We rely on buildings. They're where most of us spend our working day, our night's sleep and our Sunday rest. Given we spend so much time inside them, it's important to make sure they're safe. History and daytime television are full of buildings that haven't come up to scratch with often inconvenient, sometimes fatal, results.
A measured building surveyprovides an accurate record of a building. It can be used for fire risk assessment, licensing and lease applications, refurbishment, extension or as built plans, or any number of the other tasks that require close examination of your structure.
Depending on what the client needs, a measured building survey can take a wide variety of forms. Modern
laser scanning technology can produce 3D models of any building or structure, replicating in three dimensions all of its intricacies. Laser surveys can be used for floor plans or for a full 3D elevation.
Two-dimensional elevations can also form a part of a measured building survey. These are traditionally a 2D image depicting the exterior of the building and all its features in outline. Some elevations might only show the major features (e.g. doors, windows, balconies), but can give brick-by-brick detail for those projects which need a greater level of detail, such as historic records. As well as laser scanning, digital photography and reflectorless technology can be used to produce elevations.
Floor plans are the type of “blueprints” with which many people are familiar from countless films, comic strips and the like. They show both the net and gross internal area of a building, as well as marking out significant features such as doors, windows, power sockets, etc where appropriate. Floor plans of existing buildings are most commonly used where refurbishment or space planning is being considered. As with elevations, reflectorless and laser technology are used to take measurements.
Sections can show a cross section of particular elements of a building (e.g. a balcony, a landing) or the entire structure. They can be produced in order to show a cross section of any part of the building and can show either visible detail, or additional aligned detail up to a certain distance away (e.g. the side of an arch and all structural detail that lies directly behind it). While sections are usually produced by combining and comparing information from elevations and floor plans, they can be produced independently if required. Sections allow surveyors and others to directly asses the alignment of structural features and make any alternations that may be neccessary (e.g. ensuring a landing does not block light from a window).
Traditional – albeit high quality – photographs can also form part of a measured building survey. Detailed colour photographs highlight key parts of the structure and afford greater understanding in the interpretation of detail, particularly where those looking at them may not be able to make a site visit (e.g. councils assessing an application for planning permission, investors looking to expand their property portfolio, specialists in property law). Where once a series of flat photographs may have been used, nowadays a 360° panorama can be generated from a sequence of digital photographs, allowing users to zoom, rotate and explore the space in almost the same detail they would be able to were they actually there.
A measured building survey can take many forms. It can be a 3D model, a set of floor plans, a section and internal photographs, or all or some of these things depending on the client's particular needs. The product is an accurate and detailed record of all important details of the concrete cocoons in which we while away our days.
business. These additional details include things like fixed surface utility features such as inspection chambers or perhaps telegraph poles, as well as key topographic features such as fence lines or kerb lines. Street names, building names as well as house numbers can also be included in the client's map to help in the site location.