Dimensure Design Audit

Find the mistake on the drawing, not in the ground

An independent review of your groundworks and civils drawings before work starts, on any project. Levels, drainage, foundations and every drawing checked against the others, with each problem logged, graded and given a suggested fix.

Send us a drawing packageDesign audit prices
Groundworks drainage and levels drawings marked up with highlighted problem areas on a site office desk

What it is: a pre-construction review of the groundworks and civil engineering drawings for any project, from a housing estate to a distribution centre, school or highway scheme, carried out by people who have built from drawings like them. You get a graded issue log with drawing references, a plain explanation of each problem, a suggested fix for your designer to consider and an indicative cost to put it right.

When
Before work starts on site
For
Anyone with groundworks or civils drawings
Report
Typically 5 working days
From
£495 per site

Why groundworks drawing errors cost so much

Groundworks is where design mistakes are most expensive to find late. A level that doesn't work, a drainage run that clashes with another, or a foundation that doesn't allow for a nearby tree is usually discovered with a machine on site, or worse, after the road is down and the houses are up. By then the fix means breaking out, re-laying, redesigning and re-programming, and the argument about who pays starts.

The same problem found on the drawing costs a revision. That gap, between a revised drawing and a dug-up road, is what a design audit is for.

What we check

  • Levels. Finished floor levels against roads, yards, car parks, footpaths and drives; gradients; falls away from houses; steps, ramps or retaining walls the levels need but the drawings don't show.
  • Drainage. Pipe falls and cover depths; invert levels that don't add up; foul and surface water runs that clash or cross badly; manhole schedules that don't match the layout; private and adoptable drainage that has been mixed up.
  • Foundations and structures in the ground. Foundation depths against nearby trees, drains and changes in level; bases, pits and chambers; foundation types that conflict with service runs or the external works.
  • Drawings that disagree. The engineer's layout against the architect's site plan, landscaping and setting-out; differences between revisions that have never been resolved.
  • Buildability. Sequences that don't work on the ground, access for plant, tie-ins to existing levels and services, and details that will be hard to build to tolerance.

What the report gives you

  • An issue log, graded high, medium or low by the likely cost and programme impact.
  • The drawing number, revision and location for every issue.
  • A plain-English explanation of what is wrong and what it would cause on site.
  • A suggested fix for your designer to consider.
  • An indicative cost to put it right, so you can see which issues matter most.

Suggested fixes are for your design team to review and confirm. Cost figures are estimates from typical rates, not quotes, and we don't carry out the work.

Who it's for

Any project with groundworks or civils in it: housing, commercial and industrial units, schools and public buildings, car parks, roads and highway works, and infrastructure schemes.

Designers and engineers

An independent check of your drawings from people who build from them every day, before they go out for tender or construction. We look at what will cause problems on site, so you can close them out before issue rather than answer them as queries later.

Housebuilders, main contractors and developers

Catch the problems before they become variations, delays or warranty claims. An audit before the groundworks package is let gives your technical and commercial teams a list of issues to close out with the designer, and a record that the drawings were checked.

Groundworks and civils contractors

Price and programme the job knowing where the drawings are weak. Raise the issues as technical queries before you start, not as disputes after you've dug.

Smaller developers and self-builders

A second pair of experienced eyes on a smaller scheme, where one levels or drainage mistake can wipe out the margin.

Where our responsibility starts and stops

We find problems; the designer fixes them. We explain each issue and suggest how it might be resolved, but the design team (whether that is you or your consultant) decides on and issues any change, and design responsibility stays with them.

  • No hydraulic, drainage capacity or structural calculations.
  • No approval or sign-off for adoption, Building Regulations or warranty.
  • No redesign or issuing of drawings.

Being clear about that keeps the report useful: it is a focused check by people who have built from drawings like yours, not a second design.

Check the drawing, then check the build

The design audit finds problems before work starts. Our road scans, slab and plot scans and tarmac depth surveys then confirm what's built matches the corrected design. Together they cover the job from issue for construction to handover.

Ask about a design audit

How a design audit works

  1. Send the package

    Every groundworks and external works drawing for the site, as issued, in PDF or DWG.

  2. Fixed price

    We confirm the price and report date from the size of the site and the package.

  3. We review

    Every drawing is checked on its own and against the others, using our analysis tools and site experience.

  4. Issue log

    Graded issues, drawing references, suggested fixes and indicative costs.

  5. Walk-through

    We go through the findings with your team, and re-check revised drawings if you need it.

See the design audit cost guide for prices.

Other services

Design audits across the Midlands and the UK

Questions we get asked

What is a groundworks design audit?

An independent review of the groundworks and civils drawings for a project before work starts. We go through levels, drainage, foundations and setting-out across every drawing in the package and report anything that is wrong, missing, contradictory or likely to cause problems on site.

Who is a groundworks design audit for?

Anyone with groundworks or civils drawings, on any project. Designers and engineers use it for an independent buildability check before issue; housebuilders, main contractors and developers use it to find problems before they reach site; and groundworks and civils contractors use it to price and programme a job knowing where the drawings are weak.

Does a Dimensure Design Audit redesign anything?

No. We find and explain the problem and suggest a likely fix for your designer to consider. The design team decides on and issues any change, so design responsibility stays where it is.

Does a groundworks design audit price the fixes?

Each issue can come with an indicative cost to put it right, based on typical rates, so you can see which ones matter most. It is an estimate to help you prioritise, not a quote, and we don't carry out the work.

What drawings do you need for a groundworks design audit?

The drawing package as issued for construction (or the latest tender issue): engineering layouts, levels, drainage layouts and long sections, foundation plans, the architect's site layout, landscaping and any manhole or setting-out schedules. PDF or DWG is fine.

What does a groundworks design audit not check?

We don't carry out hydraulic or structural calculations, approve designs, or sign off for adoption or Building Regulations. Those stay with your engineer and the approving bodies. Our job is to find the problems in what has been drawn.

How long does a groundworks design audit take?

Typically within five working days of receiving the full drawing package. Larger sites, or packages that arrive in parts, may take longer; we confirm the date when we quote.

Does a design audit check that details and specifications are shown on the layout drawings?

Yes, and it is where we find many of the faults. A detail or specification can be right on its own sheet but never carried onto the plan the gang builds from. A typical example is a compressible void former shown in the foundation detail and the key, but never marked on the foundation plan. We cross-check every detail, note and specification against the layouts and engineering drawings.

Who is responsible for the design after a groundworks design audit?

The designer, exactly as before. A Dimensure Design Audit finds and explains problems and suggests possible fixes, but we don't approve, redesign or issue drawings, so design responsibility and the designer's duties under the CDM Regulations 2015 stay with the design team. The client or contractor decides what to raise, and the designer decides on and issues any change.

What errors does a groundworks design audit typically find?

Most issues are drawings that don't agree with each other. Common ones are details or specifications missing from the plans, invert levels and cover depths that don't add up, manhole schedules that don't match the layout, finished floor levels that don't work with roads and drives, foundation depths that ignore nearby trees or drains, and revisions where one drawing changed and the others didn't.

Does a design audit check compliance with adoption standards?

It is not an approval. We flag drawing problems that are likely to be queried at adoption, such as private and adoptable drainage mixed up, falls or cover depths that look wrong, or highway levels that don't tie in. Technical approval stays with the sewerage undertaker under a section 104 agreement and the highway authority under section 38, and calculations stay with your engineer.

When is the best time to carry out a groundworks design audit?

Before the drawings are used to build, ideally at tender or as soon as the construction issue lands. At tender, contractors can price and programme knowing where the drawings are weak and raise technical queries early. At construction issue, designers and housebuilders can close issues out before work starts. An audit after work has begun still helps, but some problems will already be in the ground.

Book a scan or ask a question

Send the drawing, the location and when you need it. We reply the same working day with a fixed price.

Get a fixed priceEmail info@dimensure.co.uk
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