Level information is most regularly carried out for:

• Topographical Survey
• Planning permission
• Insurance issues
• Boundary disputes
• Housing schemes
• Floodplain assessments
• River Studies

With the issue of flooding being paramount within housing and insurance of properties, survey levels are required to be above a known height. The Ordnance Survey Datum (OS datum) is a national standard datum used for this purpose as it is based upon a measurement of mean sea level. This can be achieved in one of two ways, the use of the Ordnance Survey benchmark network or, more often these days, the use of GPS.