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