Double Edged Sword

Damned if you do, damned if you don't!

Running your own business is a tricky business, and is certainly not for the faint-hearted.  You need to be able to compartmentalise everything in your life to avoid the constant conflict and worry.

When you're busy you worry the work won't get completed.

When the work is completed you worry you've missed something critical.
When you issue the invoice you worry about being paid.

When the tender goes out you worry you've put in the right price.
When you're quiet you worry where the next job is coming from.
When the tender comes in you worry if you can get the work done.

I need therapy............

The essential key is the one to the office, make sure you lock it at night and leave all the worries behind.

You can't control the markets, you can't control the clients, but you CAN control your product.  

Remember why you started on your own, the benefits really do outweigh the negatives in the long run.  You can chose your hours to a point, you can do the school run or play with your children while they want to play.  

Short and sweet this time, but you can always find out more through our website, facebook, twitter or LinkedIn.

Surveying, Laser Scanning & BIM

Love it, loathe it, or simply indifferent towards it - the industry and the Government have taken BIM on board so we all have to keep up with times and adopt some changes to our working practices.

So whats this BIM all about then?

Not exhaustive, but you can see where we're come from

Simply put it's a database for buildings accessed through a three dimensional model.  BIM is akin to GIS (Geographic Information Systems) which has been around for years and now the technology has developed to a point where BIM (or Building Information Modelling) can be implemented across the board to make lives easier & more cost effective at the end user stage of a project.  The problem is that BIM is part of a project from inception, but it's real benefits will not be seen for 5-10 years after project completion.

But this doesn't affect me........

 

Leica C10 Laser Scanner

So why bother with it now as it is unlikely to provide us with a cost saving now? And how do we create this base model to build up from?

Well the basics lie in the Surveyors ability to create a 3D model of a site, something from a topographical stand point we have been doing for years but from a building stand point we are now having to utilise new technology to produce the required level of detail. As a general rule all buildings are surveyed in 3D and then flattened onto a 2D plane once back at the office, this is certainly true for laser scanning which can be used to create a fully referenced point cloud of a building, both inside and out. The real issue is down to cost, as Surveyors we can create the 3D model, but generally the client is only willing to pay for the 2D, when in reality the 3D has a far greater long term benefit.

Pure Point Cloud Data

Point Cloud Rendered in true colour

Laser scanning technology allows a massive amount of data to be collected in 3D in a very short space of time.  The images below show the results of two thirty minute scans, and about five minutes work in the processing software.  The first is a raw point cloud with rendering based on the intensity of the signal being received back from the surface being scanned.  The second image is the same raw point cloud but the colour from the photographs taken by the taken has been superimposed onto each point for a realistic impression of the site.  The next step from here to create the BIM model would be to mesh all of your scans (both internal and external) together and render the flat surfaces to remove the excess point data.  The results hopefully would be something similar to that shown below.

How far can we take you?

As Land Surveyors we can create the template of your existing building in a raw format, and given time we can develop our training to include the production of the bare bones model.  From this point on it is down to the Project Managers , and then the Estates team to develop this model to include the various functions it has the potential to record such as :-  

• Catalogues of all the light fittings, including replacement dates, suppliers details, costs
• Position & alignment of all cabling and pipes, again with their suppliers and replacement dates
• Basic room details and layouts

The potential is endless, but the on going maintenance of the system is essential.  Without constant up dating the system will soon become redundant and the whole process will need to be repeated at a much higher cost.  However keeping the system maintained will provide massive time savings when sourcing replacement parts, or even fabricating new elements into an existing system.

Want to know more?

1. The BIM task group have been set up by the Government to ensure delivery of the Construction Strategy.  
2. BIM UK is a central resource containing all references for best practices for incorporating BIM.  
3. Building.co.uk is a leading construction website covering all elements of the construction industry including BIM.

The last word...

Like it or loathe it BIM is coming and we will all be racing to keep pace with this development which has been common practice in some of our European neighbours for some years.

R L Surveys are Chartered Land Surveyors based in London & the south east.  For more details of the services we offer please visit us at www.rlsurveys.co.uk, alternatively we can be followed on Twitter Facebook  & LinkedIn.

Visiting the Wierd & Wonderful

Surveying is a very unique career in terms of the places you end up visiting & Surveying, so below is a list of some of the more unusual/unique places I've been, can you suggest anymore;

Sorry to the assistant on this one!

1) Port Lympne Zoo inside the Lion enclosure (they'd moved the Lions into their smaller side pen).  Still kept me on edge during the work just in case!  As you can see they still showed a lot of interest so the pogo remained at arms length - it is only wire after all!!!

2) Port Lympne Zoo inside the Rhino enclosure.


3) Central wicket at The Oval - setting out the boundary, a little add on to the main survey of the site.  How could we say no to that little request outside of the original spec for the work.


4) Aldwych Station (at night with failing torch!), now a disused station used for training everyone one from Surveyors with a new track trolley to the police armed response units, and some big budget films (I believe 007 in Die Another Day (although not 100%), and Sliding Doors).  It was under the guise of work, wandering off the end of the platforms to try out the then new Leica track trolley.

5) Roof Walk at Lincoln Cathedral, as a little bonus due to the work done for the on going spire monitoring.

6) Chelsea FC Training ground - yes those specs in the distance were the first team, and that is all they ever become just random people in the distance despite the hope of a misplaced football needing returning!!  - OK the picture is not of the training ground, but I was working close to the main stadium recently so this pic will have to do.

7) Camden Town Coroners Office - what was in the black bag?

8) Charing Crematorium - with behind the scenes tour, which was surprisingly interesting even if a little morbid.

There are many other locations I have been that most people in the general public don't have access to such as wandering down the runways of Heathrow & Stansted airports in the middle of the night (I was supposed to be there), inside the Tower of London carrying out a measured building survey, or walking along the tracks at the Eurotunnel terminal at Cheriton, even walking over the arches at Dover harbour - you know the ones at the ferry on ramps right at the waters edge.  They get very windy at the top!

Everyone has their stories, and in 13 years I have accumulated a fair few across five different Survey firms.  I'm sure the bigger the company the more obscure/prestigious the jobs - do you have anywhere different work has taken you?

For more information on the services R L Surveys offer please visit our website, or follow us through the wonders of social media Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIN.

2012 a distant memory?

That's all folks, 2012 has been put to bed and 2013 is just rubbing its eyes and working out what to do next.  Sadly for 2013 it has a big act to follow in 2012, but it can but try.

Whilst it is always nice to look back at the past, and revel in past success (or dwell on past failures) the only benefit is to learn and move forward, in this case, into 2013.  This year will bring around some exciting changes for R L Surveys in many ways, being our second full trading year we can look forward to:-

1. A increased presence in the boundaries market.  With a Chartered Surveyor on board we are now able to work through boundary disputes under guidelines laid down by RICS, the industries governing body, as well as push the other areas of boundaries such as demarcation & first registration.
2. With a new toy in the cupboard we are looking forward to providing a complete measured building survey services.  The final investment of 2012 was a Leica C10 laser scanner, the capabilities of which can be found on our website, or through this brief Youtube video (Thank you Paul Burrows of Leica).  This new piece of kit enables our Surveyors to carry out site surveys in a fraction of the time previously with a large element of safety, and a much much greater coverage of data.
3. Completion of our accreditation to ISO9001 which will give our customers peace of mind about the product we produce.
4. With these new developments we will need to expand our workforce to service the ever growing demands on our time, so again keep an eye on our website for the vacancies as they appear.

With those thoughts in mind it just leaves me to wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year.  Lets raise a glass to whats to come in 2013.

2012 - Still on Target?

2012 is our first full calender year of trading and, like most companies, we had SMART targets.  Oh yes I have been on those courses as well where you get deluged with acronyms.  Clearly some is getting through as our targets had been established, although there will be some overlap with calender and financial years lets see how we are doing....

1. Facebook Likes Target: 100, by July 2013. Currently 68
2. Linkedin Connections Target 300, by July 2013.  Currently 328
3. Twitter (@RLSurveys) Followers Target 200, by July 2013.  Currently 208
4. Blogger Views Target 1000, by end of 2012. Currently 1342
5. Topo Survey Enquiries Target 100, for 2012.  Currently 96
6. All survey enquiries Target 200, for 2012.  Currently 150
7. Set Up ISO9001, by end of 2nd years trading - Done
8. Achieve STEMS Silver, by end of 2nd years trading - Done
9. Maintain job tender to success ratio above 50% - TBC

So looking back at those figures we are looking pretty good for Year 2, although it does mean our goals and targets for 2013 need to be higher because achieving most of your goals with ease might be a good confidence boost but it is a little bit of hollow victory (see England v San Marino!!).

Out of the nine targets, five are already completed, one verging on completion, one will not be known until the end of the year, and two looking like coming up short - so if you're reading this and haven't liked us on Facebook pop over to www.facebook.com/rlsurveys and help us on the way, or better still if you have a survey that needs doing find our contact details on www.rlsurveys.co.uk, fifty tenders in two months it's a long shot but anything is possible!

Google Earth - useful tool?

The advent of Google earth & it's street viewer (other brands are available) revolutionised the way Surveyors could tender for jobs, we could actually see the site without leaving the comfort of our offices.  This meant less down time was spent on the tendering process, and there were far lower overheads required in preparing the tender (no travel, less time).  If they could bring out an online viewer for tendering internal measured building surveys it would be useful, but I think that really would be an invasion of privacy!

However since 29th June 2005 a lot of time has passed and the images used are becoming increasingly out of date.  Where Google shows a nice grassy site in 2005, by 2012 it's a little more of a challenge with brambles & nettles over your head.  All Surveyors at sometime or other have been caught out by this and under priced a tender.  You can try and get round this using a combination of websites to view the site at different points in time, but without regular updates on the photographs we may see an increasing shift of tendering through site visits coming back, which will of course mean pushing up costs to cover these additional overheads.  Where street viewer hasn't been there is the option of using the birds eye view through Bing which gives you a slightly better idea of the site than the flat aerial images, but again the situation on site is always liable to change - any chance we could get free access to MI5 satellites??

Some weeks ago I did see the 'google' car out and about taking new streams of photographs - I keep checking the site to see if I've made the cut but as yet the images have not be uploaded.  The last picture was taken in March 2009 (according to the site), so that would mean at least three years between images.  Has anyone else found any images from pre 2009?

For more information on the services we offer, please visit our website at www.rlsurveys.co.uk, alternatively you can follow us on Twitter (@RLSurveys), Facebook, and LinkedIn.

A Week in the Life

In this industry no two weeks are the same, but that is part of the enjoyment of the job.  This week has taken me from London to the middle of the River Medway via Hurstpierpoint in West Sussex!

Monday:  A small land survey for a client looking to extend an existing survey they had in Canterbury (one I priced and won for a previous employer by complete coincidence!).  The quote came in on the Friday, and we squeezed the work in on the Monday - so much for putting my feet up!

Tuesday: Up to Pfizers (Sandwich, Kent) for the day with Method Statement & Risk Assessment in hand, upon arrival the permits office gave me the news that no permit had been requested for the work.  However on discussion with the office I didn't need one, and the RAMS were not required as the work was on the public highway outside the site. Spent the rest of the day covering 10km of walking - you'd think taking in the scenery etc., but no it was over the same 200m of road walking up and down doing the survey!!

Wednesday:  Change of pace again down to Hurstpierpoint (West Sussex) to survey a 2.5acre garden for a potential extension to the existing property and garden landscaping.  This was combined with returning some hire kit to Opti-cal down near Gatwick airport.  The day started at 6, and finished at 6 for all those of you thinking I keep short hours!

Thursday: A more leisurely start setting out the ends of five gas pipes covered over by chalk fill at a local landfill which is in the process of being reclaimed.   Then from here I was off to an afternoon meeting with the CICES visiting the Hydrographic Office at Sheerness Docks, with a trip out on the Medway Surveyor to map a wreck just off the terminals for Grain LNG.  More pictures can be seen on our Facebook page, and eventually on the CICES website.  Fascinating to see Surveyors from other sectors at work for a change.

Friday: Hoping on a train up to London to carry out a measured internal survey for a property rental & future lease plan.  I was looking forward to nicely maintained property given the client, but found myself in the dark in a flat clearly not used for 20-30 years with ceilings falling part, a concrete floor covered in dust etc..  Of course on the plus side all the corners were easily accessible to carry out a quick survey, and give me time for a quick nephew cuddle (2 months old) on the way home.

So I've managed to clock up a ridiculous amount of miles in the car, on the train, and on foot.  It also means I now have a lot of data to process next week to issue the information out to the clients, although I did managed to process and issue work from Monday & Tuesday on the following day in an attempt to stay on top of my inbox.

Next week I'll be hitting Dover, Ashford & Upchurch at the moment, but that could easily be added to at any time.

For more information about the area we cover, and the work we do, please visit our website www.rlsurveys.co.uk.  To keep in touch we can be followed on Facebook, LinkedIN, and through twitter (@RLSurveys), alternatively you can subscribe to our bi-annual newsletter through the link at the top right of this blog.

The next blog will (I hope) be entitled - Advertising & Trade Shows.

What are the costs of a Land Survey?

It's the forgotten element of construction, but the bedrock of all developments (sorry not trying to offend anyone - we just start the ball rolling from a design and development process, everyone else keeps pushing long after we're gone).  You generally can't start without it but the cost of it is a risk since the development may never get off the ground, and any funds invested will never be recouped.  Hence no one wants to pay over the odds for a survey, yet they expect a good product at a low price.  But what does the price include - and no it's not just a full English at the local greasy spoon!

• Equipment Hire & Maintenance
• Cost of Processing Software (on going & one off)
• Salaries
• Insurances
• Travel to and from site
• A completed digital survey plan in either 2D or 3D
• If you've paid for it paper plots.
• Office Maintenance
• Professional Affiliations
• Ordnance Survey mapping and/or Land Registry plans
• This is not an exhaustive list ( I didn't even utter the word 'profit', but a good overview)

The largest determining factors in the cost of a Land or Measured Building Survey come from distance between site & office, and the length of site time required.  The first can be computed down to the mile (assuming we don't get lost), but the second is a personal perception based on years of experience.  But we do endeavour to provide an honest & competitive quote, and not add in cover for the 'just-in-case' scenario also know in professional circles as the buggeration factor.

Some of these costs are specific to certain jobs, other costs are those which must be spread out across a year and therefore are segmented down to each job - sadly this is more an educated guess than anything else but as with everything in life there will be some jobs which bare more of the cost than others.

A lot of clients have complained about the cost of a Land Survey in the past (with a former employer though).  We are now trying to work with our clients to offer a more tailored approach for pricing to avoid paying for unnecessary detail.  As a company we can set up our surveys to target any level of detail to find a price that is more in keeping with the speculative nature of Land Surveying.

For more details of the services we offer, and examples of our work, please visit www.rlsurveys.co.uk, or you can keep in touch with us on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter (@RLSurveys).

One year on

Well that's it R L Surveys has now completed one complete year of trading with relative success - we're still in business!!  Over the past year we have come from small back gardens through to larger by-pass projects & property refurbishments.  Whilst the first months we're tentative steps into a new world we have grown in confidence and are gradually positioning ourselves in the local market, of Kent, Sussex, Essex & London, as providers of high quality yet affordable Land & Measured Building Surveys.

All areas of our business have developed, & will continue to develop.  Most of these changes have been behind the scenes but our final product is something we are proud of and will continue to evolve to keep up with an ever changing market.

The biggest surprise to me has been the number of 'independent' Land Surveyors who are practising out there - you won't find these people on the internet they live off their own group of contacts & have no need to advertise to the wider market.  From time to time I come across these people & there is a real sense of a support network in trying economic times, there is no hesitation to pass work on if the capacity isn't there with their own business. We ourselves have been able to pass a number of jobs on to third parties, and it is no secret that the more grateful parties have been the smaller companies - no prizes for guessing where the work will go in future!  The flow of this work is literally nationwide, so maybe there is potential of a mini Survey Association.  A group of companies who work alone but when necessary can be stronger together....food for thought.

To avoid more inane waffle I thought perhaps a snap sot of some of our projects to bring a bit of life - no one likes endless blocks of text (this doesn't define my reading level!!)

From humble beginnings with hired kit........

to larger jobs with our own kit, on a sunny day......

to the impending drenching!!!!

Some higher profile clients.....

 

...and giving something back with the KCFG Team preparing for the 75mile Pilgrims Hospice Bike Ride

Ella Brocklebank (Morgan Sindall), Ben Trott (Mr Brocklebank!), Albert Walton (Epps Construction), Davina Walton (Alberts boss!).

What next for R L Surveys - branching out our marketing in the realms of Youtube with some imaginative videos, pushing the business further afield through a central office but perhaps establishing a satellite office?  Pushing the local business more through Networking & my personal favourite cold calling.  Introducing new, and growing our fringe, activities through Boundary Work, Setting Out & Laser Scanning.

As this is to be a long term business then I need to consider moving away from site, and learning to trust others with this responsibility to allow me to develop the business - it's a massive step letting go of the reigns, and I much prefer the site life than being in the office all day long - I could employ someone to be my boss....scratch that one boss is enough.

The facts from our first year:  Quotes: 95  Won: 40 Lost: 16 Unknown/Cancelled: 39
The financial facts: Like I'm going to put that on here, but needless to say it's above expectation.

Year one over, lets hit year two running.  If you'd like to subscribe to our quarterly newsletter please click this link & enter your details.  Don't worry it's not going to take hours to read it and we won't duplicate the blog.  And as always for more details of the services we offer, and examples of our work, can be found at www.rlsurveys.co.uk, or you can keep in touch with us on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter (@RLSurveys).

R L Surveys Ltd - Setting the Benchmark in Geomatics, for another year.

Remote Phone Numbers

A useful way of expanding your business into a new area without the cost of setting up a new office initially? Or a waste of money because everyone can do it these days?  Obviously 0845 is no way to go as it's far to generic but is a local number in another area much better?  I see a lot of businesses now coming up with the new 0203 number for London but clearly they don't have London based offices - so is it the way forward for a business on a limited budget?

If you have a local rate number surely the fees you charge have to represent the travel from that location, and not your head office location - this must be a big hit on the cost of getting to your 'official' starting point?  Do you have to back up your local rate number with a local address to add a little bit of weight to the concept & to get to into the wonderful world of Google places?

Perhaps I'm thinking it through too much and should just take the plunge for a few months, test the water and see where it leads sort of concept.  The alternative is Plan B - don't get larger get smarter and use a network of Surveying firms to create the illusion of a larger organisation but again this can be fraught with pit falls along the way, although I have seen a similar concept be fairly success in the Architectural environment - I think a little fishing exercise might be required......watch this space.

For an overview of the services we can offer, along with some examples of our work please visit our website at www.rlsurveys.co.uk.  Alternatively you can keep in touch with us on LinkedIn, Facebook (www.facebook.com/rlsurveys) & Twitter (@RLSurveys).  It would appear we are the Social Media Surveyors....possibly a new tag line?

Our Product

All these blogs and we have been concentrating on the business element of the work, but the important factor is the final product, as reputation is everything, and repeat business is your best source of income.  So what do we produce:-

Topographical Surveys or Land Surveys: 1:200 Survey Plans

Measured Building Surveys: Floor Plans & Elevations

It is impossible to get the true feeling for a survey from a tiny image on screen but is does give a good idea of what we produce, and we like to think that this is a product that will constantly be evolving.  Albeit some of the improvements will be in the stages leading up to this point, but any suggestions you might have on the presentation please let us know so we might incorporate them into the third presentation revision.  Till now the ideas have been solely ours, and great pains have been taken to avoid deliberately copying the format of any styles used by any of our former employers but the natural development of the product may take us that way anyway.

Please keep checking back as new products and services will gradually be added, but with less than a year on the books our pool of examples is limited (yet fairly diverse within themselves).


More details of the services we offer, and examples of our work can be found at www.rlsurveys.co.uk, or you can keep in touch with us on LinkedIn, Facebook (www.facebook.com/rlsurveys) & Twitter (@RLSurveys).

Seven months on......

Now well into 2012 business is gradually picking up to a gentle trot, and we're making massive movements in our Google ranking thanks to a exhaustive effort in the admin department. It's amazing how the last decade has seen the Internet become the central part of any marketing strategy. Has it made life easier - probably as you can reinforce points made to people during a cold call. Is it easy - no, but if it was that easy I wouldn't get phone calls everyday promising to get me on Page 1 of Google for a small fee!! Next challenge is to elevate our position on a number of our other 'benchmark' searches - namely Land Surveyors London!

As the business is evolving I'm finding the work taking me more and more into the realms of paper work - do we have a Health & Safety Policy, Environmental Policy, Quality Assurance Policy?? Sometimes paper work can take over, but with the long term goal being growth setting up correctly now will save no end of problems in the future.

Our results initial from 2011 so far are very promising with 23 tenders issued of which only 3 are confirmed as lost, 12 completed and paid for, and 8 outstanding! Not bad for two months full time work.

The next big company mile stone is the purchase of our own equipment which might mean a slight drop in prices (good news for all our clients) as we no longer have the significant headache of equipment hire for most jobs. But as with anything there will always be an exception.

Over the next few months I'll be looking at certain aspects of starting a business with topics ranging from Networking to ' Behind the Lens'. If you are looking to start your own business please feel free to make some suggestions and I'll gladly try and work them in when I have some free time.

Remember to keep following us through Facebook (www.facebook.com/RLSurveys), Twitter (@RLSurveys), and on our main page at www.rlsurveys.co.uk