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
What is cavity wall construction?
In a cavity wall
Two layers of brickwork are tied together with metal ties
Cavity filled with insulation
No headers used
Evidence of cavity tray, air brick or weep holes may have been seen
What are some signs of deleterious materials?
Brown staining on concrete, concrete frame buildings and 1960s and 1970s building as well as in modern buildings
What is the typical space allowance for normal office use?
1 person - 7.5-9.25 sq m
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
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?
Issues relating to heavy metals, radon and methane gas and diesal/oil/chemicals
Four step process for Inspections
- Consider your own personal safety - H&S procedures for attending site
- 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 the typical construction for industrial units?
Basic construction building is usually a steel portal frame building with insulated profiled steel cladding walls and roof
What is the four step process to follow when you have identified a building defect?
- 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 an inherent defect?
A defect in the design or a material which has always been present
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?
Surface water - runs off into the water course - such as soak away or storm drain
Foul water - drains from soil pipes into a sewer from the boundary of the property
Statutory undertakers own a private sewer from the boundary of the property
What is subsidence?
The vertical downward movement of a building foundation caused by the loss of support of the site beneath the foundation
This could be as a result of changes in the underlying ground conditions
Rising damp
Usually stops around 1.5m above ground level
Considerations of the immediate area?
Location / aspect / local facilities / public transport / business vibrancy
Contamination / environmental hazards / flooding / high voltage
Comps / local market conditions / agent boards
Common building defects in modern office buildings?
Damp penetration at roof and GF level
Water damage from burst pipes or AC units
Structural movement
Damaged cladding
Cavity wall tie failure
Efflorescence
Poor mortar joints in brickwork
Damp
Can also be caused by leaking plumbing / AC / Pipework
What can deleterious materials include?
High alumina cement
Woodwool shuttering
Calcium chloride
Office Specs
Two main method in new office building - steel or concrete frame
Steel frame - usually less columns and a wider span between the columns
Concrete frame - more columns, lower floor heights and a shorter span between columns
Check architects drawings and spec / building manual if you cannot see construction
Valuation inspections?
Understand all factors which can influence the valuation of a property such as location, tenure, aspect, form of construction, defects, current condition, occupation details etc
What is Japanese Knotweed?
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
Common building defects in period resi/office/shop buildings
Dry rot
Wet rot
Slippage on the roof
Death watch beetle
Damp penetration at roof and GF level
Water ingress around door and window openings
Structural movement / settlement
How can JK be disposed of?
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 stemmed with green leaves
Property management inspections?
Occupied - check lease compliance, statutory compliance, state of the building, requirements for repairs/redecoration, user and details of the actual occupier
Unoccupied - statutory compliance, state of the building, repair and maintenance issues, security arrangements, landscaping, risk of vandalism and damage to the building
Common building defects in modern industrial buildings?
Roof leaks around roof lights
Damaged cladding panels
Cut edge corrosion
Blocked valley gutters
Water damage from poor guttering or burst pips and settlement / cracking in brick work panels
Deleterious Materials
Can degrade with age causing structual problems
What are different types of air conditioning systems?
VAV - Variable air volume (highest capital cost but most flexible)
Fan coil - Usually 4 pipe (lower initial cost & good flexibility but higher operating and maintenance cost)
VRV - Variable refrigerant volume (lower capital cost but higher running and maintenance costs)
Static Cooling - chilled beam and displacement heating (a natural approach to climate control with lower capital and running costs but less flexibility)
Mechanical ventilation - when fresh air is moved around the building
Heat recovery systems
Comfort cooling - a simple form of air cooling system
Relevatn 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
Internal inspection
Layout and specification - flexibility and obsolescence
Repair and maintenance
Defects
Services - age and condition
Statutory compliance - asbestos regs / equality act 2010
Fixtures and fitting
Compliance with lease obligations
What is wet rot?
Caused by damp and timber decay
Signs include wet and soft timber, a high damp meter reading, visible fungal growth and a musty smell
If you have concerns about contamination what should be done?
Suggest a specialist report if there are any concerns that the site has some contamination
Spalling
Damaged brickwork where the surface of the bricks start to crumble because of freeze/thaw action after it has become saturated in the winter months
What other invasive plants are there?
Hogweed and Himalayan Balsam
Allowing the spread of JK is what offence?
Criminal Offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
What is Land Remediation Relief (LRR)
A form of tax relief that applies to contaminated or derelict land in the UK
Allows companies to claim up to 150% corporation tax deduction for expenditure in remediating certain contaminated or derelict sites or those affected by Japanese Knotweed
What is a latent defect?
A fault to the property that could not have been discovered by a reasonably thorough inspection of the property
How can you identify JK in the winter?
It is difficult to tell so i would ask an expert and monitor it
What is Catergory B fit out?
To complete the fit out to the occupiers specific requirements such as installation of cellular offices enhanced finishes and IT
Cellular offices are typically set out on a 1.5m planning grid
What are hazardous materials?
Harmful to health
Condensation
Caused by a lack of ventilation and background heating
Signs include mould and streaming water on the inside of windows or walls
