Document downloads - Environmental impact assessment
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Contamination, the environment and sustainability: Implications for chartered surveyors and their clients (ARCHIVE)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
The challenges presented by contaminated land and environmental issues, such as the flood risk caused by climate change, and the need to live in a more sustainable way mean that the demand for best advice has never been more important. Surveyors are uniquely placed to provide this advice to clients in all property sectors.
This guidance note aims to support and guide the professional activities both of those who are already highly proficient in this area and also those who are less experienced.
This publication was reviewed and a new standard was published in 2018: 'Environmental risk and global real estate'. -
Environmental Impact Assessment (ARCHIVED)
This document has been archived and is available on isurv for information purposes only.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a statutory tool for assessing the environmental impacts of development projects, and identifying measures that can be taken to reduce these impacts. EIA has been established in the UK since 1988, and has been made a statutory requirement for certain projects by the implementation of two key European Directives (Directive 85/337 The assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment and the subsequent Directive 97/11).
This guidance note provides an overview of the EIA process and considers the potential role of RICS members. Chartered Surveyors should be conscious of the EIA process, either as an integrated part of the planning/permitting process or as a separate procedure, and of the detailed differences for example in the nature and scale of proposals subject to EIA. -
Environmental consultant's appointment checklist
Environmental investigations and audits have for some time been a growth area and the number of consultancies has mushroomed. There are now over 400 consultancies in the UK. Therefore, close thought must be given to the selection process.
This is a checklist of factors to consider when appointing an environmental consultant. -
Environmental impact assessment checklist
Environmental impact assessment checklist for use with planning applications.
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An investigation of the issues raised for the construction industry in the United Kingdom by bats (RICS)
Published April 2002
The paper outlines the protection afforded to bats and their roosts, and how it is brought into force in the UK. This protection causes particular problems for construction, and many everyday construction operations that disturb bats and their roosts can be illegal acts. The need for liaison with the relevant statutory bodies is outlined and the detection techniques available for discovering bats are described. -
Daylighting and sunlighting
Published: October 2012
Effective from: 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. -
Environmental risks and global real estate
Published November 2018
Effective from December 2018
Reissued April 2024
Both in real terms and in the growth of legislation, environmental considerations affect real estate in all sectors. Increasingly, there are implications for how we buy, sell, use and value real estate.
This first edition professional standard is aimed principally at the land and property acquisition, disposal and asset management stages of the property life cycle. It aims to provide guidance to chartered surveyors who are not specialists in environmental considerations and management or in the preparation of environmental reports including Land Quality Statements and Environmental Screening Reports. -
The design, delivery and management of healthy buildings
Published October 2023
Health and well-being are becoming key considerations in built environment design and management for every property professional and discipline. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly challenging for surveyors and other built environment professionals to navigate healthy choices around building design decisions, certifications, products and operations, with new regulations and voluntary standards emerging that require detailed guidance and expertise.
With well-being also forming an important part of ESG, surveyors, funders and developers are keen to understand, enhance and measure the ways in which their property portfolios can support human health.
This paper is intended as an overview document and ‘one stop shop’ of guidance and key considerations, rather than detailed recommendations and actions for each discipline.