What is a Non Traditional Building?

What is a Non Traditional building?

People often ring us up and have found out one way or another that they are looking at a Non Traditional building or are about to buy a Non Traditional building. 

Estate Agents and Non Traditional buildings

Sometimes the Estate Agent advises but often we find that the Estate Agent does not know or does not want to know or some would say keeps very quiet about it being a Non Traditional building.

Valuers and Non Traditional buildings

Sometimes it will be the valuer from the Bank/Building Society/Mortgage Company that identifies the property as being Non Traditional.  However, equally we are finding that some valuers are working so quickly they don’t know and don’t understand what they are looking at and it gets missed. 

Non Traditional buildings and Mortgage Advisors

We do find quite a large number of mortgage advisors are involved with the identification of Non Traditional buildings, which is probably because many lenders simply do not want to lend on Non Traditional buildings.

 

How can you spot or identify a Non Traditional building?

It is very difficult because there are so many different types of Non Traditional building.  There are four main types:-

1. Metal frame – a metal frame supporting the structure.
2. Pre-cast concrete - cast in a factory and then brought to the site.
3. In-situ concrete - cast at the site.
4. Timber frame – a timber frame supporting the structure.

These are just the main categories; there are many variations and variations on variations of Non Traditional buildings.

 

Non Traditional Housing built quickly to meet demand after the War Years

Many decades ago, the Building Research Establishment (BRE) carried out work on various Non Traditional buildings.  This was back when the BRE was a quasi government department and they looked at buildings we believe partly because many Local Authorities had them as did the National Health Service and the Forces.  Non Traditional houses were considered a way of utilising new materials and new processes to build quicker.  To a greater or lesser extent this was experimental work based on relatively little information as we simply needed lots of houses after World War One and World War Two.

Non Traditional houses you need to know what you are looking for

Often Chartered Building Surveyors who deal with a Non Traditional building will know they are in a Non Traditional area by various signs such as the layout of the estate, the roof types and various other elements.  It can be particularly difficult to identify Non Traditional houses as many of them have been altered and amended over the years. 

One of the classic problems with Non Traditional houses is the use of asbestos as this was very popular and a common material in the times when Non Traditional houses were being built after the War Years.  Many Local Authorities, Social Housing Groups, Army Housing, Navy Housing and RAF housing looked at ways to improve Non Traditional buildings.  One of the first areas they carried out was to remove asbestos which was not as always as simple as it may seem.  Where asbestos had been used as a roof tile as it is light-weight and fire-proof as well as being waterproof this had meant that the design of the roof had been amended for a lightweight tile.  Therefore one could not just remove the asbestos roof tiles and replace with a normal roof tile.  This lead, in some cases, to replacement of the asbestos with another material which we were not fully au fait with in this case it was often pressed metal that looked like tiles.  We have seen these installed well and not so well and badly over the years and have seen them with clad with rusting sections and also seen the anchor bolts that hold the roofing material on deteriorating.  The fact that a Non Traditional house has had work carried out does not necessarily mean that it is better than it once was.

What do I look out for on a Non Traditional building?

It is very difficult to just give one element particularly if you are looking around the property as part of a viewing.

The first thing we look out for is the age of the property – Post War Non Traditional buildings – as the name suggests they were built after the War Years furthermore several decades after the War Years Non Traditional buildings were still being built.

 

Non Traditional Building Surveying Articles

Click on one of the links below to read more about Non Traditional buildings

Non Traditional Housing what is it?

Non Traditional Property Problems