Survey of Loading Tests on Some Post-War House Prototypes

It became apparent during the war that available production capacity in the traditional building industry alone could not satisfy the probable post-war demand for dwelling houses. In a paper read before the Institution of Structural Engineers in 1945, Mr. R. Fitzmaurice stated the necessity of “augmenting the output of orthodox houses by using available resources of labour and materials other than those used in the traditional brick house.” Before attempting to introduce non-conventional methods of house building, however, the available knowledge on this subject and on house building generally had to be pooled and summarised. An Inter-departmental Committee on House-Building, The Burt Committee, was appointed in 1942 for this purpose by the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Ministers of Health and Works, under the chairmanship of Sir George Burt “to consider materials and methods of construction suitable for the building of houses and flats, having regard to efficiency, economy and ease of erection and to make recommendations for post-war practice.”

A. Short and L.G. Simms