Industrial areas can include a multitude of different types of structure and building – from warehouses and storage facilities, to manufacturing plants or buildings housing industrial processes, such as oil refining or brewing for instance. These sites offer some real challenges that are unique for surveyors and have to be approached in a different way to, say, a rural housing development or brownfield regeneration scheme as they may be surveying at height or in very high-risk environments. Surveys of industrial sites can also form part of Technical Due Diligence (TDD), as a key step in the process of analysing an investment or acquisition of a site, before it is purchased. Revit models are typically required for industrial warehousing and plant so that plans and designs can be made for it or for the movement of it.
Safe access
Access is obviously a massive consideration, or more specifically: safe access. Surveyors need to carry out thorough risk assessments before they go on site to understand the potential challenges of it and how these can be mitigated. Often our team are asked to attend an induction training session to understand the risks and challenges inherent in a site. While in most cases, conventional surveying methods will still be the most appropriate approach, they may have to be tailored or adapted to the circumstances.
Some sites may require the wearing of special safety wear to access the site, due to the presence of hazardous substances such as asbestos or vehicles such as mega front load digger trucks. Or, if a surveyor is working on something like a substation, where huge voltage of electricity is present, then they may even have to monitor the weather conditions and evacuate the site if there is a risk of lightning storms.
Surveying warehouse interiors and plant can be as challenging as exterior sites, with access also proving to be a major consideration – this can be the case with warehousing and storage situations. Permissions may be much more difficult to arrange than simple site access and clearances will have to be applied for and planned in, well in advance of site visits.
Unknown quantities
When we talk about industrial sites, it’s also worth mentioning brownfield sites too. These are areas that may have been developed in the past – often for industrial use – and have now been passed as being suitable for future development. Brownfield sites can be something of an unknown quantity, as they can have been used for all kinds of purposes. There may be underground chambers, tanks or tunnels, for instance, that would need to be addressed before any work could take place there. A thorough underground utilities survey has to be carried out, to fully reveal and define any challenges that may be unseen at ground level. There may be aspects like ground contamination too, which would be ascertained by taking and analysing soil samples.
Flying solo
Regarding working on both industrial and post-industrial sites, a particular focus is when surveyors have to carry out their roles solo. Working remotely comes with the territory, but surveyors often find themselves accessing industrial and warehousing sites to work alone. An advance reconnaissance of the site in many situations is necessary, to ascertain and plan for what to expect during the actual surveying visit. In this way, surveyors will become aware of what’s there, what’s where, and is there security in place to access the site safely? Are there specific aspects, such as security dogs, for example, or other security measures such as gates, guards and alarms that will need to be factored in? Lone working comes with its own risks anyway, which are exacerbated by the complexities of industrial areas.
The team at Powers has many years of experience behind them and understand what they need to do to prepare for any project in an industrial or manufacturing plant. Preparation and planning are important regardless of a project’s location, but it’s even more important when the work is taking place in a working industrial or warehousing area – and that preparation is everything, for the success of the project. To chat over your project, please contact the team on 01928 734473 or by email on surveyors@powersuk.com.
