Calling in the Contractors

4 Reasons Your Home Extension Should Start With a Setting Out Survey

30 August 2023 by Frank Elliott

Most people will not have heard about setting out surveys, but they're a vital part of most construction projects. Essentially, a setting out survey involves taking the building plan and precisely setting out points and markers for everything from excavations to boundary lines. This is usually done by a qualified land surveyor.

No major construction project will begin without a setting out survey, but people often assume they aren't necessary for a home extension. However, this is not the case. Even if you're simply extending your home, it's wise to have a setting out survey performed before work begins.

Here are just four reasons why.

1. Prevents Boundary Issues

Land surveyors will use specialised equipment to mark out precisely where walls, foundations and other parts of your extension will be going. This is vital since it ensures construction will fall correctly within the legal boundaries of your land, which can help prevent any costly and inconvenient boundary disputes in the future. Remember, you don't just have to worry about crossing boundary lines. Most residential properties can only build a certain distance from property lines and may have to consider how extensions impact sightlines from neighbouring properties.

2. Provides An Accurate Guide

You might think that getting a setting out survey will represent a waste of time, but this isn't the case. In fact, setting out surveys can help streamline the construction process by providing an accurate guide for workers to follow. This ensures that timelines are properly established and followed, so a setting out survey can actually get construction work completed faster.

3. Avoids Construction Mistakes

Even the best construction workers can sometimes make errors when not all elements of a property have been precisely mapped. Even if things look good on paper, a setting out survey can identify seemingly minor issues with your land that could impact the extension's structural integrity. If this is caught during construction, the process is going to go on longer and be more expensive. If it isn't, things may become even more costly and time-consuming as workers will have to revisit the site.

4. Increases Worker Safety

You should always take all necessary steps to ensure that the workers who are constructing your extension will be safe throughout the process. Accurate setting out is crucial in this regard since properly positioned elements can remove any potential hazards that may cause your workers harm. Since you're likely to be moving around the site yourself, you'll also be keeping yourself safe from injury.

Talk to a local land surveyor to learn more.

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