Land contamination

The government and other organisations provide advice on how to deal with land which may be affected by contamination. Please note that on some documents, a fee is payable.

Government advice on managing land contamination:

• Land Contamination Risk Management¹
• Land contamination: technical guidance²

Government advice on land contamination and planning:

• The National Planning Policy Framework³ paragraphs 183, 184 and 185 explain how land contamination must be considered in relation to planning policies and decisions.
• How planning can deal with land affected by contamination⁴

Residential developments on land affected by contamination

• A guide to small brownfield sites and land contamination⁵ National House-Building Council (NHBC)
• Guidance for the Safe Development of Housing on Land Affected by Contamination R & D Publication 66⁶ (NHBC, Environment Agency and Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH)).

Brownfield risk assessment

• Society of Brownfield Risk Assessors (SoBRA)⁷
• Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments (CL:AIRE) Water and Land Library (WALL)⁸ is a freely available, extensive list of links to past and present water and land references published by the Environment Agency, Association of Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental Specialists (AGS), Better Regulation Executive (BRE), Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) and other useful industry publishers. It mirrors the different sections of Land contamination risk management (LCRM).
• A Clients Guide: The Purpose and Use of Geoenvironmental Reports⁹ (Dec 2022)
• Client Guide: The Purpose and Use of a Ground Condition ‘Desk Study’¹⁰ (Aug 2022)
• Standards relating to investigation, assessment, remediation and development of potentially contaminated and contaminated sites¹¹ (Dec 2020)

Ground gas

• Assessing risk posed by hazardous ground gases to buildings¹² (CIRIA)
• Good practice for Risk Assessment for Coal Mine Gas Emissions¹³ (CL:AIRE)
• Code of practice for the design of protective measures for methane and carbon dioxide ground gases for new buildings¹⁴ (British Standard)

Verification guidance

• Verification of remediation of land contamination¹⁵ (Environment Agency)
• Gas Protection Verification Accreditation Scheme¹⁶ (GPVS)

Sustainability and land contamination

• Sustainability in land contamination risk management¹⁷   in LCRM (Environment Agency)
• Sustainable Management Practices¹⁸  (SuRF UK)

Climate change and land contamination

• Guidance on Assessing Risk to Controlled Waters from UK Land Contamination Under Conditions of Future Climate Change¹⁹ (SoBRA)

Unexploded ordnance (UXO)

• Unexploded ordnance (UXO) risk management guide for land-based projects²⁰ (CIRIA)

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/land-contamination-risk-management-lcrm/lcrm-stage-1-risk-assessment
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/land-contamination-technical-guidance
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-planning-policy-framework--2
4. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/land-affected-by-contamination
5. https://www.nhbc.co.uk/foundation/a-guide-to-small-brownfield-sites-and-land-contamination
6. https://www.nhbc.co.uk/binaries/content/assets/nhbc/products-and-services/tech-advice-and-guidance/guidance-for-the-safe-development-of-housing-on-land-affected-by-contamination.pdf
7. https://sobra.org.uk/
8. https://www.claire.co.uk/information-centre/water-and-land-library-wall
9. https://www.ags.org.uk/item/a-clients-guide-the-purpose-and-use-of-geoenvironmental-reports/
10. https://www.ags.org.uk/item/client-guide-the-purpose-and-use-of-a-ground-condition-desk-study/
11. https://www.ags.org.uk/item/standards-relating-to-investigation-assessment-remediation-and-development-of-potentially-contaminated-and-contaminated-sites/
12. https://www.ciria.org/CIRIA/CIRIA/Item_Detail.aspx?iProductCode=C665&Category=BOOK
13. https://www.claire.co.uk/home/news/1561-new-cl-aire-publication
14. https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/code-of-practice-for-the-design-of-protective-measures-for-methane-and-carbon-dioxide-ground-gases-for-new-buildings/standard
15. https://gat04-live-1517c8a4486c41609369c68f30c8-aa81074.divio-media.org/filer_public/ee/6f/ee6f0fcf-41a3-45fa-839f-25975ad20ab6/12226.pdf
16. https://www.claire.co.uk/projects-and-initiatives/gpvs
17. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/land-contamination-risk-management-lcrm/lcrm-before-you-start#sustainability
18. https://www.claire.co.uk/projects-and-initiatives/surf-uk
19. https://sobra.org.uk/resources/reports/
20. https://www.ciria.org/ItemDetail?iProductcode=C785&Category=BOOK