ABBE L6 Building Surveying common mistakes
ABBE L6 Building Surveying · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Diagnosing a defect from a single symptom without tracing the water or movement path to its source, e.g. labelling internal damp as rising damp when the cause is a bridged damp-proof course or failed rainwater goods.
Candidates pattern-match the visible symptom to the most familiar label and stop there, and the exam rewards the mechanism, not the label.
What to do instead
For every defect answer, state the observed symptom, the candidate mechanisms, the diagnostic evidence that would discriminate between them, and only then the most probable cause. Practise writing two-line 'mechanism chains' for damp, cracking and timber decay.
Confusing settlement, subsidence and heave, or attributing cracking to foundation movement without checking crack pattern, location, width, and whether it is seasonal or progressive.
The three terms are used loosely in everyday speech, and candidates answer from general vocabulary rather than from crack morphology and monitoring evidence.
What to do instead
Learn a discrimination table: crack shape (tapered, diagonal, vertical), position relative to openings and corners, whether it closes or widens seasonally, and the monitoring period needed before a firm diagnosis. Apply it to past-paper scenarios.
Specifying a repair material or method that is incompatible with the existing construction, such as cement-based mortar repointing in a solid-walled historic brick building or impermeable paint on traditional renders.
Candidates default to modern, widely available products and do not consider the moisture and movement behaviour of the original fabric.
What to do instead
Before specifying, state the original construction (masonry type, mortar, render, wall thickness), its moisture regime, and the compatibility criteria (vapour permeability, strength, movement, thermal expansion). Then justify the chosen material against those criteria.
Describing a construction detail in general terms ('a suitable damp-proof membrane') instead of naming the materials, sequence, dimensions and junctions that make the detail work.
Candidates know the concept but not the build-up, and under time pressure they write the concept and move on.
What to do instead
Practise writing full build-ups in words from outside to inside and bottom to top, including laps, upstands, thresholds, and how the detail terminates at openings and edges. Time yourself to two minutes per detail.
Producing an inspection or condition report that lists observations without recording method, access, limitations, or a condition rating with a defined scale.
Candidates treat the report as a description task rather than an evidence task, and they omit the caveats that make the conclusions defensible.
What to do instead
Use a fixed report skeleton: scope and instructions, method and equipment, access and limitations, observations by element, condition rating against a stated scale, risk and priority, recommendations, and sign-off. Write the skeleton from memory until it is automatic.
Citing a regulation, standard or approval route by vague reference ('it must comply with building regs') without naming the applicable requirement, the trigger, or who is responsible for enforcement.
Candidates learn the existence of a framework but not its structure, so they cannot retrieve the specific part or duty under exam pressure.
What to do instead
Build a one-page map of the regulatory framework you are examined on: the relevant Act, the functional requirements and their parts, the notification and inspection stages, the competent-person and dutyholder roles, and the enforcement and appeals route. Test yourself by naming the requirement for ten common work types.
Treating building services and environmental performance as a bolt-on, answering a fabric or refurbishment question without considering ventilation, moisture control, airtightness, thermal bridging or overheating risk.
Candidates compartmentalise topics and do not integrate services with the building envelope, which is where most real failures occur.
What to do instead
For every envelope, repair or refurbishment answer, run a checklist: how is this ventilated, where does moisture go, what is the condensation and thermal-bridge risk, and what is the unintended consequence of the change? Write at least one sentence on each.
Writing a contract or project-management answer that names a mechanism (variation, extension of time, loss and expense) but omits the procedure, timescales, notices and records that make it operate.
Candidates remember the concept but not the administrative machinery, and the marks sit in the machinery.
What to do instead
For each mechanism, memorise the trigger, the notice and its time limit, the information required, the assessment basis, and the consequence of failing to notify. Practise applying it to a short scenario with dates.
Ignoring health and safety and professional-ethics dimensions in scenario answers, or mentioning them only as a closing platitude rather than as a decision that changes the advice.
Candidates see these as separate syllabus topics rather than as constraints on every professional judgement, so they run out of marks on integration.
What to do instead
In every scenario answer, identify the hazard and the control hierarchy, the competence and conflict-of-interest position, and what you would record and to whom you would escalate. Make it a standing paragraph in your answer plan.
Answering refurbishment and maintenance questions at strategy level ('implement a planned maintenance regime') without producing a prioritised, costed and sequenced programme tied to condition and risk.
Candidates know the vocabulary of asset management but not how to convert condition data into a deliverable plan.
What to do instead
Practise converting a short condition survey into a prioritised schedule: element, condition, consequence of failure, priority band, indicative cost, and year. Show the logic that moves an item between bands.