A Measured Building Survey: What Are the Options?
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, we really do need to know 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 survey provides an accurate record of a building: a record which 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 building.
A measured building survey can incorporate all sorts of different details dependent on the needs of the client. 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.
A conventional 2D elevation can also be incorporated into a measured building survey. Two-dimensional images depict the exterior of the building and all its features in outline. Elevations can range from quite basic drawings of the major features down to brick-by-brick detail for those projects which require 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 perhaps the form of measured building survey with which the general public are most familiar. They show both the net and gross internal area of a building. They usually show major structural features (e.g. doors, windows, columns), but can also show more minor details (e.g. power outlets, vents, radiators) where necessary. These types of floor plans are useful when one is considering expansion or adaptation of a structure or space. As with elevations, reflectorless and laser technology are used to take measurements.
Sections are, as their name suggests, cross sections of either an entire building or particular elements thereof. 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). Elevations and floor plans are usually combined to produce sections, but they can be produced independently for a measured building survey 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).
As well as these more technical elements, a measured building survey can also include high quality internal photo imaging. 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 or internal photographs. The product is an accurate and detailed record of all important details of the concrete cocoons in which we while away our days.