Topographical and Site Surveys

 Surveys of sites and land parcels can include some or all of the following:-

• The site boundaries, including wall and fence and hedge types and heights. Prominent features, including building footprints, sheds, walls, fences and paths etc.
• Details of access roads/drives/tracks, including highway features and street furniture.
• Levels and heights across the site, based on either arbitrary or Ordnance Survey datum.
• Overhead cables, service covers and manholes (lifted to record underground drainage).
• Types of surface (concrete, tarmac, grass etc) with shape and extent. Vegetation - hedges, bushes, trees with trunk girth, canopy spread and height.
• Water features; including ponds, ditches, lakes and drainage channels. Earth works; including banks, mounds, hollows, valleys, etc.

Other items that can be specified include:-

• The scale of the survey - normally 1:200 or 1:500 but other scales can be utilised.
• The required output - digital data, or conventional hard copy plans
• The plan orientation - normally aligned to north.
• A measure of the site area in square metres, square feet, acres or hectares.
• A measure of the volumes of any earthworks or features.

The uses of a land survey include:- plans for development purposes (planning and architectural); plans for defining site boundaries and accurate measures of site areas; and record plans for archive purposes.