Document downloads - Measured surveys
Available downloads
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Code of measuring practice
Published: September 2007
Reinstated: 23 January 2018
Effective from: 23 January 2018
Please note this document is in the process of being updated in 2025.
During this interim period, when using the 6th edition of the Code and/or IPMS: All Buildings (https://www.rics.org/profession-standards/rics-standards-and-guidance/sector-standards/real-estate-standards/international-property-measurement-standards), RICS members and RICS-regulated firms should continue to adopt the appropriate measurement basis so as to satisfy the requirements of the instruction. The basis of measurement used should be documented.
Code of measuring practice became globally effective in May 2015.
Please note, the RICS Property measurement standard 2nd edition has been archived and should only be used as a reference. -
Use of GNSS in land surveying and mapping
Published: May 2023
Effective from: 18 June 2023
This standard forms part of a series of specifications and guidelines intended to assist those connected with the requesting, purchasing and production of surveys and mapping material at all scales, by spreading good practice and seeking to avoid duplication of effort.
This document has been written primarily to provide:
- the surveyor with a set of practical operational guidelines, which can be used when undertaking any survey that includes GNSS techniques; sufficient information is also included to allow the surveyor to generate a set of GNSS survey procedures applicable to a survey task required by the client, and
- the client, or purchaser of spatial information generated from a GNSS survey, with sufficient information to write a task-specific specification for a GNSS survey, which sets out the accuracy requirements, products and a scope of work from which the surveyor can accurately produce a bid for the survey. -
Principles of measurement (international) for works of construction (ARCHIVED)
Published June 1979
Effective from June 1979
Archived 7 March 2023
A set of principles of measurement is essential to reduce widely varying practices and consequent disputes. Although there are an increasing number of contract documents requiring bills of quantities, often there is no framework within which they can be prepared, nor a commonly agreed basis of measurement. These principles, prepared by the RICS, provide a uniform basis of measurement. They are suitable for use where existing rules are inappropriate or where no rules exist. -
Measured surveys of land, buildings and utilities
Published November 2014
Effective from 8 December 2014
Reissued April 2024
This professional standard is designed for use by land, engineering and measured building surveyors who are acting in an advisory capacity and by survey knowledgeable clients who specify their own surveys.
This third edition supersedes the second edition. One of the primary changes from the second edition is the use of survey accuracy band, which takes into consideration client requirements for scale independent metadata and digital data handling environments.
This professional standard covers:
- project information
- survey accuracy, control, coordinate grid and datum
- topographic surveys
- measured building surveys
- underground utility surveys
- monitoring and deformation and
- deliverables. -
Terms and conditions of contract for land surveying services (ARCHIVED)
Published September 2009
Effective from 30 September 2016
Archived 9 December 2016
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
This document contained the main contractual terms and conditions for survey contracts, for small- to medium-sized projects, where a longer and more complex general contract was not required. -
Geospatial information and the surveying profession (ARCHIVED)
Published January 2010
Effective January 2010
Archived 9 December 2016
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
Geographic or geospatial information (GI) has become part of everyday life and is a growing worldwide phenomenon. No longer is GI the preserve of highly skilled professionals; instead many people in society use it on a daily basis, sometimes unknowingly. In-car navigation systems and instant access to satellite imagery through the Internet are just two of the enormous changes that have taken place over the past few years. The proliferation of websites that use maps, images and addresses is a clear indication that GI has become part of the norm for many people. Although many of the examples in this information paper are taken from the UK, the acceleration of GI is a relevant worldwide. -
Rights of light
3rd edition
Published March 2024
Effective from 1 June 2024
Produced by a cross-professional group specialist panel of associate and chartered surveyors, this guidance deals with easements known as rights of light and outlines current best practice for surveyors in this field.
A right of light as an easement requires various factors to be in in order to create or trigger the formation of the legal right. Due to the legal nature of rights of light, practitioners often work closely with specialist legal advisers.
Members should avoid exceeding the extent of their competence in reporting on legal rather than technical issues. -
Daylighting and sunlighting
Published October 2012
Effective from 18 October 2012
Reissued October 2023
This professional standard is about daylight, sunlight and shading and, to a lesser extent, how it is dealt with in the design, planning, and environmental impact assessment of developments, and particularly in relation to the Building Research Establishment Report: Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight 2011, which sets out the standards and methods of calculation most usually relied upon by local authorities when assessing planning applications.
Surveyors advising on daylight and sunlight need to ensure that they are familiar with that document and with the planning policy of local authorities to whom reports are to be submitted.
This document was reissued in October 2023 as a professional standard. It had previously been published in October 2012 as a guidance note. No material changes have been made to the document. -
RICS property measurement (ARCHIVED)
Published January 2018
Effective from 1 May 2018
Archived 9 June 2025
Please note this standard has been archived and should only be used as a reference.
RICS members and RICS-regulated firms should adopt the appropriate measurement basis from IPMS: All Buildings (https://www.rics.org/profession-standards/rics-standards-and-guidance/sector-standards/real-estate-standards/international-property-measurement-standards) or RICS' Code of measuring practice (https://www.rics.org/profession-standards/rics-standards-and-guidance/sector-standards/real-estate-standards/code-of-measuring-practice) so as to satisfy the requirements of the instruction. The basis of measurement used should be documented.