Inspection Flashcards
External inspection?
Methods of construction
Repair and condition of the exterior
Car parking / access / loading arrangements
Defects / structural movement
Boundaries - OS map / Title Plan
Date of the building - asking the client / planning consents / building regs
Important considerations for defects?
Check whether there are any warranties for the building from the contractor and professional team
Understand the purpose of snagging on a newly built property
What is the current institutional specification for offices?
Office Guide to Office Specification, 2019 - British Council
What signs should you look out for with contamination?
Evidence of chemicals
Oils
Oil drums
Subsidence
Underground tanks
Bare ground
Institutional Shop Specs
New shops - steel or concrete frame
Services capped
Concrete floor and no suspended ceiling
Let in a shell condition with no shop front, ready for retailers fitting out works
RSS Systems
From 1 Jan 2015 the use and replacement of the low temperature refrigerant R22 is illegal
Existing R22 systems need to be modified to become more environmentally friendly
Role of Local Authorities is penalising JK?
Local authorities can grant Community Protection Notices (CPN) and fines of up to £2,500 per person (£20k for an organisation)
If landowners ignore it, do not control it or allow growth onto adjoining land
What is dry rot?
Caused inside by fungal attack
Signs - fungus, known as mycelium which spreads across the wood in fine and fluffy white strands and large, often orange mushroom like fruiting bodies, a strong smell and red spores, cracking painting work and cuboidal cracking/crumbling of dry timber
It can destroy timber and masonry
What does RICS Information Paper on Japanese Knotweed and Residential Property March 2022 outline?
Purpose - Address both the findings and provide best practice guidance on the recent research about a more hollistic assessment of Japanese Knotweed. To ensure RICS members provide the best advice to users of valuation and condition reports.
Decision tree - Based on risk level to help valuers determine the app management approach needed for JK
Process - The new process still delivers a straightforward and objective catergorisation of JF infestations. To provide clarity that is essential for lenders and will continue to ensure confidence and trust among the wider stakeholder
Agency inspection?
Consider current condition of the building, repair and maintenance issues, statutory compliance services, presentation of the accommodation and flexibility of the accommodation and its marketability
What are the current institutional specifications for industrial ?
Minimum 8m clear eaves height with 10% roof lights
Min 30KN/sq m floor loading
Plastic coated steel profiled cladding with brick or block work walls to approximately 2m
Full heighted loading doors (electrically operated)
3 phase electricity power (415 volts)
5-10% office content and WC facilities
Main services capped off
Approx site coverage 40%
LED lighting
What is the RICS guidance on JK?
RICS Information Paper on Japanese Knotweed and Residential Property March 2022
What is Heave?
Expansion of the ground beneath part or all of the building
This could be caused by tree removal and the subsequent moisture build upo in the soil
What are the four common forms of foundation?
Choice depends on ground conditions and building loading’s
- Trench or strip footings - resi dwellings for walls and closely spaced columns
- Raft - slab foundation over the whole site to spread the load for lightweight structures such as for made up/remediated land and sandy soil conditions
- Piled - long and slender reinforced concrete cylinders (piles) in the ground to deeper strata when less good load-bearng ground conditions - high loads
- Pad - Slab foundation system under individual system under individual or groups of columns so that the column load is spread evenly
What is a Shell and Core fit out?
Where the common parts of the building are completed and the office floor areas are left as a shell ready for fit out by the occupier
How can a desktop study consider contamination?
Consider the previous use of the site, local history, planning register
What is horizontal crack and shrinkage cracking?
H - Horizontal cracking in brickwork may indicate cavity wall tie failure in a brick wall
S - Shrinking cracking often occurs in new plasterwork during the drying out process
Other cracks may be due to differential movement such as settlement cracks
Thermal expansion / movement can also cause cracks
What is the three phase for investigating contamination?
Phase 1 - Review site history with a desktop study and site inspection and investigation
Phase 2 - Investigation to identify nature and extent of contamination with detailed soil samples taken using bore holes (intrusive)
Phase 3 - Remediation report setting out remedial options with design requirements and monitoring standards
Penalty for allowing the spread of JK?
Magistrates court can impose an unlimited fine or max prison sentence of two years or both!
Crown court - can impose unlimited fine or max prison sentence of two years or both!
What is solid wall construction?
The simplest type of wall is constructed in solid brickwork with headers normally one brick thick and there are different bricklaying patters incorporating headers - such as Flemish bond to tie together the layers of brick
What are the three common causes of defects?
- Movement
- Water
- Defective / non-performance / deterioration of building materials
What is Catergory A fit out?
To Grade A spec and above
Efflorescence
White marks causes by hydroscopic salts in the brick work
Formed when water reacts with natural salts by way of a chemical process contained within the construction material and mortar
Water dissolves the salts which are then carried out and deposited onto the surface by natural evaporation that occurs when air meets the surface of the wall
What features are included in the institutional office spec?
Full access raised floors with floor boxes
Approx ceiling height 2.6-2.8m
Ceiling void of 350mm and a raised floor void of 150mm
Air conditioning and double glazed windows
Passenger lift
Floor loading - 2.5-3.0 kN/ sq m with an allowance of up to 1.2 kN/sq m for partitioning
1 cycle space per 10 staff and 1 shower per 100 staff
8m2-10m2 general workspace dfensity
Bricks
Stretcher - A brick laid horizontally flat with the long side of the brick exposed on the outer face of a wall
Header - A brick laid flat with the short end of the brick exposed
If you are instructed to value a site with contamination, approaches to be considered are?
- Do not provide any advice until a specialist report is commissioned
- Caveat the advice provided with an app disclaimer highlight the issue/use of a special assumption
- Deduct the remediation costs from the Gross Site Value
What are the different inspection purposes?
Valuation (valuation influences)
Property management (policing the lease)
Agency (marketability issues)
What have RICS said on Contaimination?
RICS Guidance Note ‘Contamination, the Environment and Sustainability, 2010