Inspection

Question 1

What equipment would you take with you during an inspection?

Answer 1

• Mobile phone
• Phone - safety, contact and camera
• Disto
• PPE
• Pen and paper
• Agency particulars/floor plan

Question 2

What should be considered before inspecting the site?

Answer 2

• Competent to undertake inspection
• Purpose of inspection and scope
• Check formal appointment in place
• Potential risks

Question 3

What are the difference purposes of undertaking inspections?

Answer 3

• Valuation - value significant factors
• Rating - physical state at material day
• L&T - breach of lease terms
• Agency - determine pricing or marketing

Question 4

What inspection methods would you undertake?

Answer 4

• Desk based preliminary searches and my H&S
• Immediate area - amenities, occupiers, contamination/flood risk, access
• External inspection - age/construction, repair and condition
• Internal inspection - Layout, specification, services etc.

Top to bottom, front to back

Question 5

What are the four common forms of foundation?

Answer 5

• Trench and slip footings - residential
• Raft - slab foundation (lightweight structures or soft soil)
• Piled - Vertical concrete cylinders (high loads/weak ground)
• Pad - slab foundation under columns

Question 6

Can you name some types of brickwork?

Answer 6

Types
Solid wall - Normally more than one layer. Different patterns tie bricks together (Flemish Bond).
Cavity wall - Two layers of brick tied with metal pins - external pins or air vents

Terminologies
Stretcher - Brick laid flat, long edge exposed
Header - Brick laid flat, short edge exposed

Question 7

What sort of issues, defects should you look out for on inspection?

Answer 7

Water ingress
- Efflorescence - salt reacting with water (white marks)
- Spalling - bricks degrading from heating and cooling
- Damp

Movement
- Cracks, bouncy floors, settlement

Japanese knotweed - purple stem with green leaves

Asbestos

Question 8

What’s the difference between a hazard and a risk?

Answer 8

Hazard: something that could potentially cause harm.

Risk: the degree of likelihood that harm will be caused.

Question 9

What is contamination?

Answer 9

A substance in land or groundwater that is potentially hazardous to the environment or human health.