Author: Jack

Industrial sliding doors that save on space and improve industrial functionality

Posted on by Jack

Most people have been accustomed to the traditional types of doors which are commonly found in homes and offices. Only a few people are familiar with the sliding door systems.

Sliding doors have been in existence for a long time. The first sliding doors date back to the Roman Empire which was one of the strongest empires of their time. Roman Empire was renowned for her sophisticated and unique architecture.

Sliding doors were mostly found in the city of Pompeii in Italy which was part of the vast Roman Empire. Roman houses utilised sliding doors as their main choices of doors. Sliding doors were usually mounted or suspended on panels or columns of stone construction.  Continue reading →

How Improving Technology can Improve Safety in the Construction Industry

Posted on by Jack

Safety standards have been a considerable concern in the construction industry for decades now, following on from it being labelled amongst the most dangerous jobs around. Considerable headway has been made since then in the field of health and safety, but despite all of the efforts, being a builder or working on a construction site remains one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, and likely always will be. You’re working around dangerous equipment all day long, with heavy loads being lifted around you all of the time, dangerous and toxic substances, explosive materials and other fire risks, electrical lines and generators, to name a few. So long as humans are involved in building stuff, these risks will probably persist to some degree or another.

Improving technology offers some tremendous opportunities to improve the safety standards for those who work in the industry. More precision working equipment is being developed constantly, materials that are less dangerous and more light-weight are being developed to replace previous alternatives, there are even drones and other unmanned vehicles being adopted by some in the industry to carry out inspections and do more and more tasks, while the operators get to remain in relative safety.

Of course, some of this technology will take quite a long time to be developed to its full fruition, and it will likely take even longer for it to roll out to all of the smaller operators in the industry, but some are ready to be used right now, both as a means to improving safety and improving efficiency. Take UAV’s (unmanned aerial drones) as an example: These can be used today to get a clear view of the area or building site to identify any safety risks before it becomes a problem. They can also be used to carry out inspections in difficult and dangerous to reach areas.

 

Starting an Apprenticeship in the Construction Industry

Posted on by Jack

The construction industry is arguably the industry that has adopted the apprenticeship scheme more than any other. Most jobs in the industry will either have a traditional apprenticeship format or schemes that resemble trainee positions. This extends from everything from craft based positions such as stone masonry to managerial positions such as construction project management.

An apprenticeship, or alternatively a trainee position, usually will not have any educational attainment requirements for those looking to enter the industry. The apprenticeships will take anywhere from 1 year to 4 years depending on what you’re learning. You may also want to consider the future career path the apprenticeship affords you; some of them could end up translating into opportunities to enter management, while others may not.

The body that determines the criteria for construction apprenticeships is the CITB, which thereby ensure that all construction professionals are able to achieve a certain standard. In order to meet this guarantee, a portion of the course will take place outside of the company you are apprenticed to and instead will include coursework and examination designed to ensure you have an adequate breadth of knowledge.

Using Renewable Resources to Build Your New Home

Posted on by Jack

Renewable energy and materials is a big issue within modern society, and the pursuit of each of these certainly has some involvement in the construction industry. Studies have shown that the construction of buildings is one of the biggest global contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Changing this situation is a responsibility for both the construction companies and those looking specifying what materials they want to use in their buildings.

There are three reasons for why the construction industry has such a large carbon footprint; heavy machinery is often used in building projects, which use a lot of energy, excavating and transporting materials can also be a significant contributor, and processing them into a usable product is also a massive part of the equation. Using renewable resources that are sourced locally, while not always practical, when done has been proven to be an excellent method for reducing the impact on the environment.

There are a lot of renewable resources that can be substituted in for more generic, mass produced, manufactured materials. For instance, many people have tested cotton out as a replacement for oil-based insulation, and clay as a plaster replacement. Each of these are produced in nature, and can be categorised as renewable and safe for the environment, whereas what they’re replacing aren’t.

Working as a Building Surveyor

Posted on by Jack

Work in the construction industry has a lot of different opportunities. Some of these opportunities work to produce new buildings and manage construction projects, while others, such as work as a surveyor, work in the area of maintenance and management of existing buildings.

Within the construction industry, and wider society, surveyors play a very important role. Construction companies will employ their services, technology and techniques in order to verify that what they have produced is meeting safety standards and that the building is secure. Businesses and private citizens will also hire surveyors to review their premises or home so that they can verify that everything is safe and secure.

It is important that the role of a surveyor isn’t underestimated, as being able to accurately determine that a building is still stable is very important. If they aren’t used and they collapse or become increasingly unstable, the cost of repairs can begin to skyrocket, for one thing, and another important note is the potential risk to human safety.

More generally, surveyors can also be used to determine whether or not heating systems, insulation, and waterproofing are all working as it should be. When discussing these areas of concern, it is worth noting that while the risks of them not working optimally aren’t that great, it can lead to you effectively bleeding money in heat loss of damaged property.