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French to English translations [PRO] Tech/Engineering - Construction / Civil Engineering / Walls
French term or phrase:dalle sur VV (vide ventilé)
This term is from a document detailing the design of a building. It features in a table listing the various types of material used to build the "parois", which I've translated as "walls", but "surfaces" might be more accurate if these "dalles" are part of the flooring, for example. "dalle sur sol" is also in the list, so I presume that "dalle sur VV" must be the opposite to "slab on grade". I've discovered that VV must mean "vide ventilé", which the GDT gives as "ventilated air space". By Googling, I've come across "suspended/elevated slab" and "slab over crawl space". But I haven't found "slab over ventilated air space", for example.
Does anyone know what this term should be? Many thanks!
Yes, I thought that's why you were asking, Mr Bourth! I, too, noticed how many Belgian sites kept coming up... Going by the definitions, it certainly sounds as if it's referring to the same thing.
Thanks for your comment, too, Richard - as for "walls" for "parois" (a column heading in a table), well, that's what I was going to put originally... but then there are also floors, "fenêtres" and "toitures" listed in the column, so "walls" sounds a little odd. I thought "surfaces" might cover all areas listed.
Dicobat says "pour isoler ces planchers du sol et éviter les remontées d'humidité" and "Toute vide sanitaire doit comporter, à sa périphérie, quelques orifices grillagés assurant une ventilation, modérée mais effective".
There are also instances of mechanically ventilated crawlspaces, especially where radon emissions are suspected to be high. Might that be your case?
is that I rather get the impression vide ventilé is - primarily - Belgian French for vide sanitaire, given the number of Belgian sites that use the term.
Hi - thanks for your comments. Yes, it's highly likely that it's a Belgian company that's drawn up this document (it's actually a tender doc that has to be submitted anonymously), as it's for a building project based in Brussels.
I don't know whether "suspended floor" is okay, or whether I should keep the term "slab" to differentiate from "slab on grade"...
Could be what is normally simply known as a "suspended floor"?
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Answers
29 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
slab over a ventilated cavity
Explanation: a space that prevents the formation and accumulation of humidity.
Example sentence(s):
To counter the risks of interstitial condensation, either the materials from inside to outside of the wall construction should have increasing porosity to moisture vapour, or a ventilated cavity should be provided
qu'il existe un vide ventile entre le parement exterieur
Sally Quinn Local time: 04:02 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English
Notes to answerer
Asker: Is it possible that a "vide ventilé" is the same as a "vide sanitaire" (abbreviation: VS)? The GDT definition for VS certainly sounds plausible for both: "Espace vide de faible hauteur compris entre le sol naturel et le plancher du rez-de-chaussée d'un bâtiment sans cave ou sous-sol. Les vides sanitaires comportent des orifices de ventilation qui assurent une aération modérée. Ils permettent d'isoler les planchers du sol et d'éviter les remontées de gaz et d'humidité."
Asker: Thank you for your suggestion - I think this is a perfectly acceptable translation as well.
32 mins confidence:
ventilation cavity slab
Explanation: for ground cavities in heating and cooling systems (HVAC)
The translation workplace 
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peer agreement (net): +2
