Bill Ransom Author

James Douglas retired as a Lecturer and Course Leader in Building Surveying at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, at the end of December 2009. He qualified as a chartered building surveyor in 1986 after over twelve years in the public sector, dealing primarily with the maintenance and adaptation of building. In 1992 the College of Estate Management appointed him as a Visiting Lecturer in Technology, teaching and tutoring building technology and maintenance technology on its Diploma in Surveying course. In December 2012, as this book was nearing completion, he passed away after a long battle with illness.   Bill Ransom was a government research scientist working for the Building Research Establishment (BRE), the Department of the Environment and the Colonial Office travelling widely abroad to help resolve problems in construction technology. He retired in 1981 as head of the Building Integrity Division of the BRE and now lives in Devon.