What Are PRFs & What Does It Mean For My Project?

Potential Roosting Features (PRFs) are specific structures or characteristics in buildings, trees, or other parts of the environment that might provide suitable places for bats to roost, or set up home. 

These can include things like gaps under roof tiles, holes in walls, hollows in trees, and other sheltered, undisturbed spaces that bats might find attractive.

A Preliminary Bat Roost Assessment is a survey conducted by an ecologist to check a property or area for these Potential Roosting Features. The goal is to identify whether there's a likelihood of bats being present, which could impact development plans because bats and their roosts are legally protected.

Now, what does this mean for a client, typically someone planning a development or construction project?

If the assessment finds no PRFs, or if the features found are assessed as offering negligible potential for bats, the customer can usually proceed with their plans without further steps to mitigate bat impact.

However, if the assessment finds PRFs that could potentially house bats, the next step would typically be a more detailed bat survey, carried out at dusk or dawn when bats are most active.

If bats are indeed found, this doesn't mean the project can't proceed, but there might be some requirements to meet first.

 Usually, this involves drawing up mitigation measures which are implemented after planning is determined.

Nocturnal surveys can only be carried out between May and September each year with September considered sub-optimal.