SOE inspection Flashcards
(33 cards)
What is RICS safe person concept?
Individuals take responsibility for their own colleagues and others h&s while at work
2 aspects: organisation and individual responsibility:
Organisational:
Selection: everyone has or is capable of developing the skills and competence to meet demands of work activities
Training-
Information- give info about risks and control measures. K
Equipment
Safe systems of work
INDIVIDUALS
Performance: being competent to perform work safely & knowingnlimitsb
Adaptability: recognising changing circumstances at all times
What is the purpose of h&s
To minimise risk of harm
LSH lone working policy?
Pre site risk assessment
Address in calendar & notify team of when you’re expected o site
Call someone when you get back. If not, they call you
What did you learn on your lone working training?
Dynamic risk aseasments
What is stramit starboard
brought to the UK in 1945. Stramit was turned into a building material after the Second World War. It was: affordable easy to manufacture and install. Stramit was used till late 1970s.
Stramit (from the Latin for straw – stramen) is the trade name for compressed strawboards made from wheat by a patented process of heat and pressure that fuses the straw using its natural celluloses as a self-binding resin.
The exterior of the strawboard was often bonded with paper (for roof decks) with the overall thickness generally ranging from 35mm to 60mm.
What document do you follow when on site considering h&s
RICS Surveying safely professional standard (2018)
What are the issues with stamit
when used in flat roof construction they can lose their structural capacity after becoming wet.
Some of the stramit or concrete framework were lined with asbestos. These materials included paper linings or asbestos cement. If used in roof construction they were often covered with asbestos containing bitumen, used as waterproofing.
Interstitial condensation leaks through flat roofs causing the paper to deteriorate and the resins to break down. This deterioration is not reversible.
Strawboard is designated as ‘fragile’ in the Health and Safety Executive’s HSG33 publication HSE Health and safety in roof work. This document describes strawboard becoming even more fragile when subject to penetrating damp and significant levels of internally generated condensation.
The Flat Roof Alliance’s Safety in Flat Roof Refurbishment (Information Sheet 30, March 2007) stated:
‘Experience has shown that Stramit and chipboard decks must be replaced, without exception.
How would you replace stramit roof
Stramit roof deck board cannot be replaced with a like-for-like material as the mode of failure will occur again. Stramit roof decks should be replaced with a new decking material that is:
resistant to the passage of moisture and
suitable for the spans and loadings.
Do not over-line Stramit with a new structural deck. The retention of wet Stramit will release moisture into the new deck and/or ceiling void; this poses the risk of parts of the deck collapsing into the rooms below.
New replacement roof membranes and decks need to be carefully considered at design stage to assess:
structural loadings on the existing structure
load spans
thermal and acoustic performance (with due regard to Building Regulations (see Building control for more information))
interface with abutments, services and ceiling finishes, and
draining of the roof surface (with ideally new flat roof gradients achieving 1:60).
Removing Stramit is extremely disruptive and messy. The interior of the building will be exposed to the elements by the removal of the waterproof covering and deck, and straw debris will be unavoidable (e.g. in ceiling voids and on floors). Safety crash barriers below ceilings will be required, as will assessments on whether ceilings can be safely retained. Inevitably, services will have been fixed to the Stramit deck which will need to be safely disconnected and re-fixed to the new deck. Take care, as asbestos containing materials may also be present in the roof/ceiling void; the appropriate intrusive asbestos survey should be undertaken.
Why do you need ventilation in a building
Effective ventilation helps to remove pollutants like moisture, indoor air contaminants, and unwanted odours, ensuring fresh air enters the property. Without proper ventilation, moisture can build up, leading to problems like mould, which can damage the building structure and affect your health. This is especially important in spaces like kitchens, bathrooms, and utility rooms, where humidity and pollutants are more likely to accumulate.
What is ventilation
Ventilation is the process of bringing in fresh air from outside and removing indoor air, which may:
be stale
be hot and humid because of work machinery and processes
contain pollutants and other impurities
Types of ventilation
Natural ventilation relies on doors, windows and other openings such as trickle vents, air bricks or grilles to provide air.
Mechanical ventilation uses fans to move air into and out of rooms. In small spaces and buildings these may be in the room, but larger buildings may use a network of ducts and fans to blow clean air into rooms and/or extract the stale air.
Many buildings have a mixture of natural and mechanical ventilation, with either (or both) systems in different spaces.
Why would the vets need ventilation
Under building regs &
Under regulation 6 of the Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations, employers must ‘ensure that every enclosed workplace is ventilated by a sufficient quantity of fresh or purified air’.
What is the fresh air supply rate
the volume of air that is provided to a room over a period of time.
A value of 10 litres per second per person is recommended in some building guides as a suitable value for most commercial buildings.
How to check if ventikation is needed
a useful way to do it when you think you may have a problem is by using CO2 monitors.
When is mechanical ventilation needed
Cross ventilation is suitable for buildings up to approximately 12 to 15m in depth (five times the floor to ceiling height, or 2.5 times the floor to ceiling height if openings can only be provided on one side).
How does HVAC work
Common Victorian, Georgian , etc. issues
Common industrial defect
How does the period of construction affect the defects you might find?
How does HVAC work
and cooling are achieved by circulating air through a network of ducts and vents. A central air handling unit (AHU) draws in outside air, mixes it with recirculated air, and then filters and conditions it before distributing it throughout the building.
An air handling unit (AHU) operates by bringing in fresh air from the outside, while a fan coil unit (FCU) generally recirculates and conditions the air in an interior space
What is the CSCS scheme
Produced by CITB
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is the Sector Skills Council and Industry Training Board for the construction industry. It works with construction companies to improve skills, increase competitive edge and respond to the many challenges employers face.
CITB is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Education.
The Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) is a UK-based industry-recognized scheme that provides proof of training and qualifications for individuals working on construction sites. It’s essentially a card system that helps employers verify the skills and competence of workers, ensuring they are adequately trained and equipped to work safely. While not legally mandatory, most major contractors and builders require CSCS cards for access to their sitesc
What did you learn training
Harness use and correct fitting
Fall arrest vs. fall restraint systems
Use of fixed lines, anchors
Selection and inspection of harnesses, lanyards, helmets, boots, etc.
Check ladder before use. 75degree. 1:4
3 points of contact
What regs relate to working from height
Work at Height Regulations 2005
What does day1 reinstatement mean on a brca
Most buildings in the UK are insured on what is commonly known as the day one reinstatement basis.
Essentially ignore the effects of inflation. As this is allowed for in the inflation provision (usually a percentage 15 to 50%). 
Day one reinstatement is arrived from the fact the summer is made up of two elements.
1. A declared value-cost of rebuilding at the commencement of the insurance period without any provision for inflation
- An inflation provision-a percentage uplift to cover inflation during the insurance year and any subsequent period for designing planning construction. Estimate based on anticipated build costs 

Types of BRCA
- Day one reinstatement
- Reinstatement including inflation provision (same as day one but 1 overall cost including inflation rather than 2 parts)
- Reinstatement less wear and tear (indemnity basis). Rare- sometimes used where Building is knackered and insurer doesn’t want to grant full reinstatement cover/they want cheaper premium. Same as normal but surveyor depreciate elements to reflect the current condition.
- Obsolete buildings. Depreciate elements to reflect the current condition. Rare sometimes suitable if a building would be demolished and rebuilt in a cheaper way
- Making safe costs only. If a building is due for demolition no material cover may be necessary if when the damage occurs the date of demolition can be brought forward
6. secondhand value of building materials. Rare. Building due for demolition may have no value except items that have a second hand some value tiles fireplaces etc. 
