Home Buyers Reports & Building Surveys

Traditional constructed buildings are generally defined as those built before 1919, with solid – not cavity – walls, from a range of natural materials including stone, earth, brick, wood and lime (used for mortars, renders and paints). Each traditional building that survives today, regardless of size, type or status, is important. These buildings uniquely reflect the social and cultural history of the area to which they belong and make a major contribution to the character of our countryside, villages, towns and city’s. Many traditional buildings are still in everyday use;

The Georgian period spans from 1714 to 1830, the Victorian ranging from 1837 to 1901 and the Edwardian 1901 to 1910.

Non-standard buildings are those that deviate from standard buildings and are made from materials that don’t conform to the standard.

Non-standard buildings often use outdated and old-fashioned construction methods and materials. During the 1950s and 1960s, a number of different types of local non-standard properties were used, predominantly by the local authorities. These include properties made from materials such as concrete frames, steel frames and concrete panels.

There are some designs of non-standard properties that fall into the category ‘designated defective’ under the housing defects legislation.

You will need to know whether your property is a non-standard building as non-standard properties can cause implications with mortgages, maintenance, insurance and selling.

Most homes in the UK today were built using a traditional ‘brick-and-block’ approach to construction. However, alternative methods that depart from this approach are becoming increasingly common.

As an example timber frame construction uses a range of structural frames that have been made off-site in a factory, such as external and internal walls, floors and roofs to help form a combined structure which can be clad in another material such as brick on-site.

Precast panels are where floor and wall units are also made off-site and transported to be erected on-site to form a solid structure which can be ideal for things such as new builds where repetitive projects are made.