Inspection Flashcards
What is dry rot caused by?
Caused inside by fungal attack
What are the three common causes of defects?
(Submission)
- Movement
- Water
- Defective / non-performance / deterioration of building materials
What are important considerations for defects?
(submission)
- 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 signs should you look out for with contamination?
- Evidence of chemicals
- Oils
- Oil drums
- Subsidence
- Underground tanks
- Bare ground
What are the role of Local Authorities in 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 does RICS Professional Standard Japanese knotweed and residential property March 2022 outline?
(submission)
- Provide best practice guidance on the recent research about a more hollistic assessment of Japanese Knotweed.
- Ensuring RICS members provide the best advice to users of valuation and condition reports.
- Provides a decision tree - based on risk level to help valuers determine the most 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
What is the RICS guidance on JK? (submission)
RICS Professional Standard Japanese knotweed and residential property 1st edition, January 2022, effective from 23 March 2022
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
How can a desktop study consider contamination?
(submission)
Consider the previous use of the site, local history, planning register
What is horizontal cracking? What might it indicate?
- A wall crack that’s more horizontal than vertical or diagonal.
- Horizontal cracking in brickwork = may indicate cavity wall tie failure in a brick wall
What is shrinkage cracking?
- Shrinking cracking often occurs in new plasterwork during the drying out process
- Also, can be the consequence of excess water evaporating while the concrete dries.
Other reasons for cracking?
Other cracks may be due to differential movement such as settlement cracks
Thermal expansion / movement can also cause cracks
What are the three phases 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
What is the penalty for allowing the spread of JK?
(submission)
- Magistrates court can impose a maximum fine of £5,000 or max prison sentence of six months 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
Headers and stretchers
If you are instructed to value a site with contamination, approaches to be considered are?
- Wouldn’t 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? (submission)
- Valuation (valuation influences)
- Property management (policing the lease)
- Agency (marketability issues)
What have RICS said on Contamination?
RICS Guidance Note ‘Contamination, the Environment and Sustainability, 2010 (3rd Edition)
What is cavity wall construction?
- In a cavity wall, two layers of brickwork are tied together with metal ties
- With a cavity that may be filled with insulation
- No headers used
- Evidence of cavity tray, air brick or weep holes may have been seen
What are some sign to potential problems with deleterious materials?
Brown staining on: concrete, concrete frame buildings and 1960s and 1970s buildings as well as in modern buildings
Please can you provide some examples of hazardous materials?
- Asbestos
- Lead piping / paint
- Radon gas
What is the key legislation in Contamination?
Environmental Protection Act 1990 as amended
What is your role as a surveyor with hazardous materials?
- Recommend specialist reports and make appropriate assumptions in your advice
- Always check contents of an asbestos report / register
How can contamination exist?
- Comes from particular industrial, agricultural or commercial activities.
- For example, chemical or waste spills and leaks.
- The reasons for contamination can include: poor waste management.
- Issues relating to heavy metals, radon and methane gas and diesel/oil/chemicals
What is the four step process for inspections?
- Desktop - consider your own personal safety
- Inspection of local area
- External Inspection
- Internal Inspection
What to take on inspection?
- Mobile phone
- Camera
- Tape measure / laser
- Files, plans and other supporting materials
- PPE
- Pen and paper / Ipad
What is an inherent defect?
A defect in the design or a material which has always been present
What is the four step process to follow when you have identified a building defect?
(submission)
- Take photographs of the defect
- Try to establish the cause of the damage whilst on site
- Inform your client of your investigations
- Recommend advice from a building surveyor or in the case of movement a structural engineer
What is outlined in RICS Guidance Note ‘Contamination, the Environment and Sustainability, 2010?
- Surveyors must understand their obligations - know their responsibilities and comply with the law
- General principle is that the polluter or the landowner pays for remediation
Types of water?
CHECK
What is subsidence?
- The vertical downward movement of a building foundation when the ground beneath a building sinks
What causes rising damp?
- Caused by ground water which moves up the walls through direct contact with the brickwork
- Usually stops around 1.5m above ground level
What/why consideration do you need to make for the immediate area/locality ?
(Submission)
Understand the context of the property:
- Location / aspect / local facilities / public transport / business vibrancy
- Contamination / environmental hazards / flooding / high voltage
- Comps / local market conditions / agent boards
What can damp also be caused by?
Leaking plumbing/air conditioning units/pipework
What can deleterious materials include?
- High alumina cement
- Woodwool shuttering
- Calcium chloride
What factors do you need to consider for valuation inspections?
- Location
- Tenure
- Aspect
- Form of construction
- Defects
- Current condition/specification
What is Japanese Knotweed? (submission)
An invasive plant which can damage hard surfaces such as foundations and tarmac
Not easy to control, costly to eradicate and a specialist company must remove and dispose of it
A great concern to property lenders who may refuse a loan if it is present or nearby to a property
What are some common building defects in period resi/office/shop buildings?
- Dry rot
- Wet rot
- Slippage on the roof
- Death watch beetle (infests the structural timbers of old buildings)
- Penetrating damp (cause by water leaking through the walls rather than rising up from ground level. This type of damp is usually caused by structural problems in a building such defective roofing, guttering or brickwork.)
- Water ingress around door and window openings (caused by insufficient flashing or caulking around the door)
- Structural movement / settlement (exterior walls appear to be cracked, whether they are brick or gaps in your window frames or doors from the outside)
- Rising damp from the ground
What is penetrating damp caused by?
Caused by water leaking through the walls rather than rising up from ground level. This type of damp is usually caused by structural problems in a building such defective roofing, guttering or brickwork
What is water ingress caused by?
Insufficient flashing or caulking around the door
How can JK be disposed of? (Submission)
- Legally by using chemical treatment
- Digging it out and removing from the site to a licensed landfill site in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act 1990
When inspecting a building what should you look out for?
- Any defects
- Start from the roof and work down in a logical sequence
What does Japanese Knotweed look like?
Purple/green hollow bamboo like stem with green leaves. White bell shaped flowers. Easier to identify in the summer, as in the winter it dies back and you cannot see the flowers or leaves.
- Purple/green hollow stemmed
- Green leaves (shield shaped)
- Bamboo-like stems
- Clusters of cream creamy white flowers, that appear in late summer and autumn in the winter it dies back and you cannot see the flowers or leaves.
- Rhizome crown at base of plant
What are Deleterious Materials?
Can degrade with age causing structural problems
What is the relevant case law for JK?
- Williams V Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd 2018
- Court of appeal held that Network Rail was liable for the cost of treating the invasive plant plus damages for the loss of use and enjoyment of their neighbors property (but not the reduced value of the property as previously contended) even after the plant was treated
What is included in an internal inspection?
- Layout and specification - flexibility and obsolescence
- Repair and maintenance
- Defects
- Services - age and condition
- Fixtures and fitting
- Compliance with lease obligations
What is wet rot?
- Caused by damp (excess moisture)
- Signs include wet and soft timber, a high damp meter reading, visible fungal growth and a musty smell
What is included in an 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
What is a latent defect?
A fault to the property that could not have been discovered by a reasonably thorough inspection of the property
RAAC
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-up in the soil
(movement)
What are the signs of Dry Rot?
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 is condensation caused by?
Lack of ventilation and background heating
What are signs of condensation?
- Mould
- Streaming water on the inside of windows or walls
What is a hazardous material?
(Submission)
It is harmful to health
What are some other invasive plants?
- Hogweed
- Himalayan Balsam
What offence is allowing the spread of JK?
(Submission)
Criminal Offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Can you describe what JK looks like?
(Submission)
- Purple/green hollow stemmed
- Green leaves (shield shaped)
- Bamboo-like stems
- Clusters of cream creamy white flowers, that appear in late summer and autumn
- Rhizome crown at base of plant
What does the RICS Guidance Note Surveying Safely set out?
(Submission)
- Basic, good practice for the management of health and safety for RICS regulated firms + RICS members
- Principles for those engaged in the built environment as property professionals and includes health and safety responsibilities:
at a corporate level (whether RICS-regulated firm is large or small at the level of the individual RICS member
What is the structure of the RICS Guidance Note Surveying Safely?
(Submission)
- Personal responsibilities for RICS members + firms
- Assessing Hazards & Risks
- Workplace health and safety
- Occupational health and safety
- Visiting premises and sites
- Fire Safety
- Residential property surveying
- Procurement and management of contracts
Surrey KT22 - What advice might you give your client if you identified JK? (Submission)
- I would take photos of the Japanese Knotweed if I identified it on inspection
- I note on a site plan, alongside comprehensive notes and photographs
- I would follow the RICS Professional Standard Japanese Knotweed and Residential Property 2022 (use the management category assessment decision tree on how to best advise my client with what action they might need to take)
- If action, advise seek advice from remediation specialist on appropriate action & recommend mortgage retention pending specialist report
- Must be in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act, 1990
Surrey KT22 - How did you measure the land that the property was on? (Submission)
I used Pro Map software
Prospect Place, SW11 - Can you briefly talk me through the PPE that you were required to wear? (Submission)
- Hard hat
- Steel capped boots
- High vis jacket
- Eye protection
Still a development site
What does Surveying Safely say that RICS Regulated firms must ensure that they provide? (Submission)
- A safe working environment
- Safe work equipment
- Safe systems of work
- Competent staff
What is the RICS definition of a ‘safe person’? (submission)
An individual that assumes individual behavioral responsibility for their own, their colleagues’ and others’ health and safety while at work
What is Cluttons policy on Inspection? (submission)
- Before inspecting carry out a risk assessment
- Consider if I need to bring appropriate PPE
- Follow company’s H&S policies
- Inspection needs to be in Outlook diary with location and details of the person you are meeting
- Carry out a dynamic risk assessment
CHECK
What is outlined in a risk assessment? (submission)
- Identify the hazards
- Identify the people at risk from the hazards
- Evaluate the risk
- Record findings
- Review risk assessment regularly
- Advise all those affected of the outcome of the risk assessment
Talk me through how you arranged site access? (submission)
- Contact the client make arrangements for times and dates that suit them best
- Asked the client whether there will be someone to meet us at the property to let us in or whether we need to collect keys from an agent
- Asked the client whether we would need to bring any PPE or anything else we would need to be aware of prior to inspecting
Prospect Place - What was the purpose of inspection?
Valuation purposes (loan security purposes)
Prospect Place - When completing your external inspection what did you note down?
- Method of construction (steel and concrete frame construction, with predominantly metal sheet cladding which we assume is set beneath a flat roof clad with a high performance membrane (not visible from inspection)
- Repair & condition Condition of the exterior (new build development) DESCRIBE FROM THE ROOF DOWNWARDS
- Fenestration (comprises double glazed floor to ceiling height powder coated aluminium windows throughout)
- Age of the building
- Car parking and access
- Defects/structural movement
- Architectural style or the architects certificate of practical completion
(Check site boundary, how would you do this? Title plan or OS Map.)
Prospect Place - What was the stage of development?
The development would be completed in 3 months time
Prospect Place - forms part of the Phase 3 development site and is currently scheduled to complete in March 2022
Valuation Date - 7 December 2021
Prospect Place - What was the foundation?
CHECK IF I NEED TO KNOW THAT
Prospect Place - When completing an internal inspection, what would you note down?
- Layout of the internal e.g. No. rooms
- Level of specification
- Repair and maintenance e.g. general wear and tear
- Condition of the internal
- Any defects
- Statutory compliance CHECK!!!
- Compliance with lease obligations
- Services - age and condition
Surrey, KT22 - You state it was derelict, why did you note this down and how did you know it was derelict? Talk me through the condition of the property.
- Obligation to inform the client of the property’s condition CHECK
- Wooden boards over the windows.
- Overgrown garden
- No one coming or going from the property.
- Property in a state of disrepair e.g. peeling paint
Surrey, KT22 - What was the purposes for inspecting this property?
- Valuation purposes (loan security purposes)
- Valued in current condition
- Valued also on the special assumption of completion of the proposed scheme and assuming Plots 1 & 2 are built at the same time
The subject property comprises a development site. The subject site currently comprises a derelict two storey detached dwelling with a
large single storey swimming pool extension on its western side, together with a number of outbuildings on its eastern side. The dwelling and outbuildings extend across much of the width of the plot. At the time of our inspection on 16 September 2021 demolition and site clearance were yet to commence.
Surrey KT22 - How did you inspect the local vicinity?
Walked around the area the property was situated in. Assessing the following:
- Location
- Public transport links
- Nature of location
- Amenities and local facilities
- Contamination
- Any potential hazards/flooding
- Any agents’ boards
Surrey, KT22 - Is there a RICS document that you referred to at all to try to identify JK?
RICS Professional Standard - Japanese Knotweed and Residential Property 2022
Surrey, KT22 - What was the time of the year that you inspected?
Visited in the summer, clusters of cream creamy white flowers would have appeared in late summer and autumn if Japanese Knotweed was present
Three Colt Street - How did you know it was neo-Georgian?
- Not built in the Georgian period (newly redeveloped)
- Inspired by Georgian features:
- Sash windows
- Symmetrical façade with an asymmetrical interior layout
Three Colt Street - how did you conduct a desktop valuation?
- No physical inspection
- Assumed that Flat 4 would be reinstated to the same condition as the other flats prior to being sold.
- The fact that I would value the property on a desktop basis was agreed in writing with the client in the terms of engagement prior to commencement of the instruction and the restriction was referred to in the report
- It was agreed that I would value the property on the assumption that it was in the same condition as the other flats
“We were unable to access Flat 4, 145 Three Colt Street. As per your instructions we have therefore valued this property on a desktop basis”
Three Colt Street - What was the level of specification, construction style, condition and immediate vicinity for the property itself?
- Specification: good quality appliances e.g. siemens & good quality white sanitary ware to include Duravit
- Construction style: traditional solid brick construction with part exposed brick, part metal sheet cladding, set beneath a flat roof clad with what is assumed to be single ply membrane covering.
Flooring is of solid concrete at ground floor level and suspended concrete to the upper floors, whilst fenestration comprises predominantly aluminium coated double glazed casement style units with some Velux roof lights to the upper floor.
- Condition: The building is in good overall condition
The properties are in good overall condition having been redeveloped in circa 2020
Flat 4 - note that the front door of the unit was damaged and from looking through into the unit via the roof terrace in 146 it was clear
that there was also some internal damage, the extent of which could not however be determined on our inspection.
- Immediate vicinity: Limehouse, which is a reasonably popular mainly residential Docklands area of east London, approximately 3 miles to the east of central London.
Wider area does have a high proportion of Local Authority housing
Three Colt Street - How did you store the photos that you took?
- In secure protected folder
- Only could be accessed by the people working on the report (Information Barrier)
- CHECK
Three Colt Street - What was the internal damage that you witnessed?
- Flat 4 - front door of the unit was damaged and from looking through into the unit via the roof terrace in 146 it was clear
that there was also some internal damage including: - Writing all over the walls
- Holes in the walls
However, the whole the extent of the internal damage could not however be determined on our inspection as we couldn’t access the flat
- It was agreed that I would value the property on the assumption that it was in TIRED condition (submission)
- Tired condition - need of paint and significant improvements (found similar properties in tired condition)
Three Colt Street - What does the contents of your report include?
- Executive Summary
- Loan Security Report including the instruction, purpose of the instruction, compliance, sources of information and reliance, inspection and valuation date
- Location
- Description & Construction
- Accommodation
- Condition and state of repair
- Services
- Environmental issues
- Planning
- Tenure
- Tenancies
- Market commentary
- Rental value
- Capital value
- Valuation Commentary
- Marketability
- Valuations
- SUITABILITY FOR LOAN SECURITY WITH STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES
- Reinstatement Cost
- Confidentiality and disclosure
Appendix A - Instruction Letter and Our Standard Valuation Assumptions & Bases of Valuation
Appendix B - Location Plans
Appendix C - Photographs
How would an inspection for valuation purposes differ from an inspection for agency purposes? (Submission)
- Valuation you are considering all the factors which can influence a valuation e.g. location, tenure, aspect, current condition etc.
WHEREAS for agency purposes you are considering the marketability of the property for example the presentation of the accommodation
How would an inspection for valuation purposes differ from an inspection for management purposes? (Submission)
- Valuation you are considering all the factors which can influence a valuation e.g. location, tenure, aspect, current condition etc.
WHEREAS for management purposes if the property is occupied you are checking for lease compliance and if the property is unoccupied then you are checking its statutory compliance
Palace Gardens Terrace - What due diligence did you conduct and why?
Always do due diligence checks to report to the client and ensure the property is owned by the client
- Checking land registry (title & tenure)
- Planning history within the last 10 years
- EPCs
- Council Tax
- Historic building search to check the property
- Check if the property lies within a conservation area though council website
Can you talk me through your Palace Gardens Terrace inspection?
WRITE THIS UP
Can you talk me through the most recent planning decision of the Palace Gardens Terrace property?
- The most recent planning decision was refused and that was for the amalgamation of existing 3 dwellings into a single family house
(Method:
- Went on the RBKC planning search portal
- Entered in the postcode of the property
- Came up with all planning applications, decisions and appeals against the subject property)
Why was the planning application refused for Palace Gardens Terrace?
- The loss of two homes through the amalgamation of the three existing dwellings would reduce the supply and choice of housing available within the Borough and would fail to contribute towards meeting housing targets
- The submission has not been supported by a Construction Method Statement (CMS) prepared and signed-off by a Chartered Civil Engineer
- The submission has not been supported by a STMP demonstrating that traffic and construction activity associated with the development would not cause unacceptable harm to pedestrian, cycle, vehicular and road safety.
