Technical map of the administrative district of Arnsberg, marking Arnsberg as a location for ordnance investigation and surveying by FONTANA-EOD

Explosive ordnance survey in Hagen

Ground investigation reports, retaining works design and ordnance investigation concern the same ground but provide different evidence. For your project in Hagen, FONTANA-EOD supports preparation and documentation of commissioned ordnance investigations. Planned boreholes, excavations and support elements are compared with existing findings about the property.

Specialist tasks

Assess ground conditions, structures and ordnance separately.

Ground interventions

Describe structures and ground changes.

Records

Hand over reports with their commission and investigated areas.

Assess the construction project

Answer each specialist question with the appropriate evidence

Ground conditions, excavation support and ordnance investigation need different evidence. For your Hagen project, we assign the planned groundworks to existing ordnance documents. Other assessments remain identifiable by their respective purposes and are considered in joint preparation.

Project site

Connect the site with the specific construction task

Illustrative map of North Rhine-Westphalia with the state coat of arms, a tablet, a white FONTANA-EOD helmet and a notebook.

Include the responsible Hagen authority early in planning

The city of Hagen recommends timely coordination with the public order office, where appropriate even before the building application. This office arranges involvement of the state explosive ordnance disposal service of the Arnsberg District Government. Specialist tasks within the project are also described specifically. Official decisions remain with the competent authorities; the private commission describes the specialist service agreed.

Hagen is an independent city in the Arnsberg administrative district in North Rhine-Westphalia. For project locations in the city centre, Hagen-Mitte, the station area, Haspe, Wehringhausen, Eilpe, Dahl, Boele, Hohenlimburg, Holthausen or Vorhalle, provide the address, plot and affected ground area. These enable assignment of existing responses and investigation plans. For enquiries from southern Dortmund, Schwerte, Iserlohn, Ennepetal, Gevelsberg or other places between the southern Ruhr area and northern Sauerland, the responsible local authority is determined by the actual project location. The location identifies the document reference and does not in itself indicate ordnance contamination. For other project locations, the regional allocation of ordnance investigation helps prepare the enquiry.

Local context

Include historical ground and land-use changes

Early coordination with the Hagen public order office

The city of Hagen recommends involving the public order office early and, where appropriate, before the building application. It arranges involvement of the explosive ordnance disposal service of the Arnsberg District Government. A private investigation commission does not replace this official coordination.

The Hagen city archive describes photographs in its collection showing the city before the first severe air raid on 1 October 1943, during the air war and in the reconstruction period. These periods help trace earlier buildings and later changes for a specific area. Historical imagery is selected on specialist grounds and compared with further records and the present-day groundworks plan. The site-specific analysis remains distinguishable from technical investigation of the ground as it is today.

Relate different specialist reports to the same groundworks

For each existing report, check which question it answers. A ground investigation report cannot replace ordnance documentation merely because both concern the same property. Excavation support design also has its own purpose. Coordinate the documents and record the commission, method and result of each specialist service.

For former industrial, commercial, operational or storage sites, documented uses and later alterations are compared with the new structures. The same applies to railway, shunting and route areas, bridge zones, conversion sites and older housing areas. In sloping ground and embankment areas, documented filling, excavation or stabilisation works may have shaped the present ground configuration. Historical war damage, reconstruction, demolition and later denser development are considered where the property documents provide findings about them. Topography or a land-use designation alone does not determine a particular investigation need.

Working together

Distinguish the tasks of client, designers and specialist contractor

Client and operator

The client describes the project and provides the available project records. The operator adds requirements for use, access and timing. A coordinating contact brings the parties together; individual tasks remain assigned to the named parties. Before commissioning, it is clearly recorded what information is missing, who will obtain it and what decision the result is intended to prepare.

Planning and construction management

The specialist designers describe areas, depths, construction methods and changes. Site management coordinates the planned sequence with the construction contractors and agreed specialist works. Results are assigned to the respective intervention. A technical plan change is communicated early enough for its effect on the survey task to be assessed before construction. Organisational construction stage boundaries remain distinguishable from technical survey boundaries.

Specialist company and competent bodies

The private explosive ordnance specialist carries out the agreed investigation and documentation work. Requirements and decisions of public authorities are addressed with the responsible bodies. The documents needed for a particular procedure depend on the location and project. The technical report describes the work carried out, including its documented area, depth and scope. Decisions reserved for public authorities are made by those authorities.

The public order office of the city of Hagen is the local point of contact for hazard prevention and arranges involvement of the state explosive ordnance disposal service of the Arnsberg District Government. The city recommends early contact, where appropriate even before the building application. Permissible private specialist work is agreed with its specific investigation and documentation scope. Existing official information is considered during this preparation. For a project outside the city, municipal responsibility follows the actual project address. The need for further ordnance recovery is clarified with the competent authorities according to the findings.

Investigation task

Which specialist task comes next?

Read the investigation commission behind the report

An assessment title is insufficient to judge its usability. Check the task, method and spatial scope. An existing ground investigation report may be important for planning without answering an ordnance question. Its actual findings and limitations determine the further work needed.

Assess historical documents

Define supplementary needs on specialist grounds

The groundworks planned and results available identify the ordnance question still outstanding. Addressing it is coordinated with the other specialist tasks. A method is not selected merely because a geotechnical commission exists. For private activities, the specific North Rhine-Westphalia conditions and official requirements also remain decisive.

Compare investigation methods
Project types

Show exploratory openings, support works and the excavation together

Two people with a tablet beside a marked construction area; plans lie in the foreground.

Do not overlook preparatory exploratory openings

Investigation for further planning may itself involve ground intervention. State the location, purpose and proposed scope of this work. Its ordnance-related prerequisites are clarified before it is carried out. Later use of the findings obtained does not replace adequate preparation of the investigation itself.

Compare specialist services before investigation
Illustration: two people with a tablet beside a drawing table and a survey trolley on a construction site.

Include support elements outside the excavation

The spatial extent of retaining works may differ from the excavation area itself. Show both clearly on the current plan. Each affected area is compared with existing results. Investigation of the interior is not transferred to additional lateral or deeper groundworks solely because they belong to the same construction project.

Specialist services and investigation tasks
Illustration: two people review plans and documents at a table beside a construction vehicle.

Keep specialist design changes coordinated

If foundations, retaining works or ground elevation change, the planners involved need the same current revision. Identify the structures affected and the difference from the earlier version. Superseded documents remain identifiable as such. Specialist assessment follows the actual new task, rather than only an unchanged project name.

Coordinate the sequence and tasks
Preparation

Prepare the scope and commission together

Before commissioning, the investigation required, the specific stage of the Hagen procedure and the private activity permissible for it are determined. Describe the planned groundworks and findings required for this purpose.

Establish what needs to be known before commissioning the work

First establish which decision the commission needs to support. Is the task an initial assessment of existing documents, an investigation of a specific area or examination of an anomaly that has already been assessed? These tasks require different evidence. A general wish for safety does not define an investigation that can be carried out. The enquiry therefore specifies the groundworks, location, depth and available findings. Suitable specialist work and the required reporting are then agreed on that basis.

Define the specialist task

Coordinate preparatory work with the investigation

Required access and survey conditions are clarified before the site visit. This may include keeping areas clear, obtaining service information and coordinating with other trades. The method and site determine which preparations are actually needed. Changes to the surface or additional groundworks are not undertaken unilaterally simply to prepare for a survey. Their sequence is agreed with the specialist designers and responsible parties.

Clarify preparatory work in the programme

Agree a clear scope and schedule

A realistic programme distinguishes technically resolved work from prerequisites that are still outstanding. If only part of a site will be accessible, the commission must take this into account. Handover and assessment of the results also need time in the construction programme. The schedule and effort are agreed once the scope, access and prerequisites are clear. This coordination brings together the specified scope, access, documents, site conditions and the date by which a decision is needed.

Discuss the scope and schedule
Tasks at the site

Coordinate boreholes, excavation and ground changes

01

Prepare ground investigation openings

If boreholes or other exploratory openings are proposed, state their location, purpose and planned ground interventions. Even preparatory investigation changes the ground. Clarify the ordnance-related prerequisites before the openings are made. The later ground investigation report does not replace this step.

02

Show the excavation and support works together

If the excavation boundary and support elements affect different areas, both should be identifiable on the investigation plan. Retaining elements or other foundation components are described with their own location and depth references. Findings concerning only the excavated volume do not automatically cover every structure located farther sideways or deeper.

03

Ground elevations before and after the works

For planned excavation or filling, distinguish the initial condition from the intended condition. Existing evidence can only be compared meaningfully if its spatial reference is retained. Identify unknown earlier changes as an information gap. Present appearance alone does not establish the previous condition of the site.

04

Address other ground-related questions separately

If information on soil contamination or other specialist requirements is available, include it in joint work preparation. It establishes neither suspected ordnance nor its exclusion. Agree the tasks between the specialist planners involved. The results of one investigation must not be used as evidence for a different question not assessed in it.

Project documents

Documents that establish the next step

Record commissions with their respective questions

For each assessment, record the findings required and area investigated. This helps coordination between geotechnical engineering, structural design and specialist ordnance planning. Common filing makes reports accessible but does not extend their content. Missing findings are assigned to the appropriate specialist discipline for further work.

A document list assigns each assessment its task, date, stage of work and associated plans. Ground investigation, structural support design and ordnance investigation may concern the same structures but have their own information objectives. The points, areas and depths investigated are therefore also recorded for comparison. Reference to the same site plan helps allocation. If reports are supplemented or replaced, the change remains traceable. Missing findings are assigned to the specialist task that can actually provide them.

Bring results together before the next groundworks

Site management should be able to identify which evidence belongs to which work. Hand over complete reports and the relevant plans for this purpose. Conflicts in location or elevation references are clarified before the affected work. One summary assessment does not replace the different specialist evidence.

Before the next groundworks, site management receives complete results documents with maps, attachments and identifiable limitations. The ordnance report identifies the commissioned investigation, method, areas investigated and specialist assessment of findings. A clearance record documents any further work actually carried out. Specialist additions and official steps still required are assigned separately. Forthcoming construction is compared with these results; new plans do not extend the old investigation scope. Suitable existing findings remain usable for the area covered.

Construction sequence

Coordinate investigation and construction sections

Before geotechnical investigation

Describe exploratory openings already proposed with their location and ground intervention. Include existing ordnance documents and identify outstanding official questions. The preparatory nature of the activity does not replace assessment of its prerequisites. Coordination should take place before the investigation begins.

Before adopting changed retaining works plans

Compare the new design with the existing investigation boundaries. Additional elements or different depths may require further clarification. The change is passed to all specialist planners affected. An old survey report is not extended by a new drawing; its actual scope of findings remains unchanged.

Method selection

Select methods according to the task and survey conditions

Historical records and aerial photographs

Historical aerial photograph assessment and other old records help place the basis for suspicion in its spatial context. The available images, their evidential value and the limits of the area considered matter. The absence of an identifiable indication must be distinguished from a technically surveyed ground area. The assessment is considered together with the planned intervention and other available findings. It can support the choice of a survey, but is not a measurement of the present-day subsurface or confirmation for all future works.

Understand aerial photograph assessment

Magnetometric survey

Magnetometric methods detect magnetic anomalies. Whether they can address the specific survey task depends, among other things, on the expected objects, ground conditions, interference and required survey area. Fences, utilities or existing structures may affect interpretation. A measurement signal is therefore not described as ordnance solely because of its strength. Method, interpretation and any further investigation are planned as a connected specialist task.

Understand the scope of magnetometry

Electromagnetic methods

Electromagnetic investigations can be suitable for particular metallic targets and site conditions. Their suitability must be explained for the task, rather than inferred simply from the availability of equipment. Interfering installations, accessible areas and the findings required must also be considered. Results are documented with their location and survey conditions. The specialist assessment determines whether a supplementary method is needed; this remains a project-specific decision.

Understand electromagnetic surveying

Ground-penetrating radar

Under suitable conditions, ground-penetrating radar can provide information about subsurface structures and reflections. Ground conditions, moisture, installations and the particular survey task affect interpretability. An anomaly is not automatically ordnance, and an area with no apparent anomalies is not general evidence for arbitrary depths. The specialist interpretation and its limits are documented with the instruction. A survey for another purpose is not adopted without checking as ordnance evidence.

GPR and limitations

Deep-ground and downhole surveys

For deeper groundworks, it may be necessary to establish whether a surface investigation can provide the required findings or another approach is needed. Preparation includes the location, depth, borehole layout and existing services. Creating access for the investigation must also be properly planned by specialists. A general depth figure or standard grid cannot replace that work. Findings remain limited to the areas actually investigated and the method used.

Prepare deep interventions

Survey during construction

If a necessary preliminary investigation cannot be completed, the specialists assess whether a planned approach during construction is suitable. This includes coordinated investigation, interpretation and communication of findings within the intended work sequence. Visual observation of excavated material is not an interchangeable substitute for a necessary survey. Site management needs a clear description of when specialist work will take place, how new findings will be handled and which areas remain unresolved.

Agree the approach during construction
Technical assessment

Existing findings and investigations required

Aerial imagery analysis and planned groundworks

A historical aerial photograph analysis is read together with the planned groundworks and other findings about the property. A general description as a commercial site or sloping plot is insufficient for selecting the measure. The actual indications, investigation objectives and conditions to be considered are decisive.

For preparatory ground investigation openings, send each starting position with its designation, planned depth and type of ground intervention. Ordnance-related prerequisites are clarified before these openings are made. The subsequent geotechnical report describes the ground properties investigated and remains identifiable by its own task. If it contains information on fill, strata or earlier ground changes, these can be considered during joint preparation. An ordnance assessment is developed from the historical and technical evidence suitable for that purpose. Reports are related to one another through location and plan revision.

Area, target depth and measurement conditions

A survey has a specific investigation task. Methods and limitations must fit the area, target depth and existing interference. Use these details to check which area the survey report actually covers and whether its results match the current design. The report title alone does not answer this.

For an excavation, identify the excavation boundary separately from support elements extending beyond it. Piles, inclined anchors or laterally shifted retaining components may affect different ground areas and volumes from the planned excavation. The investigation is related to the findings actually required. The elevation reference is equally important: depths below today's ground surface can only be compared with a report whose investigation level is known. Changed working levels and newly planned excavation are therefore explicitly marked. Unclear reference points are clarified before construction that depends on them.

Prerequisites for supervision during construction

A supervision service during construction does not automatically replace missing preliminary investigation or coordination of different specialist tasks. Defined conditions apply to private explosive ordnance clearance during construction in North Rhine-Westphalia. Visual observation of excavated material alone must be distinguished from professional explosive ordnance clearance with planned detection.

For possible supervision, describe the work sections, suitable investigation and interpretation tasks, and communication with site management. Existing opportunities for an advance investigation directed at the required findings and the prerequisites under state law inform the decision. New findings must be assignable to the work area affected. Planning identifies how unresolved areas will be addressed further and which tasks remain before the next groundworks. Where several trades are involved, handover of results is prepared together with the sequence of demolition, earthworks and foundation work.

Next steps

Coordinate documents between specialist planners

01

Initial contact and assessment of the evidence

At initial contact, describe the outstanding questions concerning ground conditions, structures and ordnance, with the findings needed for each. Existing ordnance documents, ground investigation information and official notifications are compared with the current plans. If historical evidence is missing, the aerial imagery analysis required is initiated through the Hagen public order office with the state KBD. Where use or ground information remains unresolved, further historical records and imagery are researched and professionally analysed. The results assign available indications to the area actually affected.

02

Agree groundworks and methods

All proposed exploratory openings, excavations, foundation and support elements are shown together with their location, depth and elevation reference. This identifies the ordnance findings still needed. A suitable method is determined according to ground conditions, target objects, interference and accessibility. State measures and permissible private tasks are assigned to the respective responsibilities. The service description links the investigation scope with specialist interpretation and the evidence required. Preparatory work and data still missing are identified before the work.

03

Investigate and assess findings

The responsible specialist planner addresses data gaps assigned to their discipline. The agreed explosive ordnance survey or professionally justified supplementary supervision is carried out under the conditions specified. Data and observations are interpreted. Usable findings, anomalies and areas with limited interpretability remain documented with a spatial reference. Further investigations and official coordination required are derived from these. Changes to the design or site working conditions are communicated to those involved in good time before the affected groundworks.

04

Document findings and assess the next groundworks

Reports are assigned to the same work areas and handed over with their respective limitations. The ordnance report contains the actual investigation scope, method, results and limitations; maps and attachments remain with it. Before the next construction work, site management compares the proposed structures with the documented status. Outstanding specialist questions and official steps required are assigned to the groundworks affected. If location, depth or elevation reference changes, this comparison is repeated for the new plans.

Documentation

Provide separate evidence for specialist questions

Read the investigation task and result together

For each report, record why it was prepared, which plan revision it uses and which area it investigates. Ordnance documentation must show the areas investigated and remaining limitations. Provide other assessments separately so that site management can identify existing evidence and outstanding questions for the next groundworks.

Project responsibilities

FONTANA-EOD documents the specialist ordnance service commissioned. Geotechnical and structural assessments remain assigned to the specialist tasks agreed for them. The structure of the BFR Kampfmittelräumung supports specialist planning and documentation. Their direct applicability relates to federal property, while local responsibilities and requirements must be considered for the specific Hagen project.

Working approach

How FONTANA-EOD works

Document the agreed specialist service clearly

We assess the planned groundworks against the available documents and their design revision. Before attending site, we agree with you what needs to be investigated, which areas are accessible and what findings are required. If the design or site conditions change, we check whether the agreed scope remains appropriate. The report states what was actually investigated and the limits of the findings. This allows designers and site management to see which findings they can use and where questions remain.

Discuss the investigation task

The task before the equipment

We first establish the investigation objective: which question must it answer? We then select a technically suitable method. The availability of a particular device or experience on a similar neighbouring site is not enough to justify the choice of method on its own.

Keep limitations visible

Inaccessible areas and limited conclusions are identified. They do not disappear into a total area figure. Designers and site management can then decide specifically which areas still need attention and when a suitable survey becomes possible.

Clarify changes before intervening in the ground

A new location, additional depth or different construction method is compared with previous results. A familiar project name does not replace this comparison. Feedback is provided before the affected work so that an outstanding question can be included in the sequence.

Hand over the report and plan together

The technical conclusion remains connected to its location references and appendices. A brief summary helps orientation but does not replace the documented survey scope. This basis is retained even if site management or contractors change.

Understand the results

Use technical statements for the next decision

A shared site does not mean shared evidence

Two reports may concern the same property yet answer different questions. Their results are therefore read according to the task and area investigated. Only findings actually contained may be used for the respective decision. A specialist connection between reports does not replace a missing investigation.

Understand investigation reports and their limitations

Coordinate location and elevation between specialist plans

Different reference points may complicate comparison. Clearly identify the coordinates, elevation information and plan revisions used. Unclear details are clarified before a decision relies on them. A combined plan helps allocation while retaining the limitations of the underlying specialist documents.

Understand the service scope
Design and findings

Documents for the next construction decision

Illustration: aerial photographs and maps on two screens and printed on a desk.

Historical evidence and the current design

Aerial photograph interpretation is related to the actual groundworks. Its purpose and geographical scope remain distinct from a technical investigation of the ground as it is today.

Understand aerial photograph assessment
Illustration: two people review plans and documents at a table beside a construction vehicle.

Specialist reports for site management

The findings, their locations and limitations are handed over together. This makes clear to those carrying out the work which area has been investigated and which task remains outstanding.

Assess investigation reports
Four people in orange high-visibility vests in front of two excavators on a construction site.
Person with a yellow survey cart on a footpath in front of a hedge.
Questions from planning

Questions about coordination with ground investigation and civil engineering in Hagen

Who is responsible for explosive ordnance disposal in Hagen?

The city identifies the local public order authority as responsible for explosive ordnance disposal within hazard prevention. The state explosive ordnance disposal service provides technical support. A private investigation is distinguished from this as a specifically commissioned specialist task. The city recommends early coordination with the public order office, where appropriate before submission of a building application and before preparatory groundworks.

Does a ground investigation report replace ordnance evidence?

Check which questions the ground investigation report investigates and which evidence it actually contains. Concerning the same property does not make it ordnance evidence. An ordnance-related assessment needs the specialist evidence required for that purpose and a documented investigation scope. A suitable method is selected according to ground conditions, target objects, depth and interference. Areas with limited interpretability remain documented with their boundaries.

Must preparatory boreholes be included in coordination?

Yes. Their location, purpose and proposed groundworks belong in work preparation. The ordnance-related prerequisites and measures required must be clarified before the work according to the specific project and findings available. The subsequent process connects document assessment and historical analysis required with method selection, investigation or suitable supervision, assessment and documentation. Before the next groundworks, the results are compared with the construction work.

What does a revised retaining works design change?

It may affect different locations or depths from the plans previously considered. Compare the new design with the actual investigation scope. Whether additions are needed follows from this comparison and the specialist and official requirements.

What does Hagen specify for responding to an ordnance find?

Never touch the object and keep a sufficient distance. According to the city's guidance, the public order office, fire service or police must be notified immediately. Stop the affected work; in an acute situation, the police can be contacted on 110. Do not attempt investigation or recovery yourself. Warn others without putting yourself in danger and keep the affected area clear.

How are different assessments assigned clearly?

For each report, the task, plan revision and investigated area are recorded. Site management can then identify which specific question has been answered and which work is still missing. Common filing helps coordination while leaving each report's specialist and spatial limitations unchanged.

Which factors determine effort and costs?

The decisive factors are investigation scope, depth, a suitable method, sources of interference, accessibility, preparatory work and results documents required. Existing complete ordnance reports help define additional information needs. A quotation describes the private task actually permissible and its conditions. Changed investigation starting positions, additional support elements or different depths are compared with the agreed scope and coordinated separately if further work is needed.

What changes must be communicated with a new specialist plan?

The structures affected, location, depth and elevation reference, and the difference from the previous revision. These details enable comparison with existing investigation results.

Project enquiry

Coordinate ordnance investigation with civil engineering plans

Identify specialist tasks separately

Describe outstanding ordnance questions and include relevant other assessments with their purpose. Add the address, plot, construction phase, timeframe, decision required and status of official coordination.

Show all groundworks

Send the current plan of exploratory openings, excavation, foundations and support elements with their location and depth. Identify areas not yet accessible and the groundworks due first. Existing aerial imagery analyses, conditions, utility and as-built plans are handed over in full with the reports. Describe your operational or infrastructure project context with its access and operating conditions. Further project locations: Aachen, Eschweiler, Cologne.

Project enquiry

Have your project assessed

Whether historical aerial photograph analysis, explosive ordnance surveying, surface surveying using GPR, magnetometry or TDEM, deep-ground surveys, downhole surveys, excavation supervision, area clearance or ordnance recovery is needed depends on the location, ground disturbance, depth, ground and existing documents. An early ordnance assessment provides clarity for tendering, programming, occupational safety and construction.

FONTANA-EOD combines its Section 7 SprengG licence, specialists holding Section 20 SprengG certificates of competence, suitable survey and clearance methods, and traceable documentation. Send the site plan, depth of ground disturbance, construction phase and existing documents for an initial technical assessment.