The demolition industry has a certain character for being a harsh environment in which brute force takes priority over calculated thought; however this image is far from appropriate. There is a huge amount of work that happens behind the scenes of the demolition and construction industry which is firmly grounded in the academic arena.

One part of this unnoticed work is site surveying, or more specifically pre-demolition and post-demolition topographical surveying. This sort of work demands a great balance of specific technical know-how as well as experience of the industry and a genuine intuition for the complexities of the job.

Topographical Surveys

A topographical survey is a report of the actual features of a particular plot of land. The purpose of a topographical survey is to chart the naturally occurring and man-made features of a particular landscape to a high degree of accuracy.

Topographical surveys could be carried out on a very broad range of landscapes, from open countryside to urban areas and across a variety of reliefs and land surfaces. Surveys can be designed to take into account a great number of factors, such as ground conditions or vegetation, and as such can be used for a number of tasks.

Common Applications for Topographical Surveys

Perhaps the most extensively used, and most commonly recognised application for topographical surveys is cartography, or map making. Modern maps include a great amount of information about the landscape they relate to, including waterways, reliefs and ground surface, all of which will have been collected via a topographical survey. This information is also being offered online.

Topographical surveys also have a major role to play in the construction business. When individuals or organisations are looking to build any kind of structure they will need to undertake extensive surveys as part of the design stage of the project. These surveys are often an indispensable part of any application for planning permission as well.

Surveys definitely play a key safety part in primary industries like mining, or in other industries that interact with the land, such as demolition and infrastructure. Companies in these fields will use surveys to plan their projects, but also to make sure that they can ensure the safety of their staff on site. As such, topographical surveys are often a legal requirement for these types of projects.

To comply to specific health and safety regulations a demolition survey is usually demanded prior to demolition jobs taking place.

Types of Survey

The arena of topography covers a large number of physical features so it is important to determine what type of topographical survey is appropriate for a particular scenario. A few of the more typical types of survey required for construction sites are reviewed below.

“Lie of the land” Surveys

These types of topographical surveys are fashioned to create an overview of the physical properties of any given plot of land. Although the information collected by the survey will be very accurate, and might be very extensive, the purpose of these surveys is to give a site summary. They will often be the first type of topographical survey that is undertaken on a job.

These surveys will usually incorporate a boundary survey that sets out to define the extent of the site and highlight any specific restraints that are determined by the geography of the site. They can also include a level survey that will measure the elevation of the land and the various gradients that exist.

Building Surveys

Building surveys are more generally concerned with man-made constructions on a site, including the surveying of special apparatus and even infrastructure characteristics. This type of survey is more regularly associated with the demolition industry because it can give a detailed plan of the building to be demolished.

A building survey will almost certainly include a measured survey, which entails creating a precise plan of the exterior and interior dimensions of a structure. Depending on the requirements of the job, a measured survey might provide basic building “footprint” measurements, or might produce a highly detailed plan of the structure. This information can be used to create interior floor plans and even roof plans.

Content of a Topographical Site Survey

A survey of a demolition site will almost definitely include the details gathered by the types of boundary and building surveys mentioned above. This information will be required so the demolition firm can plan a demolition that is both satisfactory and safe. More often than not these surveys will also be legally required.

Surveys will often contain information about the utility services that are present on a site prior to any demolition or construction work happens. This is an important safety factor since any unmonitored destruction to pipes and cables carrying water, gas and electricity could be very dangerous. The information can also be used to plan new structures, based upon the existing supply of these utilities.

Another aspect of the site study will often be an inventory of materials on the site. This type of study will be a quantity survey of the various kinds of materials that can be found on site, for example, tiles and masonry, concrete that can be utilised as hardcore or even wood. By taking an accurate audit of site materials the construction company can more accurately determine the need to import building materials, or they can re-use the materials on a different project.

Project planners may uncover monetary benefits once topographical demolition surveys collect supplies quantities currently on-site that may be re-used.

Importance of Site Surveys

Possibly the most important reason to undertake a topographical site survey is to ensure the health and safety of the individuals who will be working on the site. The industries that most frequently call for site surveys are dangerous enough as it is without having to worry about the integrity of the ground on which they are working.

Another important reason to get a proper survey done is to identify any potential difficulties that may arise because of the physical characteristics of the region. Particular things will not be evident on the surface of the site and will only be discovered once digging or demolition has started. By then it may be too late to fix these problems, or at best they will be costly issues to solve.

The inventory of site materials, as previously stated, can be of great benefit to a demolition or construction company working on a project. Not only are building materials themselves expensive, but transporting them to the site may be a very expensive task in itself. Any time that material can be reused on site offers an opportunity to save development time and funds. Only by taking an exact audit of these materials can a company properly plan its imported material requirements.

Topographical surveys can also highlight other areas that will be of use to the project managers. For example, if the gradients on a site would be prohibitive to certain vehicles or machinery then a new access route or alternative machinery will have to be found. Equally, an appropriate site will need to be found for the base of control operations for the project. Good site surveying can help out in these less tangible ways.

Positioning of Survey Control

During the surveying and construction phases of a construction project, the apparatus required for the physical surveying of the site and control of the survey data will often be kept on-site. This is obviously a problem when it comes to the demolition phase of a project since the machinery is both costly and sensitive. It is therefore sensible to move this equipment off-site during demolition.

Once the demolition has taken place and the site has been deemed safe for staff to return to it, the surveying equipment can be restored to its original position on site. This will allow for effective data gathering to take place for a post-demolition survey, and maintains a single point of contact for anyone who requires the topographical survey information. Most surveying companies will oversee this redeployment.

Experience is often a deciding factor whenever choosing a buildings demolition company because every project has unique requirements and unique difficulties.

Who can Perform Site Surveys?

Since topographical site surveys can play such a vital role in the success or failure of a building or demolition venture it is critical that they are carried out thoroughly by the right people. There are different divisions of site surveying and each one will have specific qualifications associated with it. Finding surveyors with these specific skills will certainly be beneficial.

When choosing a company to undertake the surveying work necessary for your project it will be wise to choose a business with a good reputation and a proven track record. Ask to see reviews of their previous work and try to get feedback about their overall performance on previous projects.

Who will use the Survey Information?

Once an adequate level of information has been gathered by a site survey it needs to be handed out to the appropriate people on-site. Who gets what pieces of information will largely depend on the job roles being performed, but can also rely on the stage that a project is at. There will be less need for materials information midway through construction for example.

Project Planners

Project planners will generally require access to all of the information collected by a topographical survey, although they will particularly need to use information regarding the physical relief of a site before the design phase, and a site materials record before they can prepare the construction phase. The more information that can be made available to project planners will aid the smooth running of the project.

Demolition Experts

Demolition businesses will want to know about the internal and external characteristics of any building or structures that they are set to take down. Whilst every job will have individual requirements, demolition workers will generally need to know about the fundamental framework of a building and the materials it is made out of.

Site Engineers

Construction engineers on-site will be mainly interested in the survey statistics about the relief and topography of the terrain. It is normally the case that they will need to assemble on a flat surface, so they will use information about the natural lay of the land to determine what work will be required to create a stable footing for any structure. They will want this information before and in the course of the construction stage of a job.