Inspection - Level 3 Flashcards
What should be considered before inspecting the site?
Competent to undertake inspection
Purpose of inspection and scope
Check formal appointment in place
Potential risks
What equipment would you take with you during an inspection?
Mobile phone
Phone - safety, contact and camera
Disto
PPE
Pen and paper
Agency particulars/floor plan
What are the difference purposes of undertaking inspections?
Valuation - value significant factors
Rating - physical state at material day
L&T - breach of lease terms
Agency - determine pricing or marketing
What inspection methods would you undertake?
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
What are the four common forms of foundation?
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
Can you name some types of brickwork?
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
What sort of issues, defects should you look out for on inspection?
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
What’s the difference between a hazard and a risk?
Hazard: something that could potentially cause harm.
Risk: the degree of likelihood that harm will be caused.
What is contamination?
A substance in land or groundwater that is potentially hazardous to the environment or human health.
What should you consider prior to an inspection?
Reason for inspection
Are you competent to inspect
Do you have appropriate PII cover
Have you undertaken a risk assessment
Access arrangements
What equipment will you need to inspect
Terms of engagement
Other RICS Standards and guidance
Why is PPE worn?
To minimize exposure of an individual to hazards.
What is radon gas?
A naturally occurring gas which is colourless and odourless. It is radioactive and cancer-inducing. It can only be detected using specialist equipment. Properties in high radon areas require additional underfloor ventilation. High incidence areas include Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Aberdeenshire.
What are deleterious materials?
Materials which break down causing properties to experience problems. Some examples include composite panels, high alumina cement (HAC) and cavity wall ties.
During an inspection of an industrial unit what additional information will you need to record?
Eaves height
Yard area
Site density
Power supply
Drainage
Loading access to the unit
Heating
Ventilation
Lighting
Mezzanine
During an inspection of an retail unit what additional information will you need to record?
Location
Car parking
Frontage
Uppers floors
What should you do if you spot a defect?
Take photographs of the potential problem
Ideally place something next to the defect so that the photo has some scale
Make notes about what you see
What are the signs of dry rot?
Smell of mushrooms
White fungal growth with yellow and lilac colouration
Deep cracking in timbers
What are signs of wet rot?
Distortion, softness, discolouration and cracking of timber
Loss of timber strength
Sometimes fungal growth is visible
Damp, musty smell
What are the signs of damp?
Musty smell
Mould or mildew on the walls
Staining/ discolouration to walls
Fragmenting blistering paintwork
Signs of salts coming from plaster walls
External mortar failings/crumbling
What are the three kinds of damp?
Rising damp
Penetrating damp
Condensation
What is the cause(s) and signs of rising damp?
Cause - groundwater being drawn upwards through a building’s masonry/mortar by capillary action
Signs - wet patches on walls causing paint to peel, damage to skirting boards and plasterwork, damp floor coverings, white powdery salts left on the wall, yellow/brown staining on the wall
What are cause(s) and signs of penetrating damp?
Causes - lateral penetrating damp caused when external ground abutting an external wall is above the internal floor level / building defects
Signs - musty smell & mould growth, damaged plaster and internal decoration, rotting floor timbers and skirting boards, patches of damp that don’t dry out
What are cause(s) and signs of condensation?
Cause - high levels of humidity are trapped within a building because of poor ventilation
Signs - musty smell, blistering paint or peeling wallpaper, black mould around windows, skirting boards and walls/ceilings
What are the signs of Japenese Knotweed?
Zig-zag growth pattern which appears green but red spotting lower down
Creamy white flowers appear in late summer
Green heart shaped leaves with pointed ends
Red shoots from the ground when first growing
