Needling and forming openings in walls

One of the most common activities during a refurbishment project is to form a new opening or enlarge an existing opening in a load-bearing brick or masonry wall. Obviously, making a hole through a wall for a 150 mm wastewater pipe requires some judgement, but this chapter is concerned with more significant openings. The hole could be for a door, window or services, or to make a space ‘open plan’. Relatively simple operations have led to problems due to lack of competent people to assess the issues or supervise the work, lack of knowledge/information about the existing structure to be supported, perceived lack of time and money, and unrealistic expectations of how to carry out the work. The Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) publication C740 (Gilbertson, 2017) gives guidance for the various parties involved.