Building Construction Handbook, Eighth Edition

Silt Test for Sand ~ the object of this test is to ascertain the cleanliness of sand by establishing the percentage of silt pres ...

Concrete requires monitoring by means of tests to ensure that subsequent mixes are of the same consistency and this can be carri ...

Non destructive testing of concrete. Also known as in-place or in-situ tests. Changes over time and in different exposures can b ...

Penetration or Windsor probe test ~ there are various interpretations of this test. It is a measure of the penetration of a stee ...

Vibration test ~ a number of electronic tests have been devised, which include measurement of ultrasonic pulse velocity through ...

The quality of softwood timber for structural use depends very much on the environment in which it is grown and the species sele ...

Grading ~ either visually or by computerised machine. Individual rectangular timber sections are assessed against permissible de ...

BS EN 338: Structural softwood classifications and typical strength properties ~BS EN^338 strengthclass Bendingparallelto grain( ...

Visual strength grading ~ ``process by which a piece of timber can be sorted, by means of visual inspection, into a grade to whi ...

Fissures and resin pockets ~ defects in growth. Fissures, also known as shakes, are usually caused by separation of annual growt ...

Wane or waney edge ~ occurs on timber cut close to the outer surface of the log producing incomplete corners. Measurement is par ...

Characteristics and tolerances of GS and SS graded timber ~ Criteria GS SS KAR: MKAR1/2 MKAR1/2 No margin condition TKAR1/2 T ...

Structural softwood cross sectional size has established terminology such as, sawn, basic and unwrought as produced by conversio ...

Damp conditions can be the source of many different types of wood-decaying fungi. The principal agencies of decay are † * Dry ro ...

Causes † * Defective construction, e.g. broken roof tiles; no damp-proof course. * Installation of wet timber during constructio ...

Trees ~ these are part of our national heritage and are also the source of timber † to maintain this source a control over tree ...

Services which may be encountered on construction sites and the authority responsible are:- Water † Local Water Company Electric ...

Setting Out the Building Outline ~ this task is usually undertaken once the site has been cleared of any debris or obstructions ...

Setting Out Trenches ~ the objective of this task is twofold. Firstly it must establish the excavation size, shape and direction ...

Setting Out a Framed Building ~ framed buildings are usually related to a grid, the intersections of the grid lines being the ce ...