ALL TIMBER INFESTATION & CONSULTANCY SERVICES LTD
Timber Infestation and Structural Consultants
15 Baskerville Road
Wandsworth
London SW18 3RJ
Telephone: 0044 [0]20 8874 2013
Email: mail@atics.co.uk
THE COMPANY
Since its foundation in 1978, 'ATICS' has established a high reputation for the quality of its timber infestation consultancy services. The company has surveyed buildings of almost every age and size for clients ranging from individual householders to corporate bodies; commissions have included large historic structures such as Hampton Court Palace and Smithfield Market as well as more modest commercial and domestic buildings.
ATICS is strongly committed to the conservative repair and treatment of timbers in historic buildings and has pioneered new treatment techniques for the control of dry rot which minimise destruction of the original fabric of the building.
THE SERVICES
ATICS offers a consultancy service to professionals and home owners who have identified a potential problem of fungal decay (wet and dry rots) or insect attack in building timbers. On the basis of particularly thorough and detailed surveys, the company's consultants are able to make accurate diagnoses of the nature and cause of problems and to give specific advice on remedial treatment which almost always leads to substantial savings in overall treatment costs.
The importance of accurate diagnosis is demonstrated by research which shows that dry rot is misdiagnosed with surprising frequency, leading to unnecessary and expensive repairs; and both dry rot and woodworm are commonly treated with chemicals when the attack is no longer active: difficulties such as these can be avoided by employing a specialist consultant.
In addition, ATICS' adoption of a conservative approach in treatment specification can significantly reduce the amount and cost of treatment without any compromise in effectiveness and will avoid inappropriate removal of original timber and plaster.
As a specialist, the company's consultant routinely prepares expert opinions for use in litigation.
THE CONSULTANT
ATICS' senior consultant, Dr CJD George, is a highly qualified and experienced timber surveyor. He has an MSc (with distinction) in Timber Structures and Engineering and a PhD in Fungal Enzymic Degradation of Timber from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, and is a Certified Timber Infestation Surveyor (with credit). In addition to over thirty-five years work as a surveyor, he also has considerable practical knowledge as a result of working for several years as an operative on site.
Dr George has lectured extensively to professional and academic bodies. He maintains regular contact with researchers in the field of timber infestation. He was the timber conservation lecturer on courses for building professionals given by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) for some ten years in the nineties, in which he focused on the control of fungal decay and insect attack with minimum damage to the building, and has served on many committees of the British Wood Preserving and Damp-Proofing Association (now the PCA), where he has been involved in liaison with government departments, such as the HSE, which resulted in various Codes of Practice for the safe use of non-agricultural pesticides.