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 should be considered before inspecting the site?
- Competent to undertake inspection
- Purpose of inspection and scope
- Check formal appointment in place
- Potential risks
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.
