Underpinning foundations safely can help with compliance
Construction refurbishments that involve underpinning foundations could be in the spotlight in the weeks to come as the Health and Safety Executive clamps down on Greater Manchester sites that do not meet the necessary safety standards.
The coming crackdown is focused particularly on sites where refurbishment and repair work is being carried out – such as underpinning foundations to help stabilise older buildings.
Legal requirements state that any work on the structure of a building should be carefully planned in order to avoid unplanned collapse.
As such, underpinning foundations without the right equipment from specialist providers, and without temporary supports in place for the rest of the building, could leave construction firms at risk of breaching their safety obligations.
“The refurbishment sector continues to be the most risky for construction workers, but small changes to working practices can make all the difference,” says HSE principal inspector for construction Neil Jamieson.
Our specialists can offer foundation piling where traditional underpinning is not possible, safely strengthening your foundations through a combination of piling and needle beams in the poorest of ground conditions.
New construction starts hint at demand for foundation piling
Foundation piling is an area of growing demand as activity picks up in the construction industry.
Newly published figures from Communities and Local Government show an increase in house-building activity, both in the private sector and by housing associations.
In the last three months of 2011, 1% more housing association construction projects began than in the previous quarter.
However, private construction saw a markedly higher increase in activity, at 6% when seasonal effects were taken into account.
Foundation piling is, of course, one of the first stages to take place on a new construction project, and suppliers are working hard to make sure we meet the growing demand as the number of new starts increase.
The official figures show that, with more than 25,000 house-building starts in the last quarter of 2011, we are now 74% higher than the industry’s lowest ebb in March 2009.
As activity continues to pick up, we will be here to help with the foundation piling that literally gives the sector the firm base it needs on which to build future success.
Foundation piling key for green communities
Foundation piling has a role to play in the future of sustainable and weather-resilient communities.
The Town and Country Planning Association has warned that, at present, many parts of England are not well prepared for future flood risks, despite investment in preventing flooding in some communities.
“While the funding for improving flood defences is imperative, we must also recognise the importance of planning and local authority cooperation in tackling challenges which operate above the local level,” says TCPA chief executive Kate Henderson.
In a TCPA guidance document, the potential role that foundation piling can play in preparing developed areas for weather events is spelled out.
The document recommends ensuring that foundation piling is deep enough during construction, so that any waterlogged soil in future does not reach the bottom of the structure’s supports.
Concrete piles’ ability to withstand variations in heat is also pointed out – making them preferable to ‘green’ alternatives such as timber-framed structures, which cannot cope as well with temperature changes.
For existing buildings, meanwhile, the document suggests underpinning foundations, so that they extend into more stable, deeper soils than was initially intended.
Underpinning foundations can help prevent heaving
Underpinning foundations can help deal with all kinds of soil conditions – and as the cold of winter gives way to the rainy days of spring, ‘heaving’ is one issue that you might encounter.
Soil is subject to a lot of weather-related effects, and we recently told you about expansive soils, which can become unpredictable in particularly dry conditions.
However, when it is especially wet, all types of soil can experience heaving – this is when the level of moisture in the ground becomes high enough that the soil expands significantly, and can literally push foundations upwards out of the earth.
By underpinning foundations, you can tackle this effect by strengthening the position of your structure within the topmost layers of soil.
Alternatively, if you are working on a new construction project, concrete piles can give support to your foundation or basement levels from deeper underground.
When weather conditions are less than favourable, there is the option of using pre-cast concrete piles delivered from off-site.
These offer the strength of reinforced concrete, but are not subject to the vagaries of the weather during their drying time, ensuring that the necessary chemical reactions can take place to make them strong and reliable.