--- title: Building, brickwork and fencing terms | Brick2Brick UK url: https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/glossary/ description: Plain definitions of the building, brickwork, groundworks, fencing, planning and insurance terms used on this site, from footings and DPC to party walls. last_updated: 2026-10-16 publisher: Brick2BrickUK Ltd and Fence 2 Fence Ltd --- # Building, brickwork and fencing terms explained The words builders, fencers and insurers use, in plain English. Where a term comes up on one of the team’s jobs, the example is from that job. **Acid clean-down**: Washing new brickwork with a diluted brick cleaning acid to lift mortar smears and stains once the mortar has dried.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Arris rail**: A horizontal fence rail, triangular in section, that runs between posts and carries the boards of a close-board fence.See: [Fencing](https://brick2brick.co.uk/fencing/), [Close-board fencing: a plain guide](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/close-board-fencing/) **Article 4 direction**: An order by a council that removes some or all permitted development rights in an area, so work that would normally be allowed needs a planning application.See: [Planning permission for extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/planning-permission-for-extensions/), [Garden wall and fence height rules](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/garden-wall-and-fence-height-rules/) **Block paving**: A driveway or path made of small concrete or clay blocks laid on sand over a compacted base, often in a herringbone pattern.See: [Driveways](https://brick2brick.co.uk/driveways/) **Blockwork**: Walls built from concrete blocks rather than bricks. Blocks are larger and quicker to lay, and are used for inner walls, below ground and where the wall will be rendered or plastered.See: [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/), [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Boundary wall**: A wall along the edge of a property. Built wholly on one owner’s land it is a boundary wall; standing astride the line between two properties it is a party fence wall.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/), [The Party Wall Act explained](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/party-wall-act/) **Breathable membrane**: A sheet fixed behind brickwork or cladding that keeps rain out but lets water vapour escape, so the frame behind stays dry.See: [Insurance work](https://brick2brick.co.uk/insurance-work/) **Brick matching**: Finding bricks, often reclaimed, that match the colour, size and texture of an existing wall so a repair blends in.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Brick on edge**: A row of bricks laid on their side along the top of a wall as a capping. In April 2023 the team replaced perished brick on edge with class B engineering bricks.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Building control**: The checking of building work against the building regulations, by the local council or a private registered building control approver.See: [Wrap-around extensions: a plain guide](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/wrap-around-extensions/), [Planning permission for extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/planning-permission-for-extensions/) **Cavity wall**: An outside wall built as two separate leaves, usually brick outside and block inside, with a gap between them that is normally insulated.See: [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/), [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Close-board fencing**: A fence of overlapping vertical feather-edge boards with no gaps between them, either nailed to rails on site or made up in sections that fit between posts.See: [Fencing](https://brick2brick.co.uk/fencing/), [Close-board fencing: a plain guide](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/close-board-fencing/) **Completion certificate**: The certificate a building control body issues once work has been inspected and complies with the building regulations. gov.uk says you may need it when you sell.See: [Wrap-around extensions: a plain guide](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/wrap-around-extensions/) **Coping**: The capping along the top of a wall, in stone, concrete or brick, that throws rain clear of the wall face below.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/), [Garden wall and fence height rules](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/garden-wall-and-fence-height-rules/) **Crack stitching**: Repairing a cracked wall by setting metal rods into the mortar joints across the crack and bonding them in with resin, then repointing. On a 2023 job the team raked out, stitched with rods and resin, and repointed.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Curtilage**: The land around a house that belongs with it, such as the garden and drive.See: [Planning permission for extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/planning-permission-for-extensions/), [Garden wall and fence height rules](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/garden-wall-and-fence-height-rules/) **Cut up**: The brickwork or blockwork finished between and around the roof timbers once they are in, closing the walls up to the roof line ready for the roofer.See: [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/), [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Damp proof course (DPC)**: A waterproof layer built into a wall just above ground level so water cannot rise up through the brickwork. On an extension, the walls are built up to DPC before the floor slab goes in.See: [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/), [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Dentil course**: A decorative row of bricks with every other brick stepped out, like a row of teeth, usually just below the eaves. The team built one on a bungalow kitchen extension in 2023.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/), [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/) **Designated land**: Land in a conservation area, a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Broads or a World Heritage Site, where permitted development rights are tighter.See: [Planning permission for extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/planning-permission-for-extensions/) **Dilapidations**: Repairs a business tenant has to carry out, or pay for, at the end of a lease to hand the premises back in the agreed condition. Brick2Brick UK carries out this work on shops.See: [Commercial](https://brick2brick.co.uk/commercial/) **Dormer**: A box-shaped roof extension with an upright window, used to add headroom in a loft. The Bromsgrove wrap-around job in 2025 included a loft conversion with a new rear dormer.See: [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/), [Wrap-around extensions: a plain guide](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/wrap-around-extensions/) **Eaves**: The lower edge of a roof, where it overhangs the wall. Planning limits often refer to eaves height, measured from ground level.See: [Planning permission for extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/planning-permission-for-extensions/) **Engineering brick**: A dense, strong brick that soaks up very little water, used below ground, on wall tops and where durability matters. In 2023 the team rebuilt a wall in Alvechurch in red engineering bricks topped with blue bricks.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Feather-edge board**: A fence board that is thicker on one edge than the other, so each board can overlap the next.See: [Fencing](https://brick2brick.co.uk/fencing/), [Close-board fencing: a plain guide](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/close-board-fencing/) **Flat roof**: A roof with only a slight fall for drainage, often covered in felt. Brick2Brick UK stripped and relaid a porch flat roof in October 2023 and replaced a flat roof in January 2024.See: [Renovations](https://brick2brick.co.uk/renovations/) **Floor slab**: The concrete floor of an extension, laid over hardcore, a membrane and insulation once the walls are up to DPC.See: [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/), [Groundworks](https://brick2brick.co.uk/groundworks/) **Footings**: The concrete foundations under a wall, poured into a trench dug down to firm ground. On a September 2026 job the team dug out all the footings one day, ready for the concrete the next.See: [Groundworks](https://brick2brick.co.uk/groundworks/), [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/), [Wrap-around extensions: a plain guide](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/wrap-around-extensions/) **Gable end**: The triangular wall at the end of a pitched roof. In February 2024 Brick2Brick UK took down and rebuilt the gable end of an apartment block on the Coventry Road after it moved away from the timber frame.See: [Insurance work](https://brick2brick.co.uk/insurance-work/), [Commercial](https://brick2brick.co.uk/commercial/) **Grab lorry**: A lorry with a crane arm and bucket that lifts spoil straight from the site, without a skip. On a September 2026 job the grab came in first thing to clear away the spoil.See: [Groundworks](https://brick2brick.co.uk/groundworks/) **Gravel board**: The board along the bottom of a fence, in timber or concrete, that keeps the fence boards off the soil. Concrete ones are also sold as base panels.See: [Fencing](https://brick2brick.co.uk/fencing/), [Close-board fencing: a plain guide](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/close-board-fencing/) **Heras fencing**: Temporary steel mesh fencing on concrete feet, used to secure a building site.See: [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/) **Householder planning permission**: The planning application a homeowner makes to the council for work on a house that goes beyond permitted development.See: [Planning permission for extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/planning-permission-for-extensions/) **Imprinted concrete**: Concrete laid as one slab and pressed with a pattern while wet, so it looks like paving or stone. Also called concrete print.See: [Driveways](https://brick2brick.co.uk/driveways/) **Knock-through**: Taking out a wall between two rooms to make one, usually with a steel beam to carry the load above. In November 2023 the team removed a wall and fitted a steel to turn a kitchen into a kitchen-diner.See: [Renovations](https://brick2brick.co.uk/renovations/) **Lintel**: A beam of concrete or steel over a door or window opening that holds up the brickwork above it.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/), [Renovations](https://brick2brick.co.uk/renovations/) **Loss adjuster**: A specialist an insurer may appoint to look at the damage on a larger claim and decide what is covered and what it should cost.See: [Insurance repairs: what to expect](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/insurance-repairs-what-to-expect/) **Make safe**: The first stage after damage: propping, boarding up or taking down whatever is unsafe, and securing the property before repairs.See: [Insurance work](https://brick2brick.co.uk/insurance-work/), [Insurance repairs: what to expect](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/insurance-repairs-what-to-expect/) **Mini digger**: A small tracked excavator for digging footings, trenches and clearing ground in tight spaces. Brick2Brick UK hires out a 1.7 tonne mini digger.See: [Machine hire](https://brick2brick.co.uk/machine-hire/), [Groundworks](https://brick2brick.co.uk/groundworks/) **Mortar**: The mix of sand, cement or lime and water that bonds bricks and blocks together and fills the joints.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Original house**: In planning terms, the house as it was first built, or as it stood on 1 July 1948 if it is older. Permitted development limits are measured from it.See: [Planning permission for extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/planning-permission-for-extensions/) **Padstone**: A solid block set under each end of a steel beam or lintel to spread its load into the wall below.See: [Renovations](https://brick2brick.co.uk/renovations/) **Party fence wall**: A masonry garden wall standing astride the boundary and separating two gardens. Wooden fences and hedges do not count.See: [The Party Wall Act explained](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/party-wall-act/), [Garden wall and fence height rules](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/garden-wall-and-fence-height-rules/) **Party wall**: A wall standing on the land of two or more owners, or a wall on one owner’s land used by others to separate their buildings. Work on one may need a notice under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.See: [The Party Wall Act explained](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/party-wall-act/) **Party wall award**: The legal document surveyors draw up when neighbours cannot agree on party wall work. It sets out the work, how and when it is done, and who pays.See: [The Party Wall Act explained](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/party-wall-act/) **Permitted development**: National rules that let householders extend or alter a house without applying for planning permission, as long as the work stays within set limits and conditions.See: [Planning permission for extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/planning-permission-for-extensions/), [Wrap-around extensions: a plain guide](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/wrap-around-extensions/) **Pier**: A thickened brick column built into a wall to stiffen it, or standing on its own at an entrance.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Porcelain paving**: Outdoor porcelain slabs, dense and hard-wearing, laid on a prepared base for patios. In April 2026 the team was preparing for 130 square metres of porcelain patio.See: [Patios & landscaping](https://brick2brick.co.uk/patios-and-landscaping/) **Prior approval**: The process for larger single-storey rear extensions, up to 6 metres (8 metres for a detached house): the council consults the neighbours, and work can start once it agrees or 42 days pass without a decision.See: [Planning permission for extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/planning-permission-for-extensions/) **Raking out**: Cutting the old mortar out of the joints to a set depth before repointing.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Repointing**: Raking out worn or crumbling mortar from the joints of a wall and filling them with new mortar. The Planning Portal says that if mortar can be scraped out with a door key, the wall may need it.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/), [Garden wall and fence height rules](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/garden-wall-and-fence-height-rules/) **Retaining wall**: A wall that holds back soil where the ground level changes. It has to be built for the weight of earth pushing against it, so the Planning Portal advises expert advice on retaining walls.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/), [Groundworks](https://brick2brick.co.uk/groundworks/) **Scope of works**: The agreed list of repairs on a job. On an insurance claim it is agreed with the insurer or the firm managing the claim.See: [Insurance work](https://brick2brick.co.uk/insurance-work/), [Insurance repairs: what to expect](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/insurance-repairs-what-to-expect/) **Skimming**: A thin finishing coat of plaster over boards or old plaster, giving a smooth surface ready for decorating.See: [Renovations](https://brick2brick.co.uk/renovations/), [Insurance work](https://brick2brick.co.uk/insurance-work/) **Sleeper steps**: Garden steps built from heavy timber sleepers, often used to link patio levels on a sloping garden.See: [Patios & landscaping](https://brick2brick.co.uk/patios-and-landscaping/) **Snagging**: The small finishing items picked up at the end of a job and put right before final sign-off.See: [Insurance work](https://brick2brick.co.uk/insurance-work/), [Renovations](https://brick2brick.co.uk/renovations/) **Soakaway**: A pit below ground filled with rubble or crates that collects rainwater and lets it soak slowly into the surrounding ground. The team put one in with a new lawn in June 2026.See: [Patios & landscaping](https://brick2brick.co.uk/patios-and-landscaping/), [Groundworks](https://brick2brick.co.uk/groundworks/) **Soldier course**: A row of bricks stood on end, side by side, often used as a feature above or below a window.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/) **Spoil**: The soil and rubble dug out of trenches and footings, which has to be taken away.See: [Groundworks](https://brick2brick.co.uk/groundworks/) **Steel beam (RSJ)**: A steel beam that carries the wall, floor or roof above when a wall is taken out or an opening is made. Builders call them steels. Their size is worked out by a structural engineer.See: [Renovations](https://brick2brick.co.uk/renovations/), [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/) **Stud partition**: An inside wall made from a timber or metal frame covered in plasterboard. In February 2026 the team built one to split a room in two, insulated and boarded ready for the plasterer.See: [Renovations](https://brick2brick.co.uk/renovations/) **Toothing out**: Cutting out alternate bricks at the edge of old brickwork so new bricks can be woven in and the two bond together, used when blocking up an opening or matching a repair.See: [Brickwork](https://brick2brick.co.uk/brickwork/), [Renovations](https://brick2brick.co.uk/renovations/) **Wall plate**: The length of timber fixed along the top of a wall for the roof to sit on. “Up to wall plate” means the walls are finished to roof height.See: [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/) **Wrap-around extension**: A side extension and a rear extension built as one, so the new space turns the corner of the house in an L shape.See: [Wrap-around extensions: a plain guide](https://brick2brick.co.uk/guides/wrap-around-extensions/), [Extensions](https://brick2brick.co.uk/extensions/) ## Talk to Liam about the job Call or WhatsApp 07805 010927, or send the quote form. Photos of the job help: send them on WhatsApp. [Call Liam 07805 010927](tel:+447805010927) [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/447805010927) [Ask for a quote](https://brick2brick.co.uk/contact/#quote) --- ## Contact - Phone and WhatsApp: 07805 010927 (+447805010927) - Email: bricktobrickuk@gmail.com - Areas: Worcester, Bromsgrove, south Birmingham and across the West Midlands. Insurance work across the wider Midlands. - Brick2Brick UK: trading name of Brick2BrickUK Ltd, company number 15473508 (England and Wales) - Fence2Fence UK: trading name of Fence 2 Fence Ltd, company number 17037489 (England and Wales) - Insurance: Brick2Brick UK is insured up to £10 million - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089740392506 (100% recommend on Facebook · 13 reviews)