Inspection Flashcards
What is an easement?
An easement is a right over land belonging to someone else
e.g right of way
How would you find out about the existence of an easement?
By checking the title deed (Land Registry)
How can you tell if there is a solid brick wall or cavity wall?
Cavity wall will just have stretchers or brick
Solid brick wall will have headers and stretchers
-> also consider age of building -> cavity wall not used until 1950s
Whats’s the difference between a cavity wall and solid brick wall?
Cavity wall has 2 layers or brick, with space in between (usually 20 - 100mm) -> better insulation
Solid brick wall is just 2 layers of brick with no spacing -> header and stretcher
What does wet and dry rot look like?
Dry - fungal - large fruiting bodies with red spores
Wet - Damp and it smells
What legislation covers inspections?
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
When was asbestos outlawed?
1985 - Blue & Brown
1999 - White
What is japanese knotweed?
A plant that can grow through concrete and is very hard to eradicate
When looking at buildings, how would you assess any defects?
I would take photos and note any details. Also notify my Client
I would also suggest they seeks specialist advice -> e.g instruct buildings surveyor for cracking in buildings
Name types of building defects and impacts
- Water -> dry and wet rot , condensation
- Movement -> subsidence , heave, horizontal cracking or shrinkage
- Defective materials -> that degrade with age
How would you carry out an inspection?
4 step process:
- Prepare for the inspection
- Inspect the area/location
- Inspect externally
- Internal inspection
How would you prepare for the inspection?
- Read lease
- H&S desktop assessment -> lone working, PPE, Risk assessment
- Plan journey / check google maps and title plan / OS plan
How would you inspect the area / location?
- investigate local market / economic conditions
- Vacancies, letting boards, tenant mix
- Availability of services: food, parking, transport
- Check site boundaries against OS or title plan
- Environmental factors such as contamination or risk of flooding
How would you inspect externally?
- Repair / Decoration and condition of external envelope
- Defects
- Method of constrction
- Age of building
- Run off of surface water and foul water
How would you inspect internally?
- Check interior finishes
- Layout, quality and specifiction of accomodation
- Condition, repair and defects
- Fixtures and fittings
- Existence of Asbestos and deleterious materials
- Services -> Age and quality
- Compliance with planning, building and DDA regs
- Compliance with lease obligtions
What types of specification would you expect from offices?
Shell and core
Cat A
Cat A+
Cat B
What is a Cat A fit out?
Basic finishing of interior space (blank canvas)
- Raised floor and suspended ceiling
- Basic M&E services
- Fire detection and protection services
- Internal surface finishes
- Blinds
What is a Cat B fit out?
Fully operational workspace, designed to uniqe specfications
- Branded material & decor
- Floor finishes
- Furniture
- Partitions and doors
- Tea points and kitchen areas
What is a Cat A+?
Sits between Cat A and Cat B
-> Functional space tenants can move into immediatley while only having to make minimal adjustments
-> won’t include branding
- IT infrastructure
- Furniture
- Kitchens
What is shell and core?
State of building / unit before any fit out occurs
-> not useable -> stage before Cat A
- Concrete and metal frame
- -> no lighting / AC instsalled
What specification would you expect for industrial?
Most likely Grade A / Cat A
-> Raised floors, suspended Ceiling, M&E Services
What specifications would you expect from shops?
Shell and core
-> STeel or concrete frame, capped off services, concrete floor, no suspended ceiling
What specification would you expect from Industrial / Warehouse ?
Grade A or Shell and core
What hazards might you find in vacant properties?
- Asbestos
- Weak steps
- Structural issues
- gas/electricity faults
Needs regular inspections / H&S assessments / security / plant servicing / H&S documents / Marketing documents / insurers aware
What is an inherent defect?
Built in defect that could not have been discovered by reasonably throough inspection
WHat common defects are you aware of in a period office / shops?
- Dry / wet rot
- Roff tile slippage
- Death watch beetle
- Damp
- Structural movement / settlement
What common defects are you aware of in modern offices?
- Damp / water damage from burst pipes or AC
- Structural movement and poor mortar joints in brickwork
What common defects are you aware of in modern industrial units?
- Leaks around roof lights
- Damagedcladding panels
- Water damage from poor guttering or burst pipes
- Rusty panels
- Settlement / cracking in brickwork
What is a hazardous material and can you give me some examples?
Potentially harmful materials present in a building or on land
- ASbestos
- Lead piping
- Radon
- Fuel/gas from underground tanks
What’s the difference between deleterious and hazardous materials?
Deleterious deteriorate with age and can make the structure defective, creating risk
Harzardous materials should be managed or removed as potentially harmful to health
What types of damp are there?
Damp -> unwanted moisture from outside or condensation
- Condensation
- Rain (penetrative damp)
- Rising damp (ground water travels up porous materials)
- Pipe leakage
What causes of cracking are there?
- settlement
- subsidence (often vertical cracks)
- heave
- Thermal cracking when there are no therman expansion - breaks
What is a death watch beetle?
Lives in damp timber and can cause total failure of timber structure -> damaging effect
What would you do if you identified a building defect?
- Take photgraphs
- Try to establish the cause of the damage whilst on site
- INform your Client of your investigation
- Recommend specialist advice from a building / structural surveyor
What are the different types of foundations?
Shallow
Deep
Discuss shallow foundations
- Pad -> a slab foundation to support individual laod point (e.g. Structural column)
- Strip -> Used to support line loads (e.g load bearing wall)
- Raft -> A slab system which extends over the entire footprint area of the building to spread the load of lightweight structures
Discuss deep foundations
- Piled -> long concrete cyclinders (piles) into ground so loads transmitted to deeper strata (used for poor load bearing ground conditions)
Discuss deep foundations
- Piled -> long concrete cyclinders (piles) into ground so loads transmitted to deeper strata (used for poor load bearing ground conditions)
What would you look for in an inspection?
- M&E
- Fire and emergency
- H&S
- Unoccupied areas
- Maintenance work
- Building exterior
- Roof areas
- Site features
- Lifts/escalators
- Landscaping
- Common areas
- staff
- Paintwork
- Servicing documents
- Signage
- Leaks
- Access doors / Fire doors / fire escapes
Prior to visit: RA, previous ports, purpose of visit, title plans etc
What normal precautions would you take when undertaking an inspection of a vacant building for a Client?
I would carry out a desktop risk assessment, reviewing any information i had on the property/site, looking for potential hazards or risks that could cause harm
I would have reference to RICS Surveying Safely 2018 and notify my team, diarise the inspection and take a phone with me
Also check is PPE is required
Outline the recommendations contained within RICS Surveying Safely 2018 which you have adopted in your work
- Carry out risk assessment before visiting site
- Checking with the building / site manager whether or not i will need PPE
- Take a charged phone with me
- Diarise the inspection
- Notify my colleagues, telling them when i intend to return to the office
- Be aware of the firms panic phrase
- Sign in/out of a construction site
What are the usual sizes of the ceiling and floor void in a new office building?
Ceiling - 350mm
Floor - 150mm
What would you do if you noticed damp or movement in an office building whilst you are inspecting property to undertake a red-book valuation?
Take photos and advise Client -> advise building survey is required
Depending on their instructions, i could value on the assuption that the building is structurally sound
What equipment do you take out on property inspections ?
Phone, camera, Disto, PPE, pen, paper, ruler, plans of the property
How can you check accuracy of your measuring devices?
- Calibrate annually
- Check against known distances
You arrive at a construction site to undertake a valuation. What should you do before inspecting the site works?
Sign into site, get PPE and possible rceieve a H&S brief
How can you minimise the potential danger of accident during a site inspection?
- Inspect it in line with Surveying Safely 2018
- Carry out the relevant risk assessment prior to inspection and if its a constuction site, wear the appropriate PPE
What is the appropriate depth of an office building to allow for adequate natural light ?
12-15mm
What is the normal floor loading for an office building? How does this compare to the floor looading for a warehouse or industrial unit?
2.5-3 kN/sq m +1 for partitioning
30 kN/sq m for industrial
What is the normal institutional specification of a new industrial unit?
- 30 kN/sq m floor loading
- 8m eave heights with 10% roof lighting
- Full height loading doors
What is an easement? How would you find out about the existence of one?
An easement is a right over land belonging to someone else e.e Right of way
-> Checking the title deed (Land Registry)
Tell me about the different forms of air conditioning which can be provided to a modern office building?
Variable Air Volume
Variable Refrigerent Volume
Mechanical Ventilation
How would you undertake a contamination survey?
I would not be competant to undertake such a survey
If i suspected contamination from an inspection, i would take a photo, note any details and notify my Client
What is a hidden valley gutter?
When two roof pikees form a valley in the middle of a roof
-> can easily get blocked especially if trees are nearby
What do you look at in the title deeds when valuing or selling property?
- Restrictive covenants
- The title plan to check the site boundary
- Who the owner is
- Any recent transactions
- Rights of way
Where does surface water drain into? Contrast this with foul water
Surface water - storm drains
Foul water - sewers
Name me a deleterious material
High Alumina Cement - crumbles with age
Name me a hazardous material
Asbestos
How do you stay safe when on an inspection?
- Safe to go alone?
- Put in diary and advise colleagues
- Take mobile phone
- Wear PPE if necessary
- Sign in and out of construction site
What guidance is there dealing with safety and inspections?
RICS Surveying Safely 2018 -> guidance note on surveys and inspections
Suzy Lamplugh trust website
You inspected for the purpose of dilapidations. What did you look for when asssessing condition?
- Condition of carpets, walls, windows and fixtures
- Look for damp, structural damage
- Building surveyor was with me to ensure everything was covered
What is deleterious material and can you give me some examples?
A material that degrades with age, causing structural problems
- high alumina cement
- calcium chloride
- woodwool shuttering
- -> used in 1960s and 1970s
What is the difference between wet and dry rot?
Dry rot -> fungus infects buildings, requires little moisture, spreads voraciously, does not need light or air
- Timber loses structural integrity -> replace wood/stop water source
Wet rot -> more localised, needs to be sopping wet, does not spread
Visibly not much difference between wet and dry rot -> detect - tide mark, ripping plaster, salt coming through plaster
What would you do if you identified a building defect?
- Take photographs Try to establish the cause of the damage whilst on site
- Inform your Client of your investigation
- Recommend specialist advise from Building Surveyor/Structural Surveyor
What size is a brick?
Roughly -> 9inch x 4 inch x 3 inch
Exactly -> 215mm x 12.5mm x 65mm
Stretcher = long side , Header= short end
What size is a brick?
Roughly -> 9inch x 4 inch x 3 inch
Exactly -> 215mm x 12.5mm x 65mm
Stretcher = long side , Header= short end
What is the difference between a solid and cavity wall?
Solid wall is 2 layers of brick with headers and stretchers
Cavity wall is two layers of brick tied together with metal ties and usually filled with insulation -> only has stretchers
Cavity wall not used until 1950s
What is the difference between comfort cooling and air conditioning?
A/C filters (conditions) the air whereas comfort cooling just cools it and re-circulates
What do planning laws say re alterations without consent?
Non-listed building - deemed consent after 4 years
Listed building - no deemed consent
You need planning consent to put any lead on listed buildings
