Glossary

SIP panel

Structural Insulated Panel: two OSB boards bonded under pressure to a core of rigid insulation, usually expanded polystyrene. The panel is load-bearing element and insulation at once — wall, floor or roof —, cut in the factory to the design and assembled on site in days rather than months.

OSB

Oriented Strand Board — a panel of oriented wood strands pressed with resins, used as the faces of a SIP panel. OSB/3 is the moisture-resistant grade suitable for structural use; our boards are in emission class E0–E1, i.e. no free formaldehyde above the threshold allowed for homes.

Insulated kit (structure, "shell")

The complete structure of the house bought from the factory: execution design with permitting documentation, SIP panels cut to the design, assembly on the prepared foundation, roof with covering and exterior joinery installed. The result is a closed house in which interior work can continue in any weather; with us it costs from about €500/m².

Turnkey house

The house handed over ready to move in: on top of the kit structure, electrical and plumbing installations, heating, additional insulation and interior finishes, interior joinery, floors and basic bathroom and kitchen fit-out. One responsible party, one deadline — with us up to 3 months — and a fixed price set after the consultation, from about €1000/m².

Strip (continuous) foundation

A concrete foundation poured under all load-bearing walls as continuous strips buried below the frost line. It is the standard solution for stable ground and light SIP houses; in our offers it is included in the base price, while the other foundation types are separately priced options.

Screw piles

A foundation on steel posts with a helix, screwed into the ground down to the bearing layer, with no excavation and no poured concrete. Installed in a day, usable immediately, suited to sloping, soft or wet plots; in our configurator they add €2,500 on the kit and €3,000 on the turnkey option.

Concrete slab (raft)

A foundation in the form of a reinforced concrete slab over the whole footprint of the house, poured on a bed of gravel and insulation. It spreads the load evenly, serves directly as the rough floor and is preferred on ground with low bearing capacity; in our configurator it adds €4,000 on the kit and €5,000 on the turnkey option.

Thermal bridge

A spot in the building envelope where heat escapes more easily than through the rest of the wall: a timber stud, a concrete beam, an uninsulated joint. Condensation and mould appear on bridges. A SIP panel has no studs across the wall field, so bridges remain only at the joints — which is why assembly details matter so much.

U-value (thermal transmittance)

The amount of heat passing through one square metre of wall at a one-degree difference between inside and outside, measured in W/m²K. The lower the value, the better the wall insulates. A SIP panel reaches low values at a thickness far below that of an equivalent insulated masonry wall.

Eurocode

The family of European structural design standards (EN 1990–1999) adopted in Romania and Hungary alike: actions, concrete, steel, timber, seismic design and so on. The technical documentation of our designs is calculated to these standards, which makes the permit file recognisable to any checking engineer in the EU.

Urban planning certificate (certificat de urbanism)

The document issued by the town hall stating what may be built on a plot — height regime, setbacks from the boundaries, site coverage — and which approvals must be obtained. It does not grant the right to build; it is the mandatory first step before the design and the permit, and it has a limited validity.

Building permit (autorizație de construire)

The administrative act without which no new building fixed to the ground can be legally erected, whatever its area — the "15 m² without paperwork" threshold is a myth. It is obtained at the town hall on the basis of the urban planning certificate, the design signed by licensed specialists and the required approvals; realistically the road takes 3–6 months.

Geotechnical study

The investigation of the ground — boreholes, samples, laboratory tests — that establishes which layers lie under the house, how much they bear and where the groundwater is. On its basis the engineer chooses the type and depth of the foundation; it is required in the permit file and is the only sound way to decide between strip, piles and slab.

Land-registry registration (intabulare)

The entry of the building in the land register after the completion inspection. Only from that moment does the house exist legally: it can be sold as real estate, mortgaged, insured and cleanly inherited. A building without a permit cannot be registered — hence the real risk of "houses without paperwork".

PUG / PUZ (urban plans)

The General Urban Plan of the locality and the Zonal Urban Plan for a specific area: the documents that set which uses, heights and densities are allowed on each plot. The urban planning certificate cites them; a plot outside the built-up area or with agricultural use may require a PUZ or removal from the agricultural circuit before any permit.

Barnhouse

A house style borrowing the shape of a barn: a simple rectangular volume, a gable roof without wide eaves, large windows and an open interior. It is a style, not a technology — it can be built of timber, masonry or SIP; its rational geometry is exactly the one in which SIP panels are cut without waste. Our catalogue has 13 barnhouse designs.

A-frame

An A-shaped house: two steep roof slopes running down to the foundation that are also the side walls. One level plus a mezzanine or floor under the slopes, gable ends usually glazed. The fastest house to build from SIP and the preferred format for holiday cabins and glamping; our catalogue has 6 A-frame designs.

Mezzanine

A partial level open to the space below, built under the roof above part of the ground floor — usually as a bedroom or a workspace. It is not a full storey: it has no walls around its whole perimeter and in many designs no separately stated area. In barnhouses and A-frames it is the usual way to use the height of the roof.

Heat-recovery ventilation (HRV/MVHR)

A mechanical system that extracts stale air and brings in fresh air through an exchanger that recovers most of the heat. In a very airtight SIP house, ventilation is not optional: without it the moisture of everyday living has nowhere to go, and condensation and mould appear at the thermal bridges. With us it is part of the design from the start.

Glamping

Tourist accommodation in nature with the comfort of a house — "glamorous camping": small cabins with a bathroom, heating and a kitchen, placed on scenic plots. The format favours units of 40–60 m² that build fast and pay back from rentals; the A-frames and small barnhouses in our catalogue are designed exactly for that.

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