Free tool
Archaeology cost scope worksheet
A reliable budget starts with the required work and its completion obligations. Identify the evidence and scope decisions needed before commissioning a price; site area and landscape alone cannot establish one.
- Inputs
- Area, landscape, disturbance, stage
- Output
- Scope questions and budget stages
- Basis
- Site evidence, not assumed rates
- For accuracy
- Send the site details to us
Your site
Your starting information
Describe the site so the review can focus on the information still needed. No method or price is determined by these selections.
Scope to resolve
Next decision
Establish the planning requirement and assemble the site evidence before commissioning a method. Assessment, geophysics, trenching and mitigation are separate possible stages, not an automatic sequence for every site.
Information to confirm
- Disturbance area supplied: 2 ha. Confirm this against the impact plan, not just the red-line boundary.
- Check HER records, previous investigations, geology and disturbance history against the actual footprint.
- Provide proposed levels, foundation and drainage depths, access and spoil arrangements.
- Separate assessment/evaluation, any mitigation, specialist analysis and archive obligations in the budget.
No cost, duration or approved method is inferred from these inputs. A site-specific scope and price are needed.
Check the exact decision notice: method approval, area release and final condition discharge can be different gates.
Budget basis
What an archaeological cost estimate must include
A useful allowance covers the whole planning obligation, not only the days when archaeologists and plant are visible on site.
- Evidence and approval
- HER data, assessment, authority brief, Written Scheme of Investigation and the review time needed before work can start.
- Site delivery
- Field team, supervision, plant, welfare, survey control, access, fencing, haul routes, spoil handling and contractor interfaces.
- Findings risk
- Feature density, depth, preservation, human remains, waterlogged deposits and the agreed route for additional work.
- Completion
- Interim sign-off, assessment, specialist analysis, final report, archive deposition and any publication needed for discharge.
Archaeological survey costs
Questions developers ask before a scope exists
Separate a commissioned price from an early allowance. Confirm what each figure includes and what still depends on findings.
How much does an archaeological survey for planning permission cost?
There is no reliable single price because 'survey' can mean a desk-based assessment, geophysical survey, trial trenching or a combination. Site area matters, but geology, access, trench coverage, ground conditions, findings and reporting requirements often matter more. Use this worksheet to identify missing information, then request a scoped allowance from the planning position and site evidence.
Is archaeology priced per hectare?
Area is one input, not a rate card. Two sites of the same size can need very different methods and resources. Feature density, deposit depth, contamination, service constraints, plant access, sampling and post-excavation obligations all change the cost.
Does an archaeological quote include reporting and the archive?
It should state this explicitly. Evaluation and mitigation appointments can include fieldwork, interim reporting, final reporting, specialist analysis, finds work, archive preparation and deposition, but allowances vary. Compare inclusions and completion criteria rather than headline fieldwork totals.
Can I get a fixed archaeological cost before trial trenching?
You can obtain a defined price for the assessment or evaluation stage. Where mitigation is not yet defined, ask what evidence and assumptions support the offer, how variations are instructed, and what obligations are excluded. Keep provisional allowances distinct from agreed stage prices.
Continue
Archaeological survey costs for planning permission
What a planning-stage allowance needs to include before it becomes a scope.
Who pays for archaeology?
Allocating assessment, fieldwork and post-excavation cost through the development chain.
Evaluation and trial trenching
The stage that replaces a broad mitigation allowance with evidence.
Procure a comparable scope
How to expose exclusions, risk allowances and completion obligations.
Project review
Build the budget from a defined scope, not an assumed hectare rate.
Send the planning position, site plan and any survey data. We will come back with the requirement, the method and the programme, with assumptions stated.