Building Plot Information Gathering Checklist

Obtain the plan attached to the title and walk it against the plot, noting every place where the drawn line and the physical feature appear to differ.

A written list of the places they disagree is exactly what a surveyor needs, and producing it requires nothing beyond a notebook and a walk around the plot.

Do not conclude which line is correct. Differences between plan and ground must be resolved by a qualified surveyor and a legal adviser.

Record what physically forms each boundary along its full length, noting where the material changes from hedge to fence to wall and where it stops altogether.

Changes along a boundary usually mark historic events, and they are often the point where ownership becomes uncertain.

Note the condition of each boundary feature, including anything leaning, collapsed or recently replaced, and photograph it before any work disturbs it.

A recently replaced fence may not sit where the old one did, and evidence of the previous position disappears quickly.

Note which side of a fence the posts and rails face along each boundary, and record it as an observation to hand over rather than as evidence of ownership.

This is commonly cited and commonly misunderstood, so recording it without drawing a conclusion is the useful contribution an owner can make.

Ask long-standing neighbours what they recall about the boundaries and when features were last moved or rebuilt, and write down what each person says.

Recollection is not proof, but it points professionals towards the documents and events worth examining.

Note any structure, overhang or planting that sits close to or across a boundary, including things belonging to a neighbour that lean over onto your land.

These matters are far easier to raise before a project begins than after machinery has arrived beside them.

Anything crossing a boundary raises questions for neighbours and legal advisers. Do not remove or alter it on the strength of your own reading.

Read the title and transfer documents for anything described as granted to or reserved from the land, and list each one for a qualified adviser to interpret.

Listing them is an owner-side task; interpreting them is not, and separating the two keeps the exercise useful and honest.

Rights over land are a legal matter. Take the list to a suitably qualified adviser rather than deciding what any entry means.

Ask each utility undertaking what apparatus they hold records of in or near the plot, and note what details they require from you before responding.

These enquiries are routine but not instant, and starting them early keeps design from waiting on paperwork.

Ask the local authority what application history is recorded against the plot, including anything refused, withdrawn or granted and never carried out.

Earlier decisions frequently explain features on the ground and can reveal concerns that will be raised again.

History is background only. What may be done on the plot now is a question for the local authority in the present.

Look at historic maps and older aerial images of the plot, and write down anything that appears in them and is no longer visible on the ground.

Vanished buildings, ponds, tracks and pits leave consequences underground long after the surface has been levelled.

Ask the seller or previous owner to put in writing what they know about services, drainage, past uses and anything buried or removed.

A written answer is worth far more than a remembered conversation, and people are usually willing to give one if asked plainly.

Write a short list of what you have not been able to find out, and keep it with the folder so that the gaps travel with the information.

Gaps that are documented get filled by the right people. Gaps that are silent get filled by assumption.

Walk the plot and record in which direction the land appears to fall, describing it in relation to fixed features rather than attempting to measure it.

Direction of fall influences almost every early design decision and is regularly missing from the information a designer is given.

Visit the plot during and after heavy rain and photograph where water gathers, where it runs and how long it takes to disappear.

This is information no single professional visit can capture, and it is one of the few observations an owner is genuinely better placed to make than a visitor.

This is evidence to hand over, nothing more. Flood behaviour, drainage capacity and ground conditions must all be assessed by qualified specialists.

Note where vegetation differs markedly across the plot, such as patches that stay green in dry weather or ground that supports nothing at all.

Differences in growth often correspond to what lies beneath, and pointing them out gives an investigating specialist somewhere to start.

Record any area that appears to have been built up, levelled, surfaced or filled, and note what the surface is made of where you can see it.

Made ground behaves differently from undisturbed ground, and identifying its likely extent early helps target any investigation.

Note any wall, bank or structure that appears to be holding back earth, and photograph its condition without disturbing anything around it.

Retaining structures on a plot are a significant matter and one an owner should flag rather than assess.

Never judge whether a retaining structure is adequate or stable. That assessment belongs to a qualified engineer.

Identify any covers, gullies, outfalls or pipe ends visible on the plot or in the boundary ditch, and photograph each with something familiar beside it for scale.

These are the physical traces of drainage arrangements that may still be live, and they are easily buried during clearance.

Record the position of every significant tree on or overhanging the plot, describing its rough size in relation to nearby buildings rather than measuring it.

Trees influence where a building can sit, and their positions are needed long before anyone decides what happens to them.

Ask the local authority whether any tree on or near the plot carries protection, and record the answer with the date and the person who gave it.

This is a straightforward enquiry with significant consequences, and it should be made before any clearance is even discussed.

Never assume a tree may be removed or cut back. Protection status can only be confirmed by the local authority.

Note which trees and hedges appear to stand on a neighbour's land while overhanging yours, and treat their treatment as a question rather than a decision.

Trees on the line are a common cause of neighbour disputes during construction, and they are much better raised early.

Record any ditch, pond, stream or spring on or adjoining the plot, including features that hold water only at certain times of year.

Seasonal water is invisible for much of the year, so an owner visiting repeatedly is the person most likely to notice it.

Anything involving watercourses carries obligations that vary by location. Confirm what applies with the local authority and a qualified professional.

Note any sign of wildlife using the plot, such as setts, roosts, nests or well-worn tracks, and record what you see without identifying the species yourself.

Wildlife can carry protections that affect what may be done and when, and an early note allows the right specialist to look properly.

Do not disturb anything you find or draw conclusions about species. This is a matter for an appropriately qualified ecologist and the local authority.

Note who currently crosses the plot or the access serving it, how often, and whether anyone appears to treat it as a right rather than a courtesy.

Long-standing use is significant and easily overlooked, and it is far better raised while relations are good.

Identify any access, drive or track shared with others, and gather in writing what has been agreed about its use, maintenance and obstruction.

Shared accesses become contentious the moment heavy vehicles start using them, and undocumented arrangements are the usual cause.

Note anything on your land that appears to serve a neighbouring property, such as a pipe, cable, meter or soakaway, and raise it as a question.

Apparatus serving others often comes with rights of access, which can restrict where a building sits.

Do not disconnect, divert or build over anything that may serve another property. Raise it with a qualified professional and the relevant undertaking.

Check with the local authority whether any public right of way is recorded across or along the plot, and keep the written reply with the plot folder.

Recorded routes may not be visible on the ground, and their existence is straightforward to check before any planning is done.

Only the local authority can confirm recorded rights of way. Absence of a path on the ground proves nothing either way.

Record whether anyone parks, stores materials or keeps animals on the plot, and how long that appears to have been going on.

Informal uses that have run for years are better raised before a site is fenced, while there is still room to resolve them calmly.

Ask whether any obligation to maintain a boundary, ditch, drive or hedge attaches to the land, and take anything you find to a qualified adviser.

Maintenance obligations are usually documented, frequently forgotten, and awkward to inherit without knowing they were there.

Record where the sun reaches the plot at different times of day, marking which areas stay in shadow and which are shaded by buildings rather than by trees.

Shade from a building is permanent in a way shade from a tree may not be, and the distinction matters to a designer.

Note which neighbouring windows look onto the plot and roughly which part of it each one sees, standing in the plot to check rather than assuming.

Overlooking shapes where private space and glazing can go, and it is far easier to design around at the outset than to remedy afterwards.

Visit at different times, including early morning and evening, and write down what you hear and what activity is happening nearby.

A plot viewed only on a quiet weekend afternoon can be misleading, and repeat visits at other times are simple enough to arrange.

Note which side of the plot appears most exposed to wind and driving rain, using evidence such as leaning growth, moss lines and weathering on nearby structures.

Local exposure is visible to anyone who looks for it, and it is genuinely useful background for a designer.

Observe how vehicles park and move on the street outside at busy times, and note where a delivery vehicle would have to stand.

Access problems are far easier to anticipate than to solve, and only someone visiting repeatedly can describe the pattern accurately.

Record what the adjoining properties are used for and whether anything nearby appears to be under construction or up for sale.

The surroundings of a plot can change during a project, and knowing what is in motion nearby is useful context to hand over.

Photograph the plot from the same handful of positions on every visit, and note where you stood so that later images can be compared with earlier ones.

Repeat photographs from fixed positions show change over time, which no single set of images can.

Date and caption every photograph and note, describing what it shows rather than trusting that you will remember when you look again.

Uncaptioned images lose most of their value once memory has faded, and a designer receiving them cannot tell what mattered to you.

Visit in different seasons where possible, since bare branches, standing water, overgrowth and low sun each reveal something the others hide.

Seasonal differences on a plot are substantial, and a record built in one season carries a blind spot into every conversation.

Keep a single notebook or file for the plot, recording each visit, each enquiry made and each answer received, with names and dates.

One organised source is worth more to the people you appoint than a scattered collection of messages and photographs.

Mark your observations onto a copy of the plot plan rather than describing them in prose alone, keeping the original plan clean.

Marked-up plans communicate spatial information immediately, which is what the people you appoint will want.

When you hand the record over, state plainly that it is an owner's observation and not a survey, so nobody treats it as more than it is.

Being explicit about the status of your information protects both you and the professionals relying on it.

An owner record is background only. Measured surveys, ground investigation and any technical assessment must come from qualified professionals.