RICS APC Construction Tech Flashcards
What is substructure?
All structure below the superstructure i.e. all structure below ground level including the ground floor bed
What is Superstructure?
All internal and external structure above the substructure
Made up of primary (ext walls, stairs, roof, structural walls) and secondary (suspended ceilings / raised floors, balustrades, doors) elements and finishes (tiles, paint, stair nosings)
What is the External Envelope?
The materials and components that form the external shell or enclosure of a building
May be load or non-load bearing
What are the Building Regulations?
- Statutory instruments that sets out the minimum performance standards for the design and construction of buildings
- Supported by the Approved Documents A to R and other codes of practice
What are the approved documents?
- Part A: Structure
- Part B: Fire safety
- Part C: Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture
- Part D: Toxic substances
Part E: Resistance to the passage of sound - Part F: Ventilation
- Part G: Sanitation, hot water safety and water efficiency
- Part H: Drainage and waste disposal
- Part J: Heat producing appliances and Fuel storage system
- Part K: Protection from falling, collision and impact
- Part L: Conservation of fuel and power
- Part M: Access to and use of buildings
- Part N: Glazing - Safety in relation to impact, opening and cleaning
- Part P: Electrical safety
- Part Q: Security - Dwellings
- Part R: Physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communication networks
- Regulation 7: Materials and workmanship
What are British Standards?
- Publications issued by the British Standards Institution – prefixed BS
- They give recommended min standards for materials, components, design and construction practices
Identified by Kitemark
What are international standards?
Prepared by the International Organisation for Standardisation – prefixed ISO
Compatible with and complement BS’s
Example - ISO9000 is quality
What are the typical components of site investigations
- Objective is to systematically collect and record data to help in design / construction
- Should include anything on adjacent sites that may impact and:
- Boundary hedges / fencing
- Existing trees
- Size, depth and location of services – gas, telephone, electricity, water, drains
- Existing buildings
- Ground water conditions
- Soil investigations – trial pits etc
- Tell me more about soil investigations?
- Purpose is to determine the suitability of the site for the proposed works and determine adequate and economic foundation design
- Should determine the potential difficulties
- The method chosen will depend on type of building – function, size etc
- What are the main site considerations?
- Access considerations – approach roads etc
- Storage considerations
- Accommodation
- Temporary services
- Plant
- Fencing / hoarding
- Safety and health
- What is a retained façade?
- The facade of the building is retained whilst everything behind the front wall is demolished.
- Allowance needs to be made for a temporary support structure and also cleaning/ restoration works to the retained façade. Often listed.
- What are temporary works?
- Temporary works do not normally appear on construction drawings but demonstrate methods that might be appropriate and resources necessary to ensure safe construction i.e. propping.
- What is landfill tax?
- Brought in by UK Gov in 1996
- helps reduce the amount of waste landfilled
- promotes the reuse and recycling of waste, and research into waste practices.
- applies to all waste disposed of at a licensed landfill site, unless specifically exempt.
- Landfill Tax is charged at 2 rates:
£3 per tonne for all inert waste
£94.15 per tonne for all other taxable waste
- What is a tower crane and how do you erect one? What would stop a tower crane from working?
tower crane is a tall crane used for lifting objects into high places. The boom allows a longer reach with 360 access. A longer boom reduces the payload capability.
You would usually use a smaller crane to erect a tower crane
Weather conditions could prevent it from working, in particular high, strong winds.
- What is a scaffold?
Temporary working platform erected around the perimeter of a building or structure to provide a safe working place at a convenient height
Usually required for work above 1.5m above ground
- What is shoring?
- Form of temporary support given to existing buildings
- Purpose is to provide a precaution against damage or injury for collapse of structure
- What are hoists?
- Design for the vertical transportation of materials or people
- What is a foundation?
- Function is to safely sustain and transmit to the ground on which it rests the combined dead, imposed and wind loads of the structure
- What are the main components of concrete?
- Cement, aggregate (natural rock, crushed stone, gravel) and water
- What is a borehole?
- A borehole can be used for soil investigation or for geothermal heating solutions.
- Boreholes are the most suitable method of soil investigation when foundations are over 3m deep
- Geothermal boreholes are permanent boreholes that use the Earth’s natural heat to raise the temperature of circulated water. - This is a closed system and can be used to heat the building above.
- It’s seen as a sustainable technology.
- What are piles?
- A series of columns constructed or inserted into the ground to transmit the load of a structure to a lower level of subsoil
- Used where no suitable foundations conditions near ground level or high water table
- What are the different types of piles?
Sheet piles – a deep trench is excavated and concrete is poured in situ. The piles can be used to form basement walls or act as retaining walls.
Secant piles – interlocking piles (male and female, often different diameters and hardness) are bored to provide a combination of foundations and basement walls. They go someway in providing a waterproof structure. Secant piles are often seen when a top down construction method is used.
Bored Piles – an auger is used to excavate the soil and then concrete is poured in once complete. A variation to this is CFA (Continuous Flight Augered) where the piles are bored, Bentonite slurry is pumped in to stop the core collapsing and then concrete (which is denser than Bentonite) is poured in. Bentonite is environmentally harmful and is therefore not often used in the 21st century.
Pre-cast piles – pre-cast piles are brought to site and hammered into the ground. Not often favoured due to the high noise levels associated with installation and the lack of flexibility in terms of depth required.
- What are the different ways that the piles transfer their load to the surrounding ground?
- End bearing piles
- Friction piles
- Settlement reducing piles
- Tension piles - tall chimneys, transmission towers and jetties
- Laterally loaded piles - bridge piers, trestles to overhead cranes, tall chimneys and retaining walls
- What is the difference between bored & pre-cast piles?
Bored piles - when the process for removing the spoil to form the hole for the pile is carried out by a boring technique. They are used primarily in cohesive subsoils for the formation of friction piles and when forming pile foundations close to existing buildings where the allowable amount of noise and/or vibration is limited.
Pre-cast Concrete piles - used where soft soil deposits overlie firmer strata. These piles are usually driven using a drop or single action hammer.
- What are the problems to the PQS regarding cost control with piling? Whose risk is the piling?
The end depth of the piles are never a certainty and the procurement route used determines who takes the risk (traditional/ D&B = the main contractor; management contracts = employer)
- What is a raft foundation?
- Used to spread the load of the superstructure over a large base and reduce the load per m2 of the area
- Useful in low bearing capacity soils and heavy individual column loads
- Can be a solid raft slab or beam and slab raft – ground beam system and suspended PC concrete ground floor
- Under what conditions would you expect a raft foundation to be used for a substructure?
A raft can be used for lightly loaded buildings on sites with poor soils
Heavy loads to the raft have the potential to cause the raft to move sideways as a result of raft foundations not being very deep
- What is a strip foundation?
- Suitable for most subsoils and a light structural design, usually reinforced
- What are pad foundations?
- Provide a base for reinforced concrete or steel columns
- Usually constructed from reinforced concrete
- What are retaining walls?
- They act as an earth retaining structure for the whole or part of their heights
- Need to consider water pressure and pressure of the retained earth in their design
- What are the main types of excavation?
a) Open – use battered excavation sides cut back to a safe angle, eliminates the need for temporary support work, can easily construct basement walls and fall BUT extra excavation costs and need a lot of free site space
b) Perimeter Trench Excavation – trench dug wide enough to form basement walls, this is supported as required – basement walls are constructed and then the inside of the basement is excavated.
c) Complete Excavation – used in firm subsoils. The Centre of the basement is excavated first, then the basement slab cast while the sides of the excavation are supported by struts
- What is a basement?
- A storey below the ground storey
- What are the 3 different types of basement construction?
a) Retaining wall and raft (monolithic) – consists of a slab raft foundation (basement floor) that distributes the building loads, the basement walls are the retaining walls
b) Box and Cellular raft – similar to above but internal structural walls are used to transmit and spread loads over the raft – divides the basement into cells
c) Piled – main superstructure loads are carried to the basement floor by columns and transmitted to the ground via pile caps and bearing piles (i.e. your basement has a whole load of columns going through it)
- What are the 3 main methods of waterproofing a basement?
a) Dense monolithic – this is where the basement is designed and built to form a watertight space using high quality reinforced concrete, needs good workmanship and strict control. Success will depend on water / cement ratio and degree of compaction. Joints need to be carefully designed
b) Tanking – e.g. asphalt, polythene sheeting, bitumen, epoxy resins. These can be applied internally or externally to provide a continuous membrane to the base slabs and walls. Externally is better as it protects the structure as well.
c) Drained Cavity – can be used for new or refurbishment work. It accepts a small amount of water seepage will occur, and collects and drains this away. Builds an inner non-load bearing wall to form a cavity. The floor is laid to falls, moisture drains to a sump and is discharged direct or pumped
d) N.B. Basements are rated as to their final use e.g. habitable, plant, storage and the waterproofing solution is often influenced by this.
- What is scabbling?
Scabbling utilizes piston driven carbide tipped heads which impact the surface at a rapid rate pulverizing concrete or brittle coatings. Scabbling can be very effective in the removal of slightly bonded coatings or where the coatings are impossible to be removed by the shot blasting process. It can also remove level inconsistencies in concrete floors
- What are the technical advantages of steel frames?
Quick to assemble,
100% recyclable - inorganic - will not warp, split, crack or creep –
Highest strength to weight ratio of any building material –
Not vulnerable to termites or any type of fungi or organism
Dimensionally stable - does not expand or contract with moisture or temperature changes.
Consistent material quality - produced in strict accordance with national standards, no regional variations
Light steel components are always straight
Steel is non-combustible so it will not contribute to the spread of a fire.
Lighter therefore poor soil conditions will need steel over concrete