Preliminary Work

 SITE ESTABLISHMENT

AN EXPLANATION BY CRAIG WRIGHT

SOURCES: Google, 3604, BCITO 02/06

INTRODUCTION

I am going to explain Site Establishment. Some of the key aspects and some of the sites I have helped set up

SITE ESTABLISHMENT AND INVESTIGATION

SITE PLANS

Can be used to identify the direction of North

Lot number

Special features such as trees.

Location of existing buildings.

The location of existing buildings and services.

The location of existing or proposed driveways.

BOUNDARY MARKS

Usually are 4 pegs, they need to be marked, sometimes a disk shot on to concrete is used. Existing marks may not always be correct and should be correct. One can re-check of something existing, off the plans or get a surveyor in. 

SERVICES

The existence of services need to be determined or put in prior to work commencing as these will be needed throughout build and then finally connected, in most cases temporary water and power will be connected and sometimes sewage.

SITE ESTABLISHMENT AND INVESTIGATION

Some things you need to establish before main works begin is.

TEMPORARY FENCING OR BOUNDARIES.

Stops the public from entering and blocks off any dangerous areas such as holes.

SIGNAGE

Not only acts as an advert for the contractor and clearly identifies the site, but also will list the dangers, and site requirements like PPE as well as emergency procedures. 

SITE ACCESS

Usually a gate or a driveway, sometimes the ground needs to be protected for future driveways.

SITE MAINTAINENCE

STORAGE

Thought should be given to the storage of goods moving forward on-site, security, protection from weather manufacturer specs, and hazardous materials should all be taken care of.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

  Thoughts should be given to a site of the bin, access for the driver, and a waste minimisation plan as well. 

ENVIROMENTAL CONCERNS

Thoughts should be given to runoff entering drains, or waterways, storage of any hazardous materials, wash down areas, and existing trees and natural surrounds.

PROTECTION

Thoughts should be given to existing buildings and features these will need to be protected from, people, the weather and machinery. Thoughts and careful plans must be in place if the client is still living or using the spaces.

SIte board I setup at Hikurangi School

Landed a skip bin at Hikurangi school.

Site box School Whirinaki 

Site board school

Boundary in place

building science

An Explanation on Building Science.

Loads on Structures.

Loads can come from gravity wind, or earthquakes or possible weight loads and collision 

Gravity:

There are 2 types of downward loads a dead load ie: the weight of the building. And a live load like people or furniture.

Sometimes snow on a roof can be a load that needs to be designed for.

Loads can be transferred down the studs and into the foundations. This is referred to as a load path.  ON commercial buildings steel portals transfer most of the load

Wind:

Wind speed and direction can have a big impact on buildings, wind hitting a building creates pressure on one side and a vacuum on the other side (lee) 

The 3 main types of pressures on buildings are 

Uplift:

Caused by negative pressure on the roof this can be resisted by the connectors that connect the bottom plate to the foundations ie: straps, hold down bolts, and other fixings or hardware.

Torsion:

This is when the pressure is trying to push the building out of square, causing the building to "rack" this can be resisted by bracing elements such as strapping gib systems ceiling diaphragms and connectors.

Overturning:

Pushing the building off its foundation  - can be resisted by the weight of the building itself, the foundations like anchor piles, or connectors.

Seismic effects:

Can be resisted by shear walls or base isolators.

I have put shear walls up in commercial places under bridges and at the wellington airport.

I have also done retro work in Wellington doing earthquake strengthening by running 30 mil reo between the under floors and locking it in the idea was this would slow the concrete floor failing by allowing the whole building to move as one. This building was already operational and an older building,  the bottom floor was a food court so we did all the work at nighttime and got out before opening.

A good example of a base isolator can be seen at Te Papa in front of the entrance they have a stairwell that goes down and you can see one of the isolators and read about how it works.

https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/discover-collections/read-watch-play/science/halting-jolts-how-te-papa-resists-earthquakes

The types of forces that transfer through a building are 

Designing for loads.

Buildings are designed to withstand loads.

Loads get transferred through designed load paths, vertical loads get transferred from the top of the building to the foundations.

Horizontal loads are transferred by introducing rigidity. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_KZ7cZmxO8

3604 has all the specs for vertical loads and horizontal structural loads for buildings up to 3 storeys high.

a lot of the work can be used with connectors like cyclone straps.

Bracing elements.

Mostly achieved these days with gib systems or plywood walls. The architect will have specified plans sometimes it will be engineered. The first port of call is 3604.

Ground stability

A building site must be inspected for stability.

Things to think about are:

evidence of flooding and slips

where water comes from and where it goes.

what soil is there.

excavations

the LIM will have information.

good ground is said by 3604 to have a bearing capacity of 300kpa a geo-tech engineer can test the soil with a scala penetrometer.

liquefaction and a high water table can also cause problems for building plans.

At the retirement village The Oaks in Warkworth there is an underground river, the building foundation was covered with waterproofing, there was also a full-time pump in the bottom of the lift shaft that was constantly removing groundwater the piles must have been driven really deep.  At a demolition job at the ford car yard in Whangarei I worked on they did not have an adequate footing in the original building for the ground, it was next to a tidal stream, the concrete slab had dropped 300 mil and the building was written off 

Whangarei ford

Waterproofing penetrating structures.

Keeping water out of a building is one the most important aspects of construction design.

There are many ways water can enter a building

through

Gravity - prevented with slopes and flashings

pressure - prevented with air seals.

surface tension - prevented with breaks and drip grooves.

capillary attraction - prevented with gaps in weatherboards channels.

water vapour is usually created inside the house - use an HRV system or ventilation system to stop.

Weathertightness principles.

the 4 ds

Deflection: keep the water out like roofs and overhangs and cladding.

Drainage: cavity systems

Drying: the perforated strip on the cavity allows leftover moisture 

Durability: fixings, materials, timber treatment, steel treatment.

bad building practices and poor plans plus bad products can lead to massive problems like the leaky building problem we had. Which we may be facing again now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOHYiD3ILMg

Chemical properties of materials.

Thought needs to be given to where materials are used, how they are used and what they interact with. Metals in particular have limits of where and how they can be used, DPC can be used sometimes to separate non-conforming items.

Durability

thought needs to be given to the durability of materials for example brass can look good but are very soft and easily damaged so cannot be easily reused 

Malleability

means a product can be compressed and deform without fracturing. Lead was often used for this reason but is now considered toxic other products perform the same function.

Flammability

A highly flammable product is not considered suitable for building, volatile products can be used during  construction safety and harm sheets should be considered,

Energy efficiency

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK7G6l_K6sA

Sound Transmission

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVjyV-thkM4

Examples of building science in my work

Steel beams transferring the vertical load. whangarei civic center 

O neil street Ponsonby steel beam to stop torsion 

Seal on titan to stop moisture and allow expansion

hardware helps prevent uplift

floor hardware cos stops shear

piles help with compression 

cavity for moisture control

beam stopping torsion

Exterior Joinery an explanation

Exterior Joinery

There are loads of exterior joinery types, in New Zealand, most commonly Aluminium joinery. 

I have also put in solid timber joinery, iron fireproof commercial joinery, and on one job UVPCplastic joinery -  this is more common in the Uk it's a plastic-type product similar to what sprouting is usually made of here.

The job where I remember putting the most joinery in was the modular house job I did for Alpha, where we built them in the yard, we fitted all the joinery for those 5 houses and also the Best Start Whangarei job in Kensignton, I put in most of those windows including some interior ones and some fireproof steel type ones.

Installation

First, you have to build the window, it is best practice to allow at least 5 mils each way for movement and fitting this will have pef rod and foam and be sealed later, a window or door frame will usually have under studs or trimming studs a full stud either side, a sill at the bottom and a lintel on top, the lintel is sometimes L.V.L... above the lintel are jack studs.  

You can now cut your paper in and fold around the sill or if no paper is installed and just R.A.B the sill will usually get rabbed, flashing tape is then put in... as per manufacturers instructions and window details. Flashing tape is a kind of membrane adhesive tape. Sometimes they will make you flash the whole window but usually, it is 200 on the top corners and the whole bottom run or something like that it varies on the different windows and products so best to check. Often battens will run down the side of the jamb a gap will be left at the bottom where the sill will slide under. 

When windows arrive on-site,  carry safely to as close as is practical to the opening. Store on dunnage and strap back to something. Sometimes windows need to be fitted so joiners can take accurate flashing and iron measurements, in these cases the window is fitted temporary and removed. In other cases, some flashings will need to be fitted first before the window goes in. Also cavity systems and brick are different refer to the BCITO books, branz, manufactures specs for which exact method.

 You place the window in by taking it outside through the opening and sliding back into right spacing usually ten mil past framing to allow for gib, a typical ruler can be used as a ten mil packer. Then one should plumb and level the window before screwing in. One screw in each corner on the sides is usually ok for smaller windows. Use window packers to get level.

once right, pef road should be used to fill any void and then expanding foam is put in for an air seal around and cut off once dry now the rest of flashing system can now be installed sometimes cladding will need to go in before flashing.

elements of window 

types of windows 

Doors are fitted much like interior doors and much like windows the hinge side should be plummed first. They usually sit on a wanz bar. 

When framing for a garage one must always remember to nog for the motor casing fixing I've seen people forget about this a couple of times, they are usually fitted by the manufacturer but I have put in a sectional type door as long as you start straight and true they go together fairly simply. 

The common waterproofing and installation components of windows are sill support bar, metal head flashing, sill flashing, cavity closer, jamb flashing, and pef road and expanding foam.

The common finishing trim elements for timber joinery are:

facings

scribers

plugs

and sill trim

The way I do scribers is to pin a length to the window with a finishing gun, I then square in the bottom and top of each weatherboard and use an offcut of the weatherboard to mark the profile. I then cut all the cuts on a table saw cut the scriber to length and pre-drill some jolt head nail holes. I pin the scriber on with the finishing gun and fix in real nails after, punching them in to make it easier for the painter.

All cut surfaces must be primed before fixing. 

here's some examples of exterior joinery I have worked on 

carpentry legislation safety