TRAINING QUESTIONS FOR BUILDING REGULATIONS IN ENGLAND & WALES

February 2000

Basements for dwellings

This approved document shows how the performance requirements of the Building Regulations can be applied in a dwelling with a basement. In particular it address parts A/ B/ C/ E/ F/ H/ J/ K L and N
Building Regulations
Building Act It also includes "good practice" guidance.

Approved Documents

    STRUCTURE, PART A

  1. Under what circumstances should a house basement wall be designed as a cantilever?
  2. If the water table could at some stage in the life of the house be higher than the underside of the basement, what additional forces would need to be designed for?
    What could cause these forces to arrise?
  3. Why would the ground floor over a basement be typically designed as a concrete or beam and block floor?
    When would lateral restraint straps be required between floor and wall?
  4. What are the 3 main types of natural subsoil?
    What is meant by the long term condition, and why could this be important in one soil type?

    5. FIRE SAFETY PART B

  5. If an internal habitable room has an escape window into a lightwell, could escape be via a fixed ladder up out of the lightwell?
  6. If a block of flats is to have two common access stairs, can they go down into the basement?
    Do basement stairs need any particular ventilation requirements?
  7. Can basement stairs be constructed of timber?
  8. A two storey house with a basement is being converted to a top floor flat and a ground and basement maisonette. What fire resistance is required of the ground floor in the maisonette?

    9. RESISTANCE TO MOISTURE, PART C

  9. What precautions may need to be taken to avoid the flow of ground water being dammed up by the new basement?
  10. What are the three positions of water table considered by the Approved Document?
    What are the three types of basement construction?
  11. If it is essential that service pass through a basement wall, what can be done to minimise the possibility of moisture penetration?

    12. SOUND INSULATION, PART E

  12. What can be done to minimise sound penetration where a masonry separating wall meets a concrete basement perimeter wall?

    13. VENTILATION, PART F

  13. Why would passive stack ventilation be especially useful in basement rooms?
  14. Can cross ventilation of basements be insisted upon?

    15. DRAINAGE AND WASTE DISPOSAL, PART H

  15. If a foul water drainage pipe is required to penetrate a basement wall, what provisions should be included to prevent failure from differential movement?
  16. If a basement flat is to be formed in a block of flats, can the only wc in the flat be a "saniflow" or similar macerated pumped system be used?
  17. If it is necessary to provide a pumped drainage system, what needs to be incorporated into the scheme?

    18. HEAT PRODUCING APPLIANCES, PART J

  18. What precautions are needed if Liquid Patroleum Gas (LPG) is to be used in a building with a basement?
  19. Can a balanced flue boiler be located in a lightwell?

    20. STAIRS, RAMPS, AND GUARDS, PART K

  20. If construction of a new basement flat involves the construction of a lightwell, is there a requirement to provide guarding to the lightwell?
  21. Do external basement access stairs require handrails?

    22. CONSERVATION OF FUEL AND POWER, PART L

  22. Is a basement wall considered to be an exposed wall or a semi-exposed wall?
  23. Outline how the "U" value thermal resistance of a basement wall construction may be calculated?

    24. GLAZING MATERIALS AND PROTECTION, PART N

  24. When would basement windows be required to use safety glass?

    25. Building Regulations

  25. What is meant by:
    1. Minor work?
    2. Financial Independence?
    3. Master and servant relationship
  26. An Approved Inspector employs a structural engineer to check the calculations of a new building. Some years later the building subsides and the client sues the Approved Inspector for not personally ensuring the structure was adequate. Can the Approved Inspector enter a defense that it was the Structural Engineer that checked the work?

    27. Building Act 1984, Sections 47 to 58

  27. What are the grounds for rejecting an Approved Inspector's Initial Notice?
  28. Who appoints Approved Inspectors?
  29. What is the benefit to the person carrying out the work of requiring the Approved Inspector to submit a Plans Certificate to the Local Authority?
  30. Under what conditions might the work of an Approved Inspector revert to Local Authority Control?
  31. If an Initial Notice has been rejected, can the AI make a legal appeal?
    If so to which court?
  32. Does a Local Authority have to keep a register of Notices submitted by Approved Inspectors for inspection by the public?

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Updated on 7th January 2001 by Robert Hunter-Jones MSc CEng MICE MIStructE FRICS

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