Professionals and Qualifications – Page 6

Recording levels one to four and who is qualified

Level 2 is a description, Level 3 is an analysis, and the difference decides who can do the work. How to agree the level, brief the recorder and get the record accepted.

Choosing a contaminated land specialist and checking status

Councils ask for a suitably qualified and experienced author. Here are the registers that let you check that in ten minutes, and the six questions to ask before you appoint.

Who is competent to write a BS 9991 fire safety strategy

A fire safety strategy is a fire engineering document, not a fire risk assessment. Here are the credentials that matter, when peer review is expected, and how the strategy differs from a planning Fire Statement.

When your report becomes evidence at a planning appeal

At an inquiry a supporting report becomes evidence and its author becomes a witness. Here is the duty that applies, what proofs and statements of common ground demand, and where costs awards come from.

Briefing a specialist so the fee stays fixed

Consultant fees creep because the drawings moved, comments arrived in batches and nobody scoped the consultee response. Here is the instruction structure that keeps a fee fixed.

Reliance letters and collateral warranties for planning reports

A technical report addressed to a previous owner is worth little to a funder or purchaser. Here is how reliance is granted, what the liability caps actually mean, and the diligence checklist to run before you price a site.

ARB registration against RIBA membership: what differs

One is a statutory register that protects a title, the other a voluntary membership body. Here is what each actually gives you, and why neither is required to submit an application.

What suitably qualified means for a heritage statement

No rule says a heritage statement needs an accredited author. Policy asks for expertise proportionate to the asset, which is a sliding scale. Here is where the line falls in practice.

Who should write an LVIA: chartership and GLVIA3 competence

The landscape and visual guidelines depend on reasoned judgement, so the author matters. What chartership signals, why assessment differs from design, and how to brief a proportionate assessment.

Which transport planner qualification your submission needs

Highway authorities do not licence the authors of transport submissions, but they do read them. What each institution route signals, and the six questions to ask before instructing.

Acoustic consultants and BS 4142 competence

Anyone can head a document BS 4142. Here are the credentials, equipment checks and method questions that tell you whether the report will survive review.

Arboricultural qualifications and the BS 5837 author

There is no protected title in arboriculture, so anyone can put BS 5837 on a cover. Here is what the qualification levels mean and how to read a report for competence.

Peer review and second opinions on technical evidence

A second opinion you commission and a review the council commissions at your expense behave very differently. Here is when each is worth it and how to handle a reviewer who disagrees with your consultant.

Liability when one party writes and another submits

A report addressed to one client does not create a duty to everyone who reads it. Here is how reliance letters, assignment and disclaimers work, and what to check before you submit someone else's report.

What a professional sign-off on an AI-assisted draft covers

Signing an AI-assisted draft is an act of authorship. Here is what the declaration should cover, which sections a reviewer must write themselves, and where the law requires a licensed author instead.

Which ecology licence covers which species and activity

A survey licence lets an ecologist look. A class licence lets a registered person work without applying each time. A mitigation licence permits works that would otherwise be an offence.

Landscape professionals and competence for a visual assessment

Councils rarely impose a written competence requirement for landscape and visual work. They apply one anyway, through the weight they give the document. Here is what to buy and how to check you got it.

Lighting designers and the guidance a council will cite

Councils assess external lighting against obtrusive light guidance and environmental zones. Here is the competence to brief for, what a complete photometric submission contains, and where supplier layouts fall short.

CIfA registered organisations and what registration means

CIfA registration is a corporate accreditation against published standards, and it is what most archaeological conditions mean by a suitably qualified contractor. Here is what it covers and what to check.

Institute of Acoustics grades and what they mean

Post-nominals tell you something about an acoustician, but not enough on their own. Here is what each grade signifies, what councils ask for, and the five questions to put to a consultant before appointing.

Professionals and Qualifications8 min read

What a Natural England mitigation licence lets an ecologist do

A mitigation licence is not permission to ignore bats. It authorises specific acts, by named people, in a stated way, after planning permission is granted and the three derogation tests are met.

5 October 2026Read article →

Hydrologist or drainage engineer for a drainage strategy

Hydrology sets the runoff rates a drainage network has to meet. Engineering designs the network. Knowing which skill is missing from a strategy is what stops a holding objection.

4 October 2026Read article →

Highway technical approval and who may design the works

Section 278 and section 38 works pass through a separate approval process with its own standards, checkers and clock. What the highway authority expects of your designer.