Context:

This assignment aims to develop your knowledge and understanding of the mannerin which simple residential buildings are constructed and of the materials usedin them. It also aims to develop your written communication and report writing skills. This assignment builds on the information discussed throughout the lecture series& tutorials and also what is presented in the prescribed text by George Wilkie, (2014). Building your own home. A comprehensive guide for owner-builders.

Tasks:

The setting of this assignment is that you have been asked by a client to inspect a property they are considering purchasing. They require you to examine the property, identify and assess any faults that are present and provide a written report detailing a description of the property (including materials), faults and recommended remedial repairs.

To achieve this you are to undertake a physical inspection of your home or selected property. Ideally this will be the same building you evaluated for Assignment 1. The aim of this inspection is to ascertain the structural integrity of the home and identify any faults it may have; both major and minor.

This is an individual assignment, please read the instructions carefully.

There are four separate tasks to be undertaken for the assignment as follows;

1. Building inspection: Each student must undertake an inspection of their home and provide a description of their inspection process, e.g. sequence and mode of inspection, overall impressions, observations, any tools or equipment used to carry out the inspection, time and date etc.

2. Building description: You are required to provide a detailed description of the building including the materials used. This should cover everything from the foundations to the roof and also any other building(s) on the land parcel such as sheds, garages and so on.

(Remember to think about the structure of your report and the client's experience when reading it.)

3. Building condition: For each component / part of the building you must identify:

The condition of the building and materials. Include in this section likely causes of any faults you see. For example; you may find some rotting timber and may note that a lack of regular painting (maintenance) may be the cause.

Here's a tip: if you set out a table categorising a grading system you can then use it to rank all parts on a table and show defect causality. For example; ‘excellent condition-no visible defect' might rank as ‘A', and so on. You may research some examples of building condition surveys/reports to give you some further ideas.

4. Land / site description: Provide a brief description of the site including the topography, building coverage, and the ability to extend and or provide additions to the property.

5. Recommendations: Here is where you must provide recommendations to your client about the property they are considering to purchase with particular attention to any substantial defects to the property.

Your report must be supported by photographs (e.g. JPEG, GIF format) of the subject property.
A total of 6 to 10 photos (internal and external)would be an ideal number. NOTE: use the lowest pixel setting on your camera. The Deakin Cloud bandwidth is 10mb and files larger than this may not upload. Failure to upload your assignment on time may result in it not being assessed.

Learning outcomes from this assignment:

This assignment has been designed to develop core professional knowledge and skills as part of your PRE (or similar) course at Deakin. By completing this assignment responsibly you'll be able to;
- Identify information appropriate to undertake an inspection task.
- Organise and classify information in a coherent manner and undertake an inspection task.
- Apply discipline knowledge to critically analyse and evaluate information gathered.
- Communicate information accurately and professionally.
- Refer to information sources accurately using the required HARVARD format.
- Show that many ‘tools' are available to help improve the inspection process.

Specifically, this assessment task addresses these Unit Learning Outcomes:
- Evaluate and critically analyse characteristics to interpret and report on structural integrity of buildings, and,
- Recognise and appreciate the basic characteristics, qualities and capabilities of a range of building materials within the context of sustainability in order to evaluate usefulness and formulate judgement. (Asbestos should be considered as a part of this.)
- Interpret and describe simple building plan specifications.