South Africa: Soils, Substructure, and Superstructure Course

Welcome to InterNACHI's free, online South Africa: Soils, Substructure, and Superstructure course.  

 
Goal:
 
The goal of this course is to teach the student how to inspect the structural systems and components of a house in South Africa. 
 
This course covers soil types, their performance characteristics and the effect they have on substructures and superstructures. It also covers construction methods of substructures and superstructures to accommodate soil conditions, and how they age and fail.
 
And, in keeping with InterNACHI's commitment to Continuing Education, this course is open and free to all members, and can be taken again and again, without limit.
 
Reminder to members:  InterNACHI's Code of Ethics 1.10 requires that you comply with all government rules and licensing requirements of the jurisdiction where you conduct business.  InterNACHI's courses and Standards generally exceed the Standards of Practice that you are required to abide by locally.
 
Objective:
 
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to demonstrate an understanding of soil types, their performance characteristics and the defects they can cause in substructures and superstructures.

The student will also be able to demonstrate an understanding of common types of of substructures and superstructures, including identification of defects related to how they age and fail.

      Topics include:
      • What is Soil?
      • Heaving
      • Subsidence
      • Quiz #1
      • Collapsible Soils
      • Compressible Soils
      • Dolomite and Limestone Settlement
      • Soil Shear Strength
      • Quiz #2
      • Fill
      • Inadequate Compaction
      • Moisture in Soil
      • Quiz #3
      • Case Studies
      • Tree-related Problems
      • Tree-related Problems
      • Quiz #4
      • Substructures
      • Site Preparation
      • Foundation Function
      • Quiz #5
      • Raft Foundations
      • Pile/Pier Foundations
      • Non-bearing Foundations
      • Quiz #6
      • Foundation Cracks
      • Inspecting Foundations
      • Heaving and Subsidence
      • Quiz #7
      • Shrinkage Cracks
      • Crazing
      • Corner Cracking
      • Reactive Aggregate
      • Quiz #8
      • Reinforcement Steel Corrosion
      • Rising damp
      • Quiz #9
      • Efflorescence
      • Concrete Surface Damage
      • Flaking and Spalling
      • Dusting Concrete
      • Problems Related to Placing Concrete
      • Quiz #10
      • Superstructure
      • Glossary of Terms for Superstructures
      • Quiz #11
      • Inspection of Superstructures
      • Cracking in Masonry
      • Quiz #12
      • Crack diagnosis
      • Inspection Considerations
      • Quiz #13
      • Conclusion
        Course includes:
        • 4 CE credit hours;
        • 94 quiz questions in 13 quizzes;
        • 100-question final exam (drawn from a larger pool);
        • instant grading; and
        • a downloadable, printable Certificate of Completion.
        Upon completion of this course and passing of the 100-question final exam (drawn from a larger pool), the student can download and print their own Certificate of Completion which is auto-generated in their own name. 
         
        The student's (InterNACHI member's) information is recorded on InterNACHI's servers for membership compliance verification, and automatically logs completion into InterNACHI's online Continuing Education log.  It counts as four InterNACHI Continuing Education hours.
         
        Members will need their username and password.  If you have forgotten your password, CLICK HERE (instant response) or email fastreply@internachi.org and request it (don't forget your name). 
         
         
        Some features which make InterNACHI's courses superior to existing continuing education options:
        • The course is free for all InterNACHI members.
        • The course is written in pure XHTML code for quick loading.  The course loads fine on old computers and loads fast, even with dial-up.
        • The course is designed using a hierarchal menu coupled with a sequential page navigation.  This provides the student with the option to easily repeat areas of weakness.
        • The course permits the student to start, stop and restart any part of the course as often as desired.
        • There are a variety of images within the course, including diagrams, illustrations and pictures of actual roofs.
        • The illustrations can be enlarged for clearer viewing by clicking on them.
        • The text is integrated into InterNACHI's Inspector Glossary.  Rolling over blue-colored terms provides their definition.
        • The final exam uses multiple-choice questions that reference the images. 
        • The course's quizzes and final exam have numerous advantages over traditional exam systems:
          1. The course, quizzes and final exam incorporate built-in intelligence which identifies and strengthens each student's unique subject weaknesses.
          2. Not only is each question weighted with regard to score, but each answer is weighted, as well as the correctness of each answer being weighted.
            1. Answers to easy questions are weighted such that the student is penalized, in terms of score, for answering incorrectly, but rewarded modestly for answering correctly.
            2. Answers to difficult questions are weighted such that the student is rewarded, in terms of score, for answering correctly, but not penalized for answering incorrectly.
            3. Answers to questions regarding basic safety, or questions every inspector should know the answer to, are weighted such that the student is severely penalized, in terms of score, for answering incorrectly.
        • Upon passing the final exam, the student can print out a Certificate of Completion which is auto- generated in their own name.
        The student's (InterNACHI member's) information is recorded on InterNACHI's servers for membership compliance verification, and automatically logs completion into InterNACHI's online Continuing Education log.
         

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