Oops!

[Cato]

Foundation issues found during construction in Manchester. Someone's going to be on the phone to their indemnity insurers.

https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2020/09/08/10-storey-manchester-concrete-core-condemned/

 

[frank horton]

another case of left hand and right hand.....
mind u when qualified at Uni u can get everything right......not....
I was asked at an interveiw for a serious job,
"What Uni did u go to" ?
I said the Uni of LIFE......he was bareley out of nappies......

 

[Cato]

Whatever the cock-up was with the steel reinforcing you can bet there was someone fitting it, or looking in the hole before the pour, saying "That doesn't look right to me.".

 

[stuvy]

Would this be the accountants penny pinching?

fugly building for ‘luxury’

 

[Cato]

Would this be the accountants penny pinching?

fugly building for ‘luxury’

Sounds like the contractor was dodgy "The condemned structure was built by civil engineering contractor Bemus Construction Services, which fell into administration three weeks ago with the loss of around 100 jobs." the problem was not enough rebar in the foundation. Usually there's plenty of money about at the foundation stage, then it starts getting tight when they are at second fix.

 

[frank horton]

the ratio here on new build houses is 1 ton of rebar to 10 tons of concrete....
but it earthquake territory.....
where poss the pin it to the bed rock.....
not sure thats a good idea but what the hell do I know......

on the subject off earthquakes there's an excellant film on how they lifted and put San Francisco town hall on shocks out there.....sorry....

 

[Gragson]

We had a 3.3 in our area today, I didn't feel a thing but the misses said I've always been an insensitive sod

 

[Agroshield]

Sounds like the contractor was dodgy "The condemned structure was built by civil engineering contractor Bemus Construction Services, which fell into administration three weeks ago with the loss of around 100 jobs."

It is a little unfair to the bust contractor to miss out the very next line of the story to which you linked.

"But insiders say the problems stem from rebar design rather than build issues".

At site level, the contractor will generally order exactly what is on the drawing and schedule. It is more work to order partial or reduced quantities. There is a possibility that the rebar supplier did not deliver everything, but again, this is rare. At installation time, assuming everything was delivered, it is quite obvious if something is missed out as there will be a big pile of rusty steel in the landing area that should have gone into the hole.

Again, at site level, those checking the contractor's installation will check to the drawings they have. "As per drawing" is what they look for. If the drawing says 12mm at 200 centres, that is what they will want. If it turns out that the foundation actually needs 25mm at 150 centres to resist the loads, the site will not know that.

The line you omitted hints very strongly that the problem lies further up the chain than anyone on the site.

If your business is steelwork, this kind of thing happens all the time where stiffening plates have to be added (usually lower down the building) when the developer suddenly adds a swimming pool to the penthouse suite and the lower structure which was already built by the time the swimming pool was added cannot take the load.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

We had a 3.3 in our area today, I didn't feel a thing but the misses said I've always been an insensitive sod

I'm closer and didn't notice it either
Only a ticket though

 

[Brad93]

Same as the big red building down Minories

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

We had a 3.3 in our area today, I didn't feel a thing but the misses said I've always been an insensitive sod

Lifted from facebook

MILTON KEYNES
EARTHQUAKE APPEAL
An Earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale hit Milton Keynes on the morning of Tuesday 8th September. Casualties were seen wandering aimlessly saying "bang out of order" "mental" and "sorted". Some are still confused that something interesting actually happened in Leighton! Some residents were woken before their 'giros' arrived and it caused quite a panic! The earthquake decimated half of the Beanhill area causing in excess of £17.55 worth of damage. Several priceless collections of mementos from Ibiza, Corfu, Rhyl and Blackpool were damaged beyond repair including a cute little donkey that 'broke wind' when you clapped your hands. Preserved areas of historic importance were destroyed and many piles of scientifically significant litter were disturbed.
One resident of Neatherfied ,Miss Kylie Davies a 15 year old mother of four said "It was such a shock, little Chardonnay-Destiny came running into my bedroom crying; my hands were shaking that much I could hardly concentrate on Jeremy Kyle".
The British Red Cross has so far managed to send 4000 crates of Red Bull to the area to help with the crisis. Rescue workers are still searching through the rubble and have found numerous "Elizabeth Duke" sovereign rings, benefit books and Poundstretcher ornaments.
How can you help?
This appeal hopes to raise money for food and clothing parcels for those unfortunate enough to be caught up in the disaster. Clothing is most sought after. Urgently needed are Lacoste tracksuits, white socks, Burberry caps, Beanie hats and Rockports. Food parcels are also needed. They include McCain oven chips, Aldi Beans, Monster Munch, Hollands pies and Iceland pizza. Alcohol is also in short supply, especially White Lightening Cider and Special Brew. Cash donations are also needed:
22p buys a 'signing-on' biro, £2.50 buys a pie and chips, £20.00 buys a fake MOT and £16.00 buys 200 Regal ciggies from the back of Tomo's lorry. Your help is appreciated.

 

[Gragson]

PMSL Chav city it is - sorry for the off topic haha

 

[Cato]

It is a little unfair to the bust contractor to miss out the very next line of the story to which you linked.

"But insiders say the problems stem from rebar design rather than build issues".

At site level, the contractor will generally order exactly what is on the drawing and schedule. It is more work to order partial or reduced quantities. There is a possibility that the rebar supplier did not deliver everything, but again, this is rare. At installation time, assuming everything was delivered, it is quite obvious if something is missed out as there will be a big pile of rusty steel in the landing area that should have gone into the hole.

Again, at site level, those checking the contractor's installation will check to the drawings they have. "As per drawing" is what they look for. If the drawing says 12mm at 200 centres, that is what they will want. If it turns out that the foundation actually needs 25mm at 150 centres to resist the loads, the site will not know that.

The line you omitted hints very strongly that the problem lies further up the chain than anyone on the site.

If your business is steelwork, this kind of thing happens all the time where stiffening plates have to be added (usually lower down the building) when the developer suddenly adds a swimming pool to the penthouse suite and the lower structure which was already built by the time the swimming pool was added cannot take the load.

As with any of these stories it's unlikely we'll ever find out what happened, #16 instead of #19 supplied and no one spotted it, spacing too far between ties, spec change post pour etc etc. It does sound a bit more than a spec change though, partial demolition of the core is going to be a big chunk of cash, add on the delays to the overall project and I'm glad it's not my bill!

It's odd that it suddenly cropped up at this point though and worded as "Our project team has identified engineering issues" makes you wonder what the issue is/was.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Aren't foundation reinforcement checked by Building Control to confirm they meet the plans specifications before concrete poured ?

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

As with any of these stories it's unlikely we'll ever find out what happened, #16 instead of #19 supplied and no one spotted it, spacing too far between ties, spec change post pour etc etc. It does sound a bit more than a spec change though, partial demolition of the core is going to be a big chunk of cash, add on the delays to the overall project and I'm glad it's not my bill!

It's odd that it suddenly cropped up at this point though and worded as "Our project team has identified engineering issues" makes you wonder what the issue is/was.

An extra 4 months work for everyone during this difficult time?

 

[Agroshield]

Aren't foundation reinforcement checked by Building Control to confirm they meet the plans specifications before concrete poured?

In principle, yes. But local councils are short of funding and there might be one building control officer for the whole borough.

In 15+ years working in and around London, the only time we ever saw Building Control (we called him the District Surveyor) was in the City of London (i.e one specific London borough) and they were only interested in the drainage in the foundation. In the very old days, they would come with a torch and mirror on a stick and if they could not see the torch shining from one end of the drain run, it was was condemned. That moved on to just looking at the drain runs and witnessing the air test. That moved on to 'email me photos of the drain runs and the main contractor's witness of the test'.

 

[Cato]

That moved on to 'email me photos of the drain runs and the main contractor's witness of the test'.

We get an awful lot of that now :-

"Yeah, that's fine. Email me some photo's."
"OK. What of?"
"Steelwork, structural timbers, that sort of stuff."

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

We get an awful lot of that now :-

"Yeah, that's fine. Email me some photo's."
"OK. What of?"
"Steelwork, structural timbers, that sort of stuff."

There pretty good around this way. Get proper visits at the correct time and they've always worked with me to get around issues and bend the rules a little to get around them where possible

I always try to over spec and seems to give me a little leway with them