Frequently asked questions

Most residential plots are surveyed in a single day, with drawings issued within a few working days. Larger sites are scheduled to suit your programme. We’ll give you a clear timescale with your quotation.

Accuracy depends on the specification, but typical survey detail is captured to within a few millimetres to a couple of centimetres. It’s always tied to OS National Grid and Ordnance Datum Newlyn unless you need a local grid.

Cost depends on site size, level of detail and access. Send us a location plan and a brief description of the project and we’ll provide a fixed quotation.

A standard topographical survey records ground levels, buildings, boundaries, kerbs, walls, fences, trees with canopy spreads, drainage covers, street furniture and visible services. We agree the exact feature list and level of detail with you before we visit site.

Many local planning authorities expect an accurate site plan showing levels and existing features, and architects need one to produce a compliant design. A topographical survey gives your design team a reliable base for site layouts, sections and street scenes.

We record visible features such as manhole covers, gullies and valve boxes, and can lift covers to measure invert levels, pipe sizes and connections. If you need buried utilities traced and mapped, we can arrange a specialist utility survey alongside the topographical survey.

Ideally coordinated CAD drawings tied to a site grid or OS grid, along with any existing control. If your drawings aren’t coordinated, we can create a setting out model from your architect’s or engineer’s design.

Yes. We can provide regular or full-time site engineering support, covering setting out, levels, quantities and as-built checks.

Using robotic total stations, GNSS and precise levels from a checked control network, we routinely set out to the tolerances specified by your engineer, typically within a few millimetres for structures and building grids.

From our Newbury base we can often attend sites across Berkshire and neighbouring counties at short notice. For planned works we’ll schedule visits around your programme so trades are never left waiting.

Yes. We check dimensions, coordinates and levels for errors and inconsistencies before going to site, and raise any queries with the design team. This avoids costly mistakes being built into the ground.

We leave clearly marked and labelled pegs, nails, profiles or paint marks as required, plus coordinate schedules and control station details so your site team can work confidently from them.

Not necessarily. For complex buildings and sites, laser scanning often saves money overall. It cuts time on site, removes the need for return visits, and gives your designers more information than a traditional survey would.

We supply point clouds in E57, RCP and LAS formats, and drawings and models in DWG, DXF, PDF and Revit (RVT). We can also match your company CAD and BIM standards.

Registered point clouds tied to survey control are typically accurate to a few millimetres across a building or site. We check every registration against independent control and report the accuracy achieved.

Yes. We can model buildings and structures from the point cloud to the level of detail you specify, producing Revit models, 2D plans, sections and elevations for design and facilities management.

Scanning is fast: a typical house or small commercial unit can be captured in a few hours, and larger buildings in a day or two. Processing and drafting time depends on the deliverables you need.

Yes. Laser scanning is non-intrusive and quick, so we can work around occupants, staff and customers, or schedule scanning out of hours to avoid disruption.

Frequency depends on the risk and the stage of work. It can be daily during critical excavation and piling, then weekly or monthly as conditions stabilise. We’ll agree a schedule with your engineer.

With precise instruments, forced-centring and repeated observations, we typically detect movements of a few millimetres or less, depending on site conditions and sight lines.

Trigger levels are agreed movement thresholds, usually green, amber and red, set by your engineer. Each set of readings is compared against them, and we notify you immediately if an amber or red level is approached or exceeded.

A baseline survey should be carried out before any works start that could affect a structure. It records the original position of every target so that later movement can be measured accurately and objectively.

Yes. We install targets on neighbouring buildings and monitor them before, during and after excavation or piling, giving party wall surveyors and owners clear evidence of any movement.

After each visit we issue a concise report with movement tables, time-displacement graphs and target plans. Data can also be supplied in spreadsheet formats for your engineer’s own analysis.

Yes. We regularly audit existing control networks, identify disturbed stations and re-establish or densify control as a project progresses.

We work on OS National Grid, local engineering grids or bespoke low-distortion grids. We can supply the transformation parameters between them.

A survey control network is a framework of permanent reference points with precisely known coordinates and heights. Every subsequent survey, setting out and monitoring operation is measured from it, keeping all data consistent.

Least squares adjustment combines all the observations in a network to produce the most statistically reliable coordinates. It also reports the precision of every station, so you know exactly how accurate the control is.

We monument stations to suit the site and how long they need to last, using survey nails, ground markers, concrete pillars or wall-mounted targets. Each one is documented with a witness diagram and photographs.

GNSS is excellent for establishing control over larger areas and tying a site to OS National Grid. For the highest local precision we combine it with total station traversing and precise levelling.

As-built checks can be carried out at key stages, such as after foundations, drainage or the frame, and at completion. Surveying progressively catches issues while they are still easy to fix.

Yes. We can produce as-built drawings to meet the requirements of highway authorities and water companies for adoption.

A topographical survey records a site as it exists for design purposes. An as-built survey records completed works and compares them against the design, highlighting any deviations for verification and handover.

Yes. We record manhole positions, cover and invert levels, pipe sizes, materials and connections, producing drainage as-built drawings suitable for O&M manuals and adoption submissions.

We compare surveyed positions and levels against your design model and produce deviation reports or colour-coded plans showing where works are within or outside tolerance.

Where structures or interiors are complex, we use 3D laser scanning to capture a complete as-built record in one visit, then extract drawings, models or deviation analysis from the point cloud.

For the most accurate earthworks volumes, yes. A pre-works topographical survey gives you a reliable baseline to compare against. If none exists, we can use design levels or historic data.

Stockpile and interim valuation reports are typically issued within one to two working days of the site visit.

Accuracy depends on the stockpile’s shape and the survey density, but surveying with total stations, GNSS or laser scanning typically gives volumes well within the tolerances needed for valuations and stock control.

Yes. We compare existing ground surveys with your design surface to calculate cut, fill and net volumes, supported by isopachyte plans and cross-sections.

We report volumes in cubic metres. If you provide material bulk densities, we can include estimated tonnages in the report.

Yes. For large or unstable stockpiles we use laser scanning from safe positions, so nobody needs to climb or walk on the material.

We commonly survey to Concrete Society TR34 (free movement FM classes and defined movement DM classes). We can also report to DIN 18202 and other specifications on request.

Yes. Our error maps and grinding plans show exactly where corrective grinding is needed to bring a floor into tolerance.

Free movement floors allow vehicles to travel in any direction, as in most warehouses. Defined movement floors are for very narrow aisle (VNA) trucks that travel in fixed paths and need much tighter tolerances along each aisle.

Floors are usually surveyed shortly after construction for acceptance, before racking or automated systems are installed, and whenever a change of use or new equipment needs tighter tolerances.

Survey time depends on floor area and classification. Most warehouse floors can be surveyed in one or two visits, with reports issued promptly after processing.

Yes. Condition surveys of existing floors show whether they meet the tolerances needed for new racking, VNA trucks or robotic systems, and where remedial work is required.

Yes. We can provide everything from the initial topographical survey through regular setting out visits to final as-built and adoption drawings, all measured from the same control network.

From our Newbury base we can usually attend sites across Berkshire and neighbouring counties at short notice. Get in touch with your programme and we’ll confirm availability.

Yes. We deliver DWG, DXF, PDF, LandXML and point cloud formats, and can work to your company CAD templates and layer standards.

Our surveyors follow site safety requirements and inductions on every project. Let us know your site’s specific card and induction requirements when you request a quote.

Yes. We install targets and monitor adjacent structures before, during and after excavation or piling, reporting movement against agreed trigger levels.

Yes. Our volumetric surveys provide independent cut, fill and stockpile quantities to support interim valuations and final accounts.

Yes. We plan visits around site access, escort and security requirements and follow your site rules. Let us know the clearance and induction requirements when you request a quote.

We agree data handling, storage and transfer arrangements with you before work starts, and only collect what the task needs.

Yes. We carry out topographical, level and as-built surveys of airfield pavements, roads and hardstandings, tied to robust survey control.

Yes. We regularly support main contractors and consultants, working to their programmes, specifications and reporting requirements.

Yes. 3D laser scanning captures complete, accurate records of hangars, workshops and plant rooms for refurbishment design and asset management.

Yes. We establish permanent, well-documented control networks so that surveys carried out years apart remain consistent across the estate.

Yes. We combine topographical surveys of the grounds with laser-scanned measured building surveys, so you get one coordinated dataset for the whole property.

Yes. Laser scanning lets us produce accurate floor plans, sections and elevations that suit lease plans, space planning and refurbishment design.

Yes. A topographical survey gives you accurate levels, boundaries and features to assess site capacity, access and constraints before committing to a design.

Yes. We survey country estates, farm buildings and land across West Berkshire and the surrounding counties, using GNSS and total station methods suited to large areas.

Yes. From a laser scan we produce accurate elevation drawings showing windows, doors, materials and roof lines for planning and refurbishment.

Yes. We set up monitoring targets and take repeat readings to measure whether a building or wall is moving, giving your engineer objective data.

Yes. Laser scanning is completely non-contact, so nothing touches delicate surfaces, and fragile or high-level areas can be recorded from the ground.

Yes. We produce accurate plans, elevations and sections from the point cloud, suitable for architects preparing listed building consent applications.

Laser scanning captures millions of points, recording mouldings, carvings, distortions and irregular walls. Drawings and models can then be produced at whatever level of detail your conservation team needs.

Yes. A registered point cloud forms a permanent, measurable digital record that can be revisited for future repairs, research or in the event of damage.

Yes. We set up precise monitoring of walls, cracks and structures during repairs or nearby works, using a consistent control network so changes can be measured reliably over time.

Yes. We survey churches, country houses, listed buildings and historic structures, planning access carefully to protect sensitive interiors.

Yes. We design and run monitoring regimes for track, embankments, bridges and retaining walls, with agreed trigger levels and prompt reporting.

Yes. We combine GNSS, traversing and precise levelling, with least squares adjustment, to give consistent control along the full length of a scheme.

We plan surveys around traffic management and quieter periods, and use remote methods such as laser scanning to reduce time spent near live carriageways.

Yes. We survey bridges, culverts and retaining structures for design, condition records and movement monitoring, often combining total stations and laser scanning.

Yes. We produce as-built drawings of roads, kerbs, drainage and street furniture to meet the requirements of highway authorities.

Yes. We provide topographical surveys for design, setting out for construction and as-built records of diverted services and drainage.

Usually, yes. Laser scanning is fast and non-intrusive, and we can schedule work around shifts, shutdowns or out-of-hours windows.

Yes. Our surface regularity surveys check floor flatness and levelness against the tolerances required for racking, VNA trucks and automated systems.

Yes. We set out machine bases, plinths and holding-down bolts precisely to your installation drawings, and check them before equipment arrives.

Yes. A 3D scan of the existing facility lets engineers design new lines around real conditions, check clashes with structure and services, and plan installation before work starts.

Yes. We produce accurate, up-to-date layout plans of factories and warehouses, including columns, racking, plant and services.

Yes. Our volumetric surveys measure stockpiles of aggregates and bulk materials for stock control and audits.

Yes. We plan work during holidays, evenings or quiet periods where possible, and follow your safeguarding and site access procedures.

Yes. We give clear, itemised quotations and can work under purchase orders or frameworks managed by your consultants.

Yes. We provide topographical surveys of school sites and measured building surveys of existing buildings to support design and planning.

Yes. We monitor walls, bridges and other ageing structures to help asset managers make informed maintenance decisions.

Yes. Laser scanning produces accurate plans, sections and elevations of town halls, libraries, leisure centres and other civic buildings.

Yes. We survey streets, parks and public spaces for design, set out new works and record them on completion.

Yes. We regularly survey early in the morning, in the evening or overnight to avoid disrupting customers and staff.

Laser scanning keeps time on site short. Floor plans and elevations for a typical unit can usually be issued within a few working days.

Yes. We survey internal malls, units, service yards and car parks, combining laser scanning with topographical survey methods.

Yes. We produce measured surveys of hospitality venues for refurbishment, extensions and licensing plans.

Yes. Our surface regularity surveys check floors for stores, cold rooms and distribution areas against the required tolerances.

Yes. We record levels, markings, drainage and kerbs so designers can plan resurfacing, layout changes and EV charging installations.