Technical Panel Members
Gervais Sawyer - Timber
Gervais Sawyer is a Fellow of the Institute of Wood Science and has been associated with the wood industries since 1963. His specialisms were wood processing and protection. Although now partly retired after 30 years in wood science research and training, he is still active in consultancy and research. He particularly enjoys finding cost effective solutions to diverse problems. As a wood scientist he has all round skills but has a particular specialism in matters concerning degradation of timber, its protection and preservation. He is currently evaluating the performance of new timbers for sea and river defences.
Gervais is currently busy promoting the wood industries as a career opportunity for schoolchildren. Gervais's life philosophy is that you should never let a day pass without learning something new. His experience has been that Property Care Association members are generally very enthusiastic and dedicated to their industry and enjoy sharing their experiences for the greater good.
George McGill - Timber And Damp
George McGill specialises in Dry Rot, Wet Rot, Dampness Problems and Mould growth and insect infestation problems in buildings. He offers independent information and advice and a scientific approach to the diagnosis and treatment of this type of problem. He also offers a laboratory and technical testing services for the correct diagnosis of such building defects such as microscopical identification of fungi and insects, and analytical services for plaster, salts and preservative retentions.
His consultancy consists of qualified scientists, specialising in mycology and plant biochemistry, and provide the scientific back up for an accurate assessment of the exact nature of the problem, the cause, and the most effective up-to-date solutions. The consultancy is active in research and development. One of their recent projects was biological control technology for use in the eradication of dry rot in buildings. They have developed a less intrusive survey procedure for detecting and mapping dry rot in buildings, and hold the intellectual property rights for the new DRY ROT Detector Probe.
Phil Hewitt - Waterproofing And Litigation
Phil has specialised in structural waterproofing and damp-proofing since 1986, and is today considered to be one of the leading technical figures in the industry.
He is a past chairman of the British Structural Waterproofing Association, and is also very active in the Property Care Association, where he chaired a sub-committee responsible for producing a Code of Practice for Waterproofing. He has been chairman of the BWPDA Remedial Treatment Technical Committee, the Structural Waterproofing Group, and the Associates (Consultants) Committee. He is currently a member of the Property Care Association's Board.
Phil was Technical Manager at Vandex for eight years, and has an exceptional knowledge of cementitious systems. However, the work he has done in the past means he also has an excellent working knowledge of all waterproofing systems. Phil was involved in various projects around the UK, including Sewage and Water Treatment Plants, Reservoirs, North Sea oil rigs, and the Channel Tunnel. Phil Hewitt Associates was formed in January 1997, to take advantage of Phil's own specialist knowledge, as well as the knowledge of various others of his associates who will be working with him from time to time.
Mr. V Bradbury - Wall Ties
As a well known Wall tie specialist, Vaughan has worked in this field for 25 years. He has lectured at both Glamorgan University and South Bank London.He has also provided Wall Tie Training for Safeguard Chemicals and currently to Permagard Products, more recently he has been asked to join the Property Care Association as a Wall Tie training Provider.
Les Hill - Damp, Timber And Health And Safety Waterproofing
Having obtained a BSc in Chemistry, Les started working life with Tarmac, in their construction division central laboratory, and spent 4 years working on concrete, admixtures, surface treatments and analysis. This included site visits looking at problems, and supervising the application of special products.
After a short period in development of PF and UF resins for foundry sand binders, during which he decided manufacturing was not his interest, Les joined Cuprinol, working in their laboratories providing technical support for their pretreatment and professional customers, utilising his analytical knowledge in testing of plasters, and becoming familiar with wood preservatives. Again, site inspections of problems were a feature.
His next move was to a national preservation company, where he put his technical background to good use while dealing with guarantee claims and ongoing problems in various parts of the UK. During this period, he was trained to carry out surveys and did so as an integral part of his duties. Also during this time he had his first contact with Trade Associations, as a number of issues he dealt with had been brought to the attention of what were at the time BCDA and BWPA.
Shortly afterwards, he joined BCDA as Technical Officer, and spent over 20 years in Trade Association work, doing routine and new member inspections ( he set up the routine inspection system), attending internal and external committees and dealing with disputes between members and clients. This also included regular CPD lectures to specifiers and major client groups such as Building Surveyors, EHOs, Valuers, Building Societies, Housing Associations etc. During this period, with the progression from BCDA through BWPDA and TAS to PCA, he gained CSRT and CSSW qualifications, as well as Part 1 & 2 in Pest Control, together with the NEBOSH General Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health, and the Level 3 qualification in Food Safety Supervision. On leaving TAS following the split up of the joint venture, he has set up a consultancy, using his knowledge of the damp and waterproofing, timber preservation, pest control, technical auditing and health & safety fields.
Glenn Millward - Damp, Timber And Wall Ties
From a trade background Glenn came into the damp & timber industry as a trainee surveyor for Rentokil later taking the CTIS & CRDS qualifications. During his time with Rentokil Glenn was responsible for surveying both domestic and commercial buildings including, Castles, Churches, Hospitals and old Mills. In 1982 Glenn was approached by a small remedial treatment company in the south Manchester area and was appointed senior surveyor. He became Managing Director in 1986 when the company moved to a Limited status. Glenn continued with his studies and became an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Building and a member of the institute of wood science.
After serving almost 20 years on the board Glenn became a Independent Consultant Surveyor specialising in Surveying and expert court witness cases. He has been commissioned to advise as a consultant for a number Housing Associations and private Developers, he also act for a number of Local Authorities in the capacity of Consultant which involves writing reports and specifications on both timber and damp treatments and the control of condensation. In recent years Glenn has been commissioned as a Surveyor acting for the MOD on various Military bases in the Midlands, North Wales & Cumbria area.
Graham Coleman - Damp And Timber
Since 1982 he has been in private practice (Remedial Technical Services) as an Independent Consultant specialising in Laboratory and Consultancy services examining dampness and timber infestation/rot problems in buildings. Graham Coleman is an Independent Consultant member of the Property Care Association, and is frequently invited as a speaker at their specialist dampness and timber seminars. He also undertakes the training for the CSRT (Certified Surveyor in Remedial Treatments) qualification for the Property Care Association in timber infestation and dampness, and also provides a specialist course for Building Professionals on Condensation and Mould growths.
Graham Coleman is both a trainer and examiner for the nationally recognised qualification Certified Surveyor in Remedial Treatments (CSRT) and Chief Examiner for the Certificated Surveyor in Structural Water-proofing (CSSW) qualification.
Dr C George - Timber And Damp
Christopher George went to Trinity College, Dublin gaining an MA in biochemistry. He went on to study under Prof. John Levy of Imperial College, which resulted in a PhD in fungal enzymic degradation of timber. Following this he obtained an MSc, with distinction, in the Timber Structures (Civil Engineering Dept). He is an Associate of the Institute of Wood Science and was the first to obtain a credit in all three modules of the CSRT. In 1975, he joined Rentokil Ltd where he gained experience of surveying over one thousand buildings affected by wood destroying organisms. In 1978 he started All Timber Infestation and Consultancy Services Ltd, providing consultative and treatment services with whom he is still employed as MD/Consultant.
As a consultant to ATICS he has advised in a large number of cases. He has pioneered new treatment techniques for the control of dry rot. Recently ATICS Ltd have extended their field of expertise to designing the installation of Ground Source Heat Pump systems.He has provided advice for Hampton Court Palace, the Swiss Cottage Osborne House, certain historic buildings for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Smithfield's Meat market for the City of London Corporation (a 60m refurbishment), a certain important Dukal residence in Scotland, the Mansion House, Fulham Palace, St Mary's-in-the-Castle Hastings, Craigievar Castle near Aberdeen and many other historic buildings.
He has lectured on control of fungal decay at many locations including the Institute of Wood Science, South Bank University, IC and on the repair courses for professionals given by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). He has served on the Technical, Publicity, Membership, Training, Environmental, Convention, General Purposes Committees and the Council and has been a Vice President of what was the old BWP[D]A. He has been Chairman of the Training Committee, Remedial Treatment Committee and Associates Committee. From its incorporation, until 2001, he served as the Hon. Treasurer of the BWPD [Trade] Association.
He is now an Independent Consultant member of the PCA following its incorporation. His firm ATICS Ltd celebrates 30 years since incorporation on July 4th 2008. The firm specialises in litigation, particularly involving dry rot.
David Moore - Structural Timber Repairs
David Moore spent over 20 years in the Damp Proofing and Timber Preserving Industry, both as a Contractor and as Sales Development Manager for a National Chemical Formulator, Remtox Chemicals, before starting his present company, Property Repair Systems. He has a wide experience of damp proofing, replastering, timber treatment, basement conversion and wall tie replacement. He specialises in diagnosing all manner of building problems relating to dampness and his company offers a comprehensive, free advice service to the Public and Trade alike. His interest is now focused on all types of green repair and treatment of buildings minimal use of chemicals, minimum cut-back of sound timbers and the use of his Patented Timber-Resin Splice system, which allows the replacement of decayed timber beam ends without cutting out sound timber.