We carry out bat and barn owl surveys, along with nesting bird and bat emergence surveys, across North and Mid Wales to support planning applications of every size.
You can get an instant quote and book your bat survey online, or get in touch if you’d rather talk it through with an ecologist first.
Bats and their roosts are protected under UK and European law, which makes it an offence to disturb, injure or kill a bat, or damage a roost, whether or not you knew bats were there. Nesting birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, with barn owls given further protection under Schedule 1 of the Act.
It’s a common assumption that bats only use old buildings such as churches and barns. In practice, they turn up just as often in outbuildings, garages, agricultural buildings, bungalows, terraces and modern housing, which is why a planning officer, architect or agent will often ask for a survey before an application can be lodged.
The first step is an internal and external inspection of the building by one of our ecologists, using torches, ladders and an endoscope where needed to check roof voids and other spaces that are hard to reach. This initial survey can take place at any time of year.
Where no evidence of bats or nesting birds is found, we produce a report confirming that, which is generally what a planning application needs. Where evidence is found, or part of the building can’t be safely accessed, we’ll recommend a follow up emergence survey. These can only be carried out between May and September, when bats are active.
Finding bats on a survey very rarely stops a project going ahead. It usually means putting a mitigation plan in place, and in some cases applying for a licence to allow work to continue while bats are moved or accommodated elsewhere on site.
Further surveys, quoted separately once we know what’s needed, can include an emergence survey, normally two ecologists recording bats leaving and returning to the building across at least two visits, in line with Bat Conservation Trust and CIEEM (Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management) guidance, or a remote detector survey, where a recording unit is left in the building for one to two weeks to log bat activity automatically.
Get an instant online quote and book your survey using our bat survey tool.