---
name: site-analysis-report
description: "Analyse a site before designing on it — what is physically there, what the law and the neighbours allow, and which constraints will actually shape the building. Use when asked to carry out a site analysis, site appraisal, feasibility study for a plot, or to assess whether a site can take a proposed development. Produces the physical survey summary, the constraints and opportunities map, the statutory and legal position, the developable-capacity estimate, and the risks that need resolving before design starts."
---

# Site Analysis Report

Every expensive design change traces back to something about the site that was known but not looked at. Ground conditions, a right of way, a sewer easement, the neighbour's window. This is the systematic sweep before a line is drawn: what is there, what is allowed, what the site can hold, and which unknowns are worth paying to resolve now rather than at foundation stage.

## What This Skill Produces

- **Physical survey summary** — topography, boundaries, existing structures, trees, ground conditions, and services
- **A constraints and opportunities read** — each constraint with its design consequence, and the aspects worth exploiting
- **The statutory and legal position** — planning designations, rights of way, easements, covenants, and party wall exposure
- **Developable-capacity estimate** — what the site could plausibly take, with the assumptions stated
- **Orientation and environmental analysis** — sun path, prevailing wind, noise sources, flood and drainage
- **The risk register** — the unknowns, what each could cost, and which are worth investigating before design

## Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:
- **The site** — address, boundaries, area, and current use
- **What surveys exist** — topographical, measured building, arboricultural, ground investigation, drainage, asbestos
- **The title information** — registered title, easements, covenants, and rights of way if known
- **The proposal, if there is one** — what the client hopes to build, so capacity can be tested against it
- **Local context** — planning designations, neighbouring uses, access, and known local sensitivities

## Framework: What Is There, What Is Allowed, What It Can Hold

1. **Separate the physical from the legal.** A site can be perfectly buildable and legally constrained, or the reverse. Confusing the two produces schemes that die late.
2. **Walk the boundaries against the title plan.** Fences and titles disagree more often than anyone expects, and the discrepancy is cheapest to find now.
3. **Find the buried constraints.** Sewers, easements, and services crossing the site remove development area without appearing on any drawing.
4. **Convert every constraint into a design consequence.** 'Protected tree' is a note; 'no foundations within 8 m of the northern boundary' is a constraint that shapes the plan.
5. **Test capacity with stated assumptions.** A capacity figure without its assumptions is a number that will be quoted back at you.
6. **Price the unknowns.** For each, what it might cost to be wrong, and what an investigation costs. Some are worth resolving now; say which.

## Output Format

### Site analysis: [address] · [date] · [prepared by]

**Site:** [address, area, current use, boundaries] · **Surveys relied on:** [list with dates, and what is missing]

**Physical**
| Aspect | Finding | Design consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Topography | [levels, falls] | [implication] |
| Ground conditions | [what is known/assumed] | [foundation implication] |
| Trees | [species, protection status] | [root protection area, exclusion zone] |
| Existing structures | [condition, retention or demolition] | [implication] |
| Services | [what crosses the site, capacity] | [diversion or easement implication] |
| Drainage | [existing, outfall, flood zone] | [strategy implication] |

**Environmental:** orientation and sun path [summary] · prevailing wind [direction] · noise sources [what and where] · overlooking [from where]

**Statutory & legal:** planning designations [list] · rights of way [where] · easements [what and where] · covenants [effect] · party wall exposure [which boundaries] · **verification needed:** [what a solicitor must confirm]

**Developable capacity:** [estimate] — assuming [the assumptions: setbacks, height, parking, amenity space]

**Opportunities:** [aspects worth exploiting — aspect, level change, existing structure, frontage]

**Risk register**
| Unknown | If wrong, could cost | Investigation cost | Resolve before design? |
|---|---|---|---|

> An appraisal framework, not a substitute for professional surveys or legal advice. Title, easements, covenants and rights of way must be confirmed by a solicitor; ground conditions, trees, drainage, and contamination require qualified survey. Planning designations must be checked against the authority's current records.

## Quality Checks
- [ ] Physical and legal constraints are assessed separately
- [ ] Boundaries were checked against the title plan, and discrepancies noted
- [ ] Buried services and easements are identified or flagged as unverified
- [ ] Every constraint states its design consequence, not just its existence
- [ ] The capacity estimate lists the assumptions behind it
- [ ] Unknowns are priced against the cost of investigating them
- [ ] Missing surveys are named rather than silently assumed away

## Anti-Patterns
- **Analysing from drawings alone.** The site does not match the drawing, and the difference is the finding.
- **Listing constraints without consequences.** A list nobody can design from.
- **Assuming the title matches the fence.** A common and expensive error.
- **A capacity figure with no assumptions.** It will be quoted as a promise.
- **Ignoring what has not been surveyed.** Silence reads as 'no issue' and becomes a claim.
- **Treating trees as a planning formality.** Root protection areas remove real, unbuildable area.

## Example Trigger Phrases
- "Carry out a site analysis for this plot"
- "Can this site take a four-unit scheme?"
- "What should I check before designing on this site?"
- "Write a feasibility appraisal for a backland site"
- "What are the constraints on this site?"