Information and knowledge about surveying, engineering and surveying equipment.
In every industry there are two ways of getting things right. One is to rely on the individual brilliance of the people doing the work: a steely-eyed foreman, a time-served fixer with a sixth sense, a site engineer who can spot a millimetre at thirty paces. The other is to design a process that makes […]
There Are Two Kinds of Costs in Construction The ones we eagerly count—materials, labour by the hour, plant by the day—and the ones we only encounter when Lady Luck deserts us: the rare, ruinous, reputation-shredding mishaps that arrive at precisely the worst possible time. Misaligned holding-down bolts belong to the second camp. And because they’re
The £1 Insurance Policy: How Centraliser Turns a Rare Catastrophe into a Non-Event Read More »
The dumpy level has long been a staple instrument on construction sites and in surveying practice. While its primary purpose is levelling, many dumpy levels include stadia hairs that allow distance estimation. This method — known as the stadia method — is clever, simple, and historically important. But just how accurate is it? Can you
How Accurate is the Stadia Method with a Dumpy Level? Read More »
There are 6 checks that need to be carried out on a Total Station to ensure that it is working properly. In this article I go through all 6 Total Station checks.
Checks on Total Station Accuracy Read More »
Introduction Holding down bolts are critical for the stability of steel-framed buildings. Yet, getting them in the right place during concrete pours has long been a challenge on construction sites. Even small misalignments can lead to costly remedial works, delays in steel erection, and headaches for contractors. Key Points from This Article The Centraliser is
Centraliser: A Simple Innovation for Accurate Bolt Positioning in Construction Read More »
Key Points from This Article If you’re in the market for an automatic (dumpy) level, it’s easy to get lost in technical jargon, endless model numbers, and bold marketing claims. Having worked with nearly every major level on the UK market over the past two decades—including multiple generations of Topcon and Leica instruments—I know what
In surveying, the level of accuracy you achieve is closely linked to the amount of time and care you put into the task. High-precision levelling isn’t just about reading numbers off a staff—it’s about carefully preparing, checking, and controlling every part of the process. The simple reality is that accuracy is proportional to the time
5 Advanced Tips for Improving Levelling Accuracy Read More »
In surveying and construction, information is rarely handed to you in the exact format you need. Most projects provide the locations of features, boundaries, or design points as sets of coordinates—Eastings and Northings—rather than as direct distances and bearings. Yet on site, when you need to set out a fence line, verify as-built positions, or
How to Calculate Whole Circle Bearings and Distances from Co-Ordinates. Read More »
Choosing the right method for booking your levelling data isn’t just a matter of preference—it can affect your efficiency, accuracy, and ability to spot errors before they become costly. In land surveying, the two most common methods for recording and reducing level readings are the Rise and Fall method and the Height of Collimation (HC)
Rise and Fall vs Height of Collimation: Which Levelling Method is Right for You? Read More »
What is the Purpose and Importance of Levelling? In Surveying and Construction the Purpose and Importance of Levelling is to find the heights or elevations of different points of interest in relation to a specific known datum. Knowing that specific points of interest are at the same or different heights or elevations is fundamental to
The Purpose and Importance of Levelling and the Automatic (Dumpy) Level. Read More »
