Building Evaluation for Property - Assignment Example

? Major Building Faults & Their Remedies For A Domestic Residential Dwelling Index 1 Background of Housing sector of Australia 2 Common residential building faults and causes 1.3 Solutions to the major issues 1.4 Conclusion 1.5 Work Cited 1.6 Appendices 1.1 Background of Housing sector of Australia The housing sector plays a crucial part in the uplift of living standards of Australian people. The housing sector contributes about 3.5-5 % (Ilozor and M.I. Okoroh) to the Gross National Product GDP of the country. The housing sector assists other allied industries to improve as well. Then the housing sector it self is linked to many other sectors as well prominent among which are financing banks, construction machine and equipment dealers, suppliers and manufactures of material and services. After the establishment and development of the housing schemes, then comes a major process of its sustainability and maintenance works. To understand and improve the lifespan of these houses we must look into the defects and their causes which affect the quality of these structures. Consequently we have to resolve these faults using alternative construction methods or usage of substitute materials. The majority of the problems occur in two phases of the constructions of the facilities which are the planning or design phase and the other is faulty construction. 1.2 Common residential building faults and causes According to the research made by Building Research Establishment(BRE) and in its report suggested the major faults which occur in the key building elements. The top five places of faults in the structure are external walls with a fault attribution percentage of 20%, second comes the Roofs with 19%, then windows and doors contributes 13% of the faults, then floors 11% and services 9%. Where as Sub-structure, Planning and layout and Internal partitions come down the list. Later according to same BRE Advisory Service (Trotman P) and based on its database of building defects its came to a conclusion that the five major building faults are Rain penetration with a magnitude of 22%, then comes Condensation with 17%, Cracking 16%, Detachment 13% and lastly Entrapped water with 6%. Whereas Flooring, Appearance/discolouration/surface defects and Rising damp are also included in the list. All the above data is being collected and analyzed by the building research establishment and the ministry of housing of Australian government. 1.3 Solutions to the major issues As mentioned earlier that the issues arise by certain processes and at particular points in the structure, mentioned as the “key building elements”. Now any approach to remedy these issues would be directly in accordance with the working and durability of these key building elements. As mentioned before the worst process that damages the building is the water or rain penetration, now the source can be any place where water gathers these areas mainly includes Roof, buried/concealed pipes, external walls, windows, bathrooms, kitchens and many other places( common drains, underground drains, etc). This discussion will also cover the entrapment of water as well, which is also considered to be a defect of large impact. The next target is the solution of the problem, which can be done by mainly two activities prevention from water leakage and effective drainage system. The first element we will cover is the roof, where firstly drainage is of vital importance which must be acquired by good workman ship in which a suitable gradient must be provided, appropriate type and adequate thickness of waterproofing material, overlapping of material at joints, upturn from boundary walls and downturn towards the drains. Then comes the next key element the external wall where the source of defect are at sleeves, deep cracks, honey comb, holes due to sub standard concrete and faulty construction. Where as the solutions are filling the cracks with chemical injections and replacing with new water proofing mortar where unavoidable. Whereas the special paints and weather proofing admixtures and additives can be of great assistance. Then windows and doors can be the positions where water leakage may occur. This location can be the junction of window frame and wall, the sash and frame. Then gaps can be created in the frames and wall fittings the possible reason being the deterioration of material with time. Whereas the solution to the problems is to secure the voids and gaps by fixing lugs, grouting of cement sand or even more suitable silicon sealant and continuous gasket is to be placed. On the other had for waterproofing, water bars and the window sill in the external walls must be graded so that the rain and water must not create ponding. A groove in the external wall finishes at the top of the window opening should also be formed to drip-off the water carried from the external wall above. Lastly comes the leakage and transmission of water in the structure through floors, these floors can be of any location which might include bathrooms, kitchens and balconies. It is observed that the major reasons for the water accumulation in these areas is the malfunction or loose connections of sanitary and water fittings. Whereas faulty plumbing and sub standard fittings can also be a reason for the leakage. On the other hand the imperfect sealing around washbasins, tubs and other areas can also be a reason. The entrapment of water in the balcony can be because of absence maintenance and cleaning of the drain pipes which might be blocked due to dry leaves or other rubbish. The first solution lies in the initial construction phase where we must provide waterproofing layers under these floors; this can be of cement sand screeding and other waterproofing resins and chemical. In addition the floor tiles should be fixed together and grouted by effective sealants. Then each floor must be given a grade so that the water drainage is assisted and there are no chances of ponding. As the problem itself depicts the usage of quality fitting is of vital importance both for the conservation of water and to avoid water penetration due to continuous leakage of water from these loose connections and regular maintenance must be done as well. The second most dangerous cause of defects that is seen in the buildings is the cracking, detachment and other similar structural defects. The problem seen is the due to defective, substandard concrete and results into cracks and spalling of firstly the paint and later the concrete itself. This spalling of concrete can create even more damage and danger to the building if the steel reinforcement is naked and rusting takes place. The resolution to the issue depends on the level of damage. If the defect is minor and superficial then patch or localized repair is suggested in which a part of the portion is scrubbed off and then replaced by cementious mortar which can be cement based or polyester-modified. In addition the resin based epoxy resin or polyester resin mortar can also be used. Special care and expertise must be employed while performing these repair works to prevent future problems. If the damage is of greater extend and the reinforcement has rusted and damaged then we have no other option but to replace it. Lastly if there is no repair possible then we might have to resort to demolition or localized replacement of the structure or structural members. The structural cracks are also a problem seen in places where the soil underneath the building does not have adequate bearing capacity as a result there is a differential settlement and structural movement. On the other hand the structural cracks can also be seen due to accidental loadings such as hurricanes and earthquakes. Normally small cracks are filled with resins and binding agents. But the solution is to locate the problem first after consultancy to engineers or concerned authority and then go for rectification. These steps may include construction of additional supporting systems such as columns, or strengthening the existing materials and member with high strength concrete or retrofitting. Then if the problem exists in soils then soil replacement or soil stabilization can be a solution. 1.4 Conclusion There are several defects that might occur in the building during its life and in the discussion I have highlighted some of them according to their level of damage in the building key elements the most prominent among these are external walls, Roofs, windows and doors, floors and services as shown in appendix 1 [watts 99]. Then with each of these key building elements defects are produced due to certain process and defect types, the top five among them are Rain penetration, Condensation, Cracking, Detachment, Entrapped water , Appearance/discolouration/surface defects and Rising damp as shown in appendix 2 [watts 99]. Later in the discussion the detailed description of the solutions are given with respect to each key building elements and types of defects. Hence it is seen that major problem are seen while dealing with water or moisture content and they are a major problem in the elements such as roofs and floors. Then cracks and detachment is also a severe problem which is majorly protected through initial quality construction. Therefore it can be safely concluded that good construction practices during the construction and usage of standard fittings and material can reduce the occurrence of defects in the building and increase the service life as well. Works Cited (BRE)., Building ResearchEstablish ment. "Common defects in low-rise traditional housing. ." Garston: Digest 268, BRE; (2000). Ilozor, B.D. and C.E. Egbu, Archicentre M.I. Okoroh. "Understanding residential house defects in Australia from the State of Victoria." ScienceDirect (2007). P., Trotman. "An examination of the BRE Advisory Service database compiled from property inspections. ." Paper presented at the Dealing withDefects in Buildings Symposium CIB/ICITE-CNR/DISET ( 27–30 September, Varenna, Italy, 1994.). Service, Borough Planner’s. Dealing with Defects. Wandsworth Council, 2003. Government of Victoria. Victoria housing and residential development plan, project no. 4 (VHARDP). Melbourne: Department of Planning and Housing; 1992. Watt DS. Building pathology: principles & practice. UK: Blackwell Science; 1999. Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Read More