01/10/2019

Identifying hazardous and deleterious

materials

Contents.
1. Introduction to Watts
2. Introduction to Hazardous + Deleterious materials
3. Lead
4. Woodwool slabs
5. Calcium chloride additives
6. High Alumina Cement
7. Crystalline silica
8. Calcium silicate brickwork
9. Conclusion

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1. Introduction to Watts.

1. Introduction to Watts.

Building Project Cost

Surveying Management Consultancy

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1. Introduction to Watts.

The Watts Pocket Handbook

• Now in 29th year

• Digital for two years before reverting to hard copy
• 1st Edition – 1983 – 62 pages
• Inspiration from a worn copy of the 1864 edition of the
Hurst's 'Handbook for Surveyors‘
• Commitment to share industry knowledge

1. Introduction to Watts.

2008
2009 2017
2012
2010

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1. Introduction to Watts.

The Watts APC Development Group

• 24 members currently
• Monthly conference call meetings
• Mock interviews, questions + presentations
• Annual Training Day in London in Nov
• Commitment to full MRICS qualifications Annual APC Training Day – Nov 2017 - London

2. Introduction to Hazardous
and Deleterious Materials.

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2. Introduction to Hazardous and Deleterious Materials.

• Hazardous Materials

Materials that can be harmful to persons or to the environment (Rushton)

• Asbestos • Lead • Vermiculite

• CFCs • Manmade Mineral • Volatile Organic
• Crystalline Silica Fibres Compounds (VOCs)
• Formaldehyde • Polychlorinated • Wood preservatives
biphenyls
• Lead

2. Introduction to Hazardous and Deleterious Materials.

• Deleterious Materials

Materials that can be harmful in subtle or unexpected ways

(Rushton)

• Brick slips and brick • Cem-fil • Sea dredged

panels • High alumina cement aggregates
• Calcium chlorides • Mundic • Wood wool slabs /
• Calcium silicate wood wool cement
brickwork boards

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2. Introduction to Hazardous and Deleterious Materials.

• Problematic Materials

Materials that could fall into the same definition of ‘deleterious’, but
which, for one reason or another, are rarely, if ever, so described
(Rushton)

• Cement fibre slates • Hollow clay pot floors • RAAC Planks

• Composite panels • Nickel sulphides • Thin stone panels
• Galvanised steel wall
ties

3. Lead.

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3. Lead.

• Roofing, pipes, weatherings, paint, pipes…etc.

• High risk: children and pregnant women

• Carcinogenic and teratogenic

• Downfall of Rome?

• The ‘Devon colic’

3. Lead.

• Lead oxide layer + atmospheric CO2 = corrosion protection

• No galvanic corrosion to copper, zinc, or

aluminium

• Largest lead mining: Australia, China + US

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3. Lead.

Health Effects

• Inhalation + ingestion (5% is retained in the body

for adults, up to 50% for children)

• Risk actions: burning off old lead (painful

headaches / painter’s colic’)

• Most lead absorbed and stored in bones and teeth

3. Lead.
Health Effects

• LDA: children exposed to chronic low level amounts of lead: poor

concentration, lower vocabulary, insomnia, and hyperactivity

• Adult lead poisoning: general fatigue, anorexia, joint pains,

metallic taste in the mouth, blue line around the gums

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3. Lead.
Routes of contamination

• Food contamination (from airborne disposition)

• Water pipework

• Inhalation through air where lead-based fuel is burned

3. Lead.
Water Pipes

• Drinking Water Inspectorate:

• 60% of properties supplied through service

pipes which do not contain lead, leaving
more than 7 million properties in England
and Wales with lead supply pipes

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3. Lead.
Lead Paint

• Highly regarded for both external and internal work

• Commonly used for domestic paints for windows, doors, and

interior woodwork, and protective paints for external metalwork

• Thick coatings of paint in older buildings a risk area. Assume lead

is present.

3. Lead.
Lead Paint

DEFRA: lead paint is a health risk if it is:

• Cracking, flaking or peeling

• Likely to be chewed by children or by animals
• Being removed and disposed of during maintenance

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3. Lead.
Risk Control measures (DEFRA)

• Overcoat existing lead paint with lining paper and wall coverings
• Provide means of collecting any residue for safe disposal
• Do not use abrasive means to remove old paint (hot air guns can
be used)
• Hygiene is vital
• Use PPE and RPE

4. Woodwool in permanent
shuttering.

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4. Woodwool in permanent shuttering.

• Woodwool slabs manufactured from softwood shavings

(wood wool) + OPC

• Durable and resistant to rot and bio decay

• Due to OPC, WWCB does not degrade when wet (good

for swimming pool roofs)

• Used to achieve both good thermal and sound

insulation properties at top floors.

4. Woodwool in permanent shuttering.

• Sustainable product (uses timber that would

otherwise be burned)

• Mineralisation of wood fibre creates fire retardant

• Cheap and good for affordable housing in developing

countries (use locally grown timber)

• When used for roof decking (common) is not

deleterious

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4. Woodwool in permanent shuttering.

• Problematic when used for

permanent shuttering to reinforced
concrete

• Risk of poor cover to steel and loss

of durability, strength and fire resistance

• Risk for 1950s to early 1970s

4. Woodwool in permanent shuttering.

• Early 1970s: Wood Wool Slab Manufacturers
Association carry out tests and publish:
‘ Investigation into the use of Wood Wool as a
Permanent Shuttering’

Defects identified:
• Poor bond or failed bond between the wood
wool and the hardened concrete
• Excessive penetration of the grout or mortar into the
wood wool leading to impairment of concrete
• Honeycombing of the concrete beneath the
reinforcement

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4. Woodwool in permanent shuttering.

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4. Woodwool in permanent shuttering.

• Steel reinforcement may be impressed into wood
wool (operative standing on spacer during
installation) = lack of concrete cover below.

• Results are worse when wood wool is wet

• Loss of cement through gaps in formwork or soaking

into wood wool = honeycombing

• Formwork conceals the steel reinforcement so

impossible to know extent of coverage to steel

4. Woodwool in permanent shuttering.

Testing

• Infra-red can be used

• Physical sampling more reliable

• If issues found, shuttering should be hand, and

then repairs using hand placed mortars or
sprayed concrete

• From investment viewpoint, there is a potential

unreliability

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4. Woodwool in permanent shuttering.

Case Study

• Pre-acquisition of early 1960s office block

• WWCB permanent shuttering identified in plant

room

• Worst case? Concrete voided, remove

permanent shuttering, and repair with sprayed
concrete. Cost: £5K in context of £5m
transaction

5. Calcium chloride additives.

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5. Calcium chloride additives.

• 1824: Portland cement patented

• 1890s: patent for concrete construction utilising embedded iron

bars

• War period 1940s: pre-stressed concrete is developed

• Post-war – build fast – concrete cheap + plentiful

5. Calcium chloride additives.

• Admixtures are developed (earlier finishing, earlier

availability…etc)

• Admixtures develop different things at different speeds

• Calcium chloride the most widely used

• Max rate of increase in strength: 1-3 days

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5. Calcium chloride additives.

• Commonly used up to 1978; prevalent in 1950s & 1960s

• 1929: concerns expressed of corroding reinforcing metals when

calcium chloride was used

• 1977: BSI bans use of calcium chloride

5. Calcium chloride additives.

Three possible sources of chloride within reinforced concrete:

• Accelerator during the mixing process

• Naturally through the use of unwashed marine aggregates;

• External contamination e.g. de-icing salts or exposure to salt

spray

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5. Calcium chloride additives.

Mechanism of Corrosion:

• Steel can be both the anode and cathode

• Pore water acts as electrolyte

• If conditions change at either end,

corrosion cell is formed

• Chloride ions affect passive protective

layer around the concrete

5. Calcium chloride additives.

Mechanism of
Corrosion:

• Speed of corrosion also

affected by water
vapour conditions
(water absorption from
external environment
(coastal sea salt spray))

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5. Calcium chloride additives.

External source chlorides

potentially more damaging
due to:

• Concentration can be
erratic

• Ions are not chemically

bound

5. Calcium chloride additives.

Factors of resistance

• Depth of cover
• Mix design including cement type
• Use of admixtures
• Degree of curing
• Moisture content – relative humidity
• Temperature

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5. Calcium chloride additives.

Risk Assessment Risk Assessment

• BRE Digest 444 Part 2 • BRE Digest 444 Part 2

• 25 year building • 25 year building
• Dry conditions • Damp conditions
• Dry uncarbonated concrete • Carbonated concrete
• Chloride content: < 0.4% • Chloride content: 0.6%
• = ‘negligible’ risk • = ‘high’ risk

5. Calcium chloride additives.

Principle Method Example

• Preserving or restoring passivity • Increasing cover to reinforcement with

Creating chemical conditions which the surface
of the reinforcement is returned to its passive
state.
cementitious mortar
• Breaking out and replacing carbonated or
contaminated concrete
• Re-alkalisation of carbonated concrete either by
electrochemical or diffusion methods
• Chloride extraction by electrochemical methods

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5. Calcium chloride additives.

Principle Method Example

• Increasing resistivity
• Using coatings to provide a barrier to reduce
Increasing electrical resistivity of concrete. The
higher the electrical resistance, the lower the
moisture content.
corrosion current.

• Cathodic control
Preventing the formation of a corrosion cell by • Using coatings to prevent oxygen reaching the
dealing with the cathode cathodic site

5. Calcium chloride additives.

Principle Method Example

• Cathodic protection
• Applying an electrical potential to reverse the
corrosion current.

• Control of anodic area

Modifying conditions at the anode to prevent a • Applying barrier coatings to the reinforcement
corrosion cell. • Applying migrating inhibitors to the concrete

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6. High alumina cement.

6. High alumina cement.

• Developed by Lafarge & produced in UK from 1926

• High early strength, high temperature resistance, and resistance to sulphate

attack

• 1950s & 1960s HAC used for pre-cast, pre-stressed components

• 90% of HAC used for pre-stressed ‘X’ and ‘L’ beams

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6. High alumina cement.

• 1973-74: swimming pool roof & several school roofs collapse

• HAC loses substantial strength & durability over time.

• 1975: publication of BRAC rules by Dept of Environment

• BRAC still used today to assess 50,000 buildings with HAC

6. High alumina cement.

• 1976: HAC concrete banned for structural uses in UK

• Major problem in UK investment market

• Underlying issues poorly understood

• Still used today for various specialist uses

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6. High alumina cement.

Properties

• Cement + water = hydration (setting process)

• OPC: Hydration period – 28 days, only 60-80% cement hydrated

• HAC: Hydration period – 1 day, 90% cement hydrated

6. High alumina cement.

Conversion

• Setting process leads to reduction in volume, and creation of voids in

cement matrix

• Strength is subsequently reduced and more porous (corrosion risk)

• Rate of conversion dependent on temperature, density of cement matrix,

and water:cement ratio

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6. High alumina cement.

Conversion

• Water: cement ratio of original mix is key

• > water = greater loss of strength

6. High alumina cement.

Carbonation

• Same risk as normal concrete

• Effect of carbonation important in respect of durability assessment

• BRE: carbonation in HAC structures likely to have reached reinforcement

now

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6. High alumina cement.

Investigation

• BRAC Guidance still applicable

• Components must be: X or I beams; and free from chemical attack

• 3-Stage process for investigations

6. High alumina cement.

Stage 1 (visual)

• Visual: dark grey, with brownish

tinge

• Powdery deposits on areas

subject to repeated water
ingress

• Construction drawings
(manufacturer)

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6. High alumina cement.

Stage 1 (Rapid Chemical Test)

• BRE Special Digest SD3

• 1g of sample material & mix with

10cm3 of sodium hydroxide solution +
oxine

• If yellow precipitates, good indicator

for HAC

6. High alumina cement.

Stage 2 – Strength Assessment

• Can pre-cast members withstand 21N/mm2?

Establish:

• Section profile
• Number and diameter of reinforcing strands
• Condition of the strands
• Degree of fixity at ends of beams

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6. High alumina cement.

Stage 2 – Strength Assessment

• Risk of failure lessened for beams of 5m or less

• If underperformance is 10-25%, static loading could be

undertaken + core samples

• If underperformance is > 25%, consider removal or

strengthening works

• Carbon plate bonding?

6. High alumina cement.

Stage 3 – Durability Assessment

• Relevant for chemical attack and reinforcement

corrosion

• Testing to be undertaken to determine presence

of alkalis and sulphates

• Supplement with samples + petrography

examination

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6. High alumina cement.

Historic Failures

• No record of a failure of a floor incorporating

HAC

• Historic failures: manufacture faults ultimately

discovered

• 5 historic roof failures: sole cause of failure has

not been due to conversion

7. Crystalline Silica.

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7. Crystalline silica.

• Crystalline silica naturally occurring mineral found in almost all

rocks, sands, clays, gravels and shales.

• Therefore present in bricks, tiles and concrete.

• Prolonged airborne exposure to damaged respirable crystalline

silica (RCS) poses silicosis risk

7. Crystalline silica.

Risk Activities

• Bricklaying, repointing, block laying

• Concrete finishing work
• Grit blasting
• Demolition and repair of concrete or masonry structures
• Rock drilling

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7. Crystalline silica.

Example specific high risk activities

• Abrasive cutting of street paving blocks

• Mechanical tools used to rake out mortar joints
• Grit blasting
• Demolition and repair of concrete or masonry
structures
• Rock drilling

7. Crystalline silica.

HSE Note:

• “Silicosis is a lung disease in which small hard nodules of scar tissue develop
in the lungs. The nodules can be seen on a chest x-ray. Silicosis can take
some years to develop, and even after exposure to RCS dust stops it can get
progressively worse. The main symptom in affected people are difficulty in
breathing and coughing. In severe cases it can lead to shortening of life.
Long-term exposures to high levels of RCS dust can also lead to increased
risk of developing lung cancer.”

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7. Crystalline silica.

Statutory Controls

• COSHH 2002 (prevent or control at least

• Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) by COSHH Reg 7
• WEL for respirable silica = 0.3 mg.m-3 over 8 hours
• If 0.1 mg.m-3 (over 8 hours) can’t be achieved, respiratory
equipment must be used

7. Crystalline silica.

Checklist for minimising dust emissions

• Less dusty alternatives?

• Can material be produced in more stable form?
• Can design be modified to reduce need for site cutting?
• Can process be enclosed?
• Is appropriate training given?
• Are adequate warning signs in place?

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8. Calcium silicate bricks.

8. Calcium silicate bricks.

• 1866 – Van Deburgh - British Patent for ‘artificial stone’

• ‘…made by mixing caustic lime and sand and then applying steam.’

• Not developed, then 1881 – German Patent by Michelis

• Using steam, lime and siliceous compound under pressure to manufacture

‘artificial limestone’.

• Produced from 1894 in Germany

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8. Calcium silicate bricks.

• Early 1900s British production starts (4 factories producing 16 million bricks per year)

• Between 1932 and 1964, calcium silicate brick production rises from 100,000,000
bricks per year to 350,000,000 bricks per year

• Today production is at 150,000,000 per

year

• Principally found in houses constructed in

south of England from the 1920s.

8. Calcium silicate bricks.

• Landmark buildings: Highbury Football Stadium (1932), St Catherine’s College, Oxford

and club house at Tottenham’s Hotspur’s ground in Chigwell

• Poor construction in 1960s and early 1970s lead to shrinkage cracking in external
facings

• Early 1980s, calcium silicate bricks listed as ‘deleterious’ by investment industry

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8. Calcium silicate bricks.

• Main ingredients: sand or crushed siliceous aggregate or flint, then mixed with
quicklime or hydrated lime

• Bricks pressed into shape, and placed in autoclave (large pressure cooker for 4-
15hours)

• Ideally, calcium hydrosilicates should envelop all of the grain sand more or less
completely and link them together with no voids.

• Type of aggregate has big impact on eventual strength

8. Calcium silicate bricks.

Properties:

• Naturally durable

• Require 50% of the energy of equivalent clay fletton bricks

• Strength of bricks between 20.5N/mm2 to 48.5N/mm2

• Highly resistant to sulphates, and better compared to clay bricks

• Generally frost resistant.

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8. Calcium silicate bricks.

Thermal and Moisture Movements:

• Movement is the concern

• Thermal movement 1.5 x normal brickwork

• Calcium silicate brickwork, unlike clay, undergoes irreversible shrinkage on laying

• Above ground level, movement joints needed

8. Calcium silicate bricks.

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8. Calcium silicate bricks.

8. Calcium silicate bricks.

BRE Guidance:

• 9m centres for movement control joints

• Ratio of length-to-height of unbroken panel not to exceed 3:1

• Avoid lines of changes in height or thickness of panels

• Above ground level, movement joints needed

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8. Calcium silicate bricks.

Good Practice:

• For cavity use, ensure flexibility in wall ties

• Ensure discontinuity in cavity closers

• Avoid casting bricks against concrete beams and columns (avoiding restraint of
movement)

8. Calcium silicate bricks.

Summary

• Widespread use of CS brickwork in Europe

• If correct precautions are taken, the material is perfectly suitable

• Arbitrary reference to ‘deleterious material’ is unfair

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9. Conclusions.

9. Conclusions.

• Understand the performance and limitations of each

material

• Faulty construction methods and materials are not new

phenomena

• Every case to be assessed on its merits and

circumstances

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Contacts

Tom Kibblewhite BSc (Hons) MRICS

Director, Manchester
0161 831 6180
Tom.kibblewhite@watts.co.uk

twitter.com/Watts_Group watts.co.uk linkedin.com/company/watts-group-plc

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