Measured building surveys are incredibly accurate and can be carried out before, during or after construction projects. They are a representation of the building, including all of the structural elements and architectural features such as walls, columns and beams through to the floor plans, elevations and cross-sections. Even features like doors, fittings, and windows can be added to give an even clearer representation.
By being highly accurate, our measured building surveys provide you with a detailed plan to scale that’ll help you keep to tight schedules without any hiccups during construction. Just like a topographical survey, a measured building survey is essential for ensuring a smooth project or development from start to finish.
Please keep reading to learn more about why you need a measured building survey before undergoing a project. This blog will help you learn more about what measured surveys are, their benefits, and who will require one for their project.
Who Needs a Measured Building Survey?
Floor Plans
The first reason that you need a measured building survey is for the floor plans. Floor plans provide a client with a detailed and accurate picture of a building’s layout and structure. This can be used for several purposes to help developers, construction workers, and project managers have a clear picture of the building.
The level of detail of a floor plan can be enhanced based on the client’s needs. A typical survey would show all of the structural features, such as the walls, beams, doors and floor-to-ceiling heights. A client can add additional items and information on top of this, including pictures of fittings such as electric points, light switches, radiators and furniture. It’s almost like a jigsaw where the client can fit all of the different pieces together to create their final picture; it’s up to them just how much detail they want in the final product.
You can have different types of measured building surveys, all dependent on your project’s needs. Floor plans are a horizontal “slice” through the building above the floor level, but the purpose of the survey largely guides the accuracy of measurements. An unconnected survey uses simple methods that do not enable one part of the survey to be related to another. It is perfect for the measurement of let-able areas on a room-by-room basis.
A semi-connected survey is where the ground floor is surveyed with all parts connected by instrument control, while the other floors are matched by the assumed verticality of common features. Finally, a full connected survey is perfect for people who need the whole building to be assessed on the same survey. All parts of the building are connected by a common survey control network, which is the only method where the true vertical and horizontal relationships between floors can be ascertained.
Reflected Ceiling Plans
Depending on the project, you may need a reflected ceiling plan alongside your floor plan. A reflected ceiling plan will show all of the ceiling detail at the same orientation as the floor plan associated with it. The amount of detail in the plan, like always, depends on the client’s needs and can be completely tailored to them. If the client requires it, we can show features like soffits, bulkheads, tile grids and electrical fixtures, as well as architectural details like mouldings and cornices.
We know that gathering the data for surveys and reflected ceiling plans can be invasive and get in the way; however, our remote surveying techniques allow us to assess the ceiling without needing to cause disruption with surveyors on ladders.
Elevations
Building elevations are also a necessity for many different projects and construction developments. They can be carried out on a building facade or structure like a bridge. The survey shows all of the features like doors, window frames, roof details, glazing details and surface-mounted features. The exact details shown in the survey can also be tailored to the client’s individual needs.
The modern surveying instruments and techniques we use allow us to survey elevations remotely, meaning we can capture ‘out of reach’ details. This ensures the health and safety of our workers and yours, as we don’t need to get too close to unsafe buildings or linger around street scenes and neighbouring properties.
Street scene elevations are now often a planning requirement for companies who want to carry out construction. Our remote access equipment allows us to carry out the street scene survey without needing access to the property.
Check out our website to learn more about why you may need a measured building survey and how they can benefit your business’s needs, projects or developments. We also have a list of the many other surveys that we are capable of carrying out; with over 40 years of experience behind us, we can ensure that our surveys are always completed to the highest standards.
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