Methodologies & Limitations: Siteview risk assessment

The contaminated land section of the Siteview report is designed for property professionals to satisfy their requirements under the Law Society Practice Note on Contaminated Land while also evaluating other areas of environmental risk factors. 

The report is a screening desktop assessment that uses a wide range of sources and data to identify potential contamination risks. For a comprehensive list of the data considered, please refer to the Contaminated Land section on the ‘Datasets Searched’ page within the report.

The primary purpose of the contaminated land section is to identify the risk of the property being designated as 'Contaminated Land' which is defined by Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Additionally, it also considers some environmental risks associated with any current operations at the site. 

Assessment methodology

Groundsure reviews potential sources of current and historic land contamination, assessing their potential impact on identified receptors at or near the site. This follows the principles of a source-pathway-receptor model. Further information is available here.

Our methodology does change from time to time to reflect market risk understanding and legislative changes.

Risk assessment outcomes

The level of risk associated with the property is divided into three categories: 

• Acceptable risk: There are unlikely to be significant environmental liabilities associated with the property with regard to its continued current use. However, minor issues may require further consideration and assessment under certain circumstances e.g. redevelopment. 
• Acceptable risk with guidance: Some potential environmental liabilities are likely to reside with the property as a result of historical and / or current use. Whilst unlikely to represent an immediate significant issue, if left unchecked this position may change with time. A prudent purchaser may wish to make further enquiries of the vendor / undertake limited further due diligence / seek environmental improvements. Redevelopment of the site will likely require further, more detailed assessment. 
• Action required: Potential significant environmental liability issues have been identified at the property requiring further assessment. Should further information be available it may be possible to re-assess the risk. In the absence of sufficient further information, further assessment might comprise consultation with the environmental regulators / review of existing environmental reports / commissioning new environmental reports / consideration of environmental insurance.

Limitations of the study

The report is intended for use by experienced professional advisers familiar with environmental data interpretation. For the purposes of the assessment in the report we assume a general commercial use without significant redevelopment plans. 

The Client should be aware that the report uses aggregated Third Party Data as well as Groundsure’s proprietary data. However, Groundsure does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of Third Party Data or its own independently produced data.

Siteview reports do not include on-site inspections or consultations with regulators or other parties, and certain site features may only be apparent through physical inspection. It is recommended to update Siteview reports every six months.

For full details please refer to our terms and conditions under which the report was supplied.