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Most pre-1930s houses will have traditional lath and plaster ceilings. Picture courtesy of Malone Associates Ltd
What is lath and plaster?
Laths are thin strips of wood (around 25-38mm wide and 3-8mm thick) spaced around 5mm apart and nailed to the ceiling joists above. Plaster was then…
Are you looking to progress in your public service building control career? LABC’s level 6 qualifications allow learners to develop their knowledge in specialist subject areas and become experts in their field.Our award-winning qualifications are the most comprehensive and relevant, of any other…
Internal insulated dry lining involves lining the inside of the wall with insulated plasterboard and needs joinery-like precision to avoid air leakage and cold bridging.
How to install insulated dry lining
Make sure existing plaster is in good condition if it’s remaining in place.…
You may receive an enforcement notice from your local authority if they believe that building work in or around your home doesn’t comply with building regulations. What this means is that you'll have to rectify or even remove the work which is in breach of building regulations.
I've got an…
LABC's Lorna Stimpson explains how LABC is responding to the need for standardised practices across the profession. (Published in RICS Building Control Journal).
Increasingly, the building industry has become part of a wider national and international business involving many large…
The challenge
The £22 million scheme was to develop a new A&E department, linked to the existing hospital buildings and with a helipad on the roof for the local air ambulance. The new three-storey building is located at the front of the existing hospital which remained operational…
The challenge
The Co-op wanted to build a landmark building for its new headquarters. The 16-storey, 330,000sq ft building contains general offices, a call centre, meeting rooms, a restaurant, a café, and test kitchens. There is also car and bike parking, loading bays, and ancillary…
On a tiled roof, all the tiles are fixed onto battens with the bottom (lower end) of each tile resting on the top of tile in the row below. At eaves level the last row of tiles (that ends above the gutter) doesn’t have a tile or batten to rest on. Without support this causes the last row to…
This is a common problem, most often caused by poor survey work or collapse of trench sides - resulting in the actual shape of the foundations not matching the required dimensions of the external walls.
Does building a wall on a foundation really matter?
Well, yes it does because the loads of…
While it’s important to get the design and installation of the pile foundations right first time, one thing you may not have considered are the documents you need to submit to ensure the foundations are approved by building control.
To help minimise any delays you need to ensure your paperwork…