Building Recording

Building recording is often required as a planning condition where works will alter or remove historic fabric. Records are prepared to the appropriate Historic England level and deposited with the local Historic Environment Record, preserving knowledge of the building for future generations.

Historic England defines four levels of building record, from a basic visual account at Level 1 to a full analytical record at Level 4. The level required is set by the planning condition, and matching it exactly matters: a record below the specified level will not discharge the condition, while a record well above it is money spent for no planning benefit.

Recording is usually the last opportunity to understand a building before it changes. Where a scheme involves the loss of historic fabric, the record becomes the only remaining evidence of what was there — which is why deposit of the archive is a requirement of the condition rather than a courtesy.