| As the economy has slowed down over the past | | | | architects and clients. |
| year so has the housing market and house prices | | | | Advances in the technology used to carry out |
| have started to fall. The economic crisis has made | | | | land surveys has steadily improved and there |
| property development an even more risky | | | | have been significant advances over the years. |
| business than it was before and the effect has | | | | The main advancement has been the move to |
| also been felt with commercial properties and | | | | the electronic theodolite instruments which allows |
| development. | | | | for increased accuracy and increased data |
| As profit margins in development projects are | | | | capture. All measured data can be exported to |
| shortened it is has become even more imperative | | | | Computer Aided Design (CAD) packages and |
| to ensure that as a developer you know exactly | | | | plotted to create scaled 3D models with |
| what you are letting yourself in for when starting | | | | accompanying drawings. |
| a new project or refurbishing an existing property. | | | | Understanding the property and surrounding area |
| Carrying out a thorough land survey at the start | | | | before any development work commences will |
| of a project can provide the accurate information | | | | always save costs in the long run, as will accurate |
| needed to ensure that any development work | | | | drawings that are correct and free from human |
| gets off to the best possible start. | | | | error. Digital surveying means there is less chance |
| Land Surveys measure the outside or internal | | | | of important structural factors being missed and |
| environment of the proposed site or building. From | | | | any potential problems can be spotted earlier as |
| these measurements accurate scaled drawings | | | | they will be included on the drawings, there is |
| can be produced, usually in digital format allowing | | | | nowhere to hide! |
| for easy and efficient distribution to developers, | | | | |