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F

Fascia

Wood or PVC fixed to rafters allowing guttering to be attached.

Fenestration

The pattern of windows.

Fibre Quilting

A form of thick matting used for thermal insulation. Often fibre glass based, health and safety precautions need to be taken when handling it.

Fibreboard

Inexpensive and fragile material, often used in lofts for its insulating properties.

Filling loop

A means of feeding water into a sealed domestic water system, or a system with a combination boiler.

Filter fleece/ fines layer

Prevents fines and sediments from being washed out of the green roof into the drainage system.

Final Certificate

Certificate of performance against the CSH based on the completed dwelling.

Financial Services Authority

See FSA

Finial

A decorative device to finish off a building element with a flourish, most commonly seen on railings

Finished

Refers to the time when a post construction assessment can be done. Finished is the point at which the construction of a property is sufficiently advanced so as to make a post construction assessment possible. (Community and Local Government legal definition)

First-time Buyer

See FTB

Fixed Building Services

Are those, which are directly attached or connected to the building and cannot be removed/disconnected without the use of tools. A portable electric heater with a plug, allowing it to be removed from the building, without the use of tools is not considered a fixed building service. Although 9the presence of such a system clearly shows there is an expectation of conditioning and an EPC is required

Fixed Rate

An interest rate that applies to a loan for a set term. Both the interest rate and loan repayments are fixed for the agreed term, regardless of any interest rate variations in the home loan market. The agreed term is usually anywhere between 1 and 7 years.

Flashing

Building technique used to prevent leakage at a roof joint; A sheet between the roof and walls to reflect water away - normally metal (lead, zinc, copper) but can be cement, felt or proprietary material.

Flaunching

The contoured mortar around the base of chimney pots, used to secure the pot and allow rain run off.

Flue lining

The lining within a chimney to protect the brickwork from the effects of the waste fumes. Essential for high output gas appliances such as boilers. Often a metal tube (usually stainless steel and can be retro fitted) but can be made from special bricks and built into the flue.

Fluting

Parallel concave channels used to decorate the surfaces of stone, plaster or timber etc.

Footing

A foundation to support a wall.

Foundations

Normally concrete, cast into the sub-soil as the structural base for a wall or building - the depth and size will depend, amongst other things, upon the size/type of building and the nature of the sub-soil. In older buildings, the foundations may just be a course or two of wide bricks or stone.

Freehold

The full ownership of both the property and the land on which it stands.

Freeholder

Someone who owns a property and the land it stands on.

Frog

The depression in one side of a brick; should always be laid uppermost.

FSA (Financial Services Authority)

The UK financial regulator for financial services.

FTB (First-time Buyer)

A first-time buyer (FTB) is a term used in the British and Irish property markets, and in other countries, for a potential house buyer who has not previously owned a property

Full status

This term describes borrowers who can evidence their income.

Further advance

A situation whereby the lender makes available another loan and under which both loans are included within first charge on the property. A further advance can be used to consolidate debt or pay for improvements to the property.

Fuse Board

Principle electrical connection into a house, ordinarily comprising a fuse box, meter and earth connections.

Fused Spur

Power socket that does not have a plug going into it, instead the cable from an appliance like a fridge, radiator, burglar alarm etc and has a fuse socket built into it.