Construction Technology and Environmental Services Flashcards
What are the fire escape travel distances for commercial buildings?
Under Approved Document B (Buildings other than dwellings), 18m is the maximum distance in one direction, or 45m in multiple directions,
What is the ratio of toilets required in a workplace?
The HSE requires that per 100 people, 5 toilets are required with 5 washbasins for mixed use or women. Per 100 men, 4 male toilets and 4 urinals are required.
When considering the occupancy of a workplace, what are the key considerations that need to be addressed by the professional team?
Fresh air, fire escape, welfare. Also gender neutral considerations for welfare. This would all be considered in the project brief, and it is my duty as a consult to advise the client to consider these factors.
What is the purpose of a retaining wall?
To prevent a load from moving from one location to another location. Important to notice considerations around drainage.
What are the three types of basement?
Type A - Tanking - barrier protection. Water ingress is dependent on a barrier system applied to the structure (walls and floor).
Type B - structurally integral protection - monolithic concrete.
Type C - drained cavity
What are the Building Regulations?
The minimum standard required for the construction of buildings. Construction does not have to be exactly the same as the requirement of the regulations, but must meet an equal or greater standard of performance. This would be assessed by an Approved Building Control Officer.
Please name the approved documents within the Building Regulations
A - Structure
B - Fire
C - Site preparation and contamination
D - Toxic substances
E - Sound
F - Ventilation
G - Sanitation, hot water and water efficiency
H - drainage and waste disposal
J - combustion and fuel storage system
K - protection from falling
L - conservation of fuel and power
M - access
O - overheating
P - electrical safety
Q - security
R - infrastructure for electronic communications
S - infrastructure for charging electric vehicles.
7 - material and workmanship.
What are the benefits/drawbacks of concrete frame?
Quicker start on site, little storage space required, inherent fire resistant properties. However, long curing times (programme lag), higher prelim costs, weather dependant.
What are the benefits/drawbacks of steel frame?
Longer period off site to procure, but quicker install once on site. Lower prelims, but will require an intumescent coating that could be easily damaged. More storage space required on site.
What are the types of fire alarm system in office buildings?
Category L - automated, this includes both manual and automatic sensors. Category M - manual. This is just a break glass/manual call point at designated points around the building. However, this requires a person to discover the fire and activate the alarm. Double knock - this requires activations across two points before a building is evacuated. This may allow trading floors for example to remain operational in the event of a false alarm.
What is the fire alarm/evacuation strategy on Project Flamingo?
Automated fire alarm system with a phased evacuation approach. A voice alarm sounds to give the whole building warning, then two floors are evacuated at a time. The floor of origin is the first to evacuate, followed by the two floors above, then two floors at a time working up the building, then two floors at a time working down the building.
Are you aware of any Fire Safety legislation?
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
This Order places a duty on the ‘responsible person’ to ensure, ‘as far as is reasonably practical’ the safety of their employees and to take such general fire precautions as may be reasonably required to ensure that the premises are safe [i.e. for non-employees].
At the end of a project, the responsible person is must review the provisions for the control of fire. If there are more than 5 people within the organization, the review must be documented.
CS - CBRE responsible.
What is a pre-action sprinkler system?
A dry system where no water is stored in the pipework. When smoke/heat/fire is detected, the pre action valve releases water into the pipework. This prevents accidental water damage in key areas such as comms rooms etc.
On my Aviva project, gas suppression was the preferred comms room fire safety system. However, due to insufficient riser space, the extract pipework for these floors had to exit the building through the loading bay. At a later Stage in the project, my client signed the lease for two additional floors on levels 7 and 8. Due to my understanding of the gas suppression extract route, I knew that it would not be feasible to install gas suppression in the level 7 and 8 comms rooms. I therefore advised that they undertook an internal review of the suitability of a pre-action sprinkler system, as this system was previously reviewed on the lower floors as an preferable alternative to a wet system.
Give an example of when you have advised your clients on a subject concerning Construction Technology and Environmental Services.
On my Aviva project, the Landlord required a fire rated hoarding around the building atrium, as the glass was not fire rated. This was initially assumed to be a metsec/fire rated plasterboard detail. However, on my Credit Suisse project, we had explored fire rated Hoardfast for the internal works, but decided against it due to the substandard aesthetic to building users. As the area was not client-facing during the construction works, I advised my client that we explore the use of a fire rated hoardfast system to protect the building atrium, which in fact had lower programme and cost impact than the original metsec slab to slab system.
Give an example of sustainable technology in one of your projects.
Typical examples of general sustainable technologies include: photovoltaics, ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, green roofs, or even more simple initiatives such as bird/bat boxes on facades. However, these aren’t typically part of an office fitout, as our scope predominantly consists of CAT A alterations and CAT B fitout. With this in mind, a key sustainable initiative that I advise my clients to utlilise is the integration of MEP within the BMS system, such as lighting and HVAC. For lighting, this could be as simple as efficient bulbs (LEDs) with PIR sensors, allowing energy to be saved in areas of the building which are not being used. Taking this a step further, BMS integration with HVAC systems allows the monitoring of trends and client-specific-peaks and troughs with their energy usage, allowing my client to save energy during low-use periods.
On my Aviva project, this is an area that I advised my client as part of the intelligent building system package, and the use of heating/cooling within meeting rooms. When a meeting room is booked remotely using the app, the user has the option to select their preferred temperate. 30 minutes before the booking time, the system will then heat/cool the room as required for the user. When the room is not in use, it will revert to an energy efficient setting. Not only does this have sustainability and cost benefits for my clients, but adds to their aspirational dimensions of their workplace, as this is an impressive feature when hosting meetings or just for use internally.
What are the two ways of dealing with sound?
Absorbing or Blocking. (Absorbing - finishes, artwork etc, blocking through walls).
