is a measured survey crucial for your project’s success?

Very often when I talk to clients one of the first questions is what is a measured survey and do we really need it. 

If you google “measured survey” you will find a response similar to the following:

A measured survey is a laser survey that accurately reflects a building with all the structural elements and architectural features. The floor plans represent the general set-up of the property and they are backed up with elevation and cross-sections helping to understand the scale and dimensions of the building.

A measured survey also represents the development of the surrounding landscape which can be an urban area or gardens.

Do you need a measured survey?

The short answer is: yes you do.  And here is why? 

Because it will provide accurate plans of the existing structure which will prevent unexpected later in the process. Bellow is an example that illustrates this.

We got appointed for a loft conversion project to a nice detached house in North London. The clients were concerned if they will get planning for the proposal. It was a simple project however, the existing attic didn’t have enough head height underneath the original ridge. That meant the whole roof needed to be lifted up in order to achieve a sufficient space internally.

Our strategy included seeking pre-application advice from the local authority prior to submitting the planning application.

Understandably the clients wanted to keep the initial investment as low as possible. Instead of doing the measured survey at first, they provided some old plans from the property which we could use for the pre-application.

Within a couple of days, the pre-application was submitted and two weeks later we got the council’s response which was positive to my client’s delights. The next step was to appoint the measured survey.

The surprise

When the measured plans came in we found out that the plans we were using were not correct. That meant that the existing roof needs to be lifted up much higher than our proposal in the pre-application. A positive pre-application is a good way to back up a full planning application. If, however, there are major discrepancies between both, like here the heights, then the backing up doesn’t work.

The impact of saving cost for the measured survey in the first place cost our clients a delay in the process and additional cost for planning and fees.

A professionally measured survey using the latest laser technology would be a small investment at the beginning that will save headaches down the line.

The conclusion

The surprises could be in the planning stage as described above but also later in the tender and construction phases. If the tender and construction plans are not developed based on a measured survey that could cause discrepancies in qualities and sizes and result in additional cost. 

A further advantage is that once your development is finished and you receive a set of “as-built” plans from your architect, based on the laser survey, you could use those to sell or rent the property. Accurate estimated area sizes are appreciated by estate agents, potential buyers and tenants, and would give you the peace of mind that you need for this process.

And this is probably the main reason why I always recommend the measured survey to my clients – to provide peace of mind at the very beginning so the clients can go through the design and construction process stress-free and relaxed.