Building Names and Types

Believe it or not, this is where many real estate professionals, agents, estate surveyors and valuers and property experts start to get it wrong. There are many different types and designs of buildings each of which should be known, understood and correctly identified. This should be what separates the expert from the quack.

Simple as this may sound, there are many so called property experts who do not even know the names of common buildings. When you call an estate surveyor and valuer on the phone and ask him about a particular type of building, he should know at once what it is you are referring to. When a client mentions a block of flats, a maisonette, a duplex, an estate, a plaza, a mall, a terrace or even a banking facility, it should be clearly known and understood. It saves time and energy not having to explain what these things mean whenever you are having a conversation over the phone or face to face concerning these things.

Also, in the preparation of valuation reports, it is very essential that the right terminologies are used when describing the properties to be valued. Whenever valuation reports are prepared using the wrong names for building types, it ridicules the practice of estate surveying and valuation.

There are many different types of buildings and structures which exist in the world today. From simple ones like huts to very complex and sophisticated ones like high rise buildings which have very many floors each has a name which distinguishes it from the next. Therefore, whenever one type of a building is mentioned, it should have just the same meaning that the sender of the information intended for the receiver to receive. There should be no ambiguity or doubt as to what both (or all) parties mean or understand.

We shall look at the following building types.
1. Hut
2. Bungalow
3. Storey buildings and Sky Scrapers
4. Duplex
5. Detached
6. Semi detached
7. Terrace
8. Block of Flats
9. Maisonette
10. Silo
11. Plaza
12. Mall
13. Church
14. Cathedral
15. Mosque
16. Condominium
17. Tenement Building
18. Villa
19. Mansion
20. Hotel
21. Motel
22. Tree House
23. Caravan
24. Boat House
25. Igloo
26. Castle
27. Palace
28. Basilica
29. Barn
30. Stable
31. Ranch
32. Studio Apartment
33. Penthouse
34. Barracks
35. Mess
36. Warehouse
37. Farm House