Stock Condition Surveys – Part 1 - A Client’s Perspective

Many Client organisations will not have the skills and resources available in-house and will therefore use external consultants for delivery of stock condition surveys due to their scale and complexity. The choice of consultant is fundamentally important to the success of the survey and clients should be very thorough in their selection and procurement processes

Source: Black Cat Building Surveys Ltd

For many years in my professional career I was responsible for advising, organising and managing numerous large stock condition surveys for a range of Local Authorities and Social Housing Providers. The prime motivation for the stock survey usually revolved around stock transfer, strategic planning related to asset management and business plans, or in the case of schools to follow a prescribed method such as the Department for Education and Skills Asset Management Strategy (now the Department for Education). My initial involvement would always involve helping each of the various clients to understand what they wanted (in most cases there was a lack of real understanding of was required), to set the scope of the surveys, to manage and co-ordinate large survey teams and to present the data in an understandable and usable way.

If you are currently planning for a stock condition survey or maybe you already have one in progress, then there are many different things you need to consider in order to try to ensure that the data collected and indeed the outputs are actually what you intend. I can think of numerous examples where Clients have had difficulty in managing/coping with the vast amount of data that is produced, and once received, they were not exactly sure what to do with it. Over recent years, technology has gone some way to addressing this as data can be collected and collated in ‘real time’ and there are a range of ‘off the shelf’ software packages that will analyse the data and produce all sorts of reports and charts, which are useful as long as the Client knows their output requirements. Therefore, a successful stock survey requires many months of planning and organising.  From a Client organisation perspective there needs to be well organised strategic approach establishing precisely what is required and importantly how this will be achieved. The information below identifies some key issues which should be considered:

Source: Homebuying Guide

What is the purpose of the Stock Survey? - A very simple question which often produces a variety of different answers. The answer to this will actually set the scope of the survey and will decide the outputs that are required so if there is a lack of clarity at this point then the whole process becomes confused. Therefore will the data be used to plan future work packages, if so, over what period of time? Will the data be used for strategic planning and be incorporated into a business plan? or maybe assessing current and future repairs and maintenance liabilities or consider statutory compliance or possibly a combination of these. These examples are not exhaustive, however demonstrate the wide range of possibilities that a stock condition survey could be used to achieve. It is only possible to move onto the next stage of the process once a Client/organisation can provide a clear answer to this question. Only then is it possible to start to look at the scope of the survey, the attributes to be recorded, the sample size (will this involve cloning?), the required outputs, deadlines and also the available budget (for the condition survey).

I remember one particular organisation I was advising, a Local Authority, who required a stock condition survey for their commercial building stock. This included a range of buildings such as community centres, libraries, leisure centres, offices and numerous other public buildings. In total this amounted to approximately 400 different buildings, so not a large stock survey, but challenging due to the diversity of the building stock. I became involved at a very early stage and it soon became clear that there were differences of opinion in respect of what was required to be achieved within the client organisation itself. One particular senior manager was insistent that the data collected should be used for strategic asset planning and also to assist much lower cost day to day maintenance. This manager was adamant that the survey should record things like door handles, hinges, taps, plugs, sealant etc. therefore taking the required attributes to a ‘micro level’. I highlighted the consequences of this approach in terms of the high cost of each survey due to the amount of time the surveyor would be on site, the difficulty in consistency of recorded information if you provide surveyors with too many choices, and also the limitations of the hardware at the time. In the end I was able to steer this particular client down a much more sensible road however this demonstrates some of the challenges that may be encountered, through lack of understanding and differences of opinion.

Choosing the right people - Many Client organisations will not have the skills and resources available in-house and will therefore use external consultants for delivery of stock condition surveys due to their scale and complexity. The choice of consultant is fundamentally important to the success of the survey and clients should be very thorough in their selection and procurement processes. Many consultants advertise their experience and skills in delivery of stock condition surveys, however there are some important factors that should be considered when selecting consultants for this type of work:

Resources – Based upon what you have detailed in your brief, what resources will the consultant provide to the project to ensure that the data collected will be appropriate and consistent and also achieve the deadline that you have set?  It is important to find out precisely who will be carrying out the surveys (ask for CV’s), and who will be responsible for managing/overseeing the survey. Consultants will usually calculate their fee based upon the amount of time they are likely to spend on the project and the level of staff that will be needed. For large stock surveys what tends to happen is that less experienced staff (newly qualified, or those undertaking professional qualification such as APC), are used for the bulk of the surveys and a more senior member of staff is used to oversee the project. This can work as long as the senior member of staff, undertakes robust quality assurance checks of the data being collected and undertakes continual training throughout the process with the surveyors to try to achieve consistency. The whole process can easily break down if a Consultant does not manage the process in this way and will lead to incorrect/inconsistent data being collected. This should never be allowed to happen and is something that a Client should explore during the procurement process.

Procurement – All Clients will have a budget available for a stock survey and in fact this is something that helps define the scope of the survey. If you want a Consultant to understand what you require, and you want a fee that is reflective of the services that they will provide then you must ensure that your brief is suitably detailed and clear. This probably sounds obvious, however I have prepared endless tenders for many different types of work, where the briefs provided are so vague or poorly written that it is difficult to understand exactly what the Client is looking for making reflective fee calculations very difficult.

Prior to tendering for the ‘main’ stock survey, my advice would be to invite a number of Consultants to tender for a ‘pilot survey’. This will enable each Consultant to demonstrate their resources and capabilities for a small number of surveys, as well as finding out what works, or maybe does not work, before ploughing on with the bulk of the surveys. This exercise could form the first part of the selection process, which should also be preceded by Consultant interviews. This may sound like a lengthy process; however, it is extremely important to appoint the right Consultant. This approach may well reduce the possibility of serious issues arising either during the survey process or when you come to rely on the data that has been collected.

Consultant’s Fee – Always analyse precisely what the Consultant has included with their fee.  If your tender documentation, including your survey brief are sufficiently detailed then the Consultant should have provided a fee to reflect what you have asked for. If not, and the Consultant has included their own ‘inclusions or interpretations’ then this will make the fee very difficult to compare with other tenders. This should not happen, as this could invalidate a tender, depending upon the method in which tenders were issued. In any event there needs to be a detailed tender analysis in order for a Client to satisfy themselves that the Consultant can provide precisely what they want for the fee they have provided. Never be tempted to look at the headline fee alone, as without looking you cannot know what (or what is not) included within that fee.

In my next article I will consider stock condition surveys from a Consultant’s viewpoint and provide some examples of how I used to manage large stock surveys.


Author: Gary O’Neill

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Damp in Buildings – Part 2 – Condensation – How to reduce the risk!

There are a few very simple, but nevertheless very effective ways we can reduce the risk of condensation, just by simply being aware of some of the activities we would normally undertake without even thinking

Source: Homebuilding & Renovating

In order to understand how to reduce the risk of condensation it is important to first understand how it occurs. If you have not already done so I would recommend reading last week’s article, ‘How condensation occurs’, before going any further. You will then understand that the ‘ingredients’ necessary for condensation to occur are moisture vapour and cool surfaces, which are exacerbated by poor insulation, poor heating and poor ventilation. Cool surfaces could be present due to thermally inefficient walls and surfaces, particularly in older buildings. In fact there are a whole host of reasons why the internal surface temperature of the internal fabric of a building may be cool (walls, windows, ceilings etc.,) including poor maintenance of external walls, rising damp, penetrating damp due to leaking rainwater guttering or downpipes, leaking roofs, single glazed windows, poor weather sealing around openings and cold bridges, which are areas of the building fabric which are less thermally efficient than the surrounding construction.

To reduce the risk of condensation occurring there are two primary things we should consider. Firstly, dealing with the root cause of the condensation and secondly, looking at the way we use a building and trying to find ways of reducing the amount of moisture vapour we emit.

Source: Home Guides - SFGate

In order to rectify the problem, we first need to establish the cause. This is where you may need the advice of a Building Surveyor, who will be able to undertake a thorough inspection and establish which factors or combination of factors are contributing to the condensation. This is important because if you do not deal with ALL of the contributing factors, you may slow down the amount of condensation occurring, however you will not actually solve the problem.  For example you may decide to improve the heating system, but if you do not deal with the thermally inefficient walls, then all of that increased heat will just disappear through the walls, and will have a limited effect.  So depending on what is established as the cause, it may be necessary to increase the internal surface temperature of the walls by either insulating internally (dry lining) or externally (insulated render system), replacing windows (possibly double or triple glazing), improving ventilation (possibly a mechanical extractor fan) and upgrading the heating system. As you would imagine, this could become very expensive, which highlights why you may need the advice of a professional to ensure that the correct remedial measures are undertaken. All buildings are different and the way we use buildings will also be different, therefore we cannot assume that the cause of condensation and the remedial works required will be the same in every situation.

After dealing with the building itself we must also consider ways in which we can reduce the amount of moisture vapour we emit in buildings. Yes, our human behaviour can have a significant impact on reducing moisture vapour in a building. If we start to think about ways in which we use and occupy our buildings and either do thinks in different ways, or even stop doing them completely, we can significantly reduce the risk of condensation. The best thing of all is that a change of behaviour is absolutely free! There are a few very simple, but nevertheless very effective ways we can achieve this, just by simply being aware of some of the activities we would normally undertake without even thinking.

Showering/bathing, Washing and Cooking are activities that we cannot avoid however all produce large amounts of moisture vapour.  We undertake these activities on a day to day basis, however when showering/bathing, try to not leave the shower or bath taps running more than you need, switch them off as soon as you can. If you have extractor fans, ensure that they are working, adequately sized and switched on when needed. You should also ensure that trickle vents in windows are open and that air bricks are not blocked. Although it may be cold outside, when you are leaving the bathroom, open the window to let fresh air in, which will soon clear the moisture vapour by replacing the moisture laden air with new fresher dryer air which will prevent moisture vapour condensing on the walls and windows.

Source: Maxzi

If you are using a Tumble Dryer, ensure that it is vented to the outside. I have undertaken a number of previous inspections where I have seen the flexible tumble dryer vents extracting into a room, rather than outside. This was due to lack of thought of the location of the tumble dryer and a general lack of understanding on the part of the occupiers. Also, when Drying Clothes try to avoid placing them on top of radiators. This is usually done for convenience, however again produces large amounts of moisture vapour. Whenever possible washing should be dried outside, or if weather conditions do not permit this then consider using an appropriately vented tumble dryer, or maybe even a trip to the launderette.

When Cooking use an extractor hood if you have one above your cooker and keep lids on saucepans as much as you can.  Avoid using Bottled Gas and Paraffin Heaters these produce large amounts of moisture vapour.

Finally, but very importantly, try to ensure you have a regular flow of fresh air around your house/buildings. This effectively dries out any moisture vapour and prevents it reaching concentration levels where condensation may become an issue.  Granted, nobody wants to release all of that lovely heat from a building in the depths of winter, however, opening windows for a short period of time may result in the internal environment becoming temporarily cooler, but it will also significantly help to reduce the risk of condensation.

Hopefully, now that you know how condensation occurs you can start to thing about ways in which you can help to reduce the risk. In future articles I will discuss other forms of damp in buildings such as rising damp and penetrating damp.

Author: Gary O'Neill

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Damp in Buildings – Part 1 – Condensation – How it Occurs

If left untreated condensation can become a significant problem so it is important that people understand how it occurs and how to deal with it. Due to the fact that condensation produces water/moisture it can also act as a catalyst for a number of other defects that can be found in buildings

Source: Bob's Heating & Air Conditioning

Most people will have seen damp in their homes in one form or another, and in fact damp is one of the most common problems encountered in houses.  Damp can manifest itself in a number of ways including ‘wet patches’ on surfaces, mould growth and sometimes a musty smell.  If left untreated damp can lead to deterioration of internal surfaces and finishes, provide a very unsightly appearance and in certain circumstances lead to health problems, particularly for vulnerable user groups such as the elderly, young children and those with respiratory conditions such as asthma.  There are a number of different types of damp that can occur in buildings including rising damp and penetrating damp, however for the purposes of this article I want to focus on condensation. 

In order to understand how we can deal with condensation it is important to first understand how it occurs.  All air contains a certain amount of ‘invisible’ water vapour. You may not realise it, but as a human beings we are emitting water vapour constantly, you may not see it but it really is happening. Water vapour is also emitted by the activities we undertake in the home including washing, cooking, drying clothes, using portable heaters such as calor gas etc.  Basically, there are large volumes of water vapour being emitted in your home and the amount of water vapour that is emitted is determined by the activities that we carry out and the number of people in your house at any particular time.  Condensation occurs when this water vapour comes into contact with cooler surfaces and the air no longer has the capacity to hold any more water vapour. In order to understand this we need to first understand relative humidity, which is a generally poorly understood term.

Source: Own

Relative humidity relates to the actual water vapour present in air to that which could be present and is routinely expressed as a percentage. The reason we refer to ‘relative’ humidity is because air has a varying ability to hold moisture vapour depending on temperature. Warm air can hold more water vapour than cold air. Once relative humidity reaches 100% it no longer has the ability to hold any more water vapour and it will start to condense on cooler surfaces (something referred to as ‘Dew Point’), which is the physical change into a liquid (condensation). 

As an example, think about your bathroom. When you have a bath or shower, large quantities of water vapour are produced.  Sometimes this will develop into a ‘fog/mist’ in the room until you open the window or turn on an extractor fan.  Have you ever noticed that you get water developing on your windows and walls? This is condensation. Have you ever wondered why this happens more readily on cold days, and in the warmer months it is hardly noticeable?  This is because the air in your bathroom on colder days has less capacity to hold moisture than the air in your bathroom during warmer temperatures (remember warm air can hold more water vapour than cold air). Windows, particularly in older buildings are generally less thermally efficient than the surrounding structure such as the walls. Therefore the internal surface temperature of the windows will be a few degrees cooler than the surface temperature of the walls.  This will mean that once dew point occurs (100% relative humidity), it will start to condense on the cooler surfaces first, i.e the windows, before it starts to condense on the surrounding walls.

Condensation can occur in any room in a house or within the structure of a house (interstitial condensation), including roof and floor voids, basically anywhere, where there is water vapour and cool surfaces. If left untreated condensation can become a significant problem so it is important that people understand how it occurs and how to deal with it. Due to the fact that condensation produces water/moisture it can also act as a catalyst for a number of other defects that can be found in buildings, namely timber decay such as wet rot or dry rot, as well as causing mould growth and potential health problems. 

You do not need to be a damp specialist or a building surveyor to be able to deal with condensation or at least reduce the risk of it occurring. There are numerous products on the market that claim to reduce or remove the risk of condensation in homes including paints and sprays.  These types of products may temporarily remove condensation mould that may have already occurred, or cover over damp mould, however the only certain way of removing the risk of condensation is to understand the root cause, which will vary from building to building, and to rectify these root causes.  The usual factors that result in condensation are poor thermal insulation, inadequate heating, inadequate ventilation and crucially, the way in which we use our homes, or a combination of these. In the next article I will explain how you can reduce the possibility of condensation in your home and if you already have problems with condensation I will tell you how to deal with it.

Author: Gary O'Neill

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Brexit 'deal agreed' - But is it a good deal for the UK?

This is a voyage into the unknown which was always going to be complex and challenging. The terms of the divorce were never going to be amicable as Europe cannot be seen to make it easy for the UK as they will clearly want to discourage other European nations from going down a similar road

Source: European Union Experts

As a member of the British public I am becoming increasingly frustrated by the constant messages coming out of Westminster and Brussels about Brexit. Like most people, I am not party to the Brexit negotiations, so I have to make do with the scraps of information that are constantly thrown at me through the media, which basically tell me nothing.  All we seem to be hearing is that ‘Britain has made concessions on this and concessions on that’. We hear today that the UK and EU have now agreed a deal for stage one of the negotiations, but how do we know if it is a good deal or not? Have the EU made any concessions? When I think of the Brexit negotiations I get the image of a vulnerable British rabbit encircled by 27 European wolves all waiting to pounce on every whimper that the rabbit makes, until it reaches a point where the rabbit is terrified into conceding for fear of being attacked by the wolves. What I want to know is where is the British Lion that will stand its ground, fight its corner and keep the wolves at bay?

At this moment in time, above everything what we need is strong leadership. You may not like Donald Trump or agree with his approach to politics or agree with his policies, however, there is no doubt that he is in charge and that he is not prepared to be messed around. Teresa May continually told us that she wanted to 'strengthen her hand' with Europe and so she called a 'snap' election. This must rate as one of the biggest misjudgements in British political history because, instead of strengthening her hand she ended up cutting one of them off!  With the hand that remained she had to hold out the begging bowl to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in order to secure a very slim overall Parliamentary majority. The European Union must have laughed its socks off in the knowledge that they would now be negotiating with a wounded Prime Minister, with limited power who faced opposition from all corners including her own party. Not exactly the strong leadership that we need, is it?

Source: Sheet Plant Association

Whether people voted remain or leave is now irrelevant, that debate and that ship has now sailed. There is no point in dwelling on this because on Thursday 23rd June 2016 51.9% of the British public decided to leave Europe, and at 11pm on Friday 29th March 2019 the UK will leave Europe. The triggering of Article 50 seemed to take forever as we were told that the UK wanted to be as ‘prepared’ as we could before giving formal notice to Europe that we would be parting ways. It took nearly nine months from the referendum before Article 50 was finally triggered on 29th March 2017, giving us two further years to ‘negotiate’ a divorce. This is a voyage into the unknown which was always going to be complex and challenging. The terms of the divorce were never going to be amicable as Europe cannot be seen to make it easy for the UK as they will clearly want to discourage other European nations from going down a similar road.

The economy and particularly trade are topics that continually arise as British industry tries to work out the impact of what Brexit will actually mean for imports/exports and to them and their business in a wider context. Again, the EU ‘dictated’ that the next stage of discussions (including trade) could not take place until we have dealt with three key issues; the rights of EU nationals living in the UK, the financial terms of the exit package and agreement of how to deal with the border between Northern and the Republic of Ireland. You would think with all of the UK concessions we have been hearing (which we have no real details about) that negotiations would have moved much quicker however, to the contrary, we are seeing headlines such as; ‘We can't go on like this': mood of resignation in EU as Brexit talks stutter’ in the Guardian (December 5th 2017) (Link). Within the article the current confusion and chaos around Brexit is summed up by a Finnish MEP; ‘the government’s weakness was 'a key question' for the EU. 'We are also in a very difficult position because it would not be in our interests to see the whole thing fall apart', 'At the same time … it’s not our duty to help the British government in a negotiation that is between them and us. The bottom line is that the May government is facing an impossible task', adding that promises made to British voters during the referendum campaign and before June’s snap election could not be kept. The government was in 'an ever-worsening, deteriorating cycle'.

It is a fact that there will be quite a number of years of ‘transition’ whether the UK strike a complete Brexit deal with the EU or not. It will take the UK and indeed European countries and their economies time to adjust as we get used to the reality of life without each other. Therefore, if we know and accept that there are some turbulent years ahead then the question arises of whether it is in the best interests of the UK to strike a deal with Europe that involves so many concessions that we are effectively still a European nation but without the ‘official membership’. There is plenty in the media about the implications of a ‘no deal scenario’ and yes, this would have serious implications.  In the Guardian (December 7th 2017) (Link) the House of Lords warn that a ‘no deal’ Brexit would be ‘the worst outcome possible’.  Well, maybe it would but at this point in time nobody really knows. What I would like to see and I’m sure many others would share this view, is a British Government that shows some fight, a British Government that stands up for Britain, a British Government than shows leadership and a British Government that provides confidence to the British people that they have a plan in whichever scenario plays out.  At present, all we see if confusion, discord and poor leadership which has reached a point where we have no idea what is going on. Sadly, this also seems to be the case for those negotiating Brexit on our behalf! What a sad state of affairs.

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Why should we bother with Renewable Energy?

If you are hoping that in the future fuel costs will reach a peak and then start to reduce then I am afraid you are going to be bitterly disappointed. There may well be short term reductions, however it is inevitable that fuel costs will not only continue to rise, but rise significantly

Source: Business Standard

There is no shortage of media coverage in respect of the impact of global warming, climate change, energy conservation, sustainability, greenhouse gas emissions and so on........ Our understanding and concern about these issues will vary significantly from those who have a genuine concern about protecting the planet for future generations to those who’s work may be directly related to these issues, right through to those who know very little and even those who make a conscious choice to ignore them!  The problem however is that even if you are one of those who fall into the latter categories, it does not change the fact that you will be affected in exactly the same way as everyone else.  This is no more starkly demonstrated than in the increased cost of energy over recent years, which have soared to record levels.

Over the last two hundred years we have become dependent on fossil fuels such as gas, oil and coal, which has allowed us to develop our world at a staggering pace.  All of this development in terms of infrastructure, buildings and the like require large amount of energy, to heat, cool, ventilate, provide light and power etc.  If we are to maintain, or more likely increase the rate of development around the world then we also need to consider alternative ways of creating this energy. The problem with fossil fuels is that they are a depleting resource and at some point, in the future it will run out.  Now this is unlikely to happen in our generation or indeed generations in the foreseeable future, but one thing is for certain in that at some point, however far in the future, fossil fuels will become incredibly scarce and are likely to run out.  If you are under the impression that we should not be concerned about this now, as it will not have any major impact on us in our lifetime then think again!

Source: Daily Record

The problem with anything that is in short supply is that basic economical principles come into play.  Fossil fuels are a prime example of this. Remember they are a depleting resource and therefore a commodity in short supply.  The impact of this is that when demand is high (which it always is) and supply is limited (which it is), then market conditions allow energy providers to increase costs as they know that they are providing something that people actually need. The market then adjusts to these increased costs. The Guardian (November 2017) reports; ‘Gas and electricity companies have been the biggest culprits for raising prices over the past 20 years, according to an analysis published just a day after utility giant’s SSE and npower revealed plans for a mega-merger – prompting fears of yet more price rises. The research found that the cost of utilities has risen at triple the rate of inflation over the past two decades. The average rise in prices for a basket of goods between 1997 and 2016 was 50.7%, but utility bills went up by 139% – far outstripping the average 78% rise in weekly household income, which has gone up from £316 to £562 over the period’ (Link).

If you are hoping that in the future fuel costs will reach a peak and then start to reduce then I am afraid you are going to be bitterly disappointed. There may well be occasional short term reductions, however due to the economical principles described above it is inevitable that fuel cost will not only continue to rise, but rise significantly. Of course, the majority of articles that you will see in the media focus on the damage to the environment caused by greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon, from the burning of fossil fuels. This is something that we need to deal with immediately, however I would suggest that if you were to talk to most people on the high street they would be more concerned about the increase in fuel costs rather than the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The positive thing however, is that if we can create energy by using alternative renewable technologies then we can deal with both issues at the same time!

In future articles I will focus on the use of renewable technologies as a way of impacting on greenhouse gas emissions, however for the remainder of this article I will continue to demonstrate the financial effect of creating and using energy from fossil fuels, which is happening and impacting on us all right now!  The Committee on Fuel Poverty annual Report – October 2017 (Link), in its Executive Summary states; ‘The Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Fuel Poverty Statistics published in 2017 report the number of households in fuel poverty has increased from 2.38 million in 2014 to 2.50 million in 2015 (the statistics provide data on a two-year time lag). The average fuel poverty gap (this is the average additional amount that fuel-poor households need to spend to meet their energy needs, compared to the national median spend) has only fallen £18 per year from £371 to £353’.  The reference to fuel poverty is defined by Poverty.org.uk (Link) as: ‘Households are considered by the Government to be in 'fuel poverty' if they would have to spend more than 10% of their household income on fuel to keep their home in a 'satisfactory' condition. It is thus a measure which compares income with what the fuel costs 'should be' rather than what they actually are.  Whether a household is in fuel poverty or not is determined by the interaction of a number of factors, but the three obvious ones are: The cost of energy, the energy efficiency of the property (and therefore, the energy required to heat and power the home) and Household income’.

It is abundantly clear that many in the UK are continuing to suffer financial hardship as a result of increasing energy costs, and unless we can find alternative ways of creating and conserving our energy, then this situation is likely to become even more critical. Increased demand for a depleting resource is a recipe for disaster. We therefore have to introduce alternatives, which is now a necessity not a choice. If you are in one of those categories described at the beginning of this article who have not really paid much attention to global issues, perhaps it is now time to think very carefully about how you individually, and all of us collectively can save energy as well as also being open to consider retrofitting of  new renewable technologies. This will not only provide benefits from a financial viewpoint, which may not be immediate (although costs associated with enhancements is an article in its own right!), but also from an environmental viewpoint, where we can start to have a real impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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Climate Change and Energy Efficiency – The Challenge of Tackling Older Buildings

Whether you have your own political views or are sceptical about government policy and initiatives it is important to embrace them as we only have the possibility of making a difference, if we are prepared ‘to give it a go’, after all, we have to start somewhere

Source: Source: http://www.cjhole.co.uk/news.html

Are you aware of the significant impact of climate change on our planet?  Are you aware of the major influence that those working in the built environment, could have in dealing with this very serious issue? Or, like many do you really care at all?  We are already experiencing the impact of climate change as a result of the way that we have used our planet to a point where many of these changes are now irreversible. The issue now is how we slow down the process and try to protect the environment for future generations. The Environment Agency website (Link), emphasises the human impact on our climate, and portray some very stark and worrying facts:

‘There is a scientific consensus that the recent observed rise in global temperature can only be explained by the rise in greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities.

Since the industrial revolution, human activity, mostly the burning of fossil fuels, has resulted in the release of large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This is enhancing the greenhouse effect and pushing up global temperatures.

Average global temperatures have already risen approximately one degree Celsius since pre-industrial levels, and even if we could stop emitting all greenhouse gases tomorrow, they would continue to rise by at least a further 0.6 degrees. Limiting temperature rise to below two degrees is the internationally agreed target to avert dangerous climate change.

There are clear signs that our world is warming. We’ve had markedly higher global average temperatures over the last decade, ice sheets and glaciers are melting and average river water temperatures are increasing. Globally, the hottest ten years on record have all been since 1990, and February 2010 was warmest on record for southern hemisphere’

Source: http://www.zmescience.com/ecology/environmental-issues

It is therefore clear that action is needed now and whether we like it or not, we must all play our part. Much of this action is actually imposed on us through legislation such as Building Regulations and other initiatives such Code for Sustainable Homes, BREEAM etc. which are primarily voluntary (although funding requirements may in effect make these mandatory). This is fine if we are dealing with new buildings, but how do we deal with the existing varied and largely energy inefficient building stock we have in the UK?  These are the types of buildings that waste a great deal of energy through older inefficient elements and therefore readily lose heat through the building fabric, requiring additional heating and therefore more energy to try to achieve acceptable internal temperatures.  If we make our buildings more thermally efficient, this heat energy is retained longer in the building, therefore reducing the amount of additional heating we need and subsequently reduces our reliance on fossil fuels.

According to BBC News (2006), ‘Transport consistently grabs the headlines on climate change emissions but buildings pour out about half of the UK's CO2 - 30% from homes, 20% from commercial buildings’.  The Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) completed an assessment of a variety of impacts of various sectors may need to prepare, which included the Built Environment: ‘The UK’s built environment includes: 27 million homes, commercial and industrial properties, hospitals, schools, other buildings and the wider urban environment. At the current replacement rate, around 70% of buildings that will be in use in the 2050's already exist. It is clear therefore that those working in the built environment have the opportunity of influencing the impact of climate change in all sectors including both new build and existing buildings. This has also been emphasised by the UK government’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% (from the 1990 baseline) by 2050 under the Climate Change Act 2008. In order to achieve this it is necessary to significantly reduce our reliance on depleting resources such as fossil fuels (which emit high quantities of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon) and consider the use of more energy efficient and low carbon ways of creating energy (renewable technologies), making our buildings more thermally efficient in addition to educating people to operate and use buildings more efficiently. This is fundamental to achieving a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and necessary if we are to stand any chance of meeting our targets.

The government have set a strategy with the objective of achieving the targets set within the Climate Change Act 2008 (Link). Whether you have your own political views or are sceptical about government policy and initiatives it is important to embrace these policies as we only have the possibility of making a difference, if we are prepared ‘to give it a go’, after all, we have to start somewhere.  It is ok to be sceptical, however until policies and initiatives are introduced and tested we have no way of knowing whether they will work or not. I along with many others raised issues with the now demised Green Deal, however I have also gone onto state that I think in principle Green Deal was a good idea undoubtedly needed some re-adjustment to make it more effective. The important thing here is that the UK government decided to tackle poor energy efficiency in existing buildings. However, trying to encourage people to incorporate energy efficient measures and renewable technologies into their buildings is always going to be difficult for a number of reasons.  

The Green Deal worked on the basis of a low interest loan which is added to fuel bills, for energy efficient enhancements which were recommended by a Green Deal Assessor. The ‘golden rule’ then assumed that the repayments on the loan would not exceed the savings made on the energy bills, therefore the bill payer/s should not notice any difference in the amount they were are paying each month. 

There is also constructional detailing issues in respect of retrofitting existing and occupied buildings to increase thermal efficiency and also issues in respect of introducing and installing renewable technologies. Once installation of enhancements has been completed it is also necessary to ‘educate’ occupiers to help them to understand how to use them.  It is pointless increasing thermal efficiency and installing new technologies into a building if the occupier continues to waste energy because they don’t understand how to use the system correctly.  Again, this emphasises the need for a holistic approach to dealing with energy efficiency in existing buildings rather than concentrating on the technologies alone.  This is a tough nut to crack with no easy solutions. It will be interesting to see what the government come up with next when trying to tackle energy efficiency in existing buildings.

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Quality Assurance - How accurate is your documentation?

Robust supervision and training of staff will help them to understand the significance of accurate documentation. Organisations should not lose sight of this, particularly in the current economic climate

Source:www.anarsolutions.com

In previous articles I have discussed the importance of drawings and the consequences that are likely to occur in a construction project if they contain inaccuracies or omissions. Drawings are one of the main components of tender documents, however, as important as they are, they are only a single component of the documentation. Drawings must reflect precisely the detail contained in the specification, and vice versa.  Any conflict between the two will lead to confusion from contractors during the tender period, (assuming that the contractors have read the documentation fully, which does not always happen!), and possibly disputes on site when the selected contractor realises any inconsistency. This can then lead to an embarrassing explanation to the Client, particularly if the contractor tries to claim that his tender price did not include for the inconsistency and ultimately in a dispute for which the Consultant may be held accountable.

Consequently, the process of preparing tender documentation and in fact any documentation that is to leave the office, should be undertaken with care and attention, with organisations having robust quality assurance processes to ensure that the documentation is checked at various stages. Junior and new members of staff need to be trained and supervised throughout the whole process so that they understand the significance of preparing tender documentation and that each component cannot and should not be prepared in isolation. Experienced and senior members of staff should not be excluded from the quality assurance process as they too are likely to make errors or omissions. The point is that through the supervision and quality assurance processes, any errors or omissions are identified before the documentation leaves the office.

Source: builtintelligence.com

In today's challenging environment where profit margins are tight and staffing levels have been squeezed, it would be very easy to allow documentation to be issued as a result of sometimes poor or non existing supervision and quality assurance procedures. One of my former organisation's quality assurance procedures was that no documentation could leave the office until it has been signed off by a senior manager. I can remember many days when members of staff would pile drawings, specifications and all sorts of other documentation onto my desk for checking. Now considering I still had my own workload, reading through and checking all of this documentation was challenging, however because I was signing the  information off I had to take the time too look at it properly, which often meant working long hours, or taking work home. I am sure many reading this article will understand, having been in similar situations themselves. Although it was sometime tempting to skim read documentation and drawings I was always aware of the implications to my organisation and to me personally, if inaccurate documentation was issued. Inevitably, errors in signed off documentation would sometimes be identified, however by adopting robust procedures we kept this to a minimum, and after all we are only human and we will sometimes miss something.

Those who prepare the documentation often do not appreciate the time that is necessary to read through and check what they have produced. In some circumstances members of staff would bring documentation to me for checking and expect me to look at it, there and then and sign it off immediately, because of an imminent deadline (mostly down to their own poor time management!). This is where mistakes can be made, and any organisation that works in this way or allows this to happen, even in isolated cases, are likely to keep their solicitors very busy! Organisations must have clear policies in place so that everyone understands and complies with quality assurance procedures and also has respect for the time of those who will be checking it.

As stated previously robust supervision and training of staff will help everyone (not just technical members of staff), to understand the significance of accurate documentation. Organisations should not lose sight of this, particularly in the current economic climate. Client's are much more likely to cultivate relationships with those who they feel confident will deliver a project effectively and in a professionally manner. Allowing inaccurate documentation to leave your office is not professional and gives a very negative impression. There is a lot of competition out there and it will not take long to sour a relationship, 'you're only as good as your last project', comes to mind, so ignore this at your peril.

Above, I have used the example of tender documentation, as from experience I know the problems that can result from in inconsistencies in documentation. Tender documentation is a topic I will cover in more detail in a future article.

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