Heritage Eye. Buildings at risk smartphone app User guide

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1 Buildings at risk smartphone app

2 Heritage Eye is a smart phone app for iphone and Android that has been developed with funding from English Heritage. The app has been created by software developers Calvium ( in partnership with Bristol City Council s City Design Group and the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) team. This free app enables users to undertake their own surveys of Listed Buildings to help identify and monitor historic buildings that are at risk of physical deterioration or loss. The app is part of Bristol s response to a national strategy led by English Heritage to manage heritage at risk and create a national list of Heritage at Risk. Surveys completed using the app are submitted directly to the Bristol Historic Environment Record (HER) managed by Ciy Design Group. The submitted information is then validated by the HER before being added to the counil s planning database and Know Your Place ( The information is also forwarded to English Heritage for inclusion on the national list. Once the information has been added to the database council Conservation Officers will be able to contact property owners to agree a strategy for building improvements. Listed Buildings A listed building is a building (or structure) that has been designated as being of special architectural or historic significance. The older and rarer a building is, the more likely it is to be listed. Buildings less than 30 years old are listed only if they are of outstanding quality and under threat. Listed buildings are graded I, II* and II. Grade I and II* are particularly important buildings of outstanding interest; together they amount to 8% of all listed buildings. The remaining 92% are of special interest and are listed grade II. A listed entry may comprise a number of separate buildings such as formal residential terraces under one list entry. Structures can occasionally be both listed as buildings and scheduled as monuments.

3 How to use Heritage Eye Heritage Eye is available as a free smartphone app from Google Play or the istore. Once installed the Heritage Eye icon will appear on your phone. Activation of the app will display the About screen. This screen provides access to a How to use this app or help section. There are three further options at the bottom of the screen that allows users to navigate to the map or search function to locate a specific historic building or return to the About page. Searching for a Listed Building Heritage Eye provides access to information about every Listed Building. On the map screen these are often clustered together. The numbers in the correspond to the number of Listed buildings in that area. Double tap the circle to see individual building grades. When individual Listed buildings are displayed the listing grade is visible. Current buildings at risk are shown in red with an exclamition symbol. This map zooms and pans in the usual way and with GPS switched on the screen will pan to your location. The search function (bottom right) allows users to search for a building by name.

4 Beginning the survey Once you have located the building you want to survey tap the location on the screen to display a popup. Tap the popup to display the details of the building. Scroll down the page to see the current risk grade based on the last completed survey report and the date of this last report. Having read the details if you wish to proceed with a survey tap the Survey this building button on the bottom of the screen. In order to complete a survey you will need to submit your name and an contact. This information will only be used to contact you about this specific survey and will not be passed to any third party or used for any other purpose. Please see the Privacy Policy link for further details. Once you have entered this information tap the red Begin survey button on the top right of the screen.

5 Completing a simple survey After choosing to begin a survey you will be given an option to choose to complete a Simple or Full survey. See the next section for the guide for completing a full survey, although many peopel will prefer to choose the simplified version as a way of notifying the conservation team of any specific or recent issues with a building. The simple survey prompts the user to submit a photograph. This can be done by taking a photo using the phone s camera or by choosing an existing image from the phone s image library. We recommend that you submit an image that depicts the issue or a general shot of the buildfing. Once you have taken or selected an image tap the Next button to add a comment. Please ensure that you provide sufficient information on this form to describe any current issues with the building particularly relating to recent damage caused by weather or vandalism.

6 Completing a full survey The full survey consist of five screens. It is not necessary to complete all five, but to complete a screen you will need to set the on/ off button (top right) to on. If you wish to skip a screen leave it in the off position. You can move through the screens by tapping the numbers at the top of the screen or tapping Next. A any point you can cancel the survey where you will be asked if you wish to discard the survey. Selecting discard will return you to the map or search screen. Screen 1 - Neglect This screen asks you to cosider any signs that the building is being neglected. As with all the survey screens this is split into the individual building elements that can be effected by neglect. Signs of neglect are judged on a scale of concern (major, minor or none). If this building element is not visible or relevant to the structure being surveyed please select N/A. Scroll down the page in order to respond to all the elements before moving to the next screen.

7 Screen 2 - Condition Assess the condition of the main building elements as good, fair, poor or very bad. Condition categories are defined as follows: Good, structurally sound; weathertight; no significant repairs needed Fair, structurally sound; in need of minor repair; showing signs of a lack of general maintenance Poor, deteriorating masonry; leaking roof; defective rainwater goods, usually accompanied by rot outbreaks; general deterioration of most elements of the building fabric, including external joinery; or where there has been a fire or other disaster which has affected part of the building Very bad, structural failure or clear signs of structural instability; loss of significant areas of the roof covering, leading to major deterioration of the interior; or where there has been a major fire or other disaster affecting most of the building Further details on surveying the condition of specific building elements is provided in the appendix at the end of this guide. Overall condition At the end of the condition survey screen you are asked to assess the overall condition of the building. Taking into consideration the evidence collected, assess the condition of the building as a whole as good, fair, poor or very bad against the defined criteria. The statue of Commerce on the top of Cabot Tower (Listed Grade II), Brandon Hill during restoration works in The use oh Heritage Eye will help to monitor the historic buildings in Bristol so that everyone can continue to enjoy these valuable assets.

8 Screen 3 - Heritage Crime This is often difficult to assess, but reporting any evidence of heritage crime is important. These reports will be submitted to the appropriate authorities. Screen 4 - Submit a photograph As with the simple survey this screen enablesd you to submit a photograph of the building or select an existing image from those stored on the phone. Screen 5 - Final details This screen asks for information concerning the current use of the building that should be expressed as either: Occupied/in use Partly occupied/partly in use Vacant/not in use Unknown You can add your own risk assessment based on the overall condition and expressed as: Unknown At Risk Vulnerable Low risk/not at risk This can be left to the validating conservation officer to assess, but further guidance has been provided in the appendix at the back of this document. The date of the survey is automatically added, but can be amended if the survey date differs. Once you have completed the survey tap the submit button. This then sends the information to the conservation team who will validate the survey before publishing the data to Know Your Place and the planning database. Following this process owners of buildings on the at risk register will receive an automatic notification and corresponmdence from the conservation team if urgent works are required to solve a problem.

9 Appendix Assessing condition When assessing the condition of specific elements of the building use this guide from English Heritage for completing the survey. Roofs Slipped or missing slates/tiles; deteriorated thatch; slate or tile debris around the perimeter of the building; cracked or missing leadwork; general failure of flashings. Internally look for rot outbreaks, water staining and blistered paintwork on walls. Rainwater goods Plant growth in gutters and hopper heads; downpipes that are disconnected or detached; water discharging into the walls; blocked drains with plant growth in them. Internally look for rot outbreaks, water staining and blistered paintwork on walls. Doors and windows Problems with glasswork; decayed window frames, signs of vandalism such as broken or boarded-up windows. Architectural details Loss of detail through erosion or decay, pollution likely to result in acidic decay. Interior Evidence of leaking/water ingress such as staining or bubbling paintwork; damage to interior fixtures and fittings. Walls, gates and railings Flaking or missing paintwork, rusting, decaying wood, eroded/ spalling brick or stonework. Walls Eroded masonry, cracked or missing pointing, spalling brickwork, failure of render, fallen pieces of brick or stone, saturated masonry, vegetation growth. Structural stability Significant cracks, bulges or other structural defects in walls, where these appear likely to threaten the stability of the whole or a large part of the structure of the building.

10 Appendix Overall risk assessment (taken from English Heritage guidance) Overall risk assessment should be calculated by a combination of condition and occupancy, using the table below. Structures which cannot be occupied are assessed on condition alone.

11 Further information Know Your Place Bristol City Council Listed Buildings page This provides information about the management of the city s Listed Buildings and the current Buildings at Risk register The National Heritage List for England protection/process/national-heritage-list-for-england/ Contact conservation@bristol.gov.uk

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