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Wilbourn Associates has loaded the latest Environment Agency flood zones, flood defence benefit areas and flood storage areas data in to its database ensuring our valued clients continue to get the most up to date information in our reports.

Our brand new website has now been launched bringing you much more information and advice about our services. As the UK’s leading practice of Chartered Environmental Surveyors we are constantly developing our reports to keep abreast of legislative changes and client demand. The new website will allow us to be able to offer a better service by not only being easier to navigate but also to update with the latest news from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors as well as other industry related news concerning property, sustainability and the environment.

In response to demand from our valued clients we have developed a range of reports for the property market. The new reports, called the GreenLight Report, have a variety of uses and applications.

Starting at only £225-00 they have been designed to provide property, investors, legal and insurance professionals the information and security needed in order make wise property related decisions.

The Greenlight Reports use the latest environmental data on licence from bodies such as the Environment Agency, Ordnance Survey, BGS and Infoterra to provide either an environmental risk opinion or assesment. All of the reports in the GreenLight range are produced by experienced and skilled Chartered Environmental Surveyors.

Summary:-

• Ideal for surveyors, solicitors, banks, investors, estate agents
  
• Start from only £225-00 + VAT
  
• Compiled by Chartered Environmental Surveyors with over 18 years experience
• Multiple applications and suitabilities
• Scalable solution. If you need further work you dont pay for the same data twice!
  
• Post report advice and consultancy available

Summary of GreenLight Report range Go

If you have already comissioned a report (Envirosearch, Sitecheck or Enviroscreen) and need to take ‘Further Action’, appoint Wilbourn Associates to deliver an appropriate solution to your problem.
What further investigations do I need to carry out?

The investigations you will need to carry out will depend on why the property has received a ‘Further Action’. Enquiries to the local council are usually recommended, as they should hold details including site investigations, planning requirements and landfill monitoring.

The council also have a statutory duty to assess land within their borough which they believe may be contaminated under guidelines set by Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Wilbourn Associates www.environmental-surveyors.com can check to see if the property in question falls within or close to any of these areas.

Please note that most council’s will charge for a search for the information obtained from their records and may require payment before a search will begin.

Wilbourn Associates can provide tailor made services depending upon why the report received ‘Further Action’. We can provide:

A letter report following formal enquiries to the relevant authorities.

A visit to the property critically examining its environmental setting, current and historical use. Completion of the RICS property observation checklist, formal enquiries of the relevant authorities with a formal risk assessment in accordance with RICS guidelines in the form of an environmental screening.

In both cases, we can also consider third party reports in our commission.

How much will it cost?

For a letter report it will cost only £350.00 plus the cost of any enquiries and VAT.

If a site visit is required, the fee for a site of up to 1 hectare will be £750.00 plus cost of disbursements and VAT. For larger properties, please call us for a quote.

If there are other environmental documents which require interpretation, this will cost £95.00 per hour plus VAT.

How to instruct us

We would need a written instruction either by post or to our email address: instructions@environmental-surveyors.com We will also need the reference number found on the front page (in the format ES-12345678-1-12) but preferably a copy of the original report.

Please note, Wilbourn Associates are not provided with any reason as to why the original report was purchased. It will help us if you could tell us why the supplemental report is required.

How long will it take?

Wilbourn Associates aim to provide a report as quickly as possible, but much will depend upon how efficient local authorities are in providing the information we require.

Everything will be done to act as quickly as possible because we realise the need for swift decisive action to enable the project to progress.

Will we simply recommend future intrusive investigation requiring significant cost to you?

No. This is because high quality strategic advice is normally sufficient. However, there may well be situations where discreet targeted work is needed and if a property is being redeveloped it is essential for planning and development purposes.

In the early 1990’s there was a great deal of concern in the property industry about the so called registers of contaminated land.  It was proposed that these were to be introduced by virtue of section 143 of Environmental Protection Act 1990.

After years of debate, representation and lobbying by a wide range of professional bodies and stake holders in property; significant changes were made to the legislation and the regulations repealed.  As a consequence banks found themselves in the fortunate position whereby they were excluded from liability because of amendments made to primary legislation.  The reason why the banks were so concerned is that they were worried that by virtue of corporate lending that they could be exposed to significant claims of environmental cleanup and damage.

Thus the words “other than a mortgagee not in possession” added to the definition of an owner who was liable under the act and this is set out in section 78A (9) of Part IIA of the Environment Protection Act 1990.  In fact the definition of an “owner” under the act is as follows:-

“a person (other than a mortgagee not in possession) who, whether in his own right or as trustee for any other person, is entitled to receive the rack rent of the land or, whether the land is not let at a rack rent, would be entitled if it was so let….”.

Let us now spin forward.  The contaminated land regime has been operating for nearly 10 years and for many it has dropped out of sight.  Whilst a great deal of additional environmental due-diligence has been undertaken at a corporate level in many cases very little has been undertaken when a great deal was really needed.  On too many occasions banks and those other stake holders to any property transaction obtained environmental reports on a “least cost” basis.  It is seen as a “distressed purchase” rather than as adding value to the asset overall.    Although 45% of all commercial environmental reports require “further action”, only a fraction of those reports ever was acted upon notwithstanding many issues that needed to be articulated in a more formal report which would run with the property title.

It seems that there was too much profligate lending over the last 10 years and too much “tick the box” compliance with professional standards and not enough care and attention given to detail of what those outputs were actually saying to them.

So now the banks find themselves in the position of owning a significant amount of real estate where their loan to value has been eroded by the collapse in property values and re-financing is proving problematic.  They have become “mortgagee in possession”.  The number of properties which are distressed and in need of being worked as assets so that the bank can restore its balance sheet runs into the tens of thousands.  RBS alone is understood to have 66,000 distressed assets being worked on by a specialist department.

However, before the banks acted upon their obligations became “mortgagee in possession” did they carry out any secondary due-diligence?  There has been no upsurge in other demand for commercial environmental reports beyond the seasonal norm and as a result the answer is that none was carried out.  Therefore the banks are in the position of having to rely upon the quality of work that was undertaken by the investor/developer at the time of the banking covenants were entered into.  This in my professional opinion has often come up short where:-

• Assets were acquired using the cheapest possible report notwithstanding the complexity of the scheme;
• Where recommendations were made, these have not been acted upon.
• That planning requirements have not been fully complied with.
• Remedial work is incomplete.

This of course deals with the issue of contaminated land and there are new challenges on the environmental front posed by a growing body of European legislation such as the Environmental Liability Directive requiring that assets are restored to natural state, climate change with the increase incidents of flood risk and that 1 in 6 homes for example is affected by inundation and that clients demand more knowledge about how buildings function over the life-cycle of their occupation.

It isn’t just the bank who are coming up short on environmental due diligence.  Many pension companies operating a SASS or SIPP scheme have seen their numbers of enquiries plummet.  As a result short cuts in the acquisition cycle appear to have being taken with the onus being put on the pension scheme member to do everything.  Instead of guiding them through the process and making sure that their valuable pension monies are not placed at risk, the scheme administrators are all too quick to complete the deal and accept the fees.  There are of course exceptions to this practice where AXA for example the SIPP centre of excellence runs a high quality, highly proficient service at a reasonable cost.  But many others do nothing at all hoping that the issue will go away.  But when the scheme member wants to sell their asset, to cash in on the pension pot it is more than likely that any purchaser will do more not less due diligence in the future and the value will be impaired as a result.

To this end the RICS have updated and focused significantly on the importance of the green issues and its roll within all forms or real estate consulting.  The latest edition Contamination, the Environment and Sustainability; their implications for Chartered Surveyors is to be published in late 2009.  This makes the position crystal clear; that these issues cannot be ignored during the valuation process and the challenge for the Chartered Surveyor is to articulate how these issues affect all forms of real estate.  The new guidance note gives the Chartered Surveyor the tools to property advice and comment on all matters concerning contamination the environment and sustainability.  It has overhauled the property observation checklist which is expected to be used during the course of all surveys by any Chartered Surveyor in whatever sector to identify not just contamination but invasive species such as Japanese knotweed and the potential for flood risk.

The guidance note also forms part of the Red Book and introduces for the first time a sustainability survey which will be of immense use to corporate occupiers.

What is clear is that the pendulum of compliance should swing from ticking a box to doting I’s and crossing t’s but the banks need to specify in which font the I and T are going to be in.  More not less due-diligence is needed if asset value is to be protected and enhanced.

In a recent survey undertaken by the accreditation body Quidos Limited it was found that in the south-west just 22% of properties were complying with commercial energy legislation. This has been echoed by CEA Limited who advise that according to the latest surveys compliance of energy assessments accounts for around only 25% of the whole market with pressure on the government to take action.

Quidos published the results of an autumn study into commercial energy efficiency certification across several south-west regions, which they conducted with assistance from local Trading Standards officers.

Their report showed that Landlord compliance with Energy legislation for commercial property (currently for sale or let) was still very low, with only 22% of commercial property appearing to carry a valid energy certificate.

Quidos have stressed that the figures are at best illustrative and focussed only on the south-west, however they do highlight a lack of industry compliance which is likely to reflect the picture across the UK.

It is important that landlords and their professionals realise the certificates provide a valuable asset rating of the energy performance of buildings and that this data can and is being used to improve the energy efficiency, and more importantly increase the value of the property itself.

With low cost loans available from the Carbon Trust, energy saving improvements can prove to be capital neutral in the short term and revenue generating in the longer term. Furthermore, the re-cast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive states that penalties will be introduced for non-compliance and governments shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented.

This means that the government has to pull its socks up and ensure Trading Standards take action to ensure compliance. In response, Trading Standards in the south-west are now monitoring their areas and advising Landlords that there will be on-the-spot fines of up to £5000 if they fail to have their property surveyed.

For more information and to arrange for your property to become compliant please call our specialist team on 0114 243 5500 or email epc@environmental-surveyors.com. To ensure quality we employ both level 3 and level 4 assessors in house

Wilbourn Associates are becoming increasingly concerned when visiting commercial property that although many of the properties may have a Type 2 asbestos survey report the results of this survey are not being incorporated into a live asbestos management register document that is reviewed on a regular basis.

It is now nearly a year since the Health and Safety Executive launched its last asbestos warning campaign. The number of deaths is still rising because a large number of workers have already been exposed to asbestos dust around 40 years ago.  The HSE estimate that every week 3 plumbers, 20 tradesmen, 6 electricians and 6 joiners die.  The danger lies in the fact that many tradesmen think they aren’t at risk because asbestos was banned years ago.  They should be aware that asbestos may be present in any building constructed or refurbished before the year 2000.

Although an increasing number of buildings have been surveyed for asbestos containing materials it is estimated that around 500,000 non-domestic buildings could contain asbestos.  Wilbourn Associates are becoming increasingly concerned when visiting commercial property for surveying purposes that although many of the properties may have a Type 2 asbestos survey report the results of this survey are not being incorporated into a live asbestos management register document that is reviewed on a regular basis.  In many cases the necessary documentation is not even being held within the property.

Wilbourn Associates are keen to stress that Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations (2006) is a Duty to Manage NOT a Duty to Survey.  Many commercial organisations forget about the asbestos survey reports as soon as it has been completed and do not act on any of the recommendations within the report.

In order to encourage the management aspect of ACM’s identified within the survey reports, Wilbourn Associates as a matter of course undertake a prioritisation assessment alongside every survey inspection.  The results of the assessment are then fed into the asbestos management register to assist the client with their management process.

Wilbourn Associates can provide a quotation for asbestos surveys AND asbestos management plans on request.  Please contact us for more details.

For further information about this press release please contact Philip Wilbourn at Wilbourn Associates on 0114 243 5500 / 07973 797011.

As we enter 2010 Wilbourn Associates are offering all schools a FREE Display Energy Certificate (DEC) when commissioned alongside an asbestos survey ; It is a legal requirement that all schools have an asbestos management plan.

This should be reviewed and updated at regular intervals usually as a bare minimum on an annual basis. If your school does not have an asbestos management plan and survey Wilbourn Associates can undertake this so that you are compliant with the law.Should the school have a survey that has not been incorporated into a management plan and has not been reviewed on a regular basis we can also provide this service.; continue

Wilbourn Associates receive many queries from developers, architects, planning consultants, etc regarding the requirement for desktop studies into potentially contaminated land for redevelopment, particularly where residential development is involved.  Many of these are received late in the day where there is a danger that the planning application will be rejected because the relevant documents have not been submitted.

This evolves from the requirement for all planning applications to use the national 1APP planning application form since April 2008.  Section 15 of this document highlights the requirements of PPS23, the Government’s guidance on land affected by contamination.

PPS23 states that “because of the widespread potential occurrence of contamination, the possibility should always be considered, regardless of past land use, when development is proposed involving or introducing a particularly sensitive use such as housing with gardens, schools, nurseries or allotments.”

The guidance puts responsibility on the developer to ensure that a development is safe and suitable for use for the purpose for which it is intended.  The risks from potential contamination should therefore be identified and assessed at the application stage of the planning process using the 1APP planning application form.

Under Section 15 of 1APP the applicant is required to answer 3 questions regarding the potential for contamination.

1.    Land which is known to be contaminated?

2.    Land where contamination is suspected for all or part of the site?

3.    A proposed use that would be particularly vulnerable to the presence of contamination?

Question 3 is particularly important as this would include, amongst others, residential development (a single dwelling or more), schools, nurseries and allotments.  Therefore ANY development for these uses (regardless of the site’s history) would require an appropriate contamination assessment.  This will usually be in the form of a Phase 1 Study requiring a desktop study, site walkover and risk assessment by a competent and appropriately qualified person.

Wilbourn Associates have provided phase one environmental desktop studies in the form of Environmental Screenings for many years.  Our phase 1 environmental reports are regularly undertaken for developers wishing to comply with planning conditions relating to phased investigations.  We will be happy to discuss your needs for a Phase 1 report so please contact our consultancy team on 0114 243 5500.