Construction Site Survey Questions Checklist

Gather the title plan, any earlier survey drawings, drawings from previous work and anything handed over when the property was bought, and note which you can actually locate.

Owners routinely hold more than they realise, and knowing what exists changes what a surveyor needs to be asked for.

Note where the drawings you hold disagree with each other, and mark the disagreement rather than deciding which one is right.

Contradictions between documents are useful information for a professional and are lost if an owner quietly resolves them.

Write down what you know about how and when parts of the site were built or altered, labelling each item as documented or as something you were told.

The distinction between evidence and recollection matters to everyone who reads your notes afterwards.

Check each drawing for a scale bar, a north point and a revision marking, and flag the ones that have none of these.

Drawings without these markers are the ones most likely to be scaled from and misread later.

Note what any earlier survey was originally produced for, since a drawing prepared for one purpose rarely covers what a design needs.

A plan produced for a sale, a boundary question or an earlier scheme may look complete while omitting exactly what matters now.

Ask the surveyor what information they already have access to and what they expect you to supply before the visit.

Turning up with the right material shortens the visit and reduces the chance of a second one being needed.

Walk each boundary in turn and note what physically marks it: a fence, a wall, a hedge, a change of surface, or nothing at all.

What is on the ground and what is on a plan are different things, and the difference is what a survey is for.

Note which side of each boundary structure faces you, and record what you see without drawing any conclusion about who owns it.

Ownership is a legal question, and an owner note that reads like a conclusion can cause difficulty later.

Boundary ownership, rights and responsibilities are legal matters to be confirmed with a suitably qualified adviser.

Photograph each boundary from both ends and photograph every corner, since corners are where records and reality most often diverge.

Corner evidence is disproportionately useful and disproportionately likely to change once work starts.

Note where a neighbouring structure, planting, surface or overhang appears to cross the line you understand to be the boundary.

These situations are much easier to raise before a design is developed against an assumed line.

Note any gate, path, meter, drain or access route that somebody other than you appears to use, and record the observation neutrally.

Shared or third-party use can affect what is possible on a site, and it is invisible on most drawings.

Rights of access and similar arrangements are legal matters; record what you observe and take advice from a suitably qualified adviser.

Note where a boundary is overgrown, blocked or otherwise hard to reach, and tell the surveyor before they attend rather than on the day.

Access problems discovered on arrival are the most common reason a survey comes back incomplete.

Note where water stands after heavy rain, how long it stays and where it appears to run from, since a visit on a dry day will not show any of it.

This is the single most valuable observation an owner can contribute, and nobody else is in a position to make it.

Record which way the ground falls across the site in your own terms, and leave establishing it properly to the survey.

Your impression tells the surveyor and designer where to look closely; the drawing establishes what is actually there.

Note every existing retaining structure, bank, step or level change in the ground, and photograph each one from more than one angle.

Retained ground affects what can be built nearby and is often barely visible on a plan.

Whether any retaining structure is sound or adequate is a question for a suitably qualified engineer and must not be judged from appearance.

Note surfaces that have cracked, sunk, lifted or moved, where they are and whether the movement appears recent.

Surface evidence is a prompt for investigation rather than a diagnosis, but it directs where investigation is worthwhile.

Note where drainage covers and chambers are, mark them on a plan, and ask who should lift them rather than doing it yourself.

Their positions constrain layouts more than owners expect, and they are frequently hidden under planting or paving.

Opening chambers and interpreting what is inside is work for the relevant professionals; ask rather than investigating yourself.

Note anything you know or suspect is buried on the site — an old tank, a filled area, a former structure, a soakaway — and label each item as uncertain.

Local memory frequently surfaces features that appear on no drawing at all, and even an uncertain note tells an investigator where to look.

What is actually below ground can only be established by investigation carried out by suitably qualified people.

List every tree on the site and every tree close to the boundary on neighbouring land, including any whose canopy reaches over your side.

Neighbouring trees affect a site as much as your own, and they are the ones most often left out of the brief.

Photograph each tree from a fixed point and note roughly where its trunk sits in relation to the buildings and boundaries.

Position relative to the proposed work is what matters, and a rough note now saves a return visit later.

Ask whether any tree on or near the site is subject to protection, and confirm locally rather than assuming from its appearance or size.

Protection status governs what can be discussed at all, and it is a matter of record rather than judgement.

Tree protection and what may be done to any tree must be confirmed with the relevant authority and a suitably qualified specialist.

Mark any hedge, mature planting or established feature you would be unhappy to lose, and hand that list to the design team explicitly.

Anything not identified as valued tends to be treated as clearable once machinery arrives.

Note any tree or branch that overhangs the route deliveries and vehicles would use to reach the site.

Overhead obstructions on the access route are a practical constraint that is easy to see and easy to forget.

Note where roots are visible at the surface or where paving has lifted near a tree, and raise the ground near trees as a question for others.

Ground conditions close to trees behave differently, and the observation belongs in the brief even though the answer does not come from you.

The relationship between trees, ground conditions and foundations is for a suitably qualified engineer and arboricultural specialist to establish.

Walk the site and note every meter, cover, box, stopcock, drainage chamber, vent and visible entry point you can find.

A complete inventory of what is visible is genuinely useful, and it is something an owner can do thoroughly.

Photograph each one and mark its position on a plan, noting any you could not reach or did not open.

Positions marked on a plan are far more useful to a designer than photographs alone.

Note where any overhead line crosses the site, the access route or the area you are considering building in.

Overhead lines constrain both the design and how work can be carried out, and they are usually noticed too late.

Anything to do with overhead or buried supplies must be raised with the relevant provider and qualified professionals before any work is planned near it.

Note where you believe a drain, supply or cable also serves a neighbouring property, and mark the belief as unconfirmed.

Shared services change what can be altered and by whom, and an early note prompts the right enquiries.

Ask who obtains records from the service providers, whether the survey includes that, and what the survey will not cover.

This is a frequent gap between the surveyor and the design team, and it is only resolved by asking directly.

Records are indicative only; locating buried services is specialist work and nothing may be assumed from a drawing or a surface feature.

Note anything that appears disused — a capped pipe, an old cable, a redundant meter — and leave identifying it to the relevant professionals.

Apparently redundant items are frequently still live, and the only safe assumption is that you do not know.

Note where a neighbouring building sits close to a boundary and photograph its wall from your side of the line.

Proximity affects nearly every aspect of how work near a boundary is planned and discussed.

Record which windows in neighbouring properties look towards the area you are considering building in, and from which floor.

Overlooking in both directions is raised early in most design conversations, and photographs make it concrete.

Note any structure that appears to be built against or off a shared wall, and record what you can see without interpreting it.

These arrangements raise questions that have to be handled properly, and identifying them early avoids surprises.

Arrangements involving shared or adjoining structures carry legal requirements that must be confirmed with a suitably qualified adviser.

Photograph existing cracking, movement or damage visible on neighbouring or shared structures before any work is discussed or begun.

A dated record of pre-existing condition protects everybody, and it can only be made beforehand.

Recording what you can see is not an assessment of condition or cause; that is for suitably qualified professionals.

Note how close a neighbour's drainage, flue, vent or external unit sits to the area you are considering.

These items constrain what can be built nearby and are easy to overlook when looking at your own site only.

Note where the site is visible from higher ground, an upper floor or a public route, and take photographs from those directions if you can.

How a site is seen from outside shapes design discussions early and is rarely captured by a measured survey.

Ask for the scope of the survey in writing, including what is specifically excluded, and read the exclusions before agreeing anything.

Exclusions are where the difference between two apparently similar pieces of work is found.

Ask whether the survey covers levels, topography, drainage, buildings, boundaries and trees, or only some of these.

These are separate exercises that are often assumed to travel together, and they frequently do not.

Identify areas the surveyor may not be able to reach, and arrange access, keys or a neighbour conversation in advance.

Return visits are avoidable, and access is almost always something the owner is the right person to organise.

Entering a neighbouring property requires their agreement, and any arrangement of that kind should be handled properly and in writing.

Ask what format the survey is issued in and who else will need it, then check that the format suits the people who will use it.

A drawing issued in a form the design team cannot work with creates avoidable delay and extra work.

Ask what would have to be revisited if the design later moves to a different part of the site or changes scale.

Understanding the limits of the survey early makes it easier to plan around them rather than discover them.

Ask who is responsible for checking the survey against the site once work begins, and how a discrepancy would be reported.

Sites change and surveys age, and the checking responsibility is worth naming before anyone relies on the drawing.

A survey records conditions at the time of the visit; relying on it later is a professional judgement, not an owner assumption.