Building reinforcement with adjustable cladding supporting framework

A method of securing a metal framework of aligned and mutually distanced vertical rails to an array of screw-threaded tie bar ends projecting from an outer wall of a building, the metal framework being suitable for subsequent attachment to an outer wall of an array of feature panels, which method comprises:

• placing over each projecting tie bar end of the array of screw-threaded tie bar ends a fixing plate that has a profiled outer face, the tie bar end of the array of screw-threaded tie bar ends passing through a vertical or horizontal elongate slot formed in the respective fixing plate;
• placing over each projecting tie bar end of the array of screw-threaded tie bar ends a locking plate that has a profiled inner face, the profiled inner face of each locking plate, and the outer face of the fixing plate, being complementary to one another so as to enable the two plates to mate with each other in a plurality of positions relative to one another, the projecting tie bar end of the array of screw-threaded tie bar ends passing through a circular hole in the locking plate;
• adjusting a position of the fixing plate relative to the tie bar end of the array of screw-threaded tie bar ends to bring each fixing plate and locking plate to a horizontal or vertical alignment position;
• securing together pairs of fixing and locking plates, with the fixing plate of each pair being held at the horizontal or vertical alignment position by mating profiles of the fixing and locking plates, by threading a holding nut onto each projecting tie bar end of the array of screw-threaded tie bar ends and tightening the holding nut against an associated locking plate;
• and
• securing the vertical rails of the metal framework to the pairs of fixing and locking plates by an array of bolts connecting each vertical rail to each fixing plate, wherein
• complementary profiles of the fixing plate and the locking plate are one or more dowels projecting from a profiled face of one of the fixing plate and the locking plate receivable in alternative dowel receiving holes in another of the fixing plate and the locking plate, and
• the circular hole in the or each locking plate is positioned asymmetrically relative to the one or more dowels or the alternative dowel receiving holes, so that inversion of that locking plate permits a further element of vertical or horizontal adjustability of a final positioning of a corresponding fixing plate relative to a corresponding tie bar end of the array of screw-threaded tie bar ends.