Tall Building Aviation Assessments

In February 2003, all UK airport operators became responsible for managing and safeguarding their own airspace. As a result of this change, all planning applications regarding the development of tall structures up to 15 kilometers away from an airport may need to be reviewed by the affected airport operators.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) shifted the responsibility for airspace to ensure that airport operators play an important role in the development of the community around their airports and ensure safe and efficient aircraft operations. Thus, airport operators now have the responsibility of reviewing planning applications and objecting to those that are determined to represent a risk to existing or future aircraft operations.

Some of the services offered by Spear Consulting Engineers in relation to the development of tall structures include:

Site Acquisition Advice
Spear Consulting Engineers advises clients on aviation issues related to increasing or maximizing the development potential of the property while protecting airspace and aviation interests. Please contact us to discuss your site, as, many times, a general indication can be provided using just a post code.

Site Envelope Potential
It is preferable to involve Spear Consulting Engineers early in the design development process to mitigate against the future discovery of aviation-related obstacles to development. With this approach, Spear Consulting Engineers is able to provide a site envelope potential report, determining the maximum reasonable height attainable, and to list the various mitigation measures that would need to be incorporated in the design. These measures can help the client avoid potentially expensive design and planning that would be abortive.

Development Strategy
Spear Consulting Engineers has been successful in advising clients on aviation issues and potential mitigation measures for tall building developments. Spear Consulting Engineers advises on the planning risks related to alternative development strategies and helps develop, if appropriate, innovative solutions to address the safety concerns of airport operators and regulatory bodies.

Safeguarding Assessment
The key output of Spear Consulting Engineers involvement would be a safeguarding assessment of the proposed development for the planning application. The assessment report would contain all information required to allow the airport operator to make its decision in a timely manner, thus avoiding delays in its response to the local planning authority.