Parcel 7
NHBC’s Land Quality Service (LQS) team includes geotechnical and geo-environmental specialists who work to remove the uncertainty about whether a site is suitable for future development in line with NHBC Standards Chapter 4. In this instance, the team were assessing the suitability of the proposals for end use as a primary school.
Ahead of the development of Priors Hall Park, Urban & Civic engaged with NHBC’s Land Quality Service to review the area. Previously the site had been extensively quarried for ironstone from the 1950s to the 1980s. It had since been backfilled and restored to soft landscaping.
The plan for Priors Hall Park will allow the development to become home to a large community incorporating residential housing, infrastructure and facilities including three primary schools and a secondary school.
Although NHBC’s Buildmark warranty does not cover school buildings, Urban & Civic commissioned us to provide a Certificate of Land Quality to show that the preparatory works on the school site met the higher ‘residential standards’. This assurance was essential as they wanted to maintain a consistent quality standard throughout the scheme.
Due to the sites prior use the challenge was the suitability of raft foundations that would bear on the backfill. To ensure this would be effective the site required extensive preparatory work including:
Gaining a Certificate of Land Quality was an ideal way to demonstrate that the preparatory works are sufficiently robust to mitigate potential ground hazards. This certificate is issued after a thorough assessment of the land, which includes identifying any potential ground hazards and contamination risks and considering the measures to manage those risks.
The Certificate serves to record the assessment and measures implemented and to ensure the site and its design would be appropriate for the higher standard of residential housing and therefore are appropriate for a school. This certification reduces the risk of future costly issues associated with the ground during the lifetime of the buildings.
Overall, having a Certificate of Land Quality provides peace of mind and enabled Urban & Civic to give confidence to other parties that the preparatory works across the development met higher standards.
The earthworks for the school site were completed in 2022, and a validation report was issued in June 2023. In August 2023, LQS was commissioned to undertake an assessment of the site from Stage 1 to 3. The Certificate of Land Quality was issued in December 2023.
Richard McMullen, Senior Project Manager at Urban & Civic said “From the very beginning we wanted to set and maintain a consistent level of quality across the entire development, including the land for the school as this will provide essential facilities for the community for years to come. Working with NHBC’s LQS team helped us make sure that we had the right support in place and were able to achieve the high standards we set ourselves at Urban & Civic.”
Our Land Quality Service removes the uncertainty about whether a site is suitable for future housing development. Get in touch to find out how we can help your project.
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