Along with their chief responsibilities of designing the project and ensuring a timely delivery, Consulting Engineering firms also perform two key services: Building Surveys and Flood risk Assessments.
Flood Risk Assessments (FRA)
A Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) is a critical part of your planning application without which your plan will not get validated. Many developers and architects ignore the importance of an FRA and keep it pending till the last available moment. It is quite important to ensure that this part of the planning gets completed in the initial stages itself to avoid delays and cost overruns.
A Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) basically looks at the risks posed by flooding to the project side and recommends actions to improve the safety of the project and surrounding area. An FRA is mandatory if your project site is over one hectare in size or if it is situated in a Flood Zone. Your consultant engineering
Building Surveys
A building surveyor is responsible to identify and advise repairs, maintenance, and restoration options for existing buildings or buildings with historical importance. Apart from this, the building surveyor must also ensure that projects are completed on budget and to schedule. Preparation of scheme designs with costings, programmes for completion of projects and specification of works, organising documents for tender, determining the condition of existing buildings, identifying and analysing defects, suggesting proposals for repair, etc. also included in the list of responsibilities.
The major part of a building survey involves the management and supervision of maintenance of buildings, dealing with planning applications, assessing and designing buildings to meet the needs of people with disabilities, and advising on the health and safety aspects of buildings.
While
selecting a Consulting Engineering firm for your project, ask if they provide
these critical services as well.
