Hi

How much would I be expected to pay for a contamination report needed for planning?
I have been quoted 5k....this seems astronomical to me!

Depends upon the Planning Authority and the site but I have done them myself in the past. The first step is to dig into the history of the land and identify the probability of contamination. If it is low then a report stating that may be sufficient.

As the law regarding contamination surveys has recently changed in many areas of the UK, I thought I may be able of offer some updates on this subject. (I put my hands up and declare an interest at this point as I own a Phase 1 contaminated land consultancy, which is carbon neutral - the only one that is).

Most planning applications for new builds and conversions, (barns to homes/offices) now require a contamination report to be submitted here in the South West. Teignbridge District Council are the latest to mandate these reports. The stages of investigation are phased.

Phase 1 is the desktop study and site walkover. At this stage the idea is to perform a risk assessment and to decide if further work is required.

It is very important as an in depth report at this stage can save you having to carry out any further work by performing a proper risk analysis of the issues raised.

Sometimes, the remediation of the site is in no ones interest but a contractor. For example, on a marginal site with a moderate risk of ground gas infiltration which already requires full BRE211 radon protection, suggesting to the planners the installation of full ground gas measures would likely remove the need for gas monitoring as you are already building to the standard for gas contaminated land and you know that gas infiltration will not be a problem.

We recently saved a client £10k of investigative work with that approach. I know from experience that the gas data from such sites is likely to be inconclusive, show a small risk and that PI would dictate that you just recommend the BRE measures anyway, so why subject the client to the delays and cost of a gas contam investigation?

Obviously if the records indicated a high risk of gas contamination or migration, as in the case above, then the issue is forced, but in most cases there is simply the liability to consider. Unfortunately, that sort of attitude is quite rare.

The key is making sure you obtain developer advice related to your specific build or project and that the consultant is up to date with the legislation or you are wasting your money. (All changed again in summer 2009 yet we see references to data revoked in 1999 all to often).

Phase 2 is the investigation if it is deemed to be required after Phase 1.

Phase 3 is usually the remediation and 4 the testing and confirmation that the issues have been delt with.

A thorough Phase 1 carried out by a good consultant is vital. I can offer free advice to any person on these forums. I don't want to violate the no ads policy, so please PM me or email us info@cg-e.co.uk.

Many thanks

Peter