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Can you see what the problem is with this roof?
If you look closely, the purlins connecting to the hip rafter don’t make contact with one another and make very little contact with the hip itself.
Traditional roofs work by distributing loads from the rafters down through to the…
Article updated on 31 January 2024One of our surveyors recently sent in this photo, taken in a brand new commercial building. It’s the ground floor of a protected staircase and shows the door swing directly over the bottom of the stair within the landing space. Clear space should be…
One of our officers was surprised to be greeted with this novel approach to childproofing windows at a recent completion inspection - a child safety gate.
An earlier inspection had highlighted the need to provide some form of guarding to the window because it was within 800mm of the floor.…
The Metal Cladding and Roofing Manufacturers Association (MCRMA) has produced guidance on effective sealing of end laps in metal roofing constructions. This comes following a study of built up and composite roofing profiles that are most commonly used in the UK.
Getting it wrong at the…
Insulating floors will go a long way towards making a property more energy efficient. But gaps, however small, can often compromise good insulation by allowing air leakage that can lead to cold bridging and other issues. This advice is for floor insulation above a concrete floor and below a screed…
This roof/chimney abutment flashing has been chased into a rendered wall to form a straight edge. It’s acting as a soaker because the lead runs under the roof tile, but water can penetrate when rainwater runs down the wall behind the flashing and through capillary action via the poorly fitted…
Masonry buildings are by their nature and materials resistant to fire; but all buildings have cavities and some concealed spaces where fire can spread undetected.
To minimise the dangers of undetected fires you must provide barriers to reduce the area of the void space and to contain any spread…
Although most people park their cars and vans on the road, occasionally we have to deal with an unexpected guest who arrives in their vehicle through the wall.
When this happens it’s usually Building Control who’ll visit the site following a call from the emergency services to assess the…
There’s only one month to go until the deadline for entries in the LABC Building Excellence Awards 2022.
If you’ve worked on an outstanding project that was completed in 2021 and your building control provider was the local authority, then now is the time to enter!
The awards focus on…
If you are doubling up floor joists, creating trimmers or trimming joists around stairs and chimneys they all need connecting properly so that they can act as a single unit.
Whilst timber floors and their connection details should be designed by a competent person, the ‘Eurocode 5 Span Tables (…