Professionals and Qualifications – Page 10
Who is competent to prepare or sign off each report, and how to brief and check them.
Professionals and Qualifications articles – page 10
372 articlesBriefing a specialist when the site data is incomplete
Gaps in site data are normal on a small scheme. What matters is whether they are recorded as gaps or filled with something plausible that has to be corrected later.
Competence expectations under the building safety regime
Planning Gateway One puts a named author on the fire statement, and the Building Regulations put competence duties on clients, designers and contractors. Here is what that means for a planning submission.
One multidisciplinary practice or separate specialists
The appointment structure decides who carries coordination risk on your planning submission, and coordination risk is what turns a straightforward application into a delay.
Comparing fee quotes for the same specialist report
The difference between specialist fee quotes is rarely the day rate. It is the scope, the exclusions, the revision allowance and the survey window hidden in the programme.
Sub-consultants and who carries the liability
One contract, four sets of obligations. How sub-consulting is structured, who you can actually claim against, and the appointment terms that decide it.
Structural engineers and when a planning case needs one
A structural appraisal earns its fee when the case turns on whether a building can be kept. Here is what it must contain, who should write it, and when you do not need one.
Verifying a claimed accreditation or registration
Most professional registers relevant to planning are free and public. Here is what each one certifies, how membership grades differ, and what to do when a claim does not check out.
Appointing a specialist late in the programme
When a season-dependent survey is commissioned too late, the question is what can be deferred to a condition and what cannot. Protected species is the hard line.
Splitting scope between an architect and a planning agent
On a small residential application the designer and the planning agent do different jobs, and the gaps between them cost money. Here is how to divide the deliverables and decide who is named as agent.
Reviewing a consultant's draft before it is submitted
Specialist drafts arrive with recycled site descriptions, superseded policy references and untraceable figures. This is a practical method for reviewing one before it reaches the council.
Writing a scope of works for a specialist report
Most disputes with specialist consultants trace back to a vague instruction. This sets out what a written scope of works should contain, from the standard named to the number of revisions included.
Who can design and certify SuDS on a small site
Sustainable drainage design is not a licensed activity, which leaves self-builders guessing who is qualified. This sets out the competence councils look for, the role of the lead local flood authority, and who maintains the system afterwards.
Choosing a daylight and sunlight consultant
Two competent practitioners should agree on a daylight result. When they do not, the cause is almost always inputs. What to ask before you appoint.
Who prepares a viability assessment, and independence
A viability assessment is only as strong as the valuer behind it. What the RICS professional statement requires, and how the council's reviewer will test your inputs.
Choosing a transport planner for a highway case
The highway officer reads a handful of things closely: trip rates, visibility, collision data and the access drawing. Appoint someone who can defend all four.
Who can prepare an Environmental Statement
The 2017 Regulations put competence on the applicant. You must use competent experts and you must say who they are and what qualifies them.
Historic building recording levels and who does them
A recording condition names a level from 1 to 4. Here is what each level requires, who sets it, when it can be negotiated and how the archive gets deposited.
Choosing an arboriculturist for a BS 5837 tree survey
A BS 5837 survey is about whether your scheme can be built without damaging retained roots. Here is how to choose the consultant and check what they produce.
Fire engineering competence and who signs a strategy
The planning stage fire statement and the engineering fire safety strategy are different documents with different authors. Here is how to check competence and brief the work.
Checking an ecologist's membership and competence
An ecology report is only as good as its author's competence for that survey type. Membership grade, licences and habitat experience are all checkable before appointment.
Odour assessment competence and the methods used
An odour assessment for planning can be a structured qualitative appraisal or a modelled study. The method should follow the risk, and the author's competence should follow the method.
Daylight assessors and the case for independent review
Daylight results depend on the model behind them. Because no accreditation scheme governs the work, authorities increasingly commission independent verification on major schemes.
Archaeological work and registered organisation status
The curatorial archaeologist sets the brief and approves the method. Knowing how that works, and which questions to ask a contractor, keeps the condition dischargeable.
When to commission an independent peer review
Peer review earns its fee on viability, contested technical evidence and appeals. Scope it around decisions, screen the reviewer for conflicts, and decide in advance what you will do with the findings.
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