Daytime Bat Surveys
(Building inspections for bat roost potential)
Many planning applications, whether for a single domestic extension or a large scale development/regeneration project, will require a bat survey to be conducted before the application can be decided by the local planning authority.

The starting point for a bat survey is to determine whether any buildings or trees on site have the potential to support a bat roost.

A bat roost is simply a resting place rather than something that they construct. It takes a trained eye to see what one is and to identify the features within a building or tree that are or could be suitable to be used as a roost.

Bat Survey Timetable

To find out when Bat Surveys can be carried out

Click here
If a bat roost is suspected, you’ll need to establish what type of roost it is and how it is being used. While bat roost assessments can be carried out at any time of the year, more detailed night-time surveys can only be carried out during the May-September survey season.

With different types of roost and seventeen species of bats residing in the UK, all protected by legislation, it really does take an expert to identify what impact your development proposals are likely to have on this protected species. In many cases, surveyors need a bat licence to conduct the necessary survey work.

If surveys confirm that bats are present, then any work that risks the destruction of a bat roost needs a licence before work commences.

You need expert help to guide you through the survey and application process.

You need Ascerta alongside you every step of the way.

Get in touch

For more information on bat surveys or to discuss a specific project, contact our office on
0845 463 4404.

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There Are
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species of bat in the UK

  • Facts about Bats

    Most bats feed on insects, including crop and garden pests, making them nature’s natural pest controllers; this is the case for all bat species in the UK. A tiny pipistrelle can eat up to 3,000 insects in a night. In other parts of the world, some species play an important role as pollinators or as dispersers of plant seeds which in turn help forest regeneration.

  • The most common bat seen in Britain is also the smallest of our 18 species and is known as the pipistrelle. This little bat (wing span about 22 to 25cm) is often mistaken for a dusk-flying bird as it flits among the trees and hedgerows seeking insect prey.

  • Among the larger bats are the noctule (wing span up to 38 cm) and greater horseshoe bat, with a wing span of similar size. Bats are difficult to identify in flight as one does not get much opportunity to observe them properly, but the pipistrelle can usually be recognised by its small size, while the long eared bat’s ears can be spotted if the light is good. (source : Bat Cons Trust)