Planning and Building - Case Study Example

Building Condition Survey Report Name Instructor Institution Contents Building Condition Survey Report 1 Introduction 3 Fire Safety Measures 3 Fire Alarm 4 Fire extinguishers 4 Protection from spread of fire 4 Bushfire protection 5 Combustion Appliances 5 Building Accessibility 6 Health and Amenity 6 Wet areas; 6 Room heights 6 Facilities 6 Wall finishing 7 Lightings 7 Ventilation 8 Sound insulation 8 Safe movement and access 8 Stairways and ramps 8 Barriers 9 Drainage 9 Surface water drainage 9 Storm water drainage 9 Glazing 10 Doors 10 Windows 10 Conclusion 11 Appendix 12 References 13 Introduction This report is a building condition survey for a class 1a residential building with requirements and regulations as stipulated in the Building Code of Australia (BCA)- class 1 and class 10- building house provisions volume 2, 2012 edition and the Australia standard 4349 series.. As noted in the BCA, class one building typically covers single dwelling houses which are not located one above the other. The survey is conducted through visual inspection of a residential building with an upper floor/storey [ABC12]. The house is located in Alpine region. The ground floor contains a multi-use space, and a master bedroom which contains a lavatory. The upper floor has two buildings and a children play area. The site plan and elevations are provided in the appendix. This report will cover the examination of fire safety measures, health and amenities compliance, safe movement and access to facilities, and drainage standards [CFA11]. Fire Safety Measures In this section of the survey fire safety measures include measures that are taken to safeguard the occupants from illness or injury by alerting them of a fire in the building for their safety evacuation, and also safeguard them from injuries caused by fire from combustion appliances installed within the building. Given that the building is located in alpine area, the inspection looked at whether there are enough measures to facilitate an emergency evacuation in case of fire. Fire prevention measures were also checked as well as chances of the building catching fire from the surrounding. Fire Alarm There are two fire alarms in the house one in the ground floor ceiling and another one at the first floor. Smoke detectors are well fitted in the kitchen and in the garage. The alarm in in good condition to provide sleeping occupants with an automatic warning incase smoke is detected so that they can assemble outside the house for evacuation in case of fire. However, more smoke detectors need to be fitted in other rooms such as kids playing area and in the bedrooms as well since the house is connected to the power mains which can cause fire from any end of the building [GND]. Smoke detectors should also be fitted in the corridors and between the dwelling containing bedrooms and the remainder of the dwelling. Fire extinguishers The garage (class 10 building) is well fitted with a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher which is ideal for fighting fires caused by fossil fuels used by car engines and other engines. The kitchen region is also fitted with a fire extinguisher. However, there was no record of the fire extinguishers inspection by the service provider [Mon11]. Protection from spread of fire The building is located in a spacious plot measuring 20, 000ft by 40,000ft and it is separated from the bounders by a sufficient space. This is the first measure that ensures that the house cannot easily catch fire from the surrounding. The surrounding live fence poses a threat to catching fire and it would be advisable to replace it with other form of fence such as a masonry wall which is fire resistant. Bushfire protection The wall openings such as windows, doors, and vents are noncombustible and fully enclosed as protective measures against the danger of bushfire by preventing burning debris from entering into the building. Combustion Appliances Combustion appliances such as the fire chimney made of concrete and masonry stones which are fireproof and can withstand high temperature from the burning firewood and other appliances [Bui12]. The chimney is also well fitted to prevent raising the temperature of other surrounding elements to a level of getting damaged either physically or mechanically. The hot products of combustion are well contained and can’t escape through the walls of the associated components. Smoke is also contained in the chimney and fire cannot be discharged or spread to the surrounding combustible materials. The front hearth is constructed of concrete and stone. It extends by 250mm beyond the front of the fire place with an opening of 145mm beyond both sides of the opening. This complies with the provisions provided for in section 3.7.3.2 of the BCA. The upper surface of the hearth slopes towards the back of the hearth to prevent smoke from escaping to the rest of the building. The base of the hearth id constructed of concrete and stone. This complies with BCA provisions which require that the floor of the hearth be constructed with noncombustible materials. Building Accessibility An external doorway is installed such that the opening of the door is not obstructed by ice or snow. The building is constructed such that ice or snow is not shed from the building onto the adjoining allotment, road and other public location. This ensures that snow will not obstruct a means of egress from the building to the road and other open spaces which may endanger occupants. The external door opens inwards and it is well labeled “open inwards” this also prevents. External ramps serving and external doorway have a gradient of 1 in 10. Health and Amenity Wet areas; The building is constructed in accordance with the BCA regulations. The house avoids the likelihood of creating an unhealthy or dangerous condition or damages the building elements that may be caused by water overflow or dampness from bathroom, kitchen sinks and laundry area. Room heights The house rooms are 2.8m tall and well spacious, providing suitable height and space for the different intended uses and application. Facilities The building has adequate space and facilities for personal hygiene, laundering, and preparation and food cooking. Both lavatories, one in the ground floor and one on the first floor offer suitable sanitary facilities for personal hygiene in a convenient location within the house. Sanitary facilities are located inside the house for easier accessibility. There is an adequate space for laundering facilities which are located within the house. There are enough sinks in the kitchen for providing means for food rinsing, utensil washing and waste water disposal. The kitchen is spacious to provide safe cooking means and give a space for food preparation. Wall finishing The external wall is well cladded with a masonry wall key finish. The internal walls ate well finished with a plaster that is painted cream. However, it appeared like the building has not been repainted for a long time. The house requires to be repainted in order to give its interiors a gross finish. Lightings Each habitable space in the building has window openings that admit natural light into the rooms. Each room is fitted with a fluorescent bulb to provide artificial light during the night and for safety during movements. Openings are sufficient and well distributed in the building for providing natural light when necessary and also provide an appropriate level of luminance to different parts of the building. Artificial lights are well installed and distributed to provide luminance appropriate to the regions different use and movement by its occupants. Ventilation All rooms are fitted with windows and ventilation holes to provide adequate ventilation to the building occupants. All spaces within the building are provided with means of ventilation with the outdoor air which maintains adequate air quality. The mechanical air handling system is also installed in a building to control the circulation of undesired odors. This also controls the accumulation of harmful contamination by pathogen, toxins and other microorganisms. Contaminated air can vacate the room in a duly manner that do not create hazards or nuisance to the occupants of the building. Sound insulation The building masonry walls that separate dwellings prevent undue sound transmission between adjoining rooms and other dwellings. The walls provide insulation against transmission of airborne and impact generated sound enough to prevent loss of amenity or illness to the house occupants. Safe movement and access The house is spacious and provides occupants with safe access within and outside the building. The stairway to the first floor is safeguarded to prevent occupants from accidental fall offs. Stairways and ramps The staircase is constructed at a low gradient to facilitate easier movement. The stairways are guarded with suitable handrails to assist occupants and provide stability to the stairways users. Suitable landing is provided for to avoid fatigues. The staircase is suitable for safe passage in relation to the nature of the building. They provide access to the first floor of the building. Barriers There are barriers surrounding the staircase region to protect occupants from accidental falling from the first floor. The kids play area in the first floor is also guarded from the stairways. The barrier is strong and rigid enough to withstand foreseeable impact of occupants. The barrier is suitable for static pressure of kids who might lean on it while playing. Drainage Surface water drainage Surface water is diverted away from the building in accordance with BCA regulations. There is a slab on the ground that finishes the ground level adjacent to the building. The external finished surface surrounding the slab is well drained and rain water can easily move away from the building and gives a minimum slope of 55mm over the first 1 meter from the building. The slab on the ground height above the slab on the ground is 130mm above the finished ground level. This is in line with the BCA regulation requirement that requires well drained areas slab on the ground to be 100mm or more in a well-drained area. Storm water drainage A sealed storm water drainage system is installed to remove roof water runoff. Storm water is discharged into onsite tank that is located outside the building. The overflow in case of heavy rainfall is checked by being directed to the legal discharge point located at the site boundary [Cit11]. This prevents heavy rain fall water overflows from flowing back into the building. The water overflow is directed away from the building interiors as well as away from the building foundation. Slotted gutters are used to prevent gutter overflow from the building. Gutters are also located below the top edge of the facia. Rainwater heads are fitted with overflow heads to ensure efficient rain water drainage. Glazing The external dimensions of glass finished surfaces were measured to check whether it complied with the BCA regulations. However, this survey report does not give thickness details because it was not possible to measure the same. Doors The upper side if the external door was fitted with glass framed panels the area of an individual panel was below 0.5m2. This fully complied with section 3.6 of the BCA regulations. The translucent glass panel could allow light to get into the room but prevented a person from the outside from viewing through the door. Windows Windows facing the boundary are fitted with translucent glass blocks. Windows are steel framed without openings sashes. Windows away from the boundary of the allotment boundary are at least 600mm from the boundary and the openings are 850 by 600mm wide. This complies with section 3.7 of the BCA regulations that requires the same to be not more than 900 by 600 mm. Conclusion The building generally complies with majority of regulations as stipulated in the BCA 2012 volume 2 regulations [ABC12]. However, some appliances need to be added to equip the building with facilities to protect the occupants from accidental fires. These include additional smoke detectors, and fire extinguishers. The house also requires to be repainted in order to give its interiors a gross finish. Appendix Fig Building Plan References ABC12: , (ABCB, 2012), CFA11: , (CFA, 2011), GND: , (GND Inspection Network, 2008), Mon11: , (Monash.vic, 2011), Bui12: , (Building Commission, 2012), Cit11: , (City of Bayswater, 2011), Read More