The Use of Timber in UK House Construction - A short history

Timber has proved itself to be an adaptable and flexible material throughout history, and with the ability to replenish the wood that we use, there is nothing to suggest that its popularity will reduce

Source: http://www.gallica.co.uk/

Timber is a lightweight, adaptable and recyclable material that has been used in construction in the UK for many thousands of years.  The use of timber for construction can be traced back over 3000 years to the Celts who constructed quite simple, but nevertheless effective 'round houses', which provided shelter and security albeit at a rather basic level. The image on the right shows a roundhouse under construction. As the years moved on the use of timber became more widespread with the Romans, the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings using and adapting timber to create larger and more expansive buildings. 

Take the Romans for example - most would associate Roman buildings as large masonry constructed villas, with painted plastered walls, mosaic floors and running water etc., because when a film or documentary about the Romans is broadcast, this is what is usually portrayed. It is difficult not to admire the skills and ingenuity of the Romans based upon the many wonderful examples of Roman buildings still in existence in the UK and around the world, however these larger masonry structures were inhabited primarily by the rich and powerful, and the reality was that most Romans lived in timber constructed buildings similar to the Celts who preceded them.

Source: Google Images

The Anglo Saxons (c. 420AD to 700AD) and the Vikings (c. 700AD to 1000AD) who followed the Romans, made further use of the vast amount of available timber in the UK and began moving away from the familiar round houses and started to construct square and oblong shaped houses, with some larger ones incorporating a small number of rooms. The Vikings started to increase the length of their houses to incorporate larger internal areas and these became know as 'longhouses'. Many Viking houses were also constructed partly below ground level and although this would require a high level of hand digging, it made the house much more comfortable when completed as it protected the internal environment from draft and cold, particularly in the often harsh weather conditions in the depths of winter.

The Medieval Period followed the Viking occupation of the UK, this period in history famously started following the Battle of Hastings in 1066 (Norman King Harold, arrow in the eye and the bayeux tapestry and all that!) and lasted to c.1500 AD.  In the early part of the Medieval Period, timber was used to construct houses, but more closely followed the square oblong shape of the Anglo Saxons, rather that the Viking longhouses.  As the Medieval period developed timber frame construction evolved, with the main structure of the building being completed and then the walls would be infilled around the frame with a technique know as 'wattle and daub'. This was a method of weaving small branches between parts of the timber frame and then 'plastering' onto the weaved branches a mixture of clay, horse hair and sometimes horse dung (yuck!), with water,  This could be smoothed when wet and when it dries out it provided an effective wall finish that would be reasonably weather tight. The short video below gives an example of wattle and daub construction.

Source: Google Images

There are many wonderful examples of medieval buildings in the UK, where the timber frame construction can be seen. Large timber members fixed together with a combination of timber joints and timber pegs allowed construction to be much larger and bolder.  Houses started to incorporate timber framed windows and pitched roofs that commenced mainly as thatch, but eventually incorporated a clay tiled finish.

Timber continued to be used in construction, although masonry started to become much more extensively used during the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian era for the main structure of a dwelling.  In the 'modern era', timber construction has made somewhat of a comeback with timber frame construction fast becoming the preferred method for many developers.

In conclusion, timber has proved itself to be an adaptable and flexible material throughout history, and with the ability to replenish the wood that we use, there is nothing to suggest that its popularity will wane.  On the flip side, timber is also vulnerable in certain conditions to decay and this needs to be carefully considered when using timber in construction and when a building is in use and this is a topic I will cover in further detail in future postings.

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Party Wall etc. Act 1996 - It's my party and I'll comply if I want to (or so some think!)

The main purpose of the Party Wall etc. Act is to prevent and resolve disputes, however many of my appointments under the Act occurred when a dispute arose after works had commenced

Source: www.party-walls-leicestershire.com

Anyone who deals with law will know that reading legislation can often be cumbersome, time consuming and sometimes difficult to understand and interpret.  This is not the case however with the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (Link) which is one of the less detailed, but most prescriptive pieces of legislation that you could hope to read.   The guidance (link above) from the Department of Communities and Local Government, describes the purpose of the Act as 'providing a framework for preventing and resolving disputes in relation to party walls, boundary walls and excavations near neighbouring buildings'.

The amount of Building Owners (a term used under the Act to describe the party who is undertaking the work), who choose to ignore the Act, whether through ignorance (which is no defence in law!) or a genuine desire to cut corners to save on time and expense, never ceases to amaze me. If the main purpose of the Act is to prevent and resolve disputes it seems a contradiction in terms that many of my appointments under the Party Wall Act were usually made when a dispute had already occurred! (at this stage the dispute was in general terms and not a Party Wall dispute). The scenario below from a few years ago was posted on the Building Magazine Forum is typical of situations that I have been appointed to deal with on numerous occasions. The posting is published exactly as it was written by the person who posted it, so the grammar is not perfect;

Source: www.architectcheltenham.co.uk

‘Have lived in current house for 4 years, it's a semi and the other half changed hands last year. New neighbour promptly guts house, relocates bathroom from side of property to rear. Digs deep holes in garden for sewerage but doesn't fill holes in. Moves into home in November.

January applies for planning for two storey side extension, single back extension and front porch. This would take it from 3 beds to 5 beds! Planners refuse but give permission on second application on scaled down side extension with only an a increase to 4 beds. He started 'official' work in April just after receiving permission however had dug front porch foundations before Christmas along with making the 'sewer' holes out the back into bigger foundation shaped holes!

Now my problem. His rear foundations are several feet below my land and right against my fence which is approx a foot from my conservatory. Yesterday I noticed that in fence is leaning and on inspecting it I discover it's floating! as the land my side has started to fall into his excavations. This is happening along about ten foot of the fence starting at the house. He has tied rope to the fence to try to hold it up right but it's not working.

Looking down from an above window I can see gaps appearing in the lead flashing of my conservatory on that side so am worried that his deep excavations, which have been open for some nine months, are damaging my property. First step will be to speak with him but what should I be asking he do? Do I need a Surveyor to check there is no damage?

Also the front porch he's built was supposed to be a lean to roof but he's built it as a ridge roof and water is now pouring onto my house and land. I've spoken to him about this and he plans to put guttering up 'sometime'. 

Can he just change his plans like this’? 

Anyone who is affected by a 'Building Owner's' work as described above, where Party Wall Notices should have been issued, but have not, cannot claim any benefits under the Act, because the provisions within the Act cannot be utilised until correct notification has been issued (the Act is then initialised).  Below is the response I posted to the above scenario:

‘I agree that the Party Wall etc. Act should apply, and your neighbour obviously has not notified you. Seek the advice of a Surveyor immediately. If your property is being significantly affected in the way you suggest then the work next door needs to be stopped immediately and possibly temporary support of your property may need to be undertaken.

If your neighbour refuses to stop work, then you can apply for a County Court injunction to enforce this. Once works are stopped your neighbour should then issue Party Wall notification, for which you will have a number of options. One such option will be that you dissent (do not agree) with the works and in which case you have the option to appoint your own surveyor, who's 'reasonable fees' must be met by your neighbour.

Your surveyor will then work with your neighbour's surveyor and agree a Party Wall Award which will include details about how the works should be completed and what should be done to rectify any damage. The award will be agreed before works re-commence and will give you the comfort of knowing that the works will be completed appropriately and if any damage is caused it will be dealt with.

There is an option for you to select an 'Agreed' surveyor, who will act impartially for you and your neighbour, however when I have been called in, in situation like this I often found that relationships between neighbours had become soured and they wanted to appoint separate surveyors.

I would advise you to contact a surveyor immediately who deals with Party Wall issues, who will go through the procedure with you and hopefully explain the above in more detail’.

My response focused on the Party Wall issues, however there is also a possible breach of planning permission in respect of the porch roof that would need to be investigated. Also, if  the building work is well advanced then retrospective issuing of notices may have a limited effect.  In this scenario a neighbour can always decide to exercise their common law rights, possibly in negligence, trespass, nuisance etc, depending on the circumstances of individual cases.

In conclusion there appears to be a general lack of awareness of the Party Wall etc. Act and it's requirements by members of the public (and their advisers) which through lack of publicity, poor advice or genuine ignorance is not acceptable.  Legislation does not provide a choice, it must be complied with and those who fail to do this must be prepared to face the consequences, so be warned!

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Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.

Permitted development rights disregard rights of light

Permitted development rights take no account of a neighbour's 'rights to light'

Source: www.jcadesigns.co.uk

The UK planning system allows certain types of development to be made without the need to apply to your Local Authority for planning permission; this is referred to as 'Permitted Development'. Information relating to permitted development can be found on-line on the Planning Portal (Link). Planning applications often require professional advice in order to produce drawings, submit the application in the correct format, liaise with the Local Authority, all of which, in addition to the planning fee itself can prove to be expensive.  There is also the possibility that the application may receive objections from neighbours/local residents, which will be taken into account by the Local Authority when making a decision on the application. All of this expense stress and uncertainty can be avoided if the development is deemed to be 'permitted development'.

Whilst the advantages are clear for the party who proposes to undertake a project under permitted development, but what about the rights of adjoining owners who may be affected in some way by the proposed development?  For example, take a single storey side extension to a semi-detached dwelling.  The extension will be only 1.5 metres from the neighbour’s external wall (not the boundary), however the height of the extension will be 2.8 metres at the eaves (the junction of the top of the wall and roof).  Even though a new extension will impact on the available light to the neighbour’s kitchen windows, this is still classified as permitted development. The photograph below shows the new extension on the left hand side.

Source: own

Permitted development rights take no account of a neighbour's 'rights to light'. Therefore it is currently acceptable under UK planning laws for a development that does not require planning permission (as it may be permitted development) and is therefore deemed as acceptable, to adversely affect the right of an adjoining owner. This surely cannot be acceptable. Any adjoining owner who is affected in this way will receive little help or guidance from the Local Authority because as far as they are concerned this is permitted development and there is nothing they will do apart from unhelpfully tell you to complain to the Secretary of State (this is what happened to me a few years ago). 

All is not completely lost however, as there is a law that may provide a way of challenging 'loss of light' and that is the Prescription Act 1832.  If a new building/structure limits or reduces the amount of light available through windows and when measured the level of light falls outside 'acceptable levels', this could then be deemed to be an obstruction. If this is the case then you may be able to take legal action against the party who created that obstruction.

If you think you may have a case in respect of the above you must first think very carefully and weigh up the possible benefits of starting legal proceedings.  Do not be under the impression that if you are successful that your neighbour will be required to remove or make significant alterations to their development.  This is only likely to happen in extreme circumstances where the new building or structure has been constructed outside the requirements of permitted development, or has breached other statutory requirements.  The general outcome of cases of this nature is that the development will remain and the court may apportion a certain level of compensation for the general reduction of light.

In conclusion, in certain circumstances permitted development appears to disregard the rights of adjoining owners, and at present there is very little that can be done to stop this happening.  In a 'free' society like the UK this does seem to be unacceptable, and maybe it is now time for permitted development guidelines to be amended to close this loop hole.

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The Reality of Framework Agreements - Have You Been Framed?

Frameworks are generally poorly understood by Clients and are often not the lucrative cash stream that they initially suggest, unless of course you are one of the chosen few!

Source: www.zemaitis-uk.com

Under EU legislation all contracts from the public sector which are valued above a certain threshold (Link) must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU, formerly OJEC). Many OJEU's advertise framework opportunities, and whilst working in Professional Practice, particularly as a Senior Manager I was often involved in preparing framework consultancy submissions.  

A framework agreement is essentially an ‘umbrella agreement’ which sets out the terms under which individual contracts (call-off's) can be made throughout the period of the agreement. Frameworks can vary in duration, however these are typically for a four year period. The principle of a framework is to establish and develop long term relationships between Clients, Consultants and Contractors etc. and to work together to achieve continuous improvement. This is measured in different ways, however the overriding objectives would be to improve quality, look for efficiencies and at the same time reduce costs.

An invitation to submit for a framework will only be given once the Client is satisfied that the Contractor or Consultant have the track record and resources needed.  This will be established from information submitted in a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ).  The main submission will then require a whole host of different information relating to details of relevant projects, an organisational structure highlighting key personnel, health & safety policy and record, environmental credentials, numerous answers to all sorts of different questions and scenarios and obviously fees that will be charged. After assessment of the documentation and if successful, the Contractor or Consultant will be invited to an interview where eventually the Client will select a number (typically 4 to 6) to appoint to the framework.

Source: www.linkedin.com

Anyone who has prepared documentation for a framework submission, whether as a Contractor or a Consultant will be aware of how much work is involved. Typically, it will take a Senior Manager with administrative support a significant amount of time to pull the information discussed above, together.  When you consider the hourly rate of a Senior Manager and support staff, together with the bulky printing (if needed) and preparation of the documentation, the whole exercise is a real cost to a business, and is completed on the principle that if successful, there will be a continuous flow of projects for the duration of the framework.  This however is rarely the outcome.

The initial euphoria of receiving confirmation of an appointment to a framework is often quickly tempered with frustration.  In reality what tends to happen is that a Client will call off work disproportionately, with some on the framework being allocated a high percentage of projects and others being allocated very little. One factor that may contribute to this is the mandatory nature of the OJEU procedure which many Clients do not really want.  Having this procedure imposed on them means that they can no longer just invite those Contractors and Consultants who they have probably worked with for many years to tender for the framework, in fact by advertising through OJEU they are actually inviting submissions from all over the Europe Union, not just the UK.  Obviously, these 'familiar' Contractors and Consultants can tender for the framework, but will have to go through the same selection criteria as everyone else who applies.

I can think of a number of examples where my company (Property Consultants), were appointed onto frameworks, having attended numerous meetings, passed the submission and selection procedure, and then not given anywhere near the volume of work to justify the costs.  Clients do not always appreciate that part of the fee calculation is based upon the likely value of work that will be allocated through the framework. Therefore, a much more competitive fee can be included if projects of a reasonable value are called off to your company or organisation. Clients who 'throw you the scraps from the table', by allocating the odd small project here and there, do not appreciate that the fee that has been submitted will not work for this extremely low volume of work, however the fee is expected to honoured because this is what was tendered with the original submission.

There are two particular frameworks which come to mind, one with a Local Authority in the Midlands and one with a Housing Group in the North West, where my company were appointed onto the Framework, and when attending monthly framework meetings (which again is another cost to the business), it was clear that bulk of projects were being called off to the Consultants who had worked with the Client for many years. This was totally unacceptable, and despite some 'honest and frank' discussions with the Client, nothing changed. I am sure that this will be the same in certain situations for Contractors.  Consequently, my company took a commercial decision to be much more selective of which frameworks to apply for in the future.  
  
Frameworks are generally poorly understood by Clients and are often not the lucrative cash stream that they initially suggest, unless of course you are one of the chosen few!

Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and colleagues who you think would be interested

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog. 

Women in Construction Symposium - Wednesday 10th February 2016 - Coventry University

Women in Construction Symposium - Coventry University 10th February 2016.- Please see below for further details and registration.

For ticket availability and information please contact carl.mills@coventry.ac.uk or Adelina Manea ab3283@coventry.ac.uk

For it's inaugural year this event is free!