Construction Technology and Environmental Services Flashcards
With regards to ECFRS, where can you locate legislative requirements in relation to door security? What legislative requirements are there?
Planning Portal; Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and Building Act 1984.
Planning - material change affecting appearance.
Building Regs - Part Q - Security in Dwellings and part M - access to and use of buildings.
With regards to ECFRS, which choice in your opinion is most appropriate if the client wants a low maintenance cost?
Aluminium door
With regards to ECFRS, can you simply remove and replace a metal door? what other legislative factors should you consider?
Planning and Building Regulations
With regards to Kelsey Street, what advice would you give to the client if they want to retain the floor but get rid of asbestos? Who would need to clean the blocks? What is contaminated waste?
Time, cost and H&S considerations during work. Specialist asbestos contractor. Hazardous waste that needs to be specially disposed off
For Kelsey Street, why did you advise refurbishing the existing floor in situ?
Originally specified for floor to be taken up and relaid to ensure no gaps and good adhesion.
However, following asbestos decided for floor to remain in situ or would have had to clean all blocks of asbestos.
Forbo sub floor system and carpet tiles then installed.
With regards to Kelsey Street, how did you know there was asbestos?
Instructed R&D survey within SoW, missed in asbestos management survey
With regards to Kelsey Street, what other factors do you need to consider if you’re stripping ground floor finish to the substrate?
Whether floor can be reinstated in the same way
Any asbestos and R&D survey
Planning and Building Regulations Approval
For Appleford Court, what advice did you give to client regarding the service void?
Proceed with lowering ceiling and increasing batten depth
With regards to Appleford Court, why did you have to insulate the pipework in this scenario? Was there no insulation layer above? What type of pipework could be laid?
Prevents heat loss and freezing water causing pipes to burst as in ceiling void.
Ceiling void not insulated.
Other pipework included PVC or PEX but copper already installed elsewhere and seen as reliable. Trace heating too expensive.
Regarding Acorn House, what is the purpose of an LD alarm? What are the different classifications?
Detect fire to protect life in domestic settings
LD3 - detection on escape routes
LD2 - detection on escape routes and high risk areas
LD1 - detection on all areas other than those with low risk
For Acorn House, do you recognise grading of the life protection alarms?
Grade A: The system will have individual smoke/heat detectors, alarm sounders, and a central control panel, support equipment, all running on backed-up power. The system’s components, design, and installation must conform to British Standards (BS EN 54).
Grade C: The fire alarm system comprises detectors and alarm sounders that can be set up like smoke alarms with central control equipment and running on the same power supply from the mains with a standby supply.
Grade D1: The system comprises one or more fire detectors powered by a mains supply with a battery-powered tamper-proof standby supply.
Grade D2: The fire alarm system also comprises one or more detectors powered by a mains supply with a user-replaceable battery-powered standby supply.
Grade F1: The system consists of one or more tamper-proof battery-powered detectors.
Grade F2: The fire alarm system has one or more detectors that run on user-replaceable primary batteries.
For Acorn House, how did you establish from the drawings that the quality was not in accordance with the design?
Reviewed dwgs and checked items specified were correct.
Reviewed any BS and quality notes on dwgs, specification or manufacturers guidance and checked it was being followed.
For Acorn House, what QA standards do you recognise?
Kite marks, BS standards, BS 8000 (workmanship on construction sites) and approved doc reg 7 materials and workmanship
For Acorn House, do you have to remove combustible materials from the existing buildings above and under 18m in height?
Above 18m - Fire Safety Act 2021 and Approved Document B, polystyrene banned and cladding only A1 or A2S1D0 is buildings over 18m.
Below 18m - Depends if the building if defined as a high risk building, the ban is likely to be changed for buildings above 11m in height.
What would you expect to see on the horizontal compartment of the buildings external wall junction?
Cavity barriers to prevent fire spread
For Acorn House, what were the sandwich panels replaced with?
Concrete, polystyrene, concrete, cavity, brickwork replaced with SFS insulation cavity brickwork.
With regards to Acorn House, was the replacement cladding thicker?
No it was the same thickness, it was ensured the cladding was A1 rated.
With regards to Acorn House, what were the considerations at the intersection of the window reveals?
- Cavity closer
- EDPM membrane
- Making good thereafter
With Styles House, are there any legislative documents that specify requirements in relation to the handrail heights?
Part K and HHSRS, handrails to 1100mm
With regards to Styles House, what other elements of protection against falls from the balcony do you have to consider?
Considered the handrail heights
Would also need to consider the handrail styles, however this was a brick balcony with handrails installed to the coping stones to achieve the 1100mm height.
What stages are in the RIBA plan of work?
0- Strategic Definition, 1- Preparation and brief, 2- concept design, 3- spacial coordination, 4- technical design, 5- manufacturing and construction, 6- handover, 7- in use
On the Fire Decorations project, please tell me the reasoning for proceeding with the aluminium door?
- Best option for security.
- Best option to last the effects of weathering.
- Cost effective in long term as will not require replacement.
- Durable and long term option.
- Lead in period was within project duration.
What other door options to aluminium or timber could have been selected? Why was aluminium preferred?
Steel, glass, fibreglass, uPVC.
Aluminium preferable because of good weather resistance and thermal insulation.
Slightly more cost effective than steel.
Sustainable as can be recycled.
Secure.
On the Kelsey Street project, what were the pros and cons of keeping the floor in situ and overlaying? Were there any H&S considerations you had to be aware of?
-Cost effective
-Minimal time implications and this was a key driver for the client
-Quality would be fine; some minor gaps and loose tiles but checked with consultant.
- Asbestos noted in asbestos management plan and risk to be managed; release of fibres checked with consultant and deemed to be no risk.
- Parquet flooring has minor gaps and loose tiles, only an issue if the Forbo flooring is removed in future.
Name the RIBA stages. Why should this be followed for projects?
Stage 0 - Strategic Definition.
Stage 1 - Preperation and Briefing.
Stage 2 - Concept Design.
Stage 3 - Spatial Coordination.
Stage 4 - Technical Design.
Stage 5 - Manufacturing and Construction.
Stage 6 - Handover.
Stage 7 - Use.
- To set a clear strategy and coordinate actions.
- To inform the design team and others of key deadlines.
- To confirm when payments are required.
- To show that you and others have acted competently.
List the general order in which works should commence. What is the difference between top down and bottom up construction?
The bottom-up method is constructing the structure from lowest level of building to the highest level of building.
The top-down method uses the permanent structure floors to strut as the excavation is taken down in stages, floor by floor.
Identify the main construction foundation types. When should each be considered for use?
- Strip foundations provide a continuous strip of support to a linear structure such as a wall. Trench fill foundations are a variation of strip foundations, in which the trench excavation is almost completely filled with concrete.
- Pad foundations are rectangular or circular pads used to support localised loads such as columns.
- Raft foundations are slabs that cover a wide area, often the entire footprint of a building, and are suitable where ground conditions are poor, settlement is likely, or where it may be impractical to create individual strip or pad foundations for a large number of individual loads. Raft foundations may incorporate beams or thickened areas to provide additional support for specific loads.
- Pile foundations are principally used to transfer the loads from superstructures, through weak, compressible strata or water onto stronger, more compact, less compressible and stiffer soil or rock at depth, increasing the effective size of a foundation and resisting horizontal loads. They are typically used for large structures, and in situations where soil is not suitable to prevent excessive settlement.
Identify elements of a building that should be regularly maintained.
- Downpipes and gutters.
- Landscaping to the building.
- Roof tiles
- External timber including fascias, doors, etc.
- Mastic or sealant especially in bathrooms / wcs.
- All areas should be checked regularly.
Are there any materials you know of that has a limited lifespan?
Asphalt roof is 20 years.
Cladding is 50 years.
External timber 15 years.
Most materials have a limited lifespan.
What other roofs could be considered which have a longer lifespan?
- EDPM
- Bitumen
- Liquid applied membrane
What comments did you make when comparing the Acorn House drawings against Building Regulations? What comments did you make during construction?
- Approved Doc A (concrete panels), B (cladding and fire stopping), M (WC distances), K (handrail height and flexes)
For Acorn House, how did you check that quality was in accordance with design? What would you do if work is not up to the expected standards on site?
Quality:
- Checked drawings
- Checked BS or Approved Docs referred to on dwgs
- Ensured in accordance with manufacturers guidance
- Checked specifications
Not to standards:
- Notify site manager
- Withhold payment for item
- Check once rectified then pay for item
What is an LD category fire detection system? Can you name the other fire detection systems?
Cat L life, cat M manual, cat P protection, cat LD (life detection)
LD1 - all areas where a fire could start
LD2 - escape routes and high risk areas
LD3 - escape routes
What are the different fire alarm grades?
F2- battery powered detectors powered by a user replaceable battery.
F1- battery powered detectors powered by a tamper proof battery.
D2- mains powered detectors with an integral standby supply consisting of user replaceable battery.
D1- mains powered detectors with a tamper proof standby supply consisting of batteries.
C- separate detectors and sounders that are mains powered with back up power supply and central control equipment.
A- separate detectors and sounders and central control and indicating equipment with back up supply that conforms to BSEN54
Why can buildings over 18 metres not have combustible materials installed? Can buildings below 18 metres have combustible cladding installed?
If over 18m high risk and need to ensure that similar effects to Grenfell are not seen. Under 18m more likely to be able to escape and be accessed by fire service.
However the ban is likely to apply to buildings above 11m and could be reduced even further in future, it will depend on whether the building is defined as high risk.
