The major contemporary trends in building industry can include the use of wood as a building material of construction. In the construction of wooden buildings were made significant progress recently. Development of diagnostic methods for existing wooden structure is important for the reliability of wooden buildings. The paper presents a methodology for assessing the quality of existing wood structures using the device RESISTOGRAPH.

The paper summarized the results of the research works dealing with the development of advanced cementitious composite materials with fibre reinforcement designed for antiterrorist systems. The effect of different randomly dispersed fibre reinforcement (glass, basalt, polymer and steel fibre of 12–55 mm length and their combinations) on physical mechanical properties of the composite and its overall blast resistance was evaluated. The developed material was used for the design of blast resistant litter bin. The final dimensions, geometry and composition of the layers were defined using the numerical simulations in LS-Dyna implicit/explicit solver. The blast resistance of the element was subsequently verified by blast tests on the real product.

The article describes the construction, design and architecture of the stairway. The stairway is a substantial part of the complete construction in multi-storey buildings, apartment buildings, single family houses and shopping centers etc. The article also describes the aspects of stairway safety.

The main need for drilling wood at construction is at work carpentry or concrete, sleepers etc. The market is a larger number of species of wood drills and orientation in the selection of the correct type is useful to know some of their properties. I repeat it and think about it, why drills sleepers manufactured in series.

Timber grading – Visual stress grading of timber – Visual grading of round timber – Mechanical stress-grading of timber – Examples and advantages of timber grading machines − Design characteristics of structural timber according Eurocode 5 – Bibliography.

Currently, we increasingly need to carry out construction modifications on objects which in view of their age could be basically considered as new-build buildings at which we did not expect such a requirement. In most cases these construction modifications are caused by failures or defects of roofs, especially operation roofs – terraces. The cause of failure is often a combination of several factors. The primary source of error may be already a design project and roofing solution and quality of realization of each roof layer and roof details or unsuitable climatic conditions during the implementation. A separate issue could be the problem of the poor quality of used materials. By interaction of these negative effects then surprisingly arise failures at objects which were realized a few years ago.

An overview of the structural behaviour of notched timber beams. Notching a beam at its end leads to a stress concentration at the corner of the notch due to the sudden change in the notched beam’s cross section. The concentration of tensile stresses perpendicular to the grain and shear and can lead to failure caused by the crack propagation from the notch corner. In addition, a review of the notched beams design according Eurocode 5, reinforcements, and the design example are included.

The contribution deals with particular causes of excessive damp of wooden constructions in objects of the civil engineering. It concerns for instance the matter of water condensation on the surface of wooden elements and on the inside of constructions that contain wooden elements, of incorrect construction design, of constructions with wooden elements and leaking water in places wth wooden elements.

An overview of the development and standard types of the prefabricated wooden houses, their basic structural materials, basic mechanical timber joints, design practice for loads effects and requirements for structural elements is presented in the five-part series. The first part explains the development and standard types of the prefabricated wooden houses.

This paper deals with the experiment which was used to analyse the influence of duration of cement hydration on the concrete properties. Compressive strength of concrete and dynamic and static values of the concrete modulus of elasticity were determined. The only variable factor was the duration of cement hydration. The outcome has form of graphic and tabular outputs showing the observed values.

The article draws attention to situations, which are created when cracks in concrete and reinforced concrete structures are evaluated. Despite cracks being in general allowable in reinforced concrete structures as per ČSN EN 1992-1-1, only the width of cracks must be limited with respect to functionality of the structure. These limits are well defined with respect to water impermeability of reinforced concrete structures or their durability, but we are missing criteria, which would allow for evaluation of influence of the cracks on visual appearance of the structures. Therefore very frequently situation arises, when cracks are not warranty claimed as a potential static defect or a flaw, or as an aspect influencing lifespan of the structure, but solely as an aesthetic defect.

The paper describes the basic division of surface protection systems for concrete, which define standard EN 1504-2. Evaluates various parameters prescribed in relation to the requirements of the usual structures and gives appropriate use of various systems. The following are examples of inspections carried out and assessed defects.

This work dealing with problematic about durability of concrete, with use of recycled concrete and addition of silica additions. Predominant for resistance of concrete constructions is surface layer, through which aggressive gases and liquids penetrate from surrounding environment. The most important indicator of concrete durability is ability of surface layer transmissions of aggressive substants. In the next part were defined the actual state of surface layer by normal testing methods. The transmissions of surface layer were tested on concrete cubes. Tests for transmissions of air (method TORRENT), of water (method ISAT), of acid gases (dept of carbonation by quick test in 98% CO₂) were carried out and also strength tests. Assessment of positive or negative influence of additions and amount of cement on durability and mechanical properties of concrete will be discussed in conclusion.

The article describes measuring for a period of 16 years of an experimental masonry object, horizontally prestressed using cables – monostrands. Specific problems od this method of strengthening are mentioned.

New Civil Code enacts special type of solidary obligation to remedy the defects of building constructed under contract for works. All subcontractors (suppliers) of constructor, investor`s technical supervisors or construction project designer are solidary responsible together with the constructor in case the defect can be attributed to the performance they provided. However, these parties need not to be the parties to the contract for works itself (and usually are not) as their obligation arises by law.

The remedies that the investor can claim on these co-debtors, however, are limited to right to demand the repair of the defect. Investor may demand remedy on any of the co-debtors and all the co-debtors are obliged to perform the remedy in full.

The investor has to give notice to the debtor within a reasonable time. The notice can be sent to any of the co-debtors but we advise all investors to give notice always to the constructor first or together with the other co-debtors.

The thesis deals with urban sprawl and suburbanization as the effects of changes in society. It presents the basic historical overview and describes the situation in contemporary Europe. The thesis focuses on description of negative aspects, in connection with formed urban sprawl.
This work presents and describes the historical background of suburbanization in the Czech Republic. It reflects on the causes and presents the facts, leading to their understanding.
The practical part of the thesis is the application of acquired knowledge on the model, which is Brno-Útěchov. One of the peripheral parts of Brno that has grown significantly due to suburbanization in last few years.
Ideological study aims to show an alternative approach to this way of development. The main areas of interest are importance of public and private space, often neglected idea of neighborhood and the importance of privacy in terms of new houses in a face of village itself.

The New Civil Code (“NCC”) brings about a comprehensive enactment of culpa in contrahendo – “fault in conclusion of a contract”. This legal institution has so far completely absented from the Civil Code and only the court practice would offer some hint as to its applicability. NCC newly emphasises the principle of honest legal affair based on the good faith of the acting party. In specific provisions, NCC explicitly prohibits a party from negotiating a contract while lacking the will to conclude it as well as from abolishing negotiations in an advanced stage without a legitimate reason to do so. Further, contract parties have a mutual information duty regarding any factual or legal circumstances which may the other party deem relevant. If such information is privileged, though, the party which recieved it is bound not to misuse it or disclose it without proper legal grounds. Any act by a contracting party lacking to meet the aforesaid criteria establishes liability to pay damages.

Asbestos is often mentioned in connection with the construction industry, especially with the school buildings. Wrong way of asbestos removal meant a multimillion cost of cleaning the property. Unfortunately, these cases do not cause a change in legislation that would regulate working with asbestos.

An integral part of a building survey is determining the location of steel reinforcements in building construction elements made of reinforced concrete. In the last decade, GPR came as one of the standard diagnostic methods. However, the equipment used until recently was characterized by its complexity and lengthy measurements, evaluation of which required a considerably professionally knowledgeable staff. The turning point was Hilti PS 1000, a GPR intended for use by common technicians during building surveys. This contribution evaluates the first experience with its use.

The article handles about development of ultra-light concrete with mass density less than 1000 kg/m³. In the article there are described laboratory preparation of specimens and primary mechanical properties of the ULC.