Structural Survey: Volume 13 Issue 3

Sick building syndrome – the real facts – what is known, what can be done

Richard Rooley

Lists groups to be considered at the start of a building project inorder to improve internal air quality. Provides several symptoms of sickbuilding syndrome, as described by the…

Fire retardancy and fire barriers for thatched roofs

Alastair West

In the British Isles and Ireland each year many thatched roofs arelost owing to fire. This not only has implications for the safety of theoccupants of the dwelling, but also in…

Moisture beneath suspended timber floors

D.J. Harris

Suspended timber floors are probably the most common form ofconstruction for ground floors in existing British housing, althoughthey exist in only a small proportion of newly…

Railings

Richard Catt

The second part of the “Small urban spaces” seriescompares and contrasts the qualities of wrought iron, cast iron andsteel railings, from both the aesthetic and the practical…

Basic diagnostic chemical tests for building surveyors

James Douglas

A significant part of many building surveyors′ work is theinvestigation of building defects. In many cases a proper diagnosiscannot be made solely by visual means. Some building…

Subsidence and the associated problems with reference to low‐rise housing

G. Shabha, K. Kuhwald

Aims to investigate the problems of subsidence and theirimplications for domestic buildings by addressing a number of questions.What are the main causes of land subsidence? What…