The Building Conservation Directory 2025

67 CATHEDRAL COMMUNICATIONS THE BUILDING CONSERVATION DIRECTORY 2025 BUILDING CONTRACTORS 2 and journalists to prepare them for work in areas of heightened risk and danger. The course is usually two to four days in length and covers important topics relating to risk management planning and document production, security tips, and trauma first aid. Topics such as orienteering and map reading are also included, which, if you are travelling to somewhere such as Ukraine, is of vital importance with GPS data being widely unavailable. The completion of a HET course is also a prerequisite of many insurance policies offered for conducting work in potentially hostile and dangerous places, further adding to its value. Having completed a HET course and obtaining the relevant insurances, meticulous planning is recommended for the trip. Special documentation is often required to travel across international borders involved in ongoing conflicts. At the very least a letter from the client or site team within the country should be obtained in their native language to show border officials. It is a good idea to translate this letter upon initial reception so as not to get caught out by its contents. Travelling as lightly as possible is obviously recommended but where specialist equipment is required it is recommended that an itemised list is produced of the equipment and sent to the site or country contact for comment. Drones for instance may not be permitted in certain countries or areas. Itemised inventories can also sometimes be passed on to security services in the country for approval prior to the visit. Allowance for sim cards and communication with a designated ‘safety’ group here in the UK should be made. Clear instructions should be left as to when they should expect to hear from you each day and what to do if no communication is received after the stated amount of time. Tips such as these, and many more, are outlined in greater detail in a suitable HET course. It doesn’t need to be stated that the approach to travelling to potentially hostile environments around the world should always be thoroughly planned – you can’t be over-prepared! Recording and documenting The first port of call when arriving on site in a hostile environment should be to record. Whether it is photographs, sketches, laser scans, and/or measurements, it is of paramount importance to record a damaged or vulnerable heritage structure. Primarily, and at a minimum, this would create a record of the structure as it was at the start of the project. In the event of a catastrophe and total loss of the building (a legitimate concern in active war zones), this would mean that a comprehensive record, ideally with a measured drawing or laser scan, would exist of the structure to allow for its full rebuilding and/or future interpretation. In the UK, we would typically define the level of recording described above as Level 3 to 4 as per Historic England’s Understanding Historic Buildings: a guide to good recording practice (published in 2016 and now generally superseded by Geospatial Survey Specifications for Cultural Heritage 2024). Another useful reference source regarding documenting historic buildings is produced by HABS (Historic American Building Survey) in the US and is also free to access online. Where drawings and measurements are not possible however, photographs can often serve as a reliable enough record on their own. The more the merrier! Technology is constantly improving allowing for access to scanners which can record and map historic buildings quicker and to a higher degree of accuracy than humans can. Access to such scanners has obvious benefits in areas of the world where time on site may be limited or access restricted. Unfortunately, many laser scanners and their accompanying proprietary software packages remain prohibitively expensive, particularly to heritage professionals working within these war-torn areas. This often means that equipment we use on a day-to-day basis here in the UK can go a long way when deployed in such areas, though appropriate insurance and risks vs rewards need to be considered. Many insurance policies are voided by deploying certain equipment in countries on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advisory list such as Ukraine. On site The goal with site work in a hostile environment is for it to be as much like working under regular circumstances as possible. Naturally, challenges will exist and should be appropriately identified prior to the commencement of the project. For example, it may be that you request a site map of the area to identify bomb shelters in the vicinity. Likewise, radios may be included in your site kit (an introduction to the NATO phonetic alphabet and key phrases are included in standard HET courses) to allow for reliable means of communication between your team while on site. Schedules and agendas are vital and should be shared appropriately with contacts in the country and back home prior to and during works, with any changes shared accordingly. Travel arrangements to and from site are also important to prearrange as much as possible. The advice is to completely avoid driving unless absolutely necessary due to the stress of being in a foreign country at war combined with the general demands of completing the job at hand; it is often reported that the most civilian aid work fatalities in conflict areas typically occur from road traffic accidents. The final deliverable Whether the completion of work on site is the final deliverable or a report is produced back in the UK, it is important, as with any project, that the deliverable is clearly communicated to all parties Laser scan image and point cloud collected on site in Western Ukraine (Photo: Matthew Amis)

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