Pre-redevelopment audits.
Find out what can stay before anything comes down. A pre-redevelopment audit gives your design team and planners a clear, evidenced view of what the existing building is worth keeping.
Image: Existing 1960s to 1980s office building, exterior, before redevelopment
What is a pre-redevelopment audit?
A pre-redevelopment audit looks at an existing building at the very start of a project to test whether it can be retained, refurbished or adapted instead of demolished. It records the structure, fabric and key elements, and sets out the realistic options for each.
It comes before a pre-demolition audit. If demolition is still justified once retention has been tested, the pre-demolition audit then catalogues what comes out and where it goes.
- Retention and adaptation options for each part of the building
- Whole-life carbon inputs to compare retain and rebuild
Why you need a pre-redevelopment audit.
Planning authorities increasingly expect developers to show that keeping the existing building was properly considered before demolition was chosen. In London, referable schemes must submit a Circular Economy Statement under London Plan Policy SI 7, and the GLA guidance asks for a pre-redevelopment audit as part of it.
Doing it early is also cheaper. The embodied carbon in an existing frame is already spent, and a retention decision made at pre-application avoids design work on options that will not survive planning.
Image: Exposed concrete frame and slab of an existing building, natural light
The Camio difference
Camio pre-redevelopment audits.
Our auditors capture the building on site with the Camio app, recording each element with photos, measurements, condition and embodied carbon. The results sit in a live inventory your whole team can review, rather than a static report.
If the scheme moves on to refurbishment or demolition, the same inventory carries straight into the next audit, so nothing is surveyed twice.
Image: Camio inventory screen on a laptop in a project meeting
How it works
From site visit to finished report, in days not weeks.
01
Capture on site
Auditors record structure, fabric and key elements in the Camio app, with photos, measurements and condition.
02
Carbon and options
Embodied carbon is calculated for each element and retention, adaptation and reuse options are set out.
03
Review together
Your design team and planning consultants review the inventory online and agree what stays.
04
Report in minutes
The report is generated from the inventory, ready for your Circular Economy Statement, and can be re-run as the design develops.
05
Carry it forward
The inventory feeds your pre-demolition or pre-refurbishment audit, so the next stage starts with data already in place.
What's included in a Camio PRDA.
Deliverables
Retention options
A clear view of what can be retained, adapted or reused, element by element.
Whole-life carbon inputs
Embodied carbon data to compare retaining the building against rebuilding.
Planning-ready report
Evidence formatted for your GLA Circular Economy Statement and pre-application discussions.
Live inventory
An inventory that carries into later audits instead of being started again.
Compliance
- GLA Circular Economy Statement guidance
- London Plan Policy SI 7 (circular economy)
- London Plan Policy D3 (circular economy principles in design)
- Retrofit First policies, including Westminster
Ideal for
- Developers at pre-application stage
- GLA-referable schemes in London
- Buildings where retention versus demolition is still open
- Design teams preparing whole-life carbon assessments
Every asset, every life
Most audits describe a building on one day. Camio follows every asset for life.
Each item keeps its record through every life, every location and every owner. That is what makes Camio the natural fit for BREEAM In-Use, SKA and estates where assets move between projects again and again.
Asset record · Glass display counter
One item, followed across four stages
- Life 1
Retail unit, Building A
Owner: Tenant A
2019 to 2026
- Audit
Pre-refurbishment audit
Captured, tagged, carbon calculated
Oct 2026
- Life 2
Floor 3, Building B
Owner: Landlord
2026 to 2029
- Life 3
Resold to a new owner
Via the Camio marketplace
2029 onwards
Multiple lives
Reuse, refurbishment and resale are recorded against the same item, so carbon savings add up over every life.
Multiple locations
Moves between floors, buildings and projects are tracked, so the inventory always shows where things really are.
Multiple owners
Items keep their history when they change hands, from landlord to tenant to buyer, across your whole estate.
Audit enquiry
Tell us about your project.
We will come back with a scope and a fee proposal.
It helps to include
- The site address and approximate floor area (GIA)
- The audit you need, or the planning, BREEAM, GLA or SKA requirement it is for
- Your programme: when you need the report and when strip-out or demolition starts
- Drawings, asbestos surveys or previous audits, if you have them
[We aim to reply within X hours and can be on site within X days.]
Questions we are often asked
What is the difference between a pre-redevelopment and a pre-demolition audit?
A pre-redevelopment audit comes first and tests whether the building should be kept or adapted. A pre-demolition audit comes later, once demolition is justified, and catalogues every material that will come out with a reuse or recycling route for each.
When should a pre-redevelopment audit happen?
As early as possible, ideally before or at pre-application, so the findings can shape the design and the planning strategy.
Do we need one for a GLA-referable scheme?
The GLA Circular Economy Statement guidance asks for a pre-redevelopment audit where existing buildings are on site. Your planning consultant will confirm what your scheme needs.