Investigation services
Sick Building Syndrome Survey
An anonymous occupant questionnaire and workplace environmental assessment that establishes whether a building meets the WHO threshold for sick building syndrome — and where the affected zones are.
Survey design
Why a structured SBS survey changes the conversation
By the time SBS reaches HR, the problem has usually been described in fragments — a person on the third floor, a department complaining of headaches, an email thread that mentions "the air". A structured sick building syndrome survey replaces the fragments with a population-level dataset. It tells you what proportion of the workforce is experiencing symptoms, which symptoms, in which zones, on which days of the week.
Our survey instrument is built on the World Health Organization SBS criteria (two or more recognised symptoms in >20% of occupants that resolve on leaving the building) and the HSE Stress Indicator Tool. Questions cover the seven symptom domains — cognitive, sensory, respiratory, dermatological, neurological, gastrointestinal and emotional — alongside desk location, time-of-day pattern, and personal factors that the analysis must control for.
Responses are anonymous and reported in aggregate, with cross-tabulation by floor and zone. This is what turns a workplace environmental assessment into a defensible investigation: the prevalence figures, not anecdote, are what trigger and direct the engineering work that follows.
How it runs
A typical workplace environmental assessment
- 1
Stage 01
Scoping
Telephone briefing with HR, FM and occupational health. Definition of affected and control zones, occupancy patterns and confidentiality protocol.
- 2
Stage 02
Survey issue
Branded online survey link distributed via the client's internal channels. One reminder issued at day 4. Survey closes at day 7.
- 3
Stage 03
Walk-through audit
On-site inspection of the building services and finishes that the survey results point to. Initial spot measurements of CO₂, temperature and RH to triangulate against survey responses.
- 4
Stage 04
Assessment report
Written report with prevalence statistics by zone, comparison against the WHO threshold, walk-through findings, and a recommendation on whether to proceed to full SBS testing.
What the survey reveals
Pattern is more important than peak
The single most useful output of a sick building syndrome survey is the symptom map. When responses are plotted against desk location, the pattern almost always tells the engineering story. A diagonal band of headaches that follows a supply duct. A pocket of throat irritation near a freshly fitted partition. Symptom prevalence that doubles on the two days that occupancy is highest.
Once the pattern is on the page, the building services audit becomes targeted rather than speculative. We know where to put the monitors, which AHU to inspect first, and which materials to interrogate. The survey saves time, money and — most importantly — credibility, by ensuring that any subsequent remediation is grounded in evidence.
FAQ
SBS survey — common questions
Ready to survey your workforce?
Anonymous, structured and quick to deploy. Most surveys close within a week.
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