Welcome to Whapples Consulting.
Chris Whapples is a Chartered Civil and Structural Engineer and a Fellow of both Institutions with over
40 years experience in the design and construction of structurers and foundations for commercial, industrial,
residential and historic buildings together with inspections, appraisals and dilapidation surveys.
He became interested in the design and construction of multi-storey car parks and the betterment thereof
and has won the Best New Car Park Award three times and also the Best Refurbishment Award. He was instrumental in the
development a patented circulation system for multi-storey car parks known as the VCM System and has also patented Trideck
a concrete deck jointing system. He has updated three editions of the Institution of Structural Engineers Design recommendations
for multi-storey and underground car parks and co-authored the Institution of Civil Engineers Recommendations for inspection, maintenance
and management of car park structurers. He has worked with the Transport Research Laboratory on developing new standards for testing
vehicle impact barriers and with the Building Research Establishment on fire spread in car parks. He is a member of the British Parking
Association (BPA) Fire Safety Group.
Specialist knowledge of car parks has enabled him to co-author the first edition of the Car Park Designers' Handbook, and to participate in European
Technical Committees relating to concrete durability, inspection and repair. He has also been an expert witness in several construction disputes.
Chris has appeared on the BBC Today programme regarding safety and refurbishment of older car parks and for
several years was Chair of the BPA's Structurers Group. More recently Chris has written articles for the technical press drawing
attention to the need for larger parking spaces and for increasing the design loading to take account of electric and hybrid vehicles.
Awards:
The Ernest Davies Award for advancing Parking Knowledge
The BPA Lifetime Achievement Award