An enquiry asks for a price for a site investigation on a plot for four houses. It reads as a straightforward job until someone checks the history and finds the site was a filling station until 1987.
That changes the investigation, the testing, the report and the cost, and none of it was in the enquiry.
What to establish at enquiry
The site address, its size, what is proposed, what the investigation must support, the previous use of the site, whether a desk study exists, whether there are any known issues, access for equipment and the deadline.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a consultancy might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Client: How much for a site investigation on a small development plot? Assistant: The scope depends on what the investigation needs to support and on the site's history, since previous uses can change the testing required considerably. The page explains the usual stages and what each covers. Could you give me the address, what you are proposing to build and whether you know what was previously on the site?
Client: The planners have asked for a report. What do we need? Assistant: The page explains what investigations typically support planning conditions and what a report usually contains, and the precise requirement comes from the condition wording itself. Could you send the condition text and the site address so the team can advise on the right scope?
Client: Can a rig get onto our site? Assistant: Access is one of the first things assessed, including gate widths, headroom, ground conditions and whether there are services or overhead lines. The page explains what is needed for each method. Could you describe the access and send a photograph or a site plan?
Establish the purpose before the scope
A foundation design, a planning condition, a contamination assessment, a soakaway test or a due diligence report each need different fieldwork. Quoting a standard package for all of them is how scopes get disputed.
Ask about site history always
Former industrial use, filling, landfill, agricultural use with buildings, or anything that suggests contamination. This single question changes the cost more than any other.
Check access properly
Gate width, headroom, overhead lines, ground bearing for equipment, whether a track mat is needed and whether a smaller rig would be required. A rig that cannot reach a position is a wasted day nobody quoted for.
Ask about services
Underground services, and whether plans exist. Scanning before intrusive work is standard, and a site with unknown services needs it allowing for.
Explain the stages
Desk study, intrusive investigation, testing, interpretation and reporting. Clients assume it is one visit and are surprised that laboratory testing adds weeks.
Be honest about timescales
Fieldwork is days, laboratory testing runs to weeks and reporting follows. A client with an exchange deadline needs to know before instructing.
Explain what happens if something is found
Further investigation, remediation assessment and what that means for the programme and the budget. Nobody wants to hear it, and everyone would rather hear it now.
Feasibility work often precedes this
It is covered in feasibility study enquiries from developers and councils.
Project enquiries need qualifying generally
It is covered in project enquiries for engineering consultancies.
Site surveys are a pattern across sectors
The parallel is in business connectivity enquiries that need site surveys, and capture at any hour behaves as in an AI receptionist for opticians.
Getting started
Publish your stages, what each covers and what you need to quote, then capture address, history and access at any hour. SpideyChat for B2B firms answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about capture on the features page.