BSR654

RISK
MA N A G EM EN T
Y THE B U ILD ING S U R VEYOR
OF TECHNICA L R IS KS FA CED B
A CASE STUDY
 Health &
Safety Hazard

Technical Environment

Working at RISKS Accident

heights
BUILDING SURVEYORS

Physical
Legal &
strain &
Liability
ergonomics

Exposure to
hazardous
Substances
TECHNICAL RISKS – BUILDING SURVEYORS
• The role of the building surveyor
encompasses part of other construction
discipline. Some building surveyors, for
example will operate in highly specialized
areas such as timber use and preservation
while others will have broader based skills
and work in the areas of rehabilitation,
structural surveys, condition surveys and
dilapidations.
TECHNICAL RISKS – BUILDING SURVEYORS
• The area of operation become more diverse, so the building surveyor will require to make decisions
and offer advice on topics for which he has only general or passing knowledge; this ultimately leads
to high-risk exposure for the building surveyor.
TECHNICAL RISKS – BUILDING SURVEYORS
• Generally, the building surveyor will be involved with new or existing buildings of any age and will
undertake surveys for either known or unknown users.
• When making assessment of material performance, the surveyor will have varying amounts of
information available on which to base on opinion. Involvement in early stage involves risk, as the
building surveyor will have to base his assessments on some information which cannot necessarily
be confirmed as illustrated in figure 1.
 TECHNICAL RISKS – BUILDING SURVEYORS
Non-Confirmable Data Confirmable Data

Standard of care by occupier

Some features of hidden Confirmation of knowledge
construction i.e: condition of acquired from previous
reinforcement, cased steel experience
beams cavity wall
Use by occupier
BUILDING
Workmanship of hidden
construction
SURVEYOR’S Extent of visible faults
ASSESSMENT
Actual deterioration of
To what extent poor materials relative to age, To what extent data about
construction and orientation manufacturer’s other similar designs would
workmanship of hidden literature have been of use in
construction will cause future preventing current problems
defects (latent defects)

How standard of The correctness of some

workmanship has final details and as built
contributed to deterioration drawings
Figure 1 and decay
TECHNICAL RISKS – BUILDING SURVEYORS
• When undertaking a structural survey of an existing building, the building surveyor deals with
confirmable and non-confirmable data. These are listed to show the assumptions have to be made,
particularly where the workmanship is hidden. An example would be five years old timber framed
detached house where the condition of the external framing can be only determined by removing a
substantial portion of the exterior cladding. The vendor of the house would not readily agree to part of
the cladding being removed, yet the purchaser still wants an opinion as to the likely condition of the
timber.
TECHNICAL RISKS – BUILDING SURVEYORS
• Given the correct specification and supervision of the site works, the risk of incorrect assessments of
performance can be considerably reduced. However, without constant checking, there will always be
the risk of failure due to poor workmanship or incorrect use of materials.

• An important role of for the building surveyor is in undertaking instructions relating to advice on the
stand of repair or structural suitability of existing buildings.
TECHNICAL RISKS – BUILDING SURVEYORS
• The work usually involves giving opinions and advice for two broad area:
• the actual performance of the building structure, material and workmanship;
• The future performance of the above, together with predicted life cycles and replacement/repair
cost.

In the main, the building surveyor will be required to make assumption and state opinion on part of
buildings where the information available is either adequate, unobtainable or contradictory.
TECHNICAL RISKS – BUILDING SURVEYORS
• Despite the burdens placed on building surveyors by any legal decisions, it must be remembered that
the diagnosis of building performance is not precise scientific process and can be carried out with
only a degree of experience and expert judgment.

• Hence, there must always be an element of doubt and risk in diagnosis and advice to clients. The
aim must be to minimize that risk exposure.
TECHNICAL RISKS – BUILDING SURVEYORS
• Figure 2 shows the identification of a problem, dampness at
the ground floor level near skirting boards. The building
surveyor divides the possible causes into broad categories
and then seeks to identify answers to a numbers of questions
within these categories.

• Some of the questions are straight forwards and have very

little risk attached to them. However, consider the problem
rising damp caused by the cavity having been bridged at the
damp-course level.
TECHNICAL RISKS – BUILDING SURVEYORS
• Whilst an endoscope can be used to inspect the cavity, it is difficult without demolishing part of the
wall to be specific about the standard of workmanship inside the cavity for the whole building.

• The building surveyor will react to the dampness caused in the part of building where there are signs
of dampness. He cannot be sure dampness will not occur in another part of the building at later
stage.
 TECHNICAL RISKS – BUILDING SURVEYORS
PROBLEM Dampness at ground floor
level near skirting board

CAUSE
Rising Damp Condensation Penetration damp

SUB- a) Is wall solid or cavity a) Is there adequate ventilation to a) Are there defects in external
b) Type of dpc room plumbing
DIVISION c) Age of dpc b) What is the life-style of the b) Is the wall solid of cavity
d) Condition of dpc occupants c) Is the cavity bridged at dpc
e) Is dpc bridged internally or c) What is the use of the room level
externally d) Construction of walls and d) Is the external wall brickwork
f) Condition of external walls thermal performance e) What is the orientation and
g) Is floor suspended or solid exposure of the wall
h) If solid is junction of dpc and f) Has the wall been insulated
dpm satisfactory and if so with which material
i) Is cavity bridge at dpc level and to what workmanship
j) What is standard workmanship
inside cavity
k) Has the wall been subjected to
cavity wall insulated and if so,
which type? Figure 2 : SEEKING THE COUSE OF THE PROBLEM
THANK YOU