Surveys, Investigations
& Opening-Up Works
ALU helps your project team replace assumptions about concealed construction with recorded site evidence. Working alongside appointed surveyors, engineers and other specialists, we plan access, undertake opening-up works and document findings so you can develop the remediation scope and advise your client on a better-informed basis.
Evidence to inform the remediation scope.
An unknown wall build-up can affect quantities, fixing design, removal methods and reinstatement costs. Targeted opening up helps the specialists establish what is present and where further checks are needed. For quantity surveyors, the value is a clearer distinction between measured work, reasonable assumptions and remaining risk allowances.
Our Services Include
Planning the Investigation
We agree the questions each opening needs to answer, its location and the recording requirements with the appointed specialists. The brief can identify materials, layer thicknesses, cavity dimensions, fixing arrangements or junction conditions.
Defining these requirements before site attendance helps make the investigation useful for both design development and scope preparation.
Access & Protection
We coordinate access, exclusion areas and protection around the investigation. Planning reflects the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) and, where relevant, the Work at Height Regulations 2005.
The proposed method must account for residents, services and the safe use of access equipment. Agreeing temporary protection and making good at the outset helps your team understand the complete investigation cost.
Controlled Opening Up
We expose the agreed areas so the appointed specialists can inspect concealed construction. Depending on the brief, this may include wall build-ups, cavity barriers, insulation, supports and junctions around windows, balconies or roof interfaces.
Recording the Findings
We record opening locations and observed construction against agreed references, with photographs and relevant measurements. Records distinguish what was exposed from what remains concealed.
These references help your team connect findings to elevations, proposed work items and specialist reports, supporting more traceable scope and quantity decisions.
Reinstatement & Close Out
We agree temporary and permanent reinstatement with the project team, including the required fire, weathering and finish details. Where findings prevent the planned detail from being used, we refer the issue for review before closing up.
Recording unresolved items helps keep follow-on design and construction requirements visible.
We investigate safely before disturbing the fabric.
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 require asbestos risks to be identified and managed before relevant work. Existing management information may not be sufficient for intrusive investigations; an appropriate refurbishment survey may be needed from a competent specialist. We coordinate the opening-up sequence around the required information and controls.
We use the evidence for the right decisions.
Opening up supports specialist assessment; it is not itself a fire risk appraisal or proof that every part of the façade is the same. Where a PAS 9980 appraisal of external-wall fire risk is required, the competent assessor interprets the evidence. We help provide the site access and records, with investigation limitations made clear so your team can judge what is ready to price and what still needs resolution.
How We Support Your Project
Define the questions
1
Agree what the investigation needs to establish and who will interpret the findings.
Prepare the works
2
Confirm access, opening locations, resident arrangements, hazards and reinstatement details.
Open and record
3
Carry out the planned works, support specialist attendance and document the areas examined.
Review and reinstate
4
Share the records, identify any further investigation needs and complete the agreed reinstatement.
Talk to ALU about your project
Tell us which uncertainties are affecting your scope or tender. We can help plan an investigation that gives your consultants useful evidence and your commercial team a firmer basis for the next decision.
Links for Further Guidance