It was the responsibility of Local Authorities to ensure the provision of adequate housing for the population within their areas. If war damage created a shortage they were empowered to carry out the necessary repairs to make houses habitable again. Such repairs took the form of 'first aid repairs' to make the houses immediately inhabitable and 'permanent repairs' to restore them to their former condition. It was part of the City Architect Department's duty, both during and after the war, to assess the damage to every property and then classify it using the abreviations below:

'a'=totally destroyed

'b'=demolition necessary

'c (a)'=seriously damaged but still useable

'c (b)'=seriously damaged, need for human evacuation

'd'=slightly damaged

These classifications were occasionally altered if further damage was sustained to a property or if the damage was reassessed.