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Building elements

Information on Building elements

  • Applied exterior finishes
  • Basements
  • Curtain walling
  • External wall issues
  • Flat roofing
  • Floor screeds and finishes
  • Ground bearing floor slabs
  • Internal walls
  • Masonry facades
  • Modern methods of construction (MMC)
  • Multi-storey car parks
  • Other roof issues
  • Raised access floors
  • Residential floor finishes
  • Roof drainage and guttering
  • Roof timbers and trusses
  • Services
  • Substructure issues
  • Timber frames
  • Upper floor and roof decks
  • Vibration in composite floors
  • Windows
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  • Raised access floors

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    • At a glance
    • Introduction
    • Specifications
    • Critical points
    • Airtightness
    • Dust
    • Zinc whiskers
  • Vibration in composite floors

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    • At a glance
    • Introduction
    • Harmonics
    • Site analysis
    • Damping effects
  • Ground bearing floor slabs

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    • At a glance
    • Types of floor
    • Surface regularity
    • Cracking
    • Power floating
    • Delamination
  • Basements

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    • At a glance
    • Damp in Georgian basements
    • Typical basement failures and remedial options
    • Types of systems
  • Substructure issues

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    • Stone flags and floor tiles
    • Poured concrete floors
    • Threat of radon
  • Timber frames

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    • At a glance
    • Construction
    • Common frame defects
    • Wood-boring insects
    • Fungal attack and other threats
  • Upper floor and roof decks

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    • At a glance
    • Introduction
    • Coke breeze and filler joist construction
    • RAAC planks
  • Roof timbers and trusses
  • Flat roofing

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    • At a glance
    • Different types of roof construction
    • System failures and detail failures
    • Mastic asphalt
    • Built-up felt roofing (BUR)
    • Thermoplastic polyolefin roofing
    • PVC roofing
    • EPDM membranes
    • Liquid waterproofing systems
    • Defective residential flat roofs in the 1900s
  • Roof drainage and guttering

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    • At a glance
    • Introduction
    • Gutter and outlet sizing
    • Types of guttering
    • Siphonic drainage systems
    • Maintenance of drainage systems
    • Summary of potential pitfalls
  • Multi-storey car parks

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    • At a glance
    • Introduction
    • Modes of deterioration
    • Urea and chlorides
    • Carbonation
    • Frost damage, user damage
    • Problems with movement
    • Precast structures
    • Lift slab floors
    • Waterproofing
    • Roof-top car park: case study
  • Other roof issues

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    • Leaks in older buildings
    • Deterioration of plain clay-tiled roofs
    • Thatch
    • Stone flags and roof tiles
    • Asbestos slate tiles
    • Modernist concrete roofs
    • Defective slates and nail sickness
    • Parapets
  • Masonry facades

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    • At a glance
    • Introduction
    • Water penetration
    • Cavity construction
    • Movement in masonry
    • Changes in temperature
    • Changes in moisture content
    • Changes in chemical composition
    • Sulphate attack
    • Carbonation
    • Unstable aggregates
    • Crystallisation of soluble salts
    • Corrosion of metalwork
    • Changes in loading or structural effects
    • Brick slips
    • Brick panels
    • Crack patterns and symptoms
    • Effects of fire on masonry
  • Curtain walling

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    • At a glance
    • Introduction
    • Types of curtain walling system
    • Weathertightness
    • Methods of preventing water ingress
    • Failure modes
    • Identifying defects
    • Condensation on metal framing
    • Problems with pressure plates
    • Gaskets
    • Sealant failure and reversion
    • Cladding and building movements
    • Spandrel panels
    • Cleaning equipment
  • External wall issues

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    • At a glance
    • Defects in earth wall construction
    • Brick walls
    • Brick bonds
    • Victorian walls
    • Cavity walls
    • Wall ties
    • Damp-proof course failure
    • Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding panels
  • Windows

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    • At a glance
    • Defects, repairs and changes over time
    • Glass
    • Sash windows
    • Defects in metal windows
  • Internal walls

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    • At a glance
    • Blown plaster
    • Defective stud partition walls
  • Residential floor finishes

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    • At a glance
    • Residential floor screeds
    • Stone flags and floor tiles
    • Services in floor screeds; under-floor heating
  • Floor screeds and finishes

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    • At a glance
    • Floor screed types
    • Why do screeds curl?
    • Screed collapse
    • Repair of collapsed screed
    • Failure of composite no-fines screeds
    • Problems with floor coverings
    • Site investigations
    • Osmosis
    • Magnesite flooring
  • Applied exterior finishes

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    • At a glance
    • External finish options
    • Cracking
    • Background failure
    • Tesserae
    • Ceramic tiles
    • Remedial work
    • Rendering
  • Services
  • Modern methods of construction (MMC)

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    • At a glance
    • Timber frames
    • Volumetric, modular and panelised
    • Bathrooms and kitchen pods
    • Cladding and roofing
    • Working with customers to disclose MMC
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