Historic and Listed Building Surveys

Historic Building Surveys

H+R are an independent team of building pathology experts with a particular specialism in conducting listed and historic building surveys. If you are looking for an experienced listed building surveyor to provide you with an in-depth report of the condition of a listed or heritage building, we can help.

From our offices in Surrey, Oxfordshire, the North West and the North East, our historic building surveyors operate throughout the UK and abroad, serving a wide range of clients. Whether you are acting for a charitable, non-profit or commercial organisation, or as a private owner of a heritage property, please contact our team of historic building surveyors to discuss your requirements.

Do you need a historic building survey?

Are you the owner or custodian of a listed property? Do you manage a heritage building on behalf of a company or organisation? Are you thinking of buying a period property? If the answer is yes, our historic building surveys could be of keen interest to you. Our team has over 30 years of experience in the heritage property sector and can help you gain a full understanding of the condition and historic significance of the building. Our services can be very valuable, especially if you are planning to invest in the purchase or refurbishment of a period property.

Get in touch with the expert team at H+R for a wide range of specialist building surveys for properties of all types, ages and sizes. Whatever heritage project you are currently working on, we would be delighted to be of service.

Heritage Services

How we work

Initial discussion. First, we will discuss your exact needs to fully understand your particular goals and objectives. Once we’ve established the type of service and documentation you require our team will focus their time and attention on the property’s relevant features.

  • Assessing Heritage Significance

Understanding the importance of a heritage asset and the value of its historic fabric is a crucial first step in exploring proposals that may involve alteration, extension or demolition. H+R services include preparing statements of significance, heritage impact assessments and heritage statements.

  • Historic Building Analysis and Recording

Historic building analysis is an important step in assessing the significance and can also be a condition requirement where planning permission and listed building consent is granted for alteration, extension or demolition. H+R are able to comply with Historic England’s prescribed levels of recording.

  • Condition and Maintenance Surveys

H+R undertake condition surveys to meet a range of client requirements including pre-purchase surveys, condition surveys, buildings at risk assessments, Church of England quinquennial inspections, environmental or building performance surveys, schedules of dilapidation and preventive maintenance inspections. These types of surveys establish the condition of a building or structure at a particular time and can be used to inform and prioritise remedial action. This information can be useful to help potential purchasers appreciate repair requirements, understand the implications of defects, identify repair and maintenance liabilities and develop planned preventive maintenance strategies with schedules of prioritised work.

  • Defect Diagnosis and Material Analysis

Building defects and processes of decay often require detailed investigation to understand the underlying causes, assess how matters may develop over time and inform appropriate remedial action.

  • Mothballing

H+R can provide services tailored to help clients manage vacant heritage buildings where their future is under consideration or there is a need to safeguard buildings or structures ahead of future projects. Mothballing is an approach advocated by Historic England to actively manage vacant heritage sites

Other related services include:

  • Specifications and schedules of work
  • Contract administration and project management
  • Legal and expert witness services
  • Supporting Local Authorities
  • Supporting Building Owners
  • Rothound decay detection search dogs

Please be assured that we always aim to preserve as much historic fabric as possible and – within the report itself – will provide marked-up photographs and plans to clarify our assessment. For more details please see our leaflet on Conservation and Heritage Services and Buildings at Risk or contact us.

Lambeth Town Hall

Our technical capabilities

To help us fully understand the history of a building, we use all the tools at our disposal in our comprehensive investigations including the latest technological advances. Leading-edge UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) technology and sophisticated camera drones are perfect for safe and accurate 3D data collection in hard-to-access places without leaving any physical impact on the fabric of vulnerable buildings.

As specialists in non-destructive investigation techniques, we also use GPR (ground penetrating radar) technology, thermography and fibre optics to meticulously detect and map hidden voids and other subsurface features. These methods have clear benefits in terms of architectural conservation and building pathology investigations of delicate surfaces and unstable or failing structures, particularly in the heritage sector.

H+R are a proud market leader in building pathology, with a specialist team of building professionals and scientists who use their expertise across all areas of heritage conservation architecture. Each member of staff has plenty of relevant experience gained in a variety of backgrounds, which enables our team to bring a broad set of skills to each survey we work on.

Our staff are members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) or hold the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) conservation accreditation, providing you with the peace of mind of knowing that our expertise in the field of historic building surveys is second to none. H+R are members of SPAB (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings), the Listed Property Owners Club, Historic Houses Association and the Churches Conservation Trust.

For more information contact our team on 01483 203221

Or click here to complete an enquiry form or request a call back.