Working with Brian Grace

Brian Grace owns and runs his general consulting engineering practice - BDG Engineering Consultancy - since 1995 and offers a wide range of services, including structural design, planning applications, building supervision, site mapping and property surveys.

Brian always stresses the importance of competency in current engineering methods and advances. It's one of the reasons why he decided to come to us, looking for new solutions that would help his business.

A big part of what we do at Hitechniques is advising our customers on which type of equipment will be the best for their business. In order to do that we learn about their needs and pick the solutions based on that knowledge. It's not always the latest or the most expensive, it's about finding a solution that will work for them.

For Brian we picked Zenith16 GNSS Receiver with X-PAD surveying software form GeoMax Positioning. It's a set that provides great performance and accuracy needed for the types of surveys Brian is often required to conduct.

How consulting engineering practice benefited from upgrading their surveying equipment? - Read Brian's story

"I've been asked by the Hitechniques team for feedback on my recently purchased GeoMax Zenith16 GNSS RTK Rover. This I do, following return from site after completing another topographical survey, which took me approximately two hours. I already have the survey uploaded to my office drawing package and am now ready to commence my design work.

I have no hesitation in saying that prior to the Zenith16, the two hours above would have been TWO DAYS (and possibly two people).

I attended the one-day course with Philip several years ago and on completion, with no prior experience of GNSS, had enough knowledge to be confident to hire the unit and complete a survey to my requirements.

Subsequently, as needs arose I hired the unit from Hitechniques on a daily / weekly basis, which was very satisfactory. I found I was ‘saving up’ jobs so that when I had the unit, I was doing several surveying jobs at a time. Once the ease of use and efficiency of the GNSS is experienced, it is almost impossible to return to traditional surveying methods!!

I am a sole practitioner, and the one-man operation of the Zenith16 is very attractive as opposed to a total station etc.

I have the Zenith16 and GeoMax X-PAD software for approximately three months. I have completed several surveys since purchase, and while I’m sure I’m not yet using it to its full potential, it has more than met with my survey expectations.

I am a consulting engineer in general practice and therefore not a specialized surveying provider. However, over the years I have found that the most basic of projects now nearly all require a detailed survey prior to commencement of my work. Some jobs may not be big enough to require the services of a dedicated surveying contractor. This is where I find the benefit of owning the GNSS – you have the accuracy when you need it.

Projects such as boundary disputes, legal mapping etc. now all require the precision provided by GNSS and using it in such situations provides confidence to clients that the job is done accurately.

When I took delivery of the Zenith16 I received a days training with the new unit from Roch (of Hitechniques) and we covered all the features of the rover and software to allow me to commence surveying immediately. Subsequently, any small queries I’ve had, Roch (and all the Hitechniques team) were hugely knowledgeable only a phone call away to address any issues.

All in all, I am very pleased I purchased the Zenith16 and I find it is ideal for the general survey type of work I require as a consulting engineer. I can confidently say I certainly won’t be returning to the old measuring tape!!!"

Brian Grace, Chartered Engineer

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Working with Brian was a great pleasure and we are very happy knowing he's satisfied with his purchase.

We'd like to take this opportunity to, once again, thank him for sharing his experience with us and the community, and to wish him all the best with his future endeavours. 

Hitechniques Team