oq-gem

Glossary for gem taxonomy

Authors: Luke Allen, Andrew Charleson, Svetlana Brzev, and Charles Scawthorn

This online Glossary explains around 400 terms contained in the GEM Building Taxonomy v 2.0 and nearly 700 images.

The terms have been listed in alphabetical and numerical order. Text description of each term is accompanied by illustrations (photos and/or drawings) where possible.

We welcome contributions in the form of photographs or images, illustrating glossary terms. If you have any questions you can also contact us at buildingtaxonomy@globalquakemodel.org


The material that covers the roof. In most cases this is different to the material of the roof system, but in some cases the roof covering will be the same as the roof system. In both cases, both the roof covering and the roof system should be defined where they are known. Where there are multiple covering materials present on the roof(s), choose the covering that covers more of the roof(s) by area than any other covering material.