Inspection L1 Flashcards
What do you take on an inspection?
Mobile Phone
Camera
Tape measure/laser
File, plans and other supporting documents
PPE
Pen and paper
What are the steps of inspection?
1) Consider your personal safety
2) Inspection of local area
3) External Inspection
4) Internal Inspection
What would you consider in the immediate local area?
Location
Local facilities
Public transport
Contamination
Environmental Hazards
Flooding
Comparable evidence
Local market conditions
Agents’ boards
What would you consider during an external inspection?
Method of construction
Repair and condition of the exterior
Car parking/access/loading arrangements
Defects
Check site boundaries with OS map / title plan
Ways to date the building including asking the client, researching the date of planning consent
What would you consider during an internal inspection?
Layout/specification
Repair and maintenance
Defects
Age/condition
Statutory compliance such as asbestos
Fixtures and fittings and improvements
Compliance with lease obligations
What are the different inspection purposes?
1) Valuation (valuation influences)
Understand all of the factors which can influence the valuation of a property including location, tenure, form of construction, defects etc.
2) Property management
If occupied, check the lease compliance, statutory compliance, state of the building, requirement for repairs/redecoration, user and details of the actual occupier
If unoccupied, check the statutory compliance, state of the building, repair and maintenance issues, security arrangements.
3) Agency
Consider the current condition of the building, repair and maintenance issues, statutory compliance, services, presentation of the accommodation and flexibility of the space and its marketability.
What are the common forms of foundations?
1) Trench or strip footings - generally used for residential dwellings, for walls and closely spaces columns
2) Raft - a slab foundation over the whole site to spread the load for lightweight structures such as for made up/remediated land and sandy soil conditions
3) Piled - long and slender reinforced concrete cylinders (piles) in the ground to deeper strata when less good load-bearing ground conditions/high loads
4) Pad - a slab foundation system under individual or groups of columns so that the column load is spread evenly
What are the different types of brickwork?
1) Solid wall construction - simplest type of wall constructed in solid brickwork
2) Cavity wall construction - two layers of brickwork tied together with metal ties
3) Bricks
- Stretcher is a brick laid horizontally
- Header a brick laid flat with the short end of the brick exposed
4) Efflorescence - white marks caused by hydroscopic salts in the brick work.
5) Spalling - damaged brickwork where the surface of the bricks starts to crumble because of freeze/thaw action
What is institutional shop specification?
Steel or concrete frame
Services capped off
Concrete floor and suspended ceiling
Let in shell condition with no shop front, ready for the retailers’ fitting out works
What is institutional office specification?
Steel or concrete frame
Steel frame buildings less columns and a wider span between the columns
Concrete frames have more columns, lower floor heights and a shorter span between columns
1) Full access raised floors with floor boxes
2) Appropriate ceiling height of 2.6 - 2.8m
3) Passenger lifts
What does HVAC stand for?
Heating ventilation and air conditioning
What are the types of fit out for offices?
1) Shell and core
2) Category A fit out
3) Category B fit out
What is institutional industrial specification?
Steel portal frame
8m minimum clear eaves heights
Full height loading doors
Minimum 30KN/sq m floor loading
Approximate site cover of 40%
What is an inherent defect?
Defect in the design or a material which has always been present
What is a latent defect?
It is a fault to the property that could not have been discovered by a reasonably thorough inspection of the property
What steps should you undertake if you identify any building defects?
1) Take photographs of the defect
2) Try to establish the cause of the damage whilst on site
3) Inform your client of your investigations
4) Recommend advice from a building surveyor or, in the case of movement, a structural engineer
What are the common causes of defect?
1) Movement
2) Water
3) Defective materials
What is Japanese Knotweed?
- 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
- Of great concern to property lenders who may refuse a loan if it is present or nearby to a property
- Purple/green hollow stemmed with green leaves
- To be disposed of legally such as by using chemical treatment, digging it out and removing it from site to a licensed landfill site in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act 1990
What are hazardous materials?
- A hazardous material is harmful to health
- Materials include:
o Asbestos
o Lead piping/paint
o Radon gas - Recommend specialist reports and make appropriate assumptions in your advice
- Always check contents of an asbestos report/register
How do you dispose of water?
- Surface water runs off into the water course, such as a soak away or storm drain
- Foul water drains from soil pipes into a sewerage system (private or public)
- Statutory undertakers own a private sewer from the boundary of the property
What are deleterious materials?
- Deleterious materials can degrade with age causing structural problems
- Tell-tale signs/clues to potential problems with deleterious materials include brown staining on: concrete, concrete frame buildings and 1960s and 1970s buildings, as well as modern buildings
- Deleterious materials include:
o Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) is a material used in construction in many buildings the 1960s and 1990s. Its presence has been confirmed in a range of public sector properties including schools and hospitals. RAAC is susceptible to deterioration over time, especially in harsh environment condition. This can lead to structural issues, comprising the safety and longevity of building constructed with RAAC.
o High alumina cement
o Woodwool shuttering
o Calcium chloride
Contamination
- Key legislation is Environmental Protection Act 1990, as amended
What are the key points in the RICS Guidance Note: Contamination, the Environment and Sustainability, 2010?
- Surveyors must understand their obligation, know their responsibilities and comply with the law
- General principles is that the polluter if the landowner pays for the remediation
- A desk top study considers the previous use of site, local history, planning register etc.
- Contamination can exist because of such issues as heavy metals, radon and methane gas and diesel/oil/chemicals
- Signs of contamination to look out for include evidence of chemicals, oils, oil drums, subsidence, underground tanks, bare ground etc.
- Suggest specialist report if there are any concerns that the site has some contamination
- When instructed to value a site with contamination:
o Do not provide any advice until a specialist report is commissioned
o Caveat the advice provide with an appropriate disclaimer highlighting the issue/use of a special assumption
o Deduct the remediation costs from the gross site value
What are the three typical phases of investigation
- Phase 1 – review of site history with a desk top study and site inspection and investigations
- Phrase 2 – investigation to identify nature and extent of contamination with detailed soil samples taken using bore holes (interactive)
- Phrase 3 – remediation report setting out remedial options with design requirements and monitoring standards
What is Land Remediation Relief (LLR)?
Form of tax relief that applies to contaminated or derelict land. Allows companies to claim up to 150% corporation tax deduction for expenditure in remediating certain contaminated or derelict sites, or those affected by invasive plants.
How do you ensure to follow the RICS Professional Standard on Surveying Safely 2nd Edition (November 2018)?
Notify colleagues where I am going
Diary invites
Lone working police
PPE
Charge phone
