Surveyors who are interested in the built environment fall in to one of two groups. Firstly there are those that are actively engaged in the construction and maintenance of the built environment such as Quantity Surveyors and Building Surveyors. Other surveyor types such as Commercial Property Surveyors and Residential Property Surveyors are not involved in the construction of the built world but are primarily involved with valuing property for sale, insurance and legal reasons.

The distinction between surveyors that work on natural features and surveyors that work on built features is blurred a little because some surveyors in the Land Surveyor Professional Group do work with buildings. Environmental Surveyors for example could be involved in assessing the impact of a proposed building project on the conditions of the local environment. Geomatics Surveyors routinely use their technological skills to map urban areas for the purposes of comparing heat loss between buildings.

Generally though, if Land Surveyors are interested in the built world at all, their interest is focussed on how built developments will affect or be effected by the natural world and the people that inhabit it. Each distinct type of Land Surveyor is interested in land in slightly different way.

The way Environmental Surveyors work with land is to measure the impacts of human activity, like building and resource collection, on land. Their area of interest can involve seeing how contaminated earth, air or water has become. Assessing the likely hood of flooding to a property, assessing the fire risk to a property and assessing whether the property will create a large amount of noise or light pollution and what the effects will be on the surrounding environment.

Geomatics Surveyors use technology to map natural and man made features. In the sense that they are mapping an urban area they are more Land Surveyors than Building Surveyors or Property Surveyors since they are not interested in the financial value of a property or its structural soundness, but rather they are interested in building up a geographical view of the whole area.

Mineral and Waste Surveyors map the land and the minerals beneath it to analyze the best methods for extracting those minerals and devising the best methods for the safe removal of waste from those sites. Though this might ultimately involved building a structure and even helping to design the structure, the ends of this are to extract materials from the earth rather than to derive value from a structurally sound building in itself.

Rural Surveyors might be involved in devising alterations to a piece of land; however this is usually with the aim of modifying the land to increase its utility agriculturally. The focus of the Rural Surveyor’s work is very much on managing agricultural estates to maximise their efficiency and value.

Planning and Development Surveyors work to enhance environments whether urban or rural by looking at how land is being utilised currently and how land could be used in new or different ways to improve the lives of the people living in that area. Whilst individual or groups of buildings may form part of this picture, the emphasis is on a wider ranging approach that looks at the relationships between buildings, land and people.

The increase in greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere is going to cause global temperatures to increase over the next 100 years. One of the consequences of this change will be that the intensity and quantity of precipitation received by the United Kingdom will change. In the UK this will lead to problems such as increased flooding, drought and slope instability.

Geology of the UK is extremely varied, with rocks of ages ranging from Pre-Cambrian to Quaternary, and with representations of all eras. In the Southeast are the younger gently folded sedimentary rocks forming undulating landscapes. Progressing in a northwest direction, the rocks at outcrop become older. In Wales and Scotland are highlands formed from the oldest metamorphic rocks of varying grades. Igneous rocks are present in the southwest and northwest with both intrusive and extrusive present. Overall, the variations in geology are considerable and complex due to the long geological history of the UK. The UK has a temperate climate with precipitation in the order of 800 mm per annum (southeast) to 1,500 mm (northwest) and summer/winter temperatures typically ranging from 25 to −5°C, respectively, with the higher temperatures in the south and lower in the north. The climate is complex with extremes of both temperature and precipitation.

The likelihood of a slope which has never failed before becoming a landslide is in the UK very rare. However there are many slopes and landslides which exist from a time in the geological past when the climate was different which could be reactivated. Reactivated slope movements are usually slow and therefore are rarely a threat to life; they can however cause major issues for structures and buildings.

Various sites around the UK have been analysed using predicted climate change models to study the impacts of changes in the precipitation and temperature to the likelihood of historical landslides becoming reactivated. It was found that greater seasonality and increased winter variability will have a profoundly negative effect on stability. This will have implications for housing stock located in susceptible areas.

Insurance costs are inevitably rising in the coming years, and one of the contributing factors is certainly the change in weather we are seeing. The environment is subject to discussion when it comes to climate change, but one thing is for sure, the UK has seen some devastating weather in the last few years. The floods back in 2007 across the country gave ample warning that there is potentially more to come and that climate change or not, we are all at risk from environmental factors.

These kinds of factors need protection in the form of insurance, and also piece of mind. The comfort we get from knowing the property in which we live is secure and safe is priceless. Even if the insurance cover we have is capable of covering the repairing of any damage, the hard work and heartache involved when our home is affected is a real nightmare. There was damages running into billions of pounds in 2007 from the flooding, but the time and energy and unrest caused was incalculable.

Flooding is not the only factor we need to be aware of. Indeed there are hundreds of sites, new and old, which are located in the region of ex coal mining areas. This has an effect on the risk of the land being unstable, and in turn affects our premiums. There is also the possibility of shrinking clay to consider. Even if the house has not had any issues for a long time, or even never, there is still the possibility of this coming into play down the line. Every one of these elements is included in a risk assessment when the insurers offer home cover.

Before you move to a new property, or if you are concerned about the one you are in now, the GreenLightReport can answer these questions. Provided by a company who have a team of environmental surveyors at the helm, and decades of experience, this online land survey compiles all the data you could need when looking to move home (or check the status of your current house). Through a combination of land registry data and the professional surveying practices, the GreenLightReport manages to offer all this information for less than �30.00. Once ordered through the website, the report is normally returned in less than 4 hours to your inbox.

Having this kind of information available before entering negotiations on a new property is something that could save you money. When considering the amount charged for these land searches by solicitors during the existing format of buying a house, the GreenLightReport offers easy access at an affordable price.

For more information on the GreenLightReport, or to order your copy today, go to their website and follow the link on the homepage. If you have any questions about the content, they can be contacted directly on Sheffield 0114 2435500.