Southwest Environmental Limited

Building Regulations Condition for Part A

It is becoming more and more common for some councils (Bristol City Council for example) to place conditions on their building regulations approval which would include the flowing statement:

"A site investigation report is required to justify the proposed foundation design:

• A - Provide a foundation layout showing depths to take account of nearby trees.
• B - Site investigation report to confirm foundation type and identify any contaminants (this latter is required as the whole of Bristol is now cited as 'brownfield' development the  minimum requirement is TWO representative soil samples, to be taken by an  independent environmental consultant and analysed for 'heavy' metals, speciated  polyaromatic hydrocarbons and petroleum hydrocarbons (PAH and TPH) and pH  (acidity). The results should be accompanied by a sample location plan stating the  depth at which the sample was taken and any other relevant information appertaining to  the sample, i.e. 'by fuel tank', 'under tarmac', etc."

SWEL can provide Building Near Trees Calculations with regards to point A. This will involving take some soil samples from site and having them testing for Plasticity. By determining the plasticity of a soil we can determine its shrink sell characteristics.

With regards to Point B SWEL can arrange to take 2 or more soils samples from you site, and have them tested at a laboratory so as to determine levels of contaminants.

If you would like us to carry out this service for you, then please email us (blue links top of page) to find out more. A site plan is handy to email over if you would like a quote.