April 10th, 2018
What should a valuer consider? By Chris Rispin Managing Direction, BlueBox Partners Leasehold remains the number one concern for homeowners in the UK. Recent research by DAC Beachcroft (international firm of lawyers specialising…
April 10th, 2018
How and when to report RICS’s pitched fibre drain productsby Phil Parnham, Director, BlueBox Partners IntroductionPhil Parnham, director of BlueBox Partners, follows on from the pitched fibre drain article in Issue 27 of…
April 10th, 2018
Inspecting Underground Drainage Systems 1.0 Introduction To constitute a dwelling, a property must have independent cooking and washing facilities containing sanitary ware connected to a water supply and drainage system. Waste water is…
February 18th, 2018
Smart thermostats represent a huge advance in heating technologies. These new thermostats allow the user to control their heating using smart phone technologies as well as simplifying the process of programming heating. There…
February 18th, 2018
The 21st century conservatory Non-traditional methods of construction have been a substantial feature of the residential urban landscape for over 100 years. In the 20th century the need to build quickly and cheaply forced…
February 18th, 2018
Identifying and recording mechanical ventilation New buildings are being designed with increasingly lower air leakage rates. This helps to reduce heat losses and, in turn, improves the energy efficiency of the building. Increased…
February 18th, 2018
Why is the SAP rating so low when entering LPG? LPG (bulk and bottled) is much more expensive than mains gas, this has a dramatic effect on the SAP rating. The table below…
February 17th, 2018
Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia Japonica) is a perennial and, on the face of it, an elegant and attractive bamboo-like plant. However, in the past few years, it has become recognised as one of the…
February 17th, 2018
Internal and External wall insulation The thermal performance of heat loss walls of any construction can be improved by installing an effective thickness of good insulating material on the inside (internal insulation) or…
February 17th, 2018
Following on from ‘inside gas meters (part 1), some readers have raised a number of interesting issues. One reader, who used to be a gas engineer under the CORGI scheme, thought surveyors would…