Senior Surveyor
BSc (Hons)
Senior Surveyor
Based in Derbyshire, Daniel joined the BCH team in 2019. As a Senior Surveyor, he surveys blocks of flats and commercial buildings and travels throughout the UK to these sites. Daniel is working towards his Cert CII Certification. Outside of work Daniel plays lots of sports including football, cricket and squash.
A building which has been designed to comply with Passivhaus principles.
A: This new build property built in a rural area in the county of Berkshire and has been designed to comply with Passivhaus principles, resulting in a low energy consuming property built with the latest low carbon emitting materials and services.
A: Most modern standard properties are built to a level which runs on a value engineered approach, achieving perhaps only the minimum standards of heat losses and energy usage to keep initial costs low. This property has taken an opposite approach, where heat losses and energy usage have been put above an initial financial outlay.
A: Building a Passivhaus standard property comes at a higher cost compared to standard build house. For an accurate insurance valuation unique factors need to be taken into account, including the different materials being used, such as highly insulated walls, roofs and floors; all using an eco-friendly Hempcrete material, air tight windows and doors and even recycled plastic roof tiles!
On top of all of these features you may also find higher labour rates, where a specialist team may need to be involved. All of which could lead to an overall cost per metre of around £3500 compared to a standard cost of around £1000 for a standard new build property.
Q: What do you do when you are not working?
A: When I’m not out and about on the roads of the UK visiting these varied and interesting properties I can be found hopelessly following my favourite team Portsmouth Football Club, followed by a brisk jog on the seafront or canal side to forget our latest result.
Site-specific factors that impact reinstatement cost assessments.
I chose this building as we constantly come across legacy properties that are diversifying their use to make the building more self-sufficient.
In this instance Penton Park is used primarily as a family dwelling however the family are utilising the large reception rooms to host weddings, company conferences and private parties. www.pentonpark.co.uk
Select week days the property also opens its doors as ‘James’s Place’ to the disabled community and offers support whilst teaching new skills such as growing plants, art and working with animals. www.james-place.co.uk.
In terms of a rebuild cost assessment this property has a wealth of additional period features, as you would expect with a Grade II listed property of this era.
External details including the pediment gable would all be additional costs to the external envelope and are valued as such.
Additionally, internal finishes are measured, photographed and valued individually. This is imperative for an accurate valuation. For example, there are a number of ornate fire places within Penton Park and they have to be valued individually.
The property continues to benefit from renovation and refurbishment and e.g. the original servants quarters have yet to be restored. Therefore the ‘one price fits all’ certainly isn’t applicable here.
As the property has a lower ground floor with windows, there are retaining walls running adjacent to the external walls on some elevations. These have to be measured for length and height and valued too. Site specific features such as these can add significantly to the overall value of the assessment.
Penton Park stands in ample grounds so in the event of a rebuild there would be no concern with space for plant, storage of materials, site waste management plan and site welfare.
Access to a property is always something to be taken into consideration as problems with access can increase costs. Here, there are two access points. The north access is far from ideal as it is obstructed by a Grade II listed heritage boundary brick wall and to obtain access to the house via this route would necessitate deliveries from multiple smaller vehicles.
Thankfully, it had been shown in recent renovations, that access from the south was not an issue, as all manner of vehicles had successfully reached the house.
These site specific factors which impact the reinstatement cost assessment enforce the importance of bespoke assessments.
Q: What do you do outside of work?
When I’m not travelling the country assessing a variety of interesting buildings I enjoy reading and working on small property developments of my own.
I also enjoy time at the gym and am currently in training for the Great South Run and a (walking) marathon for Cancer Research.
This cathedral of rugby has evolved over time with improvements, enhancements and the odd conversion.
(No penalties for the puns please)
A: We have assessed quite a few stadiums at BCH, but I would love to try and tackle the home of English Rugby, and if anyone there is listening and there’s an offside chance, I’m available for a site visit on Saturday 11th March around 4pm – me and 82,000 others! This cathedral of rugby has evolved over time with improvements, enhancements and the odd conversion to become the fourth largest stadium in Europe.
A: It would be a tough challenge although access from all flanks would assist, the sheer scale of rebuilding this fortress would cause a ruckus and delays could have a knock on effect.
A: The pitch is still in the exact the same place as it was in 1909 and though the grass has been re-laid many times since and is now one of the most advanced pitches in the world, the earth beneath is still the old dirt dug out from the Metropolitan Line.
Apart from Twickers? For something similar and closer to my roots, Croke Park, but for something very different, St Basil’s Cathedral.
A: Mainly family time with my two young daughters although I also follow Arsenal and Leicester Tigers, play guitar and tinker with my motorbikes. I’m also a qualified artistic gymnastics coach and help out at a local academy.
Senior Surveyor
DipDEA DipHI Cert CII
Senior Surveyor
Nik joined the BCH team in 2015. He is based in Devon and works mainly in the South West. As a senior member of our team, he carries out appraisals on all types of buildings, including complex historic buildings, agricultural property and developments of flats. He has responsibility for reviewing and signing off cases and carries out desktop appraisals. Prior to working for BCH, Nik worked for a leading insurer in general insurance and has also trained and worked as an energy surveyor.
He enjoys surfing, kite surfing and mountain biking in his spare time.
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