Know your jargon When any of your clients
sustains a major building loss, they’ll be able to turn
to you to explain insurance jargon like ‘reinstatement’ or ‘betterment’ but,
what about the myriad of building terms? |
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| Architrave | Moulding around openings such as doors or windows. |
| Barge Board | A wide board fitted on the edge of tiles to follow the slope of the roof. |
| Batten | Timber strip to which roof tiles are fitted. |
| Bead (or Beading) | Small moulding to cover a join. |
| Blown or Live | Plaster that has lost its bond with the wall. |
| Bond | Arrangement of bricks to ensure stability of brickwork. |
| Budget | Something to be ignored! |
| Consumer Unit | Like a fuse box; the mechanism by which circuits are protected from overload. |
| Cooling-off period | Period of time allowed to change your mind about a purchase decision. Currently, goods and services that are sold unsolicited are subject in law to a seven day cooling off period. |
| Coping | Protective capping to the top of a wall. |
| Corbelling | Successive projecting courses of brickwork. |
| Damp-proof course | An impervious membrane laid about two brick courses above ground level to prevent damp from rising. |
| Distribution Board | An assembly containing switches or protective devices (e.g. fuses, circuit-breakers, residual current operated devices). |
| Eaves | Overhang of roof beyond wall below. |
| Efflorescence | Unsightly powdery white salts brought to surface of brickwork. |
| Estimate | An informed guess, a rough price. |
| First fix | Joiner, plumber and electrical carcassing prior to plaster. |
| Flashing | Metal sheet used to deflect water at junction between roof and wall. |
| Flaunching | Cement mortar filler round the top of a chimneystack. |
| Flush Door | Door with completely flat faces. |
| Frog | Indent on the bed face of a brick. |
| Gable or Verge | Upper part of an outer wall at the end of a pitched roof. |
| Glazing Bar | Thin bar shaped to receive pane of glass. |
| Header | The end face of a brick. |
| Header Tank | Small open cistern (tank) that feeds water to central heating system. |
| Herringbone | Zigzag pattern of brickwork. |
| Hip | Line of adjoining sections of pitched roof at external angle of building. |
| Hip Tile | Roof tile shaped to cover hip of roof. |
| Hipped Roof | Pitched roof, the ends of which are also sloped. |
| Jamb | The side of an opening in a wall for a door or window. |
| Lean-to Roof | Sloping roof supported along its highest part by a taller adjoining wall. |
| Light | Subdivision of a window. |
| Loose-Fill Insulation | Loose material for insulating cavity walls and lofts. |
| Making Good | The finishing touches that bring work up to scratch. |
| Mansard Roof | Form of pitched roof designed to provide more space for rooms. |
| Muck | A bricklayer's slang term for mortar. |
| Mullion | Upright post in window. |
| Nogging | Short wooden stiffeners inserted between joists. |
| Nosing | Rounded edge of a stair tread that projects beyond the riser. |
| Parapet | Low wall at the edge of a roof. |
| PC Sum (Prime Cost Sum) |
An approximate sum of money allowed for materials or labour – e.g. £X for a bathroom suite that has yet to be chosen, or £X for work to be undertaken by a subcontractor. |
| Purlin | Horizontal beam, part way up a rafter to prevent sagging. |
| RCD (Residual Current Device) |
A protective device on an electrical circuit. |
| Reveal | Vertical side of door or window opening. |
| Riser | Upright part of a stair OR vertical water pipe from the mains. |
| RSJ | Rolled steel joist. |
| Sarking Felt | Waterproof felt under roof tile battens. |
| Screed | Layer of fine concrete used to provide smooth surface prior to floor finish. |
| Second Fix | Items fitted following plastering. |
| Span | Horizontal distance covered by a beam or lintel, etc. |
| Spoil | Material dug out during excavation. |
| Stack | Vertical pipe carrying waste from sinks and toilets. |
| Stretcher | The side face of a brick. |
| String | Sloping board carrying the treads and risers of a staircase. |
| T&G Boarding | Tongue and groove, traditional softwood floor boards. |
| Trap | A curved section of drain that holds water, providing a seal that prevents odours from escaping. |
| TRV | Thermostatic radiator valve. |
| Verge Tile | Edge of a roof, which runs from eaves to ridge at a gable. |
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