Subs: Inspection Flashcards
What are the FOUR steps when carrying out an inspection?
- Consider your personal safety (firms Health & Safety procedures for a site inspection)
- Inspection of the local area
- External inspection
- Internal inspection
What should you take on an inspection with you?
- Mobile phone
- Laser Measurer
- File, plans and other supporting information
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as a fluorescent jacket, steel-toed boots, non-slip soled shoes, ear defenders, gloves, goggles and hard hat
- Pen and paper / Dictaphone
What should you consider in the immediate surrounding area of the property when conducting an inspection?
- Location / aspect / local facilities / public transport / business vibrancy
- Contamination / environmental hazards / flooding / high voltage power lines / electricity substations
- Comparable evidence / local market conditions / agents’ boards
What should you consider when conducting an external inspection?
- Method of construction
- Repair and condition of the exterior
- Car parking / access / loading arrangements
- Defects / structural movement
- Check site boundaries with OS map and / or Title Plan
What should you consider when conducting an internal inspection?
- Layout and specification - flexibility and obsolescence
- Repair and maintenance
- Defects
- Services - age and condition
- Statutory compliance e.g. asbestos, building regulations, health and safety, Equality Act, fire safety and planning
- Fixtures and fittings and improvements
- Compliance with lease obligations
What are the THREE different purposes of inspection?
- Valuation - valuation influencers
- Property management - policing the lease
- Agency - marketability issues
If inspecting a property for valuation purposes, what would you be looking out for?
Valuation influencers -
Factors which can influence the valuation of a property such as location, tenure, aspect, form of construction, defects, current condition, occupation details
If inspecting a property for property management purposes, what would you be looking out for?
- Occupied: Policing the lease - check the lease compliance, statutory compliance, state of the building, requirement for repairs/redecoration, user and details of the actual occupier
- Unoccupied: check statutory compliance, state of the building, repair and maintenance issues, security arrangements, landscaping, risk of vandalism and damage to the building
If inspecting a property for agency purposes, what would you be looking out for?
Marketability issues -
Current condition of the building, repair and maintenance issues, statutory compliance, services, presentation and flexibility of the accommodation and its marketability
What are the FOUR common forms of foundation?
- Trench or strip footings - generally used for residential dwellings, for walls and closely spaced columns
- Raft - a slab foundation over the whole site to spread the load for lightweight structures. Usually used on 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-bearing ground conditions/high loads
- Pad - a slab foundation system under individual or groups of columns so that the column load is spread evenly
What is the main method of construction for industrial buildings?
Steel portal frame building with insulated profiled steel cladding walls and roof
What is the current institutional specification for industrial buildings?
- Minimum 8m clear eaves height with 10% roof lights
- Minimum 30 kN / sqm floor loading
- Plastic coated steel profiled cladding with brick or blockwork walls to approximately 2m
- Full height loading doors (electrically operated)
- 3 phase electricity power (415 Volts)
- 5-10% office content and WC facilities
- Main services capped off
- Approximate site cover of 40%
What is the difference between an inherent and a latent defect?
- Inherent defect: defect in the design or a material which has always been present
- Latent defect: fault to the property that could not have been discovered by a reasonably thorough inspection of the property
What is the purpose of snagging a newly built property?
- Check the newly built property to identify defects in the build
- Enables you to highlight them to the developer to allow them to fix the issues
What FOUR steps should you follow if you identify any building defects during an inspection?
- Take photos of the defect
- Try to establish the cause of damage whilst on site
- Inform your client of your investigations
- Recommend specialist advice from a building surveyor or in the case of movement, a structural engineer
What are the causes of damp?
- Wet rot
- Dry rot
- Rising damp
- Condensation
- Leaking plumbing / air condition units / pipework
What are the THREE phases of an investigation for contamination?
- Phase 1 - review site history with a desk top 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 are some examples of deleterious materials?
High alumina cement (corrodes steel)
Woodwool shuttering
Calcium chloride
What are some examples of hazardous materials?
Asbestos
Lead piping / lead paint
Radon gas
What does Japanese Knotweed look like?
Purple/green hollow stem
Heart-shaped green leaves
Clusters of white flowers
Why is Japanese Knotweed an issue?
- Invasive plant that 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
- Property lenders may refuse loans
What is some case law on Japanese Knotweed?
Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd v Williams 2018
Court decided NR were liable to the remediation of the JK and the lessening value of the property that the JK had damageed would also be paid.
What are the different types of air conditioning units?
- Central Air Conditioner.
- Ductless Mini-Split.
- Window Air Conditioner.
- Portable Air Conditioner.
- Floor-Mounted Air Conditioner.
- Smart Air Conditioner.
- Geothermal Air Conditioning System.
- Hybrid / Dual Fuel Air Conditioner.
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
What is heave?
Expansion of the ground beneath part or all of the building. This could be caused by the removal of trees and subsequent moisture build-up in the soil
What are the common causes of cracks in a property?
- Subsidence
- Heave
- Cavity wall tie failure (indicated by horizontal cracking in brickwork)
- Shrinkage cracking (often occurs in new plasterwork during the drying out process
- Settlement cracks
- Thermal expansion / movement
What literature is there on Japanese Knotweed?
- Wildlife Safety Act
- Environmental Protection Act
- RICS Japanese Knotweed in Residential Property
