Technical map view of the Cologne administrative district with Cologne marked for explosive ordnance investigation and surveys by FONTANA-EOD

Explosive ordnance surveying in Leverkusen

After aerial photograph analysis, clarify which investigations the planned construction works require. FONTANA-EOD supports preparation of the commissioned explosive ordnance investigation in Leverkusen and documents its results. Investigated subareas, limitations and outstanding steps must remain identifiable for subsequent works.

Assessment

Compare indications with the planned groundworks.

Measures

Coordinate investigation and necessary preparatory works.

Handover

Hand over the report, plans and outstanding tasks.

Discuss investigation and next stepsExplosive ordnance assessment in North Rhine-Westphalia
Assess the construction project

Connect investigation results and next steps

In Leverkusen, further measures follow from the individual aerial photograph analysis together with the planned construction project. The municipal portal identifies the local regulatory authority as the receiving authority: it checks the application and forwards it to the explosive ordnance disposal service where applicable. Listed documents include a map with the area marked, access permission and a declaration that the area is free of utility lines. Other appendices required depend on the case.

Relate the official communication and specialist reports to the subareas and depths actually proposed. After investigation, the scope investigated and outstanding tasks must remain identifiable for subsequent works. A private summary does not replace an outstanding official communication.

The downhole magnetometry at track 59 in Leverkusen-Opladen is documented as a local project. The method sequence is described under downhole and deep-ground survey. For your project enquiry, please send the current intervention plan and existing official information; the track project does not determine the investigation scope for another construction area.

Project references

Selected project examples

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.

Retain Leverkusen’s results procedure in the project file

The municipal portal identifies Ordnung und Gewerbe, Abteilung 361, as the responsible unit. The local regulatory authority receives and checks the application before possible forwarding. After investigation, it receives the explosive ordnance disposal service’s result and passes it on after review or initiates further processing. The private specialist commission is related to this specific procedure.

For enquiries from Wiesdorf, Opladen, Schlebusch, Manfort, Küppersteg, Quettingen, Rheindorf or Hitdorf, provide the address, cadastral parcel and affected ground area. A location within industrial or factory surroundings is also marked on the current plan. This information enables identification of existing assessments and documents; the place name alone does not describe ordnance contamination. For locations in Cologne, Leichlingen, Langenfeld, Monheim am Rhein, Bergisch Gladbach, Solingen or other places in the Rhine and Bergisches Land area, local responsibility is determined separately at the actual project location. Official information from Leverkusen is passed on with its own spatial reference. Further project locations are shown in the regional overview.

The overview of the Cologne administrative district provides further local information for the regional context of your construction project.

North Rhine-Westphalia
Local context

Include former uses and terrain changes

From the Leverkusen application to the intended measure

Leverkusen’s municipal portal connects further investigation measures with the individual aerial photograph analysis and planned construction project. The local regulatory authority receives the application and, after checking it, forwards it to the explosive ordnance disposal service where applicable. The type and scope of a measure must therefore relate to the respective case.

The Leverkusen City Archives’ finding aid for the Rhein-Wupper-Kreis lists, among other things, records on rubble and war damage clearance and destroyed and restored roads and bridges. A finding aid entry identifies possible records; the measure described becomes traceable only through the respective record and its location reference. Suitable historical images, building records and earlier terrain plans are researched and technically assessed for a property. The indications obtained are compared with today’s plans. The specific record provides the spatial and temporal reference for further technical interpretation.

Response and possible further processing

The city also describes the return route: the explosive ordnance disposal service informs the regulatory authority of the investigation result; the authority checks and passes it on, or further investigations become necessary. Coordinate the private investigation commission with this procedure. The specialist report does not replace an outstanding official communication.

For industrial, chemical, commercial, factory and storage sites, documented phases of use and expansion are compared with the positions of new structural elements. For railway, road, utility and route corridors, former alignments, filled areas and later alterations are relevant where documents provide findings about them. Rhine-side and riverbank locations may include structures, access routes and altered terrain sections. For older residential areas, infill or redevelopment, existing indications of war damage, reconstruction, demolition and ground movements are included. What matters remains which information can be related to the area and intervention depth actually affected. A type of use alone does not establish the investigation method.

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 City of Leverkusen’s local regulatory authority checks the explosive ordnance investigation application and forwards it where applicable to the state explosive ordnance disposal service of the Düsseldorf district government. It receives the service’s investigation result for further processing. Private specialist works are agreed with the specific permissible task and related to this status. The respective responsibility is identified together with the result needed and next decision. For a project outside Leverkusen, the actual project address determines the responsible municipality. Any need for ordnance recovery is coordinated with the permissible task and the competent authorities.

Investigation task

Which specialist task comes next?

Derive the outstanding question from the documents

The individual assessment and construction project form the basis for further task clarification. Check whether the findings needed concern an area, a single location or a particular intervention involving a structural element. A general service designation is insufficient. The proposed measure is agreed with the responsible authority and specific project reference.

Assess historical documents

Use the result with its limitations

A report is read according to its task, area covered and limitations. Subareas that cannot be assessed must not disappear at handover. Further work required remains outstanding until a suitable basis exists. A private commission does not replace state powers; NRW requirements for specific activities are checked separately.

Compare investigation methods
Project types

Relate subareas and subsequent works traceably

Illustration: two people review plans and documents at a table beside a construction vehicle.

Identify a completed subarea precisely

Record which area was investigated, for which task and which limitations exist. The next construction section is related to that result. A general notification of completion at the site does not adequately describe the scope. Areas not yet addressed remain explicitly separate from the completed subtask.

Document findings and their limitations
Illustration: two people review plans and documents at a table beside a construction vehicle.

Distinguish preparation and investigation in the commission

The official information, access and preparatory works needed are clarified before work starts. Identify who undertakes each task. Commissioning an investigation does not automatically include all preparatory works. Outstanding prerequisites are recorded with their relationship to the proposed appointment and working area.

Coordinate the sequence and tasks
Illustration: two people with a tablet beside a drawing table and a survey trolley on a construction site.

Check reinstatement for additional interventions

Further works may be proposed after investigation. Describe whether they merely restore the agreed condition or affect additional areas and depths. Organisational grouping within a construction section does not decide the investigation requirement. New interventions are compared with documented results.

Specialist services and investigation tasks
Preparation

Prepare the scope and commission together

Before commissioning, establish the investigation needed, the specific Leverkusen procedural status and private activity permissible for it. Describe the planned intervention and findings needed.

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

Plan preparatory works, subareas and follow-up works

01

The question the investigation should answer

Explain which question remains outstanding from existing findings. Does it concern a defined area, an identified suspicion or a particular structural element intervention? Include the outstanding question explicitly in the commission so that investigation scope can follow it.

02

Agree access and preparatory works

Before execution, clarify whether the area is accessible, which utility information exists and which preparatory works are needed. Agree who undertakes them and provides the documents. A commissioned measurement does not automatically mean that all preparatory works or third-party information needed belong to the same service.

03

Coordinate subareas with the construction sequence

If the project is to be carried out in sections, give them clear labels. Record which subarea was investigated and which later work relies on it. Evidence for an investigated subarea does not apply to the property’s unresolved areas.

04

Distinguish reinstatement and subsequent interventions

Further terrain works may be proposed after investigation. Describe their scope and check whether they differ from documented information. An additional deeper intervention needs separate assessment even if planned with reinstatement in the same construction section.

Project documents

Documents that establish the next step

Keep official and technical documents together

The private specialist report and official communication serve different purposes. Both are considered with their respective plans and limitations. Record which response remains outstanding. Existing technical documentation is not treated as a substitute for official processing required in the specific procedure.

For investigation on an operational site, access, site induction, utility information and necessary preparatory works are also clarified. The respective contacts and operational areas affected are identified. For multiple subcommissions, establish who prepares the area and who restores the required condition after investigation. The municipal portal lists access permission, a declaration that the area is free of utility lines and a plan of the investigated area among required documents. The evidence actually needed is compared with the project’s own case; particular property or contamination conditions are considered separately.

Coordinate follow-up works with the actual status

Site management needs the documented investigation scope for the specific planned works. Provide the report, appendices and current plans together. Outstanding questions remain identifiable. A change of contractor or construction section name does not change the boundaries of the existing result.

Alongside the report, site management receives maps and information on areas that cannot be assessed or have limited assessability. Before the next section, check which tasks remain to be addressed before execution. An outstanding point is clearly related to the structural element or working area concerned. Technical supplementary work and pending official processing remain distinguishable. Where several reports exist, their area and depth references are considered individually. Keeping them together facilitates access while retaining their respective limitations of findings. Following clearance work, the clearance record with its scope, results and remaining limitations is related to the subarea actually treated and its site plan.

Construction sequence

Coordinate investigation and construction sections

Before commissioning the investigation

Collect the assessment, official response and current intervention plan. Describe the question still to be answered and preparatory works needed. The service agreement records what is to be investigated and which documents will be provided afterwards. Outstanding prerequisites are clarified before execution.

Coordinate the construction phase with us

Before subsequent construction works begin

Relate each planned intervention to an applicable result and the current official status. Check whether additional works lie outside the previous scope. A brief results overview assists orientation; complete reports and maps remain available. Outstanding steps are not concealed by a general completion notification.

Coordinate the construction phase with us
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

Investigation objective and limitations of findings

Aerial photograph analysis and current construction plans

A historical aerial photograph analysis is considered together with today’s proposed construction project. An area indication, a specific suspicion and requirements for a particular intervention may lead to different further tasks. Record in planning which question each investigation should answer.

At handover, identify the investigated boundary, task, depth and elevation reference used for each subarea. Connect this information with a clear plan version. For phased execution, unresolved remaining areas and interfaces remain identifiable. Site management can then establish which specific findings exist for the next work step. An unchanged property name does not combine spatially separate investigation results. For a changed construction section, compare again whether its extent and depth are covered.

Identify subareas that cannot be assessed in the report

For a surface survey, the investigation objective and site conditions influence the scope of findings achievable. If a subarea cannot be assessed, this must remain identifiable in further work. Include limitations important to the next construction works in a brief results summary as well.

A handover register distinguishes technical reports, official communications, current design plans and documents still expected. Each document is recorded with its date, processing status and area covered. If a report is supplemented, its appendices and changed plans are also handed over. The brief results overview refers to the complete documents. Essential limitations already belong in this overview so that they are identifiable during work preparation. Unclear or differing information is clarified with the responsible specialist authority before the intervention dependent on it.

Private commissions and official powers

The survey by a specialist company is carried out within the permissible agreed tasks. The particular North Rhine-Westphalia conditions for certain private methods must still be observed. A commission transfers no official powers; nor is merely watching excavation equivalent to proper detection.

For the next decision, place the most recently documented investigation scope alongside the groundworks actually imminent. Additional utility trenches, wider excavations, different foundation depths or changed support elements may create a supplementary knowledge requirement. The work package is then described with the new positions and depths. A change of contractor leaves existing investigation results usable within their documented scope. Responsibility for passing on changes, providing reports and coordinating further steps needed is assigned explicitly.

Next steps

From assessment to results handover

01

Initial contact and document review

At first contact, describe planned groundworks, outstanding questions and the timescale needed. Compare existing aerial photograph analyses, explosive ordnance reports and official communications with the current intervention plan. If historical information is missing, the necessary aerial photograph analysis is initiated through the responsible local authority; unresolved use questions require research and technical assessment of supplementary records and images. Together with the construction project, the findings determine which question must be answered next.

02

Define the investigation task and method

Outstanding questions are connected with the affected subareas, depths and preparatory works needed. The suitable method is selected using ground conditions, target objects, interference and accessibility. The local regulatory authority communicates the intended state measure; any necessary application is related to the specific case. Permissible private specialist tasks are described separately. Access, utility documents and preparatory works are agreed before execution.

03

Execute and assess findings

The intended investigation or suitable supplementary supervision is performed within the established permissible task scope. Technical assessment relates data and observations to the areas addressed. Usable results, anomalies and subareas with limited assessability are documented with their location references. Necessary further investigations and outstanding coordination are derived from this. Changes to site conditions are recorded in the actual execution status.

04

Document and coordinate follow-up works

The report, maps, technical scope and limitations are handed over in full. Under Leverkusen’s procedure, state results are passed on through the local regulatory authority or lead to further processing. Before the next construction section, site management compares the current intervention with the documented status. Outstanding questions and decisions needed remain assigned to the affected works. New areas or depths are compared with existing information before execution.

Documentation

Documents needed by site management

Read the investigation task and result together

Hand over the report with its corresponding plans. It must show which question was investigated, which areas were affected and which limitations apply. Identify the corresponding construction plan and its version so that site management can relate results to the proposed works.

Project responsibilities

FONTANA-EOD provides documentation of the commissioned specialist service. Supplementary official communications and other technical reports are considered with their own purposes. The BFR Kampfmittelräumung provide a technical basis or, outside their direct scope, guidance for this; they do not replace a project-specific decision by the competent authorities.

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 result needs its appendices

Maps and information on the investigated area are essential for later use. They therefore remain connected with the report. A summary should also identify essential limitations. Only then can subsequent site management check whether its specific task is actually covered by the existing result.

Understand investigation reports and their limitations

A further step need not be the same task

Additional areas, different depths or new findings may create their own clarification requirement. Describe the next question explicitly and compare it with the previous commission. Completion of a service does not automatically answer every later question at the site. Further work is agreed using the actual project.

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 measures and results in Leverkusen

How are further investigation measures determined?

The city describes the individual aerial photograph analysis together with the planned construction project as the basis. The measure proposed for the specific case is agreed through the local regulatory authority. A general service title alone does not answer this question. Agree investigation requirements before proposed groundworks so that necessary applications, preparatory works and execution can be incorporated into the construction sequence.

Who receives the official investigation result?

According to Leverkusen’s procedural description, the explosive ordnance disposal service first informs the local regulatory authority. It checks and passes on the result; further investigations may be required. The private specialist report must be distinguished as a separate document.

Can one completed subarea cover the whole site?

No. The investigation’s documented spatial and technical scope is decisive. Areas not addressed remain unresolved even if they belong to the same company or property. Follow-up works must be related to the appropriate evidence. Existing results are passed on with their positions, depths and limitations. Technical suitability depends on ground conditions, target objects, interference and accessibility; subareas with limited assessability remain documented.

Are preparatory works and reinstatement automatically part of the survey?

This depends on the specific commission agreed. Describe preparatory and subsequent works needed explicitly. Agree before starting who undertakes them and which services are included in the investigation commission.

What applies to an unexpected possible explosive ordnance find?

Stop the affected works, keep your distance and do not touch or move the object. Report the find to the police on 110 and follow the competent authorities’ instructions. Do not attempt investigation or recovery yourself. Warn others without endangering yourself and keep the affected area clear.

How is an outstanding official response documented?

As a separate outstanding step referring to the respective case and construction section. An existing private specialist report does not automatically replace it. The subsequent sequence connects document review, necessary historical assessment, method selection, investigation or suitable supervision, assessment and documentation. It ends with comparison of results and decisions still needed before the next execution.

Which factors determine effort and costs?

Investigation scope, depth, methods, interference, accessibility and preparatory works determine effort. The city also identifies preparatory, reinstatement and construction supervision services and possible additional costs of assessment in sections. These tasks and their cost allocation are clarified for the specific case. The private commission describes the specialist service actually permissible and agreed evidence. Existing complete reports help define additional investigation requirements.

Can reinstatement involve a new investigation requirement?

Yes, if proposed works affect additional areas or depths. The actual intervention and its relationship to the documented investigation scope are decisive. Site management needs the complete report with maps, limitations, current construction plan and official processing status.

Project enquiry

Prepare the next investigation in Leverkusen

Send the complete results status

Include the assessment, official communications and technical reports with their appendices. Add the project address, cadastral parcel, construction phase, timescale and decision sought. The sector overview explains typical interventions and the documents they require.

Show follow-up works

Identify the next construction section, proposed reinstatement and additional ground interventions with their positions and depths. Mark inaccessible areas and the first intervention due. Assign preparatory and reinstatement works to the respective participants. Further project locations: Aachen, Düren, 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.

Send a project enquiry Call now Send documents Select services