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At 7:30am on Monday 11 December a gas explosion ripped through a property in Birstall, Leicester.
The incident was apparently caused by the failure of an internal gas pipe laid in the floor of the property, where the escaping gas was being ignited by the gas ignition system on the cooker.
The…
Building Regulations Approved Document C recommends using BS 8102 to design basements where walls and floors are subject to water pressure.
Three methods of basement waterproofing are defined in the standard:
“Type A” (barrier protection) which requires a tanking membrane
“Type B” (…
As thermal requirements for new builds have increased, designers have little option but to increase quantities of insulation within the external envelope of a structure such as the walls, floors and roof.
As cavities in masonry construction get bigger to achieve compliance, so do the structural…
A recent CROSS report detailed a situation where a reporter was asked to check the roof of a building which had been leaking for a few years but was still occupied. The roof consisted of flat cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels with falls provided by firing pieces with insulation and supporting…
When you’re contracted to carry out work in a loft area it’s important to know whether or not your project will be controllable under the building regulations and therefore require an inspection from building control. You must be aware that there are lots of building regulations that apply to loft…
The post-war housing shortage led to a boom in new ‘non-traditional’ methods of house construction which were mainly taken up by local and public authorities. There was an urgent need for new and replacement housing at a time when traditional building materials and skilled labour were in short…
Getting the design of a level threshold right can be tricky. Convenience and accessibility are the main focus, but this can cause water penetration or damp.
The external landing should be large and level enough for easy wheelchair access, but there’s a risk of standing water or surface water…
This is a photo looking down at the floor to a patio door opening and is a relatively common detail where the concrete carries over the internal blockwork to close the cavity.
Using damp proof membranes correctly
The damp proof membrane (DPM) has been cut too short to extend across the cavity…
You may have come across a recent BBC news item about a house collapse in London following basement renovation work.
The property was thought to be worth in the region of £1 million and collapsed in the early hours of 3 April 2017.
(Picture on the left courtesy of the Kingston building…
This image shows an external cavity with the insulation removed because of damp penetration through the wall. If you look closely, the wall ties fall backwards to the internal leaf - allowing water to track across the cavity. This is because the mortar bed to the brick skin is too thick, resulting…