Stock Condition Surveys - Part 2 – A Consultant’s perspective

Above all, the success of a stock condition survey will be down to good organisation, management and leadership

Source: Spilled News

In my last article I discussed various reasons that may motivate a Client into undertaking a stock condition survey and identified a number of key factors that need to be considered prior to engaging a Consultant for delivery of the surveys.  In this article, after a brief explanation of how data capture has evolved over recent years, I want to view things from ‘the other side of the fence’ and discuss issues that a Consultant may encounter in both the pre and survey stages.

A short history of data capture

Over recent years technology had moved on at a rapid pace and there are now numerous hardware choices and software packages on the market that enable Surveyors to carry out surveys ‘remotely and in real time’. I have been lucky enough to be involved in stock condition surveys over the last 20 years, which initially were all undertaken on site by hand, usually with a pre-prepared proforma. This then developed into the first iteration of electronic data capture in the form Psion handheld’s. These were large ‘bulky’ pieces of equipment which were difficult to navigate through and were extremely limited in their capacity to store data. At the end of each day it was necessary to upload the information from the handheld via a docking station, which often led to ‘technical issues’ which sometimes resulted in data being lost.  As you can imagine this was very frustrating.  Battery life was also an issue, where it was necessary for us to take back up battery packs to allow us to stay on site for a full day. As technology advanced we started trialling on site data collection with smaller and slimmer PDA’s and Palm Pilots.  In the early days these were extremely ‘sluggish’ on site, as the capacity to store data was often limited. I can remember that one of my clients had produced a proforma that required recording of so many attributes that the PDA became unusable. We had to recommend a significant re-drafting of the proforma in order to be able to continue with the survey. Nowadays tablet’s have emerged as the new way of collecting on site data. These have built in camera’s, have much larger built in memories, are light weight and can offer unparalleled back up facilities. With a number of specialist stock survey software packages available we now have both hardware and software to make the whole process faster and more efficient. In addition, Cloud based technologies continue to evolve and these have significantly impacted on data storage and usability of data. It is however worth stating that however advanced hardware and software may become, the accuracy and value of the data will always be relative to the knowledge and expertise of the Surveyor.

Source: Journal for Clinical Studies

Pre-survey stage

It is highly unlikely that the cost of a stock condition survey will exceed OJEU thresholds (although after Brexit OJEU is unlikely to be an issue) therefore the content of a tender submission will be down to the requirements of each individual Client. At this stage it is vitally important to read the tender documents thoroughly to establish the scope of the survey and therefore assess the resources that will be needed to deliver what the client is expecting. Although very significant, resources will not just relate to the survey team.  Purchasing hardware and obtaining software licences can be extremely expensive which if not adequately considered could significantly reduce the profitability for the Consultant. Also, a Client may have their own in-house Asset Management system and if so are likely to require data collected during a stock condition survey to be compatible with their system. There are numerous examples of asset management software such as Orchard or Atrium to name a few, however a Consultant will need to become familiar with a Client’s particular system, which will involve consultation and possible training. In fact establishing a Client’s existing asset management processes and systems is fundamental to helping a Consultant to deliver a successful stock condition survey.

The deadline is also fundamentally important in planning the survey and also for fee calculation. A delivery programme should be formulated at the earliest possibly opportunity, working back from the Client’s deadline. The programme should include all pre and post survey activities including consultation with the Client; planning, pilot surveys, training of staff, arranging access, on site surveys, quality assurance checks, moderation and validation, reporting, etc. The amount of inspections that are required (which will be determined by the target sample size) will determine how many surveyors will be needed. It may be that during the preparation of the programme that a Consultant will realise they will need more surveyors than they first thought in order to achieve the deadline. This will subsequently impact on the amount of hardware and software licences that are needed and therefore the fee that is likely to be charged. 

Survey stage

Once a Consultant has been awarded a contract to deliver a stock condition survey there are number of things that can be done to ensure that the deadline is met and that the data collected in accurate and consistent:

Good leadership – It is extremely important that a Consultant appoints an experienced member of staff to oversee and take charge of the stock survey, right through to completion. Ideally, this individual should have been involved in the tender process and therefore understand the Client’s requirements; be able to manage a large team of surveyors and be able to incorporate and manage a robust quality assurance system and act as liaison with the Client. A Consultant should never underestimate the complexity of delivering a stock condition survey and unless a suitable ‘leader’ is appointed to manage the project, then the whole process can become chaotic and poorly managed and will ultimately result in failure.

Training – Quality of data and consistency are important in ensuring that the data can be confidently used in the future for a variety of different things.  Achieving this however is always one of the biggest challenges a Consultant will face and one of the biggest frustrations that a Client will encounter if the information received is of poor quality.  The problem with undertaking any inspection is that different surveyors could inspect exactly the same building but actually produce a different assessment of an element or an attribute.  This is human nature and although impossible to avoid, it is possible to manage.  What a Consultant should be trying to achieve is for Surveyors to be looking at elements/attributes in the same way and although they may not arrive at identical assessments, they should be very similar.

Prior to letting my Surveyors undertake the onsite surveys I would give then lots of information which would include definitions of physical condition, priority, user effect and risk rating etc. (This would vary from survey to survey, depending on the Client brief). The table below provides an example of typical definitions that could be used:

I would then arrange a half day workshop with the whole survey team, where amongst other things we would discuss the definitions and use examples to assess how individual Surveyors would consider a particular element/attribute. During this meeting we would also discuss and use the hardware/software that was going to be used for data collection, discuss access issues, time frames and the quality assurance procedure. These types of meeting are invaluable as it gives the survey team the opportunity to understand what is expected and provide an opportunity to raise any questions they may have.

Quality Assurance Procedures – As discussed throughout this article, quality assurance processes are an extremely important part of the whole process.  When managing large condition surveys I would spend a few days out on site with each member of the survey team during the first few weeks of the survey. This enabled my Surveyors to ‘iron out’ any uncertainties whilst I was present and to ask further questions as needed.  When the data was uploaded I was able to view this through the relevant asset management database and I was able to add filters so that I could generate numerous reports throughout the whole time that the data was being collected.  I was then able to question things that appeared to have been missed where data fields were empty, or ask questions where surveyors had identified high priority issues etc.  This enabled data to be corrected where necessary and sometimes identified surveyors who I needed to spend more time with who clearly required more training.

To consider every aspect of a stock condition survey in such a short article would be impossible.  Hopefully, I have discussed some interesting aspects of what can be a complex process to manage and deliver.  Above all, the success of a stock condition survey will be down to good organisation, management and leadership which will incorporate all of the various aspects I have discussed above.  Once the process is set up and organised correctly the data collection is usually reasonably straightforward. In order for this to be achieved there needs to be a great deal of planning and consultation many months before the data is collected onsite, if this is not undertaken then a Consultant is likely to encounter serious difficulties in meeting the expectations of their Client

Author: Gary O’Neill

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Quality Assurance - How accurate is your documentation?

Robust supervision and training of staff will help them to understand the significance of accurate documentation. Organisations should not lose sight of this, particularly in the current economic climate

Source:www.anarsolutions.com

In previous articles I have discussed the importance of drawings and the consequences that are likely to occur in a construction project if they contain inaccuracies or omissions. Drawings are one of the main components of tender documents, however, as important as they are, they are only a single component of the documentation. Drawings must reflect precisely the detail contained in the specification, and vice versa.  Any conflict between the two will lead to confusion from contractors during the tender period, (assuming that the contractors have read the documentation fully, which does not always happen!), and possibly disputes on site when the selected contractor realises any inconsistency. This can then lead to an embarrassing explanation to the Client, particularly if the contractor tries to claim that his tender price did not include for the inconsistency and ultimately in a dispute for which the Consultant may be held accountable.

Consequently, the process of preparing tender documentation and in fact any documentation that is to leave the office, should be undertaken with care and attention, with organisations having robust quality assurance processes to ensure that the documentation is checked at various stages. Junior and new members of staff need to be trained and supervised throughout the whole process so that they understand the significance of preparing tender documentation and that each component cannot and should not be prepared in isolation. Experienced and senior members of staff should not be excluded from the quality assurance process as they too are likely to make errors or omissions. The point is that through the supervision and quality assurance processes, any errors or omissions are identified before the documentation leaves the office.

Source: builtintelligence.com

In today's challenging environment where profit margins are tight and staffing levels have been squeezed, it would be very easy to allow documentation to be issued as a result of sometimes poor or non existing supervision and quality assurance procedures. One of my former organisation's quality assurance procedures was that no documentation could leave the office until it has been signed off by a senior manager. I can remember many days when members of staff would pile drawings, specifications and all sorts of other documentation onto my desk for checking. Now considering I still had my own workload, reading through and checking all of this documentation was challenging, however because I was signing the  information off I had to take the time too look at it properly, which often meant working long hours, or taking work home. I am sure many reading this article will understand, having been in similar situations themselves. Although it was sometime tempting to skim read documentation and drawings I was always aware of the implications to my organisation and to me personally, if inaccurate documentation was issued. Inevitably, errors in signed off documentation would sometimes be identified, however by adopting robust procedures we kept this to a minimum, and after all we are only human and we will sometimes miss something.

Those who prepare the documentation often do not appreciate the time that is necessary to read through and check what they have produced. In some circumstances members of staff would bring documentation to me for checking and expect me to look at it, there and then and sign it off immediately, because of an imminent deadline (mostly down to their own poor time management!). This is where mistakes can be made, and any organisation that works in this way or allows this to happen, even in isolated cases, are likely to keep their solicitors very busy! Organisations must have clear policies in place so that everyone understands and complies with quality assurance procedures and also has respect for the time of those who will be checking it.

As stated previously robust supervision and training of staff will help everyone (not just technical members of staff), to understand the significance of accurate documentation. Organisations should not lose sight of this, particularly in the current economic climate. Client's are much more likely to cultivate relationships with those who they feel confident will deliver a project effectively and in a professionally manner. Allowing inaccurate documentation to leave your office is not professional and gives a very negative impression. There is a lot of competition out there and it will not take long to sour a relationship, 'you're only as good as your last project', comes to mind, so ignore this at your peril.

Above, I have used the example of tender documentation, as from experience I know the problems that can result from in inconsistencies in documentation. Tender documentation is a topic I will cover in more detail in a future article.

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House hunting? - Look beyond the decorations!

No matter what the condition or quality of the decorations and other finishes, most people will usually re-decorate to their own taste anyway.  It is important that your mind is focused on looking beyond this, which will allow you to focus on the condition and layout of the building

Source: www.ibtimes.co.uk

Throughout my career as a Building Surveyor I have been lucky enough to have undertaken many different types of surveys of all types of buildings both large and small and in varying degrees of condition. This experience has given me the ability to identify 'possible issues' in a building without undertaking an intrusive inspection. In simple terms if you know where to look and what to look for, you can quickly establish issues that may need much closer attention.

Whilst house hunting fairly recently and viewing properties for the first time you may be surprised to learn that even as a Chartered Building Surveyor I am in the same boat as everyone else. Most properties that my wife and I recently viewed were both occupied and furnished and for a first viewing most sellers would expect a quick tour of the building followed by few questions. I think they would be a little shocked if I walked in with my surveying equipment and then started to systematically take their house to pieces so that I could decide if it was worth returning for a second visit! Something tells me that even if I wanted a second viewing the seller is unlikely to want me back! Even though my natural instinct is to be more intrusive I have to extend the same courtesy as anyone else.

Source: www.repointer58.com

When undertaking the viewing (notice the term 'viewing' and not 'inspection') there are some key things that I look for which will give me a good idea of the general condition of a building. Although I would always advise anyone to have an inspection carried out be a qualified surveyor I also thought it would be worth sharing some tips, so that those with limited or indeed no knowledge of buildings may at least be able to identify issues that they could question and bring to the attention of their advisers. This basic knowledge could also be a deciding factor which may lead to a decision not to pursue a particular property and to focus your attention on others.

Externally, I will always look at the condition of the external walls for signs of cracking, distortion (possibly bulging) and also the condition of the materials generally.  Cracking and/or distortion can occur for many different reasons and the consequences can sometimes be very serious.  It is however worth noting that if cracking or distortion in an external wall is noted that it could be historic and less significant than the damage may suggest.  There is a natural reaction by many people to panic when they see cracking in a building, however in many cases the problem can be rectified reasonably quickly and cheaply.  If you do identify cracking in a building it is always worth obtaining professional advice to arrive at an accurate prognosis.   Also, look out for signs of 'new' pointing.  Pointing refers to the horizontal and vertical mortar joints that 'bond' the masonry units together.  If you see a slightly lighter (in colour) or a different colour, area of pointing, particularly if this is in a vertical stepped position, this would suggest that recent cracking may have occurred and the cracking has been infilled.  Again, bring this to the attention of your professional advisor.

External ground levels should also be looked at closely, particularly at the junction of external walls. A damp proof course is installed in external perimeter walls to prevent moisture rising through masonry by capillary action and into a building.  Current Building Regulations require the damp proof course to be installed 150mm above external ground levels. The importance of the damp proof course is often not appreciated and you will often see raised flower beds installed abutting external walls, new driveways installed at a higher level that previously and render being applied to walls.  All of these have the potential to 'bridge' the damp proof course and provide an easy path for moisture and damp to find its way into a building.

When viewing internally it is important to look beyond the internal decorations and furnishings. Everyone has different tastes and often the conversation after the viewing can focus on 'that hideous room' or 'those awful carpets'!  This however is missing the point.  No matter what the condition or quality of the decorations and other finishes, most people will usually re-decorate to their own taste anyway.  It is important that your mind is focused on looking beyond this, which will allow you to focus on the condition and layout of the building. Try to focus on the potential of a house and this will open your mind up to think about what you can do rather than what you do not want to do.  In the whole process of buying a house, decorations and furnishings should be the least of your concerns, given that there are so many other serious problems that could arise.

Internally, you should look closely at the internal wall surfaces for signs of dampness.  This will include visible damp patches, peeling or flaking paint or possible peeling wallpaper. Dampness can occur in a building in many ways such as rising damp, penetrating damp and also condensation. In ground floor rooms pay particularly close attention at low level especially on the inside surface of external walls. Any damp identified above a metre and a half above ground level, will not be rising damp and may be a result of leaking plumbing or possible damp penetration from poorly maintained gutters and downpipes.  It is not uncommon for condensation mould to be present, especially in kitchens and bathroom.  This is due to the activity and subsequent high concentrations of water vapour in these rooms. Condensation could suggest poor ventilation, poor thermal insulation to external walls or possibly inadequate heating, or a combination of these.

If you identify dampness or cracking during your visit then bring these to the attention of your professional advisers. Hopefully the above information will help those who are unfamiliar with buildings to identify some warning signs that would suggest further investigation.  A Surveyor will undertake a detailed and comprehensive survey, if instructed, and this will provide you with an explanation of the condition of a building together with the likely cause and recommended remedial works.  So if you undertake a viewing and you identify some of the issues discussed above you may decide not to pursue that particular house any further or to seek further professional advice.

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Internal measured surveys - You have to draw the line somewhere!

Errors or omissions in a drawing can result in serious consequences which can manifest themselves into confusion and disagreement, delays, additional costs and ultimately disputes. These problems can be avoided by ensuring that those who undertake measured surveys are adequately trained and supervised.

Source: www.easyplanbirminghamsouth.co.uk

Drawings are arguably the most effective form of communication within a construction project and are used at all stages.  It is therefore fundamentally important that all of those who are responsible for taking measurements and preparing drawings understand the significance of what they are doing. The 'life' of a drawing will be developed throughout a project and will vary depending upon the complexity and type of project.  For example concept drawings may be required, which can then become initial design drawings, followed by detailed design drawings.  From this stage the drawings could then be developed into construction drawings and used for tendering and also contract drawings.  Eventually, the drawings will become 'as built' and will be included into a Health & Safety File, a requirement under the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015. The above examples of where drawings could be used in a construction project is not exhaustive, however demonstrates their importance.

Errors or omissions in a drawing can result in serious consequences which can manifest themselves into confusion and disagreement, delays, additional costs and ultimately disputes.  These problems can be avoided by ensuring that those who undertake measured surveys are adequately trained and supervised.  It would be very unwise to assume that undertaking a measured survey is a simple process and a skill that everyone should naturally have.  This is because buildings differ significantly in size, construction and form and the amount of information needed will vary depending on the scope of the project. One thing however that is for certain is that undertaking a measured survey is far more than just obtaining dimensions! A common issues I often found with my surveyors when undertaking an internal measured survey would be that they would sometimes miss key information such as floor to ceiling heights, window cill height, joist direction, services intake of a building, diagonal check measurements and sometimes even forgetting to note wall construction. If a re-visit is necessary to collect missing information then this will be a cost to the business and can impact on profitability.

Source: www.puresurvey.co.uk

It is important that the right measuring equipment is taken and used. This will include a folding measure and 5 or 10 metre steel tape (or both) for measuring shorter distances and 25 metre tape and a trundle wheel for measuring longer distances.  Nowadays a digital measure will also be taken which can also be used to obtain, rooms sizes (sqm) as well as single dimension measurements.  When using measuring equipment the 'Surveyor' should be fully aware of the limitations of the equipment and also have an appreciation of distance to be able to discern whether digital dimension are accurate or not.  This is because inaccurate readings can be obtained from a digital measure when the laser comes into contact with reflective surfaces or glass.  If the Surveyor was to write down the measurement without asking themselves if the reading is reasonable, they will have problems when they return to the office and start to prepare their drawings.

Whilst undertaking a measured survey on site the Surveyor must appreciate that either they, or maybe somebody else like an Architectural Technologist will have to interpret the information that has been collected on site in order to prepare the drawings.  Many times I have witnessed Surveyors and Technologists look with complete dismay at a piece of paper in the office that has been given to them by someone who has undertaken a measured survey.  This is because what they are looking at is a rain drenched, smudged, excuse for a drawing that is so 'busy' with lines, dimensions and other information that it is difficult to tell the difference between each!, and they are expected to produce an accurate drawing from this!

To help minimise omissions and errors in drawings there are some simple basic techniques that can be very useful when undertaking measured surveys.  Firstly, I always advised my Surveyors to draw the building footprint (in pencil) first, before taking any dimensions, The pencil could then be overdrawn in pen later.  This would ensure that the drawing was well proportioned and avoid 'squashing' information into a small corner of a piece of paper, because there is no room left on the sheet, toward the end of the survey.  Next, use different colour pens for recording information.  It is much easier to interpret a drawing if say the building outline is in black, dimensions are in red, construction details are in green, sockets, switches and radiators are in blue etc.  Next, when using measuring tapes particularly for longer distances, ensure that there are no twists in the tape and that it is a tight as possible to avoid deflection.  Surveyors must also ensure that dimensions are taken at the same height.  For example is one Surveyor is holding the tape just above the skirting board and at the other end the Surveyor is holding the tape half way up the wall this could result in a significant inaccuracy in a single dimension.

The importance of a comprehensive and accurate measured survey cannot be understated, which can only be achieved through appropriate training and supervision.  Organisations should ignore this at their peril!

Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and colleagues who you think would be interested

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.

Professional Fees - Cheapest price very rarely represent best value!

Suicidal fee bidding does not do Clients or Consultants any favours and in fact serves just to undermine the credibility of the built environment professions

Source: http://luxuryactivist.com

We live in a very competitive world and in recent years due to the global economic downturn it is fair to say that businesses have had to adapt, diversify, and often downsize just to survive.  A successful business will also adopt a similar approach on an on-going basis, as a growing business will face similar challenges, all be it from a more positive perspective.  Gaining new and regular business is the key to the success of any business no matter where we are in the economic cycle and a key part of this is trying balance our professional fees so that they are competitive enough to attract new business and at the same time make a profit.

Businesses may be in a position to offer very competitive fees if they can tailor their services to be ‘lean and mean’, however, like myself, I am sure many reading this will have come across examples where they have submitted what they feel is a very competitive fee proposal only to find out that the Client has selected an alternative bid, for a fee that seems ridiculously unsustainable.  There comes a point where a Consultant has to question why they are doing certain things and working for ridiculously tight margins is not good for the long term viability of a business as well as undermining the value of good professional work and advice generally.  Clients should however be vary wary of selecting Consultants on the basis of lowest fee as they will often find that cheapest price very rarely represents best value.

Clients are perfectly entitled to expect as much as they can for their money, but Consultants do not do themselves, their Clients or indeed their professions generally, any favours by trying to undercut their competitors by submitting unsustainable fees.  One may argue that the sustainability of a fee will vary from business to business as overheads will also vary depending upon the size of a particular business.  A Client will therefore be well advised to carefully scrutinise all fees, particularly the lower fees, to establish precisely that their brief will be met, within the timescales provided with the resources needed including the level of personnel necessary. The adage, ‘you get what you pay for’ comes to mind.  A Client who selects a Consultant’s fee without suitable analysis, particularly a fee which is considerable lower than other bids, may be faced with a Consultant who is continually struggling to make the fee work for them, possibly resulting in a poor quality service, missed deadlines and disputes. 

There are a number of ways in which a fee can be calculated, from a percentage fee based upon the projected cost of the project to a lump sum fee which will be calculated based upon the amount of time likely to be spent on the project and the level of personnel and resources needed.  Either way carries an element of risk to the Client and to the Consultant. This emphasises why fee calculation and fee bidding is such an important part of a business. 

Source: http://www.123rf.com

Arguably the success of any project can be measured by time, cost and quality, none of which are mutually exclusive.  By selecting a Consultant based upon cost alone (lowest fee), no account may be taken of the impact of time or quality.  So for example lowest fee (cost) may impact on the level of personnel that will be allocated by a Consultant to the project, which could be inexperienced/junior member of staff, which can effect (quality) and deadlines (time). Nowadays, savvy and may I suggest sensible Clients do not rely on fee value alone for selection of their Consultants but adopt a much more robust method of cost AND quality. 

A cost and quality approach to procurement of Consultant services provides a Client with a much more thorough way of ensuring that the selected Consultant helps them to achieve value for money.  Granted, this approach is more time consuming than inviting fee bids alone, as it often requires a quality submission and interviews as well as assessment of fees. The advantage however is that through the quality assessment and interview, the Client can review the Consultant’s track record of similar projects, discuss and meet key personnel, discuss deadlines, establish how best value will be provided and so on.  This will enable to Client to understand exactly what each Consultant will provide and give them the opportunity assess which Consultant they feel will give them best value.  Therefore a Consultant who submits a fee which may be higher than other fee bids, still has the opportunity of being selected as the Client, through the cost and quality procurement procedure may decide that the higher bid represents better value than a lower bid.

To conclude, Clients need to take time when procuring the services of Consultants to understand what the Consultant will provide for their fee and to establish whether they are getting best value.  Consultants on the other hand will always remain competitive with their fees however this should not be at the detriment of their bottom line.  Suicidal fee bidding does not do Clients or Consultants any favours and in fact serves just to undermine the credibility of the built environment professions.  If the general public want and expect high quality Professional Consultancy services then we should not give the impression through the fees we charge that they can buy these services from a high street discount store.  There is nothing wrong with healthy competition, however if Consultants continue to undercut each other and submit unsustainable fees, then this is not healthy competition but professional suicide, which is not in the interests of the general public because as we have seen, lowest price very rarely represents best value.

Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and colleagues who you think would be interested

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Stock Condition Surveys - Part 2 – A Consultant’s Perspective

Above all, the success of a stock condition survey will be down to good organisation, management and leadership

In last week’s article I discussed various reasons that may motivate a Client into undertaking a stock condition survey and identified a number of key factors that need to considered prior to engaging a consultant for delivery of the surveys.  This week, after a brief explanation of how data capture has evolved over recent years, I want to view things from ‘the other side of the fence’ and discuss issues that a consultant may encounter in both the pre and survey stages.

A short history of data capture

'Older' Psion Handheld Data Collector - Source: http://www.codeo.co.uk/

Over recent years technology had moved on at a rapid pace and there are now numerous hardware and software packages on the market that enable surveyors to carry out surveys ‘electronically’.  I have been lucky enough to be involved in stock condition surveys over the last 20 years, which initially were all undertaken on site by hand, usually with a pre-prepared proforma.  This then developed into the first iteration of electronic data capture in the form Psion handheld’s.  These were large ‘bulky’ pieces of equipment which were difficult to navigate through, and were extremely limited in their capacity to store data.  At the end of each day it was necessary to upload the information from the handheld via a docking station, which often led to ‘technical issues’ which sometimes resulted in data being lost, which was very frustrating.  Battery life was also an issue for Psion handhelds, where it was necessary to take back up battery packs with us to allow us to stay on site for a full day.  As technology advanced we started trialling onsite data collection with smaller and slimmer PDA’s and Palm Pilots.  In the early days these were extremely ‘sluggish’ on site, as the capacity to store data was often limited.  I can remember that one of my clients had produced a proforma that required recording of so many attributes that the PDA became unusable. We had to recommend a significant re-drafting of the proforma in order to be able to continue with the survey.  Nowadays tablet’s have emerged as the new way of collecting on-site data.  These have built in camera’s, have much larger built in memories, are light weight and can offer unparalleled back up facilities.  With a number of specialist stock survey software packages available we now have both hardware and software to make the whole process faster and more efficient. Although it is worth stating that however advanced hardware and software may become,  the accuracy and value of the data will always come down to the knowledge and expertise of the surveyor.

Pre-survey stage

It is highly unlikely that the cost of a stock condition survey will exceed OJEU thresholds therefore the content of a tender submission will be down to the requirements of each individual Client.  At this stage it is vitally important for a Consultant to read the tender documents thoroughly to establish the scope of the survey and therefore assess the resources that will be needed to deliver what the client is expecting.  Although very significant, resources do not just relate to the survey team.  Purchasing hardware and obtaining software licences can be extremely expensive, which if not adequately considered could significantly reduce the profitability for the Consultant. Also, a Client is likely to have their own in house Asset Management system/database and are likely to require data collected during a stock condition survey to be compatible with their system. There are numerous examples of asset management software such as Orchard or Atrium to name a few, however a Consultant will need to become familiar with a Client’s particular system, which will involve consultation and possible training. In fact establishing a Client’s existing asset management processes and systems is fundamental to helping to a Consultant deliver a successful stock condition survey.

Source: http://www.mdyson.co.uk

The deadline is also fundamentally important in planning the survey and also for fee calculation.  A delivery programme should be formulated at the earliest possibly opportunity, working back from the client’s deadline. The programme should include all pre and post survey activities including consultation with the Client, planning, pilot surveys, training of staff, arranging access, on site surveys, quality assurance checks, moderation and validation, reporting, etc.  The amount of inspections that are required (which will be determined by the target sample size) will determine how many surveyors will be needed.  It may be that during the preparation of the programme that a Consultant will realise they will need more surveyors than they first thought in order to achieve the deadline. This will subsequently impact on the amount of hardware and software licences that are needed and therefore the fee that is likely to be charged. 

Survey stage

Once a Consultant has been awarded a contract to deliver a stock condition survey there are number of things that can be done to ensure that the deadline is met and that the data collected in accurate and consistent:

Good leadership – It is extremely important that a Consultant appoints an experienced member of staff to oversee and take charge of the stock survey, right through to completion.  This individual should have been involved in the tender process and therefore understand the Client’s requirements, be able to manage a large team of surveyors, be able to incorporate and manage a robust quality assurance system and act as liaison with the Client. A Consultant should never underestimate the complexity of delivering a stock condition survey and unless a suitable ‘leader’ is appointed to manage the project, then the whole process can become chaotic and poorly managed and will ultimately result in failure.

Training – Quality of data and consistency are important in ensuring that the data can be confidently used in the future for a variety of different things.  Achieving this however is always one of the biggest challenges a Consultant will face and one of the biggest frustrations that a Client will encounter if the information received is of poor quality.  The problem with undertaking any inspection is that different surveyors could inspect exactly the same building but actually produce a different assessment of an element or an attribute.  This is human nature and although impossible to avoid, it is possible to manage.  What a Consultant should be trying to achieve is that surveyors are looking at elements/attributes in the same way and although they may not arrive at identical assessments, they should be very similar.

Prior to letting my surveyors undertake on-site surveys I would give them lots of information which would include definitions of physical condition, priority, user effect and risk rating etc. (This would vary from survey to survey, depending on the Client brief).  The table below provides an example of typical definitions that could be used:

Average Physical Condition	Priority	User Effect Rating - Effect on users of the building	Risk Rating - Effect of condition of the feature/element have on user
A - Good	1 - Urgent Work  (0- 3 months )	1 - Significant effect	1 - High Risk
B - Satisfactory	2 - Essential Work (3 - 24 Months )	2 - Some Effect	2 - Medium Risk
C - Poor	3 - Desirable Work (24-60 Months)	3 - Little Effect	3 - Low Risk
D-  Bad	4 Work not to be carried out Within 5 year plan

I would then arrange a half day workshop with the whole survey team, including administration support staff, where amongst other things we would discuss the definitions and use examples to assess how individual surveyors would consider a particular element/attribute. During this meeting we would also discuss and use the hardware/software that was going to be used for data collection, discuss access issues, time-frames and the quality assurance procedure.  These types of meeting are invaluable as it gives the survey team the opportunity to understand what is expected and raise any questions they may have.

Source: http://www.vdpdirect.co.uk

Quality Assurance Procedures – As discussed throughout this article, quality assurance processes are an extremely important part of the whole process.  When managing large condition surveys I would spend a few days out on site with each member of the survey team during the first few weeks of the survey. This enabled my surveyors to ‘iron out’ any uncertainties whilst I was present and to ask further questions as needed.  When the data was uploaded I was able to view this through the relevant asset management database and I was able to add filters so that I could generate numerous reports throughout the whole time that the data was being collected.  I was then able to question things that appeared to have been missed where data fields were empty, or ask questions where surveyors had identified high priority issues etc.  This enabled data to be corrected where necessary and sometimes identified surveyors who I needed to spend more time with who clearly required more training.

To consider every aspect of a stock condition survey in such a short article would be impossible.  Hopefully, I have discussed some typical aspects of what can be a complex process to manage and deliver.  Above all, the success of a stock condition survey will be down to good organisation, management and leadership which will incorporate all of the various factors I have discussed above.  Once the process is set up and organised correctly the data collection is usually reasonably straightforward. In order for this to be achieved there needs to be a great deal of planning and consultation many months before the data is collected onsite, if this is not undertaken then a Consultant is likely to encounter serious difficulties in meeting the expectations of their Client.

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Stock Condition Surveys - Part 1 – A Client’s Perspective

Many Client organisations will not have the skills and resources available in-house and will therefore use external consultants for delivery of stock condition surveys due to their scale and complexity.  The choice of consultant is fundamentally important to the success of the survey and clients should be very thorough in their selection and procurement processes

Source: http://www.bsetservices.co.uk/

For many years in my professional career I was responsible for advising, organising and managing numerous large stock condition surveys for a range of Local Authorities and Social Housing Providers. The prime motivation for the stock survey usually revolved around stock transfer, strategic planning related to asset management and business plans, or in the case of schools to follow a prescribed method such as the Department for Education and Skills Asset Management Strategy (now the Department for Education).  My involvement would often include helping each of the various clients to understand what they wanted (as there was generally a lack of real understanding), to set the scope of the surveys, to manage and co-ordinate large survey teams and to present the data in an understandable and useable way. 

If you are currently planning for a stock condition survey or maybe you already have one in progress, then there are many different things you need to consider in order to try to ensure that the data collected and indeed the outputs from these are actually what you intend.  I can think of numerous examples where Clients encountered difficulty in managing/coping with the vast amount of data that was produced, and once received, they were not exactly sure what to do with it.  This is why a successful stock survey requires many months of planning and organising.  From a Client organisation perspective there needs to be a well organised strategic approach, establishing precisely what is required and importantly how this will be achieved. The information below identifies some key issues which should be considered:

What is the purpose of the stock survey?

A very simple question which often produces a variety of different answers. The answer to this will actually set the scope of the survey and will decide what outputs are required, so if there is a lack of clarity at this point then the whole process becomes confused. Therefore, will the data be used to plan future work packages, if so, over what period of time? Will the data be used for strategic planning and be incorporated in a business plan? or maybe assessing current and future repairs and maintenance liabilities, or possibly consider statutory compliance or maybe a combination of these. These examples are not exhaustive, however demonstrate the wide range of possibilities that a stock condition survey could be used to achieve.  It is only possible to move onto the next stage of the process once an Client/organisation can provide a clear answer to this question.  Only then is it possible to start to look at the scope of the survey, the attributes to be recorded, the sample size (will this involve cloning?), the required outputs, deadlines and also the available budget (for the condition survey).

Source: http://cool.conservation-us.org

I remember one particular organisation I was advising, a Local Authority, who required a stock condition survey for their commercial building stock.  This included buildings such as community centres, libraries, leisure centres, offices and numerous other public buildings.  In total this amounted to approximately 400 different buildings, so not a large stock survey, but challenging due to the diversity of the different buildings.  I became involved at a very early stage and it soon became clear that there were differences of opinion in respect of what was required to be achieved within the client organisation itself.  One particular senior manager was insistent that the data collected should be used for strategic asset planning and also to assist with much lower cost day to day maintenance. This manager was adamant that the survey should record things like door handles, hinges, taps, plugs, sealant etc. therefore taking the required attributes to a ‘micro level’.  I highlighted the consequences of this approach in terms of the high cost of each survey due to the amount of time the surveyor would be on site, the difficulty in consistency of recorded information if you provide surveyors with too many choices, and also the limitations of the hardware at the time.  In the end I was able to steer this particular client down a much more sensible road. This demonstrates some of the challenges that may be encountered, through lack of understanding.

Choosing the right people

Many Client organisations will not have the skills and resources available in-house and will therefore use external consultants for delivery of stock condition surveys due to their scale and complexity.  The choice of consultant is fundamentally important to the success of the survey and clients should be very thorough in their selection and procurement processes.  Many consultants advertise their experience and skills in delivery of stock condition surveys, however there are some important factors that should be considered when selecting consultants for this type of work:

Resources – Based upon what you have detailed in your brief, what resources will the consultant provide to the project to ensure that the data collected will be appropriate and consistent and also achieve the deadline that you have set?  It is important to find out precisely who will be carrying out the surveys (ask for CV’s), and who will be responsible for managing/overseeing the survey.  Consultants will usually calculate their fee based upon the amount of time they are likely to spend on the project and the level of staff that will be needed.  For large stock surveys what tends to happen is that less experienced staff (newly qualified, or those undertaking professional qualification such as APC or sometimes agency staff), are used for the bulk of the surveys and a more senior member of staff is used to oversee the project.  This can work as long as the senior member of staff, undertakes robust quality assurance checks of the data being collected and undertakes continual training throughout the process with the surveyors in order to maintain consistency.  The whole process can easily break down if a consultant does not manage the process in this way and will lead to incorrect/inconsistent data being collected.  This should never be allowed to happen and is something that a Client should explore during the procurement process.

Source: http://www.kykloud.com/

Procurement – All Clients will have a budget available for a stock survey and in fact this is something that helps define the scope of the survey.  If you want a Consultant to understand what you require and you want a reflective fee for their services then you must ensure that your brief is suitably detailed and clear.  This probably sounds obvious, however I have prepared endless tenders for many different types of work, where there briefs provided are so vague or poorly written that it is difficult to understand exactly what the Client is looking for.

Prior to tendering for the ‘main’ stock survey, my advice would be to invite a number of Consultants to tender for a ‘pilot survey’.  This will enable each Consultant to demonstrate their resources and capabilities for a small number of surveys, as well as finding out what works, or maybe does not work, before ploughing on with the bulk of the surveys.  This exercise could form the first part of the selection process, which should also be preceded by Consultant interviews. This may sound like a lengthy process, however it is extremely important to appoint the right Consultant. This approach may well reduce the possibility of serious issues arising either during the survey process or when you come to rely on the data that has been collected.

Consultant’s Fee – Always analyse precisely what the Consultant has included with their fee.  If your tender documentation, including your survey brief are sufficiently detailed then the Consultant should have provided a fee to reflect what you have asked for.  If not, and the consultant has included their own ‘inclusions or interpretations’ then this will make the fee very difficult to compare with other tenders. This should not happen, as this could invalidate a tender, depending upon the method in which tenders were issued. In any event there needs to be a detailed tender analysis in order for a Client to satisfy themselves that the Consultant can provide precisely what they want for the fee they have provided.  Never be tempted to look at the headline fee alone, as without looking you cannot know what (or what is not) included within that fee.

In next week’s article I will consider stock condition surveys from a Consultant’s viewpoint and provide some examples of how I used to manage large stock surveys.

Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and colleagues who you think would be interested

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.