Details
 

Researcher:	Jeremy Layzell Alan Keiller Stephen Ledbetter
Funded:	Funded: DETR 50%, industry 50%
Total value:	£300,000
Value to CWCT:	£60,000
Lead partner:	Taylor Woodrow
Partners:	BRE Building Envelopes Ltd
Status:	Completed

Justification:

Lack of understanding of, and hence allowance for, construction tolerances is a major source of conflict on site which increases construction costs and can lead to building failures and bad buildings if corrective measures to allow fit are ill-conceived. There is also a lack of up-to-date information about the accuracy characteristic of typical construction processes, making planning and designing for buildability more difficult.
 

Objectives:

This project aims to address the problems that occur with the fitting of window/cladding systems to the building frame as a result of the level of accuracy with which structures are built and the tolerances specified. Existing and up-to-date survey data from case study building projects will be used to develop a buildability assessment method to assist all parties in the design, specification and erection of building and cladding systems in overcoming the problems that occur with lack of fit.

Different types of cladding are more, or less, tolerant of inaccuracies in the building frame. Equally, cladding designs of complex geometry are more difficult to set-out on site and construct. The project will study and quantify these and other factors that affect the ease of construction of cladding.
 

Outputs:

Structural frame and cladding buildability assessment method, Jeremy Layzell, Research Focus No. 33, May 1998.