Building reinforcement and insulation

A method of securing external wall insulation (EWI) panels to outer walls of a high rise concrete frame building, which comprises:

• creating continuous passages through outer load-bearing wall panels of the building into adjacent floor/ceiling panels, each such passage forming a tie bar anchorage hole extending at least 300 mm into the adjacent floor/ceiling panel;
• inserting into each tie bar anchorage hole a tie bar which has at an inner end portion an anchorage received in the associated tie bar anchorage hole and which has at an outer end portion an externally screw-threaded portion which projects from the outer load-bearing wall panel;
• locating a pattress plate at an outer end of each tie bar anchorage hole, with the externally screw-threaded outer end portion of each tie bar extending through an aperture in the associated pattress plate, and securing the pattress plates in position in or against the outer load-bearing wall panels;
• anchoring each tie bar in its tie bar anchorage hole by extruding a grouting compound past the associated pattress plate or through an eccentric grout hole in the associated pattress plate and into the outer end of each tie bar anchorage hole around the tie bar, and allowing the grouting compound to set;
• securing to the externally screw-threaded outer end portions of the tie bars a metal framework for supporting external wall insulation for the building;
• and
• securing to the metal framework EWI panels to clad the building.