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Self Build Home - Self build glossary Category: Architecture and Buildings > Self build homes Date & country: 03/12/2007, UK Words: 141

Ranging rod
A long slender section of timber marked to identify the position of brick and block courses or any other part of the construction. It is basically a measuring stick.

Reinforced concrete
A process of installing steel rods inside concrete beams to help them withstand stress along their length without collapsing.

Reject
Materials that do not come up to the required standard, for example, 'reject engineering brick'.

Reserved matters
The fine detail required, following receipt of outline planning permission, that will turn it, in effect, into a detailed planning application. The aspects include design, layout, access, orientation and landscaping of the dwelling.

Retrospective design
An interior scheme that reflects the immediate past and uses colours, materials and objects pertinent to that period.

Ridge
The topmost line of the roof.

Ridge tile
Preformed angled tile covering the apex of the roof.

Roll-over relief
A way of delaying the payment of capital gains tax by reinvesting profit from the sale of one business asset to another.

Sarking
Boards placed between the rafters and the roof (sometimes called the 'soffit').

Screed
A thin level layer of material usually applied to floors.

Section 106 agreement
A binding agreement regarding matters linked to the pro- posed development, made between the council and a developer when planning permission is granted.

Septic tank
A tank constructed or manufactured to accept sewerage when no mains system is available.

Setting-out
The use of profile line-boards to mark a plan on the ground.

Signing off
Formal completion of the dwelling.

Sleeper wall
A wall to support the ground floor, usually honeycombed in con- struction to provide ventilation.

Snagging
When a builder attends the site to resolve outstanding matters after the main construction has been completed.

Snow line
Considered to be 500 feet above sea level. It is the theoretical altitude at which land is expected to suffer from severe winter conditions.

Soffit
The underside of an architectural element, for example an arch or the eaves. Soft landscaping. Elements include topsoil, plants, shrubs and trees.

Stamp duty
A duty payable on certain documents involved in the transfer of land and property ownership. The liability falls on the buyer.

Stanchion
A vertical supporting beam usually made from steel. Stretcher. Brick or block laid lengthways in a wall.

String or stringer
One of the parallel boards supporting the treads.

Strip foundation
Concrete filled trenches to support a building.

Structural indemnity insurance
An insurance policy usually required by mortgage lenders that guarantees the dwelling against structural defects for a specified term after completion.

Strut
An upright roof timber connected to the rafter above it or sloping to connect another post to the rafter.

Tabling
The term used when roof verges are capped with stone slabs.

Tanalised timber
Timbers used in construction, typically for floor joists, which have had tanalith-oxide preservative driven into their cellular structure under pressure.

Tandem garage
A garage long enough for two vehicles to park one behind the other.

Taper relief
A sliding-scale allowance for capital gains tax available from April 1998 based on the principle that the longer a property is owned the less tax is payable.

Tie-beam
The main horizontal roof beam just above the wall that connects the bases of rafters.

Title deeds
Legal documents proving ownership of a property.

Tree preservation order
Made under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 by the local planning authority to protect trees of importance for amenity, landscape and nature conservation.

Trussed
Timber planks framed together to bridge a space.

Turnkey
A self-build 'turnkey project' is one that is entirely managed on your behalf by an individual or a company (such as an architect or builder), with your own involvement limited to providing funds and design guidelines.

Underpinning
The installation of strong foundations underneath primary foundations when the latter have failed or have been found to be inadequate to support the structure above.

UPVC
A type of stable plastic used in the manufacture of double-glazed window frames, doors and cladding.

Use class
The designation of land use by the local authority, for example as 'resi- dential'. The 'use class' determines how specific plots of land can be developed, if at all.

Vendor
The person selling land or property.

Verge
The edge of a roof at the gable.

Wall tie
A galvanised metal tie used to bond the inner and outer walls of a cavity wall together.

Winders
Triangular stair treads sometimes used when a staircase turns a comer.

Yield
The annual return on property investment expressed as a percentage..