The UK geospatial surveying profession is stepping up its campaign for change, taking the case for stronger standards, better procurement and earlier professional involvement to government, procurement teams and key stakeholders.
With lobbying under way, organisations across geospatial and the built environment are being called upon to unite and add their weight to a new collective, The Geospatial Accord.
This follows a major stakeholder event at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, earlier this year, which brought together more than 100 leaders from across surveying, construction, infrastructure, government, education and the technology supply chain.
The message from the room was blunt: the Geospatial Surveying profession is facing a skills shortage, inconsistent standards, late involvement in projects and continued pressure to compete on price rather than value.
Participants described a “race to the bottom” as one of the biggest risks facing the sector and, ultimately, the UK’s infrastructure ambitions. Now these concerns are being turned into a sector-wide programme of action.
The Geospatial Survey Association (GSA), formerly known as The Survey Association (TSA) – championed the stakeholder event and is driving forward a collective push for change.
GSA has committed funding, resource and sector expertise to build momentum, using its influence to bring businesses, professional bodies, educators, suppliers, Government and other key stakeholders together.
The Geospatial Accord has established a dedicated taskforce to lead the next phase of activity, supported by O.agency, a specialist UK marketing and communications agency.
The campaign is pushing for a fundamental shift: repositioning Geospatial Surveying from ‘just another cost’ to an essential investment to enable better decisions and reduced risk.
The campaign aims to establish an industry pact to achieve clearer standards and specifications, better-informed procurement, earlier involvement in projects and greater recognition of qualified geospatial professionals.
The Geospatial Accord is now live, giving organisations across the sector a practical way to stand behind a shared ambition: to raise standards, strengthen the talent pipeline and change how geospatial surveying is understood, procured and valued. This is not a new regulator or professional body. It’s a commitment by organisations across the sector to work together on issues no single organisation can solve alone.
Rachel Tyrrell, CEO of the Geospatial Survey Association, said: “Geospatial surveying is often invisible because, when it is done well, everyone else can rely on it. The sector now wants that value recognised earlier, specified better and supported by stronger standards.
“Everyone at our stakeholder event was incredibly passionate about what needs to change, and we have talked about these problems within the profession for years. The difference now is that the profession is ready to stand together, to bring more initiatives under one campaign and join a shared promise to act!
“GSA is committing money, resource and time as a proud champion. We want to drive change, create momentum and bring people together. Acting alone, one organisation cannot change procurement behaviour, and one body cannot solve the skills shortage or raise standards across an entire profession. Collectively, however, we have a much stronger voice, and one that government, clients and the wider built environment will find much harder to ignore.”
Following the stakeholder event at Twickenham, work has already moved into policy, lobbying and stakeholder engagement, alongside preparations for a UK-wide campaign that will give The Geospatial Accord members the tools and shared messaging to speak with greater reach and collective influence.
A central government briefing sets out the case for recognising geospatial surveying as a strategically important profession. It connects the issue directly to national priorities including infrastructure, housing and planning, transport, utilities, environmental resilience, digital twins, productivity and economic growth.
The sector is not starting from scratch on standards. GSA’s PUMA PAS128 Accreditation Scheme provides an existing example of a structured accreditation approach designed to improve confidence, quality and professionalism in utility surveying, alongside wider sector initiatives including PAS 128:2022 and the National Underground Asset Register.
Rachel Tyrrell added: “This is not about asking people to appreciate geospatial surveyors more. It is about creating enough collective weight to influence the people who can drive real change – clients and procurement teams, where value is decided; government and regulators, where structural change can happen; and education, where the future talent pipeline begins.
“If you want better decisions, better risk management and better construction outcomes, the quality of the information at the beginning matters. And if we want the expertise to deliver that information in ten or twenty years’ time, we have to tackle the skills challenge now.”
The wider campaign will be brought to life under the platform “If Geospatial Surveyors Stopped Tomorrow…”. The proposition is deliberately provocative, but its point is practical. The country could stop overnight, or buildings suddenly fall down and the certainty that underpins planning, design, construction and asset management would begin to erode.
Organisations across geospatial surveying and the wider built environment are now being invited to join The Geospatial Accord and contribute through investment, expertise, evidence, networks, advocacy and reach.
Businesses can also step forward as Founding Champions, making a significant financial or resource commitment to help drive change during the campaign’s formative stages.
Media contact:
Samantha O’Donnell at O. agency
Email: [email protected] Call: 0191 2325690
Additional information:
Every building, road, bridge, railway, utility network, housing development and major infrastructure project starts with a basic requirement: reliable information about what is there.
Geospatial surveyors establish and assure that information. Their work sits behind feasibility studies, designs, drawings, models, construction decisions and the management of assets once they are built. Yet this expertise is still too often brought into projects after important decisions have been made or procured on a lowest-price as a technical service rather than valued professional advice.
The consequences extend far beyond surveying – weak or incomplete spatial information can introduce uncertainty into planning, design and construction. Poor procurement can undermine quality, while inconsistent standards can make it harder for clients to know what they are buying, and whether the information they receive is fit for purpose.
The Twickenham event was designed as a working session, giving the profession an opportunity to identify not only where geospatial surveying is being underestimated, but what meaningful change would look like.
Stakeholders called for stronger and more consistent standards, earlier involvement of geospatial expertise in projects, better recognition within procurement and frameworks, and a shift towards professional, consultative status rather than tick-box purchasing.
There was also recognition that the sector itself needs to change: communicating its value more effectively, presenting a more consistent message and collaborating more closely across organisations.
