Offers guidance on the damage to houses and other dwellings caused by sulphate attack to floor slabs resulting from use of sulphate-bearing hardcore. This document highlights several options for procedures for investigation, assessment and remedial measures. This document, prepared by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), provides authoritative guidance on the damage to houses and other dwellings caused by sulphate attack to floor slabs resulting from past use of sulphate-bearing hardcore. Written for local authorities, professionals and homeowners, this document highlights several options for procedures for investigation, assessment and remedial measures.

This is the first book to offer a systematic and analytical overview of the legal framework for residential construction. In doing so, the book addresses two fundamental questions: Prevention: What assurances can the law give buyers (and later owners and occupiers) of homes that construction work – from building of a complete home to adding an extension or replacing a shower unit – will comply with minimum standards of design, safety and build quality? Cure: What forms of redress - from whom, and by what route - can residents expect, when, often long after completion of construction, they discover defects? The resulting problems pose some big and difficult questions of principle and policy about standards, rights and remedies, which in turn concern justice more generally. This book addresses these key issues in a comparative context across the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is an accessible guide to the existing law for residents and construction professionals (and their legal advisers), but also charts a course to further, meaningful reforms of the legal landscape for residential construction around the world. The book's two co-authors, Philip Britton and Matthew Bell, have taught in the field in the UK, Australia and New Zealand; both have been active in legal practice, as have the book's two specialist contributors, Deirdre Ní Fhloinn and Kim Vernau.

This study therefore investigated and improved cementitious properties of pozzolan blended with calcium hydroxide, gypsum and cement in order to extend its use from low strength mortars to concrete works which can be used for low to medium rise structural applications. Characterization, strength tests and durability tests were performed on pozzolan mixtures under laboratory conditions and the effects of adding gypsum to pozzolan and calcium hydroxide mixtures on the compressive strength and durability of cured concrete specimens were investigated.

Understanding Housing Defects provides a concise, coherent and comprehensive introduction to the causes, investigation and diagnosis of defects in domestic buildings. For this new edition, many of the chapters have been substantially updated and new photographs have been added. There are four new chapters covering: How defects are defined An overview of building and architectural history External joinery and painted finishes Environmental and health- related building problems Many of the 21 chapters cover a specific building element and include a brief introduction setting out construction principles and the evolution of current practice. All of the chapters consider the identification, cause and diagnosis of common (and sometimes not so common) defects. This book is a must have for all those students and practitioners who require a broad understanding of housing defects. Building surveyors, general practice surveyors, architects, estate agents, housing officers and anyone involved in the management and maintenance of property as well as its construction will benefit hugely from this highly informative full-colour text. Written by the authors of The Construction of Houses, the book is also the natural companion to this bestselling textbook.

To clarify the practical requirements of the Building Regs and help you meet their requirements first go, all the information contained in the building regulations 2010 and approved documents is presented here in an easy-to-understand format, clear, concise and fully illustrated. Guidance is given for domestic buildings of up to three storeys in England and Wales, including extensions, loft conversions, new dwellings, conversions (garages, basements and barns), and upgrading of existing buildings - including the use of natural lime mortars, plasters renders and paints. There are clear explanations of how the technical design and construction requirements of the Building Regs can be met with sufficient information to draw up an effective specification and design to be developed. Guide to Building Control illustrates the design and construction of the various building elements and explains the principles and processes of the building regulations and approved documents - including structure, fire safety, contaminates, sound insulation, ventilation, water efficiency, drainage systems, combustion appliances, stairs and guarding, energy conservation/green building issues, disabled access, safety glazing, electrical safety, materials and workmanship. The Guide contains up-to-date examples of everyday practices and procedures gained by the author - a practicing building control surveyor - from years of responding to requests from property professionals, builders, property owners and students for clarification of the practical requirements of the building regulations. Accompanied by detailed diagrams, tables and text offering an enlightened understanding of the complexities of building regulations the Guide is both an authoritative reference for use at planning stage and a practical handbook on site. Students and professionals will find it an essential, easy-to-use resource for building control surveyors, building designers, building contractors, self-build, and others working in the construction industry.

Materials for Architects and Builders provides a clear and concise introduction to the broad range of materials used within the construction industry and covers the essential details of their manufacture, key physical properties, specification and uses. Understanding the basics of materials is a crucial part of undergraduate and diploma construction or architecture-related courses, and this established textbook helps the reader to do just that with the help of colour photographs and clear diagrams throughout. This new edition has been completely revised and updated to include the latest developments in materials research, new images, appropriate technologies and relevant legislation. The ecological effects of building construction and lifetime use remain an important focus, and this new edition includes a wide range of energy saving building components.

The book highlights and analyses the distress to buildings caused by sulphate-induced heave, with particular reference to the recent problems in the Dublin area of Ireland. It describes the formation of pyrite, the processes involved in its oxidation and the various ways in which consequential expansion takes place. For the first time in the literature it discusses the way that buildings can be raised above their supporting foundation walls by the expansion of pyritiferous fill which has been used beneath ground-bearing floor slabs in Ireland. The significance of fractures through the iron sulphide microcrystals for the rate and extent of oxidation is discussed. Photographs and profiles of sulphate ingress into concrete/concrete blocks are presented. Case histories from the UK, North America and Ireland are discussed.

Cereals processing is one of the oldest and most important of all food technologies. Written by a distinguished international team of contributors, this collection reviews the range of cereal products and the technologies used to produce them. It is designed for all those involved in cereals processing, whether raw material producers and refiners needing to match the needs of secondary processors manufacturing the final product for the consumer, or secondary processors benchmarking their operations against best practice in their sector and across cereals processing as a whole. - The authorative guide to key technological developments within cereal processing - Reviews the range of cereal products and the technologies used to produce them

This BRE Special Digest provides practical guidance on specifying concrete for use in natural ground and in brownfield locations. The procedures for ground assessment and concrete specification cover the fairly common occurrence of sulfates, sulfides and acids and also the more rarely occurring aggressive carbon dioxide found in some ground and surface waters, which affects concrete foundations and sub-structures. This edition has been revised to reflect thinking and changes to British Standards. It introduces the phenomenon of chemical attack of concrete in the ground, describes modes of chemical attack and discusses the mechanisms of the principal types, including sulfate and acid attack, and the action of aggressive carbon dioxide. It then gives guidance on assessing the chemical aggressiveness of the ground, and recommendations for specifying concrete for general cast-in-situ use in the ground. It also gives recommendations for specifying surface carbonated precast concrete for general use in the ground, and includes design guides for specification of specific precast concrete products, including pipeline systems, box culverts and segmental linings for tunnels and shafts. The guidance applies to both buildings and civil engineering construction.