A Day in the Life of a Daylight, Sunlight and Rights of Light Surveyor
According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS);
“Surveyors shape the way we live. From our towns and cities to our streets and homes, they help create safer, better, happier communities.
More than 100 different types of surveyor in property, land construction and infrastructure keep traffic flowing, water running and people moving. They shape our roads, bridges and tunnels, our skyscrapers, stations and stadiums. They shape our futures too, regenerating deprived areas and planning smart cities, while pioneering safer, more sustainable and more environmentally friendly building methods.”¹
Daylight, Sunlight and Rights of Light surveyors are involved in the construction of buildings. It’s about shaping the urban environment and helping to provide and maintain amenity to new and existing properties. We do this through giving design advice and providing reports to developers, either for the purpose of a planning application or in respect of any impact on the legal rights enjoyed by adjoining owners. We also act for adjoining owners, empowering them with knowledge, assessment and advice.
A common theme across the surveying professions is that we work closely with a wide, multi-disciplinary range of professionals to achieve our common goal. For Daylight, Sunlight and Rights of Light surveyors, this includes developers, architects, planning consultants, local authorities, other surveyors, lawyers and insurers, to name but a few. Another critical part of our role is to engage with adjoining property owners, who range from having a solid knowledge of the subject through to having no understanding at all. The range of technical, legal and interpersonal skills required in our role are, I feel, what draws a lot of us to it.
As a general rule, no two days are the same for a Daylight, Sunlight and Rights of Light surveyor. A typical day, however, may look something like this:
Reviewing the day or week’s schedule to ensure tasks run smoothly and our time is managed effectively
Checking and responding to emails, which may be from clients, architects, lawyers, colleagues or other professionals and may relate to any number of live projects (juggling a variety of projects and tasks at any one time is a key skill quickly learned by surveyors!)
Undertaking a quick check for any industry news or relevant updates that could influence our work
Liaising with our team to ensure that everyone is happy with their plan for the day ahead
Travelling to a site visit, where we may be undertaking an initial appraisal of the potential Daylight, Sunlight and Rights of Light challenges and constraints of a prospective site, or meeting an adjoining owner client to undertake a survey of their property and give them face-to-face guidance
Meeting a client or another surveying colleague to discuss a current project, providing updates or agreeing a strategy for a particular task at hand
Upon our return to the office, undertaking some due diligence work (examples of which include reviewing planning applications, finding floor plans, reviewing historical aerial imagery and reviewing Land Registry documents or leases)
Working on a Daylight, Sunlight and/or Rights of Light appraisal or report, reviewing analysis results or putting together an instruction to a client’s legal team for their detailed legal review of Rights of Light
Adding updates to a detailed project tracker
Completing a fee quote or tender for new work opportunities
Taking and making calls to clients, surveying colleagues or the wider multi-disciplinary team, arranging upcoming meetings or site visits, requesting information or providing updates on a particular matter
Closing out any admin such as logging time or dealing with invoicing
Attending an evening networking event or a meet up with clients or other professionals
In addition to the above, the profession of Daylight, Sunlight and Rights of Light surveying is governed by the RICS and we must ensure to uphold the standards required of us by way of Continuing Professional Development. From time to time we may attend a formal CPD given by the RICS, a colleague or different company, or we might read a new guidance document, legal case summary or article written by an industry colleague.
A day in the life of a Daylight, Sunlight and Rights of Light surveyor tends to be dynamic and, at times, unpredictable. We often find that our days are spent doing something very different to what we expected when we woke up that morning, and the skills required of us on any given day are often different to those that were required the day before. I suspect that many colleagues would answer with this when asked why they enjoy their career as a Daylight, Sunlight and Rights of Light surveyor.
As our urban landscape evolves, the role of Daylight, Sunlight and Rights of Light surveyors continues to be vital for shaping the urban environment, while safeguarding the quality of life for those who inhabit them. We certainly love our role at Century Associates!
¹ RICS website: What does a surveyor do?