By John Lam Asset Enhancement • Building Law • Building Technology • Uncategorized • • 0 Comments

Coring the rock stratum engineering our pile foundation

Site investigation is a term to cover a lot of aspect about the site. For the Engineer in construction site, it means the process to find out the soil and rock condition. From the project management perspective, we see the most essence is whether the quality control system is working well in place . This control system involves sampling , inspection, recording and counter-check. Although the PNAP has imposed a lot of restrains in the site investigation, the entire controlling mechanism still heavily rely on the professional site staff. The sample taken will be inspected the the engineer. This inspection is to be fed back to the Designer to confirm the design assumption of piling coincide well to what happens on site. This is the feedback loop essentially important in the entire QA process.

I witness the coring process and I can say the coring of soil / rock is not a pleasant job. Sometimes, the sample was damaged in the process, sometimes, the sample was dropped in pieces. Thus , a good sampling and coring process did demand patience by labour, right machine set up, on-site engineer inspection and recording.

 

 

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Revitalizing and unlock the potential in Asset

GBE <> KPDO is teammed to give a touch to turn around the simple corner becomes seductive and eye-catching art piece . Apart from aesthetic pleasure, the new architectural design regenerates the lobby and enables the vertical transportation to the podium levels. The capex and the technical-know-how are low and simple, but the magical effects is profoundly sharp.

By John Lam Uncategorized 0 Comments

Technical Consideration to Residential units in UK

Real estate development in UK Great Britain.We have recently received a lot of inquiries regarding the UK residential market. Putting aside valuation and rental income for a moment, there are many technical considerations involved when dealing in the UK residential market. On a high level, the HK and UK residential market can be quite similar, such as residential unit layout, headroom, room size, window provision, bathroom design, and apartment provision. Nevertheless, there are many material differences between the two markets that demand caution. For example, the concept of “area” can be confusing from the various ways it is presented, the concept of “Air Rights” similar to that in New York City, the prevalence of historical external facades that are maintained at the owner’s expense, or lifts that may not reach your floor. One interesting thing is that the elevator may not reach your preferred floor. Also , remember the judge leading the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has ruled that the cladding installed on the tower did not comply with building regulations, finding that the polyethylene-cored panels were the “primary cause” of the rapid spread of flames. It can end your building apartment life immediately

One popular way to get into the market is via pre-sale. While pre-sale activities are increasingly common, there is little to no regulation that governs these activities. Some apartments on the market for sale may not even have “planning permission”. Hence, project delivery risks are often underestimated. Meanwhile, some projects are developed in special districts, such as “Business Regeneration Zone”, which may not be well understood by most potential buyers. Moreover, agency activities involving sales of UK property in Hong Kong may not be regulated under the HK legislative framework. Overseas buyers and investors should tread carefully and with guidance from experts.

 

By John Lam Asset Enhancement • Building Technology • Uncategorized 0 Comments

Maintenance problem from wrong “water to cement ratio” of concrete cover mix

Concrete cover is the outer concrete layer serves to protect the rebar in RC structure. Its thickness and density dictates both the protection performance and fire – resisting ability.  The extract from the research paper by Albert K.H. Kwan in Department of Civil Engineering, University of Hong Kong , the concrete cover will become much permeability to water once the “water to cement ratio” exceeds 0.4. Adversely does the high water to cement ratio happen in many concreting process in Hong Kong. To account the reason behind , it is the slump of the concrete or the workability of the concrete affects the entire concreting process. The drawback from high permeability is very obvious . The concrete cover becomes lesser defensive against the water nor air penetration . The alkaline environment around the rebar is diminished along with the carbonation due from the air pollution