§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the Building Research Establishment has developed a successful means of halting the deterioration of mild steel load-bearing stanchions in Wates prefabricated reinforced concrete homes.
§ Mr. GowThere are no mild steel load-bearing stanchions in such houses. There is a steel joint supporting the first floor but that is unlikely to deteriorate and there have been no reports of any problems. There is, however, mild steel reinforcement in the reinforced concrete components. Once corrosion in these prefabricated components has begun there is no known method of halting its progress. If there is no corrosion, the application of surface coatings to the concrete may slow down the processes leading to corrosion. Guidance on these coatings is given in Building Research Establishment Digest No. 265. A copy of this paper has been placed in the Library.