The Industrial Monuments Survey (IMS) was established to enable an assessment to be made quickly by the government as to what steps should be taken to record and preserve industrial monuments. On the 1st April 1963 Rex Wailes appointed as consultant to the British Ministry of Public Building and Works to advise on the conduct of the survey. The IMS conducted two types of survey - county surveys which identified all types of industrial sites meriting designation within a defined area, and thematic surveys of sites such as steam pumping engines, seaside piers, brickwork, canal structures and signal boxes. The Industrial Monuments Survey was a nation-wide voluntary and co-operative effort, with support enlisted from individuals, societies and institutions, museums, local government, educational authorities, and firms. Those that agreed to help the Survey used standard record cards, as well as taking photographs or making sketches where possible.

Between 1963 and 1981 the Industrial Monuments Survey looked at over 4,000 sites and submitted 2,325 sites to the Advisory Panel. In 1981 the IMS was transferred to the Royal Commission on the Historical and Archaeological Monuments of England (RCHAME).