West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust (WMHBT) have developed an app, funded by Historic England, to encourage volunteers to assist in completing condition surveys of Grade II buildings around their local areas.

 

The app allows people to upload photos, alongside ratings of the condition of elements of the building in line with Historic England guidance, resulting in an overall assessment of the building’s condition and Historic England risk category. All of this information is then stored in a GIS, location mapped database.

 

It also allows users to nominate unlisted buildings for local listing, providing a photo, location data, and a brief justification for the nomination in each case.

 

Over the past two years, over 400 buildings have been surveyed by volunteers in the West Midlands using the app. West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust engaged local university students, interest groups and their volunteer database to complete surveys and are now looking into the future viability of the app.

 

WMHBT are now looking at new ways to develop the app and are conducting market research with a variety of stakeholders to understand how it can support heritage buildings.