Brace - A strut or tie that stabilizes other members, usually placed so that a triangle is formed, e.g. a knee brace, the braces on a matchboard door, temporary braces during construction etc.
Braced Frame - A structural timber building frame with widely spaced, heavy posts and beams and girders which carry main loads. It has infill walls, which are non load bearing. Bracing for structural stability comes partly from the joint between the posts and beams, although additional cross-bracing can be concealed in the walls
Bracket - A support for a shelf, projecting from a wall.
Bracket Arm - An outreach arm
Bracket Lamp - A wall-hung Lamp
Bracket Scaffold - A scaffold carried on brackets bolted to a wall
Bracketed Stairs - Stairs with treads carried on a cut string, usually with overhanging nosings
Brad - A wire nail usually 50 to 65 mm long, with rounded built head and/or;
A cut nail of constant thickness but tapering width, with a square head projecting from one edge only, or an oval-wire brad
Bradder - A small nail gun that drives brads up to about 65 mm long
Braided Cable - Flexible flat cable made from several strands of bare copper wire plaited together, used for the earth bonding of moving parts, e.g. switchboard doors
Bracket - A projecting support usually fixed to a wall or column, Stair handrails are often on metalwork brackets. Pipework can be supported by brackets with two piece cleats and/or;
A short vertical board fixed to the carriage of a timber stair to support the tread directly
Branch - A secondary pipe or cable connected to a main in a distribution or collection system, such as water supply, drainage, sewerage or electrical circuits
Branch Circuit - The electrical wiring to power or lighting use points, from the fuses in the distribution board, usually run as either a ring main or a radial circuit
Branch Manhole - A manhole in which a branch connection is made
Branch Pipe, discharge pipe - A branch to carry soil water or waste water to the stack
Branch Vent - A pipe which admits air to the downstream side of the water seal in a trap the start of a drain. Usually it is run upwards to the stack vent, which lets in air through its top end. The branch vent prevents unsealing of the trap as a flush of water passes down the soil stack, e.g. as in a one-pipe system of sanitary pipework
Brash timber, Brashy - Timber which breaks with small resistance to shock and little or no splintering. This short grain may be due to fungus
Brass - A metal alloy made from a mixture of copper and zinc, often with small amounts of nickel, lead iron, etc, used in traditional builder's hardware and some pipe fittings. Brasses are mostly easily formed, strong and corrosion resistant, but are best not used with other metals, which could cause dezincification
Brazilian Mahogany - True Mahogany, a close grained red timber with fine silky texture, hard and very little moisture movement. It is stronger than oak but slightly easier to work and used for best joinery
Brazing - A generally simple, inexpensive way of joining metals using a copper- zinc filler metal (hard solder) which melts above 500deg c, normally with an oxy-acetylene flame. The two surfaces need suitable preparation, usually limited to thorough cleaning. A flux is also needed. Brazing, particularly silver brazing, us widely used for capillary joints in copper tube or brass pipe. Brazed steel joints are not as strong as welded ones
Break Draught Damper - A flue damper
Break glass unit - A manual fire alarm call point with a breakable glass cover.
Break joints - Staggered joints
Break out - To cut away part of a building fabric to make a secure connection with new work, e.g. the toothing of brickwork or the exposing of reinforcement bars
Breaker - A power tool for breaking rocks, concrete or roads by forcefully hammering a pick or similar tool. It can be a hydraulic, pneumatic or electric hand held jackhammer or a mounted backhoe
Breaker Slab - A clay or concrete slab in the backfill over buried cables, to indicate their presence, in the same way as a tracer
Breaking Down - The first of two stages in conversion of timber, in which the log is sawn into squared flitches
Breaking of seal - The unsealing of traps
Breast - A projection of a wall into a room, containing the flue and hearth of a fireplace and/or;
The wall under a window sill, down to the floor
Breast Drill - A large hand drill operated with both hands, with an extension and plate for thrust from the user's chest
Breather Hole - A tiny hole from the air space between secondary glazing out to the cold side, where the air contains less moisture in winter, even at a higher relative humidity. As atmospheric pressure rises and falls, the air space gradually fills with dryer air, reducing condensation, but dirt and insects may enter unless the holes have a filter e.g. a porous tape
Breather Membrane - A building paper that is microporous to allow ventilation and the escape of water vapour. It is put on over the outside of heat insulation and under the external cladding of a timber framed wall (or roof). It also helps prevent driving rain from passing inwards. Breather membranes must be on the 'cold' side of the wall, i.e. on the opposite side of the framing to its vapour barrier
Breech Fitting - A junction pipe fitting
Breeching - A double inlet to a dry riser accessible from the street
Breeze Block - A building Block formerly made with coke breeze from gas works. It is superseded by the clinker block
Breezeway - A covered walk between buildings
Bressummer - A long heavy Lintel across an opening, to carry the wall above. It is generally not used nowadays. It was usually made of Timber
Brick - A rectangular block usually so sized so that it can be easily held in one hand. They are generally proportioned for the lengths of each side (face, bed and end) to form multiples, forming Bonds. Building bricks vary widely in strength, durability and appearance from the most costly engineering bricks or facing bricks to commons. They are mostly used to build walls and vary in type from solid to frogged, cellular, perforated and hollow. Bricks shaped differently from the normal full brick are called specials.
Brick axe - A bricklayer's hammer
Brick Damp Course - A damp-proof course in a wall made from two courses of damp-proof course bricks, or engineering bricks with a water absorption of less than 7% laid with staggered joints in 1:1/4:3 cement:lime:sand mortar. The mortar should not carry any plasticizer as this may reduce adhesion. As brick damp courses are more rigid and resist tension better than other types, they are suitable for freestanding walls
Brick Elevator - Mobile Contractor's plant used for raising building material to a scaffold. It has a rubber belt and steel cleats to stop brick slipping at steep angles
Brick Nogging, Brick Partition Wall - Non-Load bearing wall, usually infilling between the columns or a steel framed building. The wall is generally constructed by bricks on edge. Wall ties and movement joints are needed for them
Brick Tie - A wall tie
Brick trowel - A long tapering triangular trowel held in one hand for bedding and jointing bricks
Brickbat - A brick cut across and shorter than full length, used to complete a bond and/or;
A bat
Bricklayer - A person who builds and repairs brickwork (bricklaying), on large projects usually working as part of a gang under a foreman bricklayer
Bricklayer's Hammer - A small hammer with sharp cross-peen as well as the striking face, used for breaking and dressing bricks
Bricklayer's Line (Soot) - A line used as a guide during bricklaying
Bricklayer's Scaffold - A scaffold supported by putlogs, which have a flattened end to fit into raked-out holes in the bed joints, the other end being carried on ledgers held up by the standards
Bricklaying - The art of laying bricks in courses to make brickwork by bedding and jointing with cement mortar. Joints are usually shoved and the bricks kept true and plumb by working to a bricklayer's line, which is stretched between profiles
Brick-on-edge - Brickwork, usually of headers, laid on edge for a capping or sill
Brickwork - A wall made up of courses of bricks laid in mortar according to a bond.
Brickwork Beam - A concealed lintel made by inserting reinforcement in bottom bed course of brickwork over an opening, for clear spans upto 2.1 Mt
Brickwork Chaser - A power tool that cuts a neat chase in brickwork to receive electrical conduit or a pipe
Bridging - The spanning of a gap with common joists and/or;
The stiffening of adjacent wooden floor joists by a row of solid bridging or herring-bone strutting at right angles to the joists.
Bright - A description of freshly sawn timber without discolouration and/or;
Steel with low surface oxidation
Brilliance - The cleanness and brightness of a colour and/or;
The clearness of a varnish or lacquer; the absence of opalescence and similar defects
Brise Soleil - A French term for a permanent sun shade (Horizontal or vertical blades, decorative screen walls) outside an external wall
Broach - The pin in the keyhole of lock with a hollow key and/or;
A pointed mason's chisel used for wasting stone
Broadloom Carpet - Fabric floor covering in rolls 2.50 to 4.00 Mt wide.
Broken Bond - Brickwork or Blockwork which is not entirely built to format, it has bats in the courses rather than full bricks.
Bronze - A hard, corrosion resistant alloy of copper and usually tin, sometimes with other elements
Broom-finish Concrete - A floor slab that is floated and trowelled smooth, then finished by drawing a stiff broom across it to make it a non slip surface
Brooming - Scratching a floating coat with a stiff broom to make a key for plaster, or giving a broom finish to concrete
Brush - Paint brushes are made from synthetic fibres or animal bristles (Stiff Hairs) held on to a handle, usually with a metal ring or ferrule. The bristles of larger brushes may be set in synthetic resin
Brush Seal - A long Strip of bristles fixed to project from the edge of a door leaf, as a wiping seal for weather-stripping or for smoke control
Brushability - The ease with which paint can be applied by brushing. Brushable paints are not gummy, do not cause ropiness and enable a live edge to be easily picked up
Brutalism - Functionalist style of the 1950's -60's that left materials such as concrete determinedly undistinguished.
Buff - To polish or grind down a floor finish of terrazzo or screeded material. The process is derived from the high speed buffing wheels of a machine
Build - To erect, to form or construct.
Build Up - To close up building, to cover with buildings, to establish gradually.
Builder - A house builder, usually a skilled tradesman who works on site and does his own estimating and contract negotiations and/or;
A building company usually a main contractor for large building projects
Building - Any structure for whatsoever purpose and of whatsoever material it is constructed and every part thereof whether used as human habitation or not and includes foundation, plinth, walls, floor, roofs, chimneys, plumbing and building services, fixed platforms, verandas, balcony, cornice, or any wall enclosing or intended to enclose any land or space and signs and outdoor display structures, monuments, memorials or any contrivance of permanent nature / stability built under or over ground and/or;
Anything built.
Building Block - A rectangular masonry unit that is larger than a brick and/or;
A block of precast concrete, burnt clay etc
Building Board - Rigid sheeting made from materials such as wood, gypsum, fibre-cement, flax or cane fibre or a composite e.g. Chipboard, hardboard and gypsum plasterboard
Building Centre - An organisation set up to provide information on building products and building technologies
Building Code - A document containing local building bylaws
Building Control - Laws and inspection procedures to ensure that buildings are built correctly. It is administered by the local authority
Building Height of - The vertical distance measured in the case of flat roofs, from average level of the adjoining street to the highest point of the building to the adjacent to the street, wall, and in the case of pitched roofs, upto the point where the external surface of the outer wall intersects the finished surface of the sloping roof and in case of gables facing the road, the mid point between the eaves level and the ridge. Architectural features serving no other functions except that of decoration shall be excluded for the purpose of taking heights. If the building does not abut, it is on a street, the height shall be measured above the average level of the ground, around and contiguous to the building.
Building Line - The line upto, which the plinth of a building adjoining a street or on a future street may law-fully, extend. It includes the lines prescribed in the Delhi Master Plan or specifically indicated in any scheme or layout plan, or in these byelaws.
Building Paper - Fibre-reinforced bitumen between layers of kraft paper, laid under concrete to prevent loss of cement into earth and damage from chemicals in the soil. It is also used for many other purposes - to cover the boarding of a wall or a roof
Building Permit - Authorization by the local authority to erect a building, essential before site work can start. It is given in reply to an application to build
Building Society - Building Society A society that advances money to its members towards providing them with dwelling houses.
Building Surveyor - A person trained in the techniques, costs and laws of building construction. He or she advises on alterations, building defects, easements, extensions, renovations and structural surveys
Built up area - Land area covered with buildings.
Built-in - Fittings recessed into the fabric of a building or a structural element e.g. luminaries in a ceiling or cupboards in a wall are described as built in
Built-up - A built-up assembly is one made up of several components, usually glue-fixed, but sometimes screwed, nailed, bolted or welded
Bulk Excavations - Groundworks which remove large amounts of materials and reduce the general level down to near formation. They are made with large and efficient excavators that are not suited to digging out the isolated excavations
Bulkhead, turret - A roofed box shape built above a roof to cover a water tank, lift shaft, stair well etc
Bull header - A special brick with a bullnose end
Bullet-resistant door - A steel or aluminum door with wood facings resembling an ordinary door but providing more security
Bullet-resistant glass - High grade security glazing, usually laminated glass 20-200 mm thick with many interlayers, or a glass/polycarbonate composite
Bullnose - The rounding of an arris, in general any rounded end or edge of a brick, a step, a joiner's plane etc
Bunched Wires - Prefabricated electrical wiring made up for trunking
Bund - An uninterrupted wall of earth (earth bund), blockwork (bundwall) etc.
Burglar Alarm - An intruder alarm system
Buried Services - Pipes or cables buried in the ground for drainage, electricity, gas, telecom, water supply etc
Burl - The curly, much valued figure got by cutting through the enlarged trunk of certain trees particularly walnut. It is formed by the dark pith centres of many undeveloped buds
Burner - The part of a boiler or a gas torch where oil or gas fuel is released, mixed wit air and burnt
Burning off - Removing old paint by heating it with a blowlamp until it softens, then scraping it off.
Burnishing - Polishing metals for finishing or to hone a cutting edge
Burr - A jagged edge left after metal is cut or a fin on concrete from a formwork joint
Burring Reamer - A tool that removes burs left by the pipe cutter
Bush Hammer - A hand held machine (usually air driven), or a mason's hammer, with rows of raised tooth like pyramids on its face, used for hacking or scabbling the surface of fairly hard materials such as stone or concrete
Butt Hinge - The commonest hinge for doors. When the door is shut the two halves are folded tightly together. Each flap is usually morticed, one into the door frame and the other into the hanging stile. The ordinary steel butt is very cheap and durable, but ball-bearing butts are smoother running and noiseless
Butt Joint - A joint between two square ended pieces of the same thickness without overlap
Butt Veneer - Veneer with the strong curly figure from a tree trunk
Butter coat - A soft, wet coat of render for a dry-dash finish
Buttering - The spreading of mortar on the ends of bricks to form perpends or on the backs of floor tiles before bedding
Buttress - Supportive wall of brick or stone and/or;
A projecting support built to the outside of the wall, any support or prop
Buzz Saw - A circular Saw
Byelaw, by-law - Laws governing all phases of construction in a particular location
Bypass - An arrangement of pipes (for conduits) for directing flow round instead of through the normal pipe
Byzantine - Relating to byzantium or Constantinople,
Braced Frame - A structural timber building frame with widely spaced, heavy posts and beams and girders which carry main loads. It has infill walls, which are non load bearing. Bracing for structural stability comes partly from the joint between the posts and beams, although additional cross-bracing can be concealed in the walls
Bracket - A support for a shelf, projecting from a wall.
Bracket Arm - An outreach arm
Bracket Lamp - A wall-hung Lamp
Bracket Scaffold - A scaffold carried on brackets bolted to a wall
Bracketed Stairs - Stairs with treads carried on a cut string, usually with overhanging nosings
Brad - A wire nail usually 50 to 65 mm long, with rounded built head and/or;
A cut nail of constant thickness but tapering width, with a square head projecting from one edge only, or an oval-wire brad
Bradder - A small nail gun that drives brads up to about 65 mm long
Braided Cable - Flexible flat cable made from several strands of bare copper wire plaited together, used for the earth bonding of moving parts, e.g. switchboard doors
Bracket - A projecting support usually fixed to a wall or column, Stair handrails are often on metalwork brackets. Pipework can be supported by brackets with two piece cleats and/or;
A short vertical board fixed to the carriage of a timber stair to support the tread directly
Branch - A secondary pipe or cable connected to a main in a distribution or collection system, such as water supply, drainage, sewerage or electrical circuits
Branch Circuit - The electrical wiring to power or lighting use points, from the fuses in the distribution board, usually run as either a ring main or a radial circuit
Branch Manhole - A manhole in which a branch connection is made
Branch Pipe, discharge pipe - A branch to carry soil water or waste water to the stack
Branch Vent - A pipe which admits air to the downstream side of the water seal in a trap the start of a drain. Usually it is run upwards to the stack vent, which lets in air through its top end. The branch vent prevents unsealing of the trap as a flush of water passes down the soil stack, e.g. as in a one-pipe system of sanitary pipework
Brash timber, Brashy - Timber which breaks with small resistance to shock and little or no splintering. This short grain may be due to fungus
Brass - A metal alloy made from a mixture of copper and zinc, often with small amounts of nickel, lead iron, etc, used in traditional builder's hardware and some pipe fittings. Brasses are mostly easily formed, strong and corrosion resistant, but are best not used with other metals, which could cause dezincification
Brazilian Mahogany - True Mahogany, a close grained red timber with fine silky texture, hard and very little moisture movement. It is stronger than oak but slightly easier to work and used for best joinery
Brazing - A generally simple, inexpensive way of joining metals using a copper- zinc filler metal (hard solder) which melts above 500deg c, normally with an oxy-acetylene flame. The two surfaces need suitable preparation, usually limited to thorough cleaning. A flux is also needed. Brazing, particularly silver brazing, us widely used for capillary joints in copper tube or brass pipe. Brazed steel joints are not as strong as welded ones
Break Draught Damper - A flue damper
Break glass unit - A manual fire alarm call point with a breakable glass cover.
Break joints - Staggered joints
Break out - To cut away part of a building fabric to make a secure connection with new work, e.g. the toothing of brickwork or the exposing of reinforcement bars
Breaker - A power tool for breaking rocks, concrete or roads by forcefully hammering a pick or similar tool. It can be a hydraulic, pneumatic or electric hand held jackhammer or a mounted backhoe
Breaker Slab - A clay or concrete slab in the backfill over buried cables, to indicate their presence, in the same way as a tracer
Breaking Down - The first of two stages in conversion of timber, in which the log is sawn into squared flitches
Breaking of seal - The unsealing of traps
Breast - A projection of a wall into a room, containing the flue and hearth of a fireplace and/or;
The wall under a window sill, down to the floor
Breast Drill - A large hand drill operated with both hands, with an extension and plate for thrust from the user's chest
Breather Hole - A tiny hole from the air space between secondary glazing out to the cold side, where the air contains less moisture in winter, even at a higher relative humidity. As atmospheric pressure rises and falls, the air space gradually fills with dryer air, reducing condensation, but dirt and insects may enter unless the holes have a filter e.g. a porous tape
Breather Membrane - A building paper that is microporous to allow ventilation and the escape of water vapour. It is put on over the outside of heat insulation and under the external cladding of a timber framed wall (or roof). It also helps prevent driving rain from passing inwards. Breather membranes must be on the 'cold' side of the wall, i.e. on the opposite side of the framing to its vapour barrier
Breech Fitting - A junction pipe fitting
Breeching - A double inlet to a dry riser accessible from the street
Breeze Block - A building Block formerly made with coke breeze from gas works. It is superseded by the clinker block
Breezeway - A covered walk between buildings
Bressummer - A long heavy Lintel across an opening, to carry the wall above. It is generally not used nowadays. It was usually made of Timber
Brick - A rectangular block usually so sized so that it can be easily held in one hand. They are generally proportioned for the lengths of each side (face, bed and end) to form multiples, forming Bonds. Building bricks vary widely in strength, durability and appearance from the most costly engineering bricks or facing bricks to commons. They are mostly used to build walls and vary in type from solid to frogged, cellular, perforated and hollow. Bricks shaped differently from the normal full brick are called specials.
Brick axe - A bricklayer's hammer
Brick Damp Course - A damp-proof course in a wall made from two courses of damp-proof course bricks, or engineering bricks with a water absorption of less than 7% laid with staggered joints in 1:1/4:3 cement:lime:sand mortar. The mortar should not carry any plasticizer as this may reduce adhesion. As brick damp courses are more rigid and resist tension better than other types, they are suitable for freestanding walls
Brick Elevator - Mobile Contractor's plant used for raising building material to a scaffold. It has a rubber belt and steel cleats to stop brick slipping at steep angles
Brick Nogging, Brick Partition Wall - Non-Load bearing wall, usually infilling between the columns or a steel framed building. The wall is generally constructed by bricks on edge. Wall ties and movement joints are needed for them
Brick Tie - A wall tie
Brick trowel - A long tapering triangular trowel held in one hand for bedding and jointing bricks
Brickbat - A brick cut across and shorter than full length, used to complete a bond and/or;
A bat
Bricklayer - A person who builds and repairs brickwork (bricklaying), on large projects usually working as part of a gang under a foreman bricklayer
Bricklayer's Hammer - A small hammer with sharp cross-peen as well as the striking face, used for breaking and dressing bricks
Bricklayer's Line (Soot) - A line used as a guide during bricklaying
Bricklayer's Scaffold - A scaffold supported by putlogs, which have a flattened end to fit into raked-out holes in the bed joints, the other end being carried on ledgers held up by the standards
Bricklaying - The art of laying bricks in courses to make brickwork by bedding and jointing with cement mortar. Joints are usually shoved and the bricks kept true and plumb by working to a bricklayer's line, which is stretched between profiles
Brick-on-edge - Brickwork, usually of headers, laid on edge for a capping or sill
Brickwork - A wall made up of courses of bricks laid in mortar according to a bond.
Brickwork Beam - A concealed lintel made by inserting reinforcement in bottom bed course of brickwork over an opening, for clear spans upto 2.1 Mt
Brickwork Chaser - A power tool that cuts a neat chase in brickwork to receive electrical conduit or a pipe
Bridging - The spanning of a gap with common joists and/or;
The stiffening of adjacent wooden floor joists by a row of solid bridging or herring-bone strutting at right angles to the joists.
Bright - A description of freshly sawn timber without discolouration and/or;
Steel with low surface oxidation
Brilliance - The cleanness and brightness of a colour and/or;
The clearness of a varnish or lacquer; the absence of opalescence and similar defects
Brise Soleil - A French term for a permanent sun shade (Horizontal or vertical blades, decorative screen walls) outside an external wall
Broach - The pin in the keyhole of lock with a hollow key and/or;
A pointed mason's chisel used for wasting stone
Broadloom Carpet - Fabric floor covering in rolls 2.50 to 4.00 Mt wide.
Broken Bond - Brickwork or Blockwork which is not entirely built to format, it has bats in the courses rather than full bricks.
Bronze - A hard, corrosion resistant alloy of copper and usually tin, sometimes with other elements
Broom-finish Concrete - A floor slab that is floated and trowelled smooth, then finished by drawing a stiff broom across it to make it a non slip surface
Brooming - Scratching a floating coat with a stiff broom to make a key for plaster, or giving a broom finish to concrete
Brush - Paint brushes are made from synthetic fibres or animal bristles (Stiff Hairs) held on to a handle, usually with a metal ring or ferrule. The bristles of larger brushes may be set in synthetic resin
Brush Seal - A long Strip of bristles fixed to project from the edge of a door leaf, as a wiping seal for weather-stripping or for smoke control
Brushability - The ease with which paint can be applied by brushing. Brushable paints are not gummy, do not cause ropiness and enable a live edge to be easily picked up
Brutalism - Functionalist style of the 1950's -60's that left materials such as concrete determinedly undistinguished.
Buff - To polish or grind down a floor finish of terrazzo or screeded material. The process is derived from the high speed buffing wheels of a machine
Build - To erect, to form or construct.
Build Up - To close up building, to cover with buildings, to establish gradually.
Builder - A house builder, usually a skilled tradesman who works on site and does his own estimating and contract negotiations and/or;
A building company usually a main contractor for large building projects
Building - Any structure for whatsoever purpose and of whatsoever material it is constructed and every part thereof whether used as human habitation or not and includes foundation, plinth, walls, floor, roofs, chimneys, plumbing and building services, fixed platforms, verandas, balcony, cornice, or any wall enclosing or intended to enclose any land or space and signs and outdoor display structures, monuments, memorials or any contrivance of permanent nature / stability built under or over ground and/or;
Anything built.
Building Block - A rectangular masonry unit that is larger than a brick and/or;
A block of precast concrete, burnt clay etc
Building Board - Rigid sheeting made from materials such as wood, gypsum, fibre-cement, flax or cane fibre or a composite e.g. Chipboard, hardboard and gypsum plasterboard
Building Centre - An organisation set up to provide information on building products and building technologies
Building Code - A document containing local building bylaws
Building Control - Laws and inspection procedures to ensure that buildings are built correctly. It is administered by the local authority
Building Height of - The vertical distance measured in the case of flat roofs, from average level of the adjoining street to the highest point of the building to the adjacent to the street, wall, and in the case of pitched roofs, upto the point where the external surface of the outer wall intersects the finished surface of the sloping roof and in case of gables facing the road, the mid point between the eaves level and the ridge. Architectural features serving no other functions except that of decoration shall be excluded for the purpose of taking heights. If the building does not abut, it is on a street, the height shall be measured above the average level of the ground, around and contiguous to the building.
Building Line - The line upto, which the plinth of a building adjoining a street or on a future street may law-fully, extend. It includes the lines prescribed in the Delhi Master Plan or specifically indicated in any scheme or layout plan, or in these byelaws.
Building Paper - Fibre-reinforced bitumen between layers of kraft paper, laid under concrete to prevent loss of cement into earth and damage from chemicals in the soil. It is also used for many other purposes - to cover the boarding of a wall or a roof
Building Permit - Authorization by the local authority to erect a building, essential before site work can start. It is given in reply to an application to build
Building Society - Building Society A society that advances money to its members towards providing them with dwelling houses.
Building Surveyor - A person trained in the techniques, costs and laws of building construction. He or she advises on alterations, building defects, easements, extensions, renovations and structural surveys
Built up area - Land area covered with buildings.
Built-in - Fittings recessed into the fabric of a building or a structural element e.g. luminaries in a ceiling or cupboards in a wall are described as built in
Built-up - A built-up assembly is one made up of several components, usually glue-fixed, but sometimes screwed, nailed, bolted or welded
Bulk Excavations - Groundworks which remove large amounts of materials and reduce the general level down to near formation. They are made with large and efficient excavators that are not suited to digging out the isolated excavations
Bulkhead, turret - A roofed box shape built above a roof to cover a water tank, lift shaft, stair well etc
Bull header - A special brick with a bullnose end
Bullet-resistant door - A steel or aluminum door with wood facings resembling an ordinary door but providing more security
Bullet-resistant glass - High grade security glazing, usually laminated glass 20-200 mm thick with many interlayers, or a glass/polycarbonate composite
Bullnose - The rounding of an arris, in general any rounded end or edge of a brick, a step, a joiner's plane etc
Bunched Wires - Prefabricated electrical wiring made up for trunking
Bund - An uninterrupted wall of earth (earth bund), blockwork (bundwall) etc.
Burglar Alarm - An intruder alarm system
Buried Services - Pipes or cables buried in the ground for drainage, electricity, gas, telecom, water supply etc
Burl - The curly, much valued figure got by cutting through the enlarged trunk of certain trees particularly walnut. It is formed by the dark pith centres of many undeveloped buds
Burner - The part of a boiler or a gas torch where oil or gas fuel is released, mixed wit air and burnt
Burning off - Removing old paint by heating it with a blowlamp until it softens, then scraping it off.
Burnishing - Polishing metals for finishing or to hone a cutting edge
Burr - A jagged edge left after metal is cut or a fin on concrete from a formwork joint
Burring Reamer - A tool that removes burs left by the pipe cutter
Bush Hammer - A hand held machine (usually air driven), or a mason's hammer, with rows of raised tooth like pyramids on its face, used for hacking or scabbling the surface of fairly hard materials such as stone or concrete
Butt Hinge - The commonest hinge for doors. When the door is shut the two halves are folded tightly together. Each flap is usually morticed, one into the door frame and the other into the hanging stile. The ordinary steel butt is very cheap and durable, but ball-bearing butts are smoother running and noiseless
Butt Joint - A joint between two square ended pieces of the same thickness without overlap
Butt Veneer - Veneer with the strong curly figure from a tree trunk
Butter coat - A soft, wet coat of render for a dry-dash finish
Buttering - The spreading of mortar on the ends of bricks to form perpends or on the backs of floor tiles before bedding
Buttress - Supportive wall of brick or stone and/or;
A projecting support built to the outside of the wall, any support or prop
Buzz Saw - A circular Saw
Byelaw, by-law - Laws governing all phases of construction in a particular location
Bypass - An arrangement of pipes (for conduits) for directing flow round instead of through the normal pipe
Byzantine - Relating to byzantium or Constantinople,
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
No comments:
Post a Comment