Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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GRAFFITI GRADING

10.1

Introduction
10.1.1 Graffiti is defined as any informal or illegal marks, drawings or paintings that have been deliberately made by a person or persons on any physical element comprising the outdoor environment, with a view to communicating some message or symbol etc. to others.
10.1.2 Graffiti should be recorded if it is visible from relevant land and highways (in other words, from the survey transect), on the surface of any building, wall, fence or other structure or erection, where that surface is readily visible from a place on that land or highway to which the public have access.
10.1.3 Authorised Sites
Where graffiti has been placed on sites that have been specifically authorised by the local authority – e.g. ‘graffiti walls’ – these should be excluded from NI 195 assessments.

10.2

Definitions of Graffiti Grades
  GRADE A - The local environment is completely free of graffiti.
  GRADE B - some graffiti is present, but it is minor in extent, and many people passing through the local environment would not notice it.
  GRADE C - graffiti is present to the extent that it would be clearly visible to people passing through the local environment, and visible at a distance from at least one end of the 50m transect.
  GRADE D - graffiti is extensive over a large part of the 50m transect and is likely to be clearly visible and obtrusive to people passing through the local environment, and visible from any point on the transect.

10.3

Assigning Intermediate Grades
10.3.1 Three Intermediate Grades will also be used (B+, between Grade A and Grade B; B –, between Grade B and Grade C; and C –, between Grade C and Grade D).
10.3.2 The intermediate grades are not separately defined – they fall ‘in between’ the four grades defined in COPL&R, when the quality standard on a transect neither conforms to the definition of an upper ‘whole’ grade nor that of the ‘whole’ grade below it.
10.3.3 This could happen where some parts of a transect could be graded as Grade B, but other parts are Grade C. The clearest example would be where there is a marked difference in standard between one side of a transect and the other - for example, if one side is Grade B and the other if Grade C, then a Grade B – is assigned.
10.3.4 The B – Grade is particularly important in the context of the NI 195 survey, because it shows that standards are close to being satisfactory. That is why, from 1st April 2008 onwards, it will be given only half the weight of Grades C, C – and D in calculating an authority’s NI 195 score for graffiti.