Watching Brief
A watching brief is applied as a condition, post planning approval, and consists of a formal programme of archaeological monitoring – observation & recording – which take place during intrusive groundwork such as grubbing out foundations, excavation for drainage or pipelines, or stripping ground for road widening.
L – P : Archaeology regularly provides watching briefs for complex construction projects. Our experienced and qualified team of project managers, field officers and excavators, fully understand commercial constraints and priorities, and the risk to a development scheme from archaeological remains on site. Our monitoring programmes are site specific and targeted, with an appropriate specification of work agreed in advance through liaison with the client, construction manager and local authority archaeologist.
A requirement for a watching brief is likely to follow the findings of the pre-planning archaeological work (see the archaeology and planning guide). It is a cost effective mitigation strategy (relative to the size of the development) normally utilised:
- Where the development poses a limited threat to the archaeological resource;
- To monitor distinct areas of archaeological interest on the site;
- On agreed areas as identified in liaison with construction manager;
- Within the development timetable & will be arranged to fit into the works schedule.
L – P’s project managers are Members of the Institute of Field Archaeologists (MIFA), and all projects are undertaken in accordance with IFA and SCAUM codes of conduct.