Case study Flashcards
Was this paid by insurance?
No
Were there any procedures you had to follow regarding the insurers?
Contacted our insurance team.
checked collatoral warranties
checked certificate of completion for collatoral warranties.
Arranged access for loss adjuster.
What is your understanding of how insurance works?
Policy taken out (paying a premium) to cover certain events, has an indemnity limit, could be “each and every” or “aggregate”. Financially indemnifies losses up to the limit, minus the initial excess.
What is an ‘Excess’ (insurance)
Amount the insured must pay towards cost of claim, agreed in advance.
. What would happen if a building was deemed to be under-insured?
Insurer only pays a portion of the sum you claim for. Makes you susceptible to the “average rule”, where the bastard insurers reduce how much they pay you by the same % proportion that you’re underinsured.
Explain your initial inspection
Desktop survey, find out about the building construction, age, cause of fire. Risk assessment.
Question PM – get photos, information, background to any works since (partial strip-out,
hoardings), asked about known risks, inc. asbestos.
On site – limited time in the burnt out flat. Dynamic risk assessment. Took measurements in
unaffected identical flat. Found hardcopy drawings.
Ascertained extent of damage, took lots of photos for later review.
What H&S precautions did you take?
Desktop risk assessment in advance. Dynamic on site.
Wore steel toe cap boots, gloves, respirator, glasses, hard had, high vis. Used torch.
Informed office where I would be and for how long, visited with PM and his contractor, kept close, trod carefully, limited time in flat.
What desk research did you do?
Desktop survey, find out about the building construction, materials, age, cause of wall collapse.
Searched for “as built” or architectural drawings – who was the architect, developer, builder, contacted architect for for CAD drawings and further info.
Were you named personally as the CA / PD
No.
Hallas and Co were named as CA under Article 3, and CA was confirmed as PD under Article 4.
PD role introduced in 2015 (used to be CDM Coordinator), made to plan, manage and coordinate pre-construction phase (pre-works).
Ensure pre-construction info is in place, help eliminate foreseeable risks, or control/reduce where cannot be eliminated, keep contractor informed of works to be controlled during construction phase.
What was the date of the Fire Risk Assessment for the building? How often does it need to be updated?
May 2019.
No rules on when it must be updated in law, but government guidance say it needs to be reviewed annually, and redone every 3 years, for purpose-built blocks of flats over 3 storeys high.
What did you ask yourself before inspection?
- The reason for the inspection
- Are you competent to inspect?
- Do you have appropriate Professional Indemnity Insurance?
- Have you undertaken a risk assessment?
- Access arrangements
- What equipment will you need to inspect?
- Terms of Engagement
- Other RICS Standards and Guidance
Ask me about stainless steel Screws?
Stainless steel screws achieve elevated rust resistance thanks to their chromium-oxide composition. Fasteners with a chromium oxide coating provide extra resistance to rust and corrosion by using the added oxygen as a protective layer. The chromium oxide coating can deteriorate as contaminants settle on the screw’s surface, but rainwater washes these contaminants away and preserves the fastener’s protective layer. As a result, stainless steel screws are the perfect outdoor fastening solution. Because stainless steel is an alloy containing iron-based metals, it is not strictly rust proof. However, its chromium content reacts with the oxygen to form protective properties that make stainless steel highly resistant to rust and other forms of corrosion. Moreover, this protective shield of chromium oxide re-forms if damaged.
Explain your initial inspection
Desktop survey, find out about the building construction, age, cause of fire. Risk assessment.
Question PM – get photos, information, background to any works since (partial strip-out, hoardings), asked about known risks, inc. asbestos.
On site –. Dynamic risk assessment. Took measurements in unaffected identical flat. Found hardcopy drawings.
Ascertained extent of damage, took lots of photos for later review.
What H&S precautions did you take?
It happened at night. Contractors went out, made safe and I was brought in for a fuller assessment and to investigate.
Desktop risk assessment in advance. Dynamic on site.
Wore steel toe cap boots, gloves, respirator, glasses, hard had, high vis. Used torch.
Informed office where I would be and for how long, visited with PM and his contractor, kept close, trod carefully, limited time in flat.
What desk research did you do?
Desktop survey, find out about the building construction, materials, age, cause of fire. Is there any “as built” or architectural drawings online – who was the architect, developer, builder, contacted them for CAD drawings and further info (eg. Window manufacturer, kitchen and bathroom suppliers etc).
BBA Certifcate RE: movement joints:
Horizontal movement joints in accordance with must be provided at every floor to
accommodate vertical shrinkage of up to 6 mm in the timber frame and to follow movement joints in the substructure.
For steel-frame structures, reference to the Structural Engineer’s details for deflection at floor level and movement joints in the substructure should be made.
Martlet v Mulalley [2022]
Clause 2.5.1(a): “in addition to the foregoing, the Contractor hereby accepts responsibility for the design of the Works and every part thereof and for the selection and
standards of all and any materials, goods and workmanship forming part thereof”.
The Contract
JCT 1998 Standard Form of Building Contract with Contractor’s Design
Clause 2.5.1(a):
Contract contained a combination of reasonable skill and care and strict obligations.
Martlet v Mulalley 2022 - BBA certificates Can a professional rely upon them?
It was a fair criticism of this expert that at times he appeared almost to suggest that it was sufficient for an architect pre-Grenfell to do little more than accept a BBA certificate at face value without the need for much, if any, further investigation”.
“at the very least in my judgment [a reasonable specifier] would have needed to ask the
question of the supplier and, if the answer came that it had not passed a test to BS8414-1, to have sought and obtained satisfactory confirmation that it otherwise met the
requirements of functional requirement B4(1)”
Relevant Case Law: Bolam v Friern Hospital Management
If a doctor acts in accordance with a responsible body of medical opinion, he
or she will not be negligent
“for the Bolam principle to operate to exonerate a defendant, there must be
evidence of a responsible body of opinion that has identified and considered
the relevant risks or events and which can demonstrate a logical and rational
basis for the course of conduct or advice that is under scrutiny”.
“A defendant is not exonerated simply by proving that others were just as
negligent”
