1st national building control conference ism

7/30/2019 1st National Building Control Conference Ism

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The Role ofLocal Authoritiein Building Control

CON F E-R ENG -E

Paper 1

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Chairman:Date)' Umar b. Haji AbuSecretary Cener,ll, Ministry of HOllsing & Local Government

Speaker:Data' Haji N()rdin b. Abdul RazakDirector General, City Hall Kuala Lumpur

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THE ROLE OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN BUILDING CONTROLByDATUK HAJI NORDIN BIN HAJI ABDUL RAZAK

KETUAPENGARAHDEWAN BANDARAYA KUALA KUALA LUMPUR

INTRODUCTION

As this is the opening paper, I have chosen to provide an overview of the buildingcontrol function in Local Authorities. I trust this will provide a relevant backdropfor the topics the other speakers will be covering.

In Malaysia presently, there are over a hundred large and small Local Authoritieswhich varies in staff strength and organisation structures. All Local Authoritieshave some functions in common in that they administer the services and amenitiesfor the local population ensuring - proper town and country planning, buildingcontrol, maintaining acceptable environmental quality, beautification, providingrecreational facilities and maintaining infrastructures such as roads, drainage andsewerage system.

Broadly speaking, the main functions of a Local Authority ate

planning and control of development,building control,control of advertisement and signboard,squatter control,

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relocation of refuse collection, waste disposal and cleaning of thecity/town,health services : maternity and child health services,school health, control of food and food premises and control of contagiousdiseases,licensing and control on trade, hawkers and entertainment,upgrade villages and encourage viable economic development,construction & maintenance of roads,traffic management,provision of public facilities,

It can be said that the responsibilities of Local Authorities are extensive andcomplex.

The intention of my paper is to focus on the building control function of LocalAuthorities and this essentially deals with its effort to ensure that buildings areerected with structural soundness and free from fire hazards and are also designed,built and maintained free from any defects, nuisance or danger lolife and health.The need for specialisation of human resources to look after the overall control ofbuilding development will depend on the progress and growth of the LocalAuthority area concerned. These functions and responsibilities are delegated tothe officers and staff in charge of Building Control within a Local Authority.

Given this responsibility, the Building Control function is an important part of anyLocal Authority's administration, where the standard of its control andenforcement will affect the welfare and aspiration of the population.

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2.0 BUILDING CONTROL IN l,oeAL AUTHORft'y

Building control may be defined as the administrative and technical processinvolved in the enforcement of statutory building standards and requirements.These includes;

the processing and scrutinising of building plans for approval,

the inspection of building works in progress,

the inspection of building completed according to approved building plansfor issuance of the Certificate for Occupation,

the taking of action 011 unauthorised, dangerous structures and othercontraventions of statutory requirements related to buildings,

the co-ordination with other statutory bodies to meet their requirementse.g. sewerage, roads, drainage, infrastructures, refuse disposal, urbantransport, landscape, fIre safety, utility supplies, land & title mattersand environmental requirements,

the keeping of records in relation to building and related approvals.

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3.0 IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING CONTROL IN LOCAL AUTHORITY

Building Control is an important function within a Local Authority. I t has toensure that bye-laws, regulations and government policies are complied with and itco-ordinates other compliances of all statutory conditions before building plans areapproved and before Certificate of Fitness for Occupation is issued.

Building Control is therefore the safeguard to ensure that building regulations andstandards are adhered to whilst allowing architectural expression'to be applied to abuilding. It also ensures that the end-users rights and interests are protected.

The Building Control unit or department in a Local Authority has a role ofoverseeing the building process in terms of structural integrity, adequacy ofservices and infrastructures. Through Building Control, builders, developers andother building professionals are made to fulfIl their obligations and responsibilitiesin ensuring buildings erected satisfies the minimum standards acceptable for safeand conducive habitation.

With the growth of development and expansion of Local Authority areas, BuildingControl has to deal with more complex problems. Building Control has now tocater for a more progressive and increasingly more urbanised population.

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4.0 LAWS RELATING TO BUILDING CONTROL

The two legislation governing Building Control are

i) The Street, Drainage and Building Act, 1974,ii) The Building By-Laws which comprise: -

The Uniform Building By-Laws, 1984 andThe Building (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) By-Laws 1985.

These two legal instruments stipulate the guidelines and regulations for theapproval of building plans and prescribes the control of construction activities.

In conjunction with Building Control, the Fire Services Department prescriberequirements for "active" ftre fighting i.e. fIfe-ftghting installations in buildings,while Building Control specify the "passive" aspects i.e. structural requirementspertaining to fIfe containment and life safety precautions.

Generally, the form of enforcement action taken by Building Control sections ofLocal Authorities is that of a legal action approach. Building offences committedby developers, contractors, owners, and occupiers are duly investigated, evidencecollected and reports compiled by the Building Control Officers. Offenders arecharged in Court and the decision on conviction and imposition of fine rest withthe Court. If necessary, the Building Control Department can apply to the Courtfor a "Mandatory Order" requiring such owner or occupier to demolish anyunauthorised building or to abate any nuisance or danger related to constructionactivities.

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Unless in exceptionally serious cases where immediate action is required tosafeguard life, the Building Control Department do not normally carry outphysical demolition of unauthorised buildings although the Street, Drainage AndBuilding Act, 1974 empowers the Local Authority to do so.

Other than initiating Court proceedings, building offences are also compoundable.The power to compound is useful as it helps to deal with offences effectively andspeedily. This is especially so in cases of nuisances caused by construction works.

Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur is also concerned with the condition of oldbuildings in Kuala Lumpur in view of increasing incidences of fire and buildingfailures. From records, there are about 2,900 pre-war building under the RentControl Act within the original 36 square miles of Kuala Lumpur. Operating underthe Streets, Drainage & Building Act, the Building Control Division of DBKL,with the co-operation of the Federal Territory Fire Services Department havetodate surveyed and served notices on about 1,000 such old buildings to carry outimprovements on their fire-safety standards.

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5.0 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUILDING BY -LAWS

Although there is a uniform Building By-Laws for the whole country,implementation may sometimes be inconsistent owing to different interpretation ofthe By-Laws by different Local Authorities.

In some cases, Local Authorities had been unable to apply Building Control overthe Government-Owned buildings.

The principal role of Building Control is to ensure ll1lmmum functionalrequirements or performance standards for buildings. Interpretation of BuildingBy-Laws is sometimes difficult when technical expertise is required to evaluate thesuitability of materials or construction methods vis-a-vis the intention of the ByLaws.

In the larger authorities, there is also the workload problem where proposalsinvolving complex drawings and supporting documents have to be perused. At thesame time, there are many such projects in various stages of construction whichneeds to be monitored.

Ability to analyse site situations is often difficult for Building Control Officers aspresently, there is a shortage of qualified and experienced officers to cover suchroles.

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6.0 FUTURE ROLE

With the ever increasing volume of building development, the task becomes moredifficult for the Building Control Departments.

They have to keep fully abreast of new innovation in materials and buildingtechniques and to do extensive research on whether these satisfies the buildingbye-laws.

This requires special skills and scientific understanding of building materials, andsophisticated methods of design and construction. The time has come for carefulconsideration of the future of Local Authorities and their Building Controlfunction.

Should all new extensive building works be made the complete responsibility ofdesigners with only domestic buildings and minor works to come under theresponsibility of Local Authorities? Perhaps major projects could come under theresponsibility of the designer for a set period of time, with extremely stiff penaltiesin the event failure occurs within a specified timeframe. These are interestingscenarios to ponder.

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR T H E } I ~ U T U R E

Innovation, research and development should be the joint role of the LocalAuthorities and the private sector professionals. The costs associated with suchmeasures may have to be accepted, whether by the developer by way of fees, orallocation for public expenditures or a combination of both.

CONCLUSION

It is evident that the nature of Building Control work; requires on all-roundknowledge of building technology and practice as well as Local Government Lawsand Building Bye-Laws.

This knowledge should also extend to dealing with improvement to old buildings,assessing the suitability for change of use to existing premises and th,e preservationof buildings of historic or architectural merits.

Although these matters are not always within the ambit of the Building ControlDepartment, nevertheless the skills and experience of Building Control Officerswould be relevant in attending to these issues.

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The assent of Building Control is one of specialised expertise, by qualification andtraining through formal courses in Building Control or BuildingSurveying.

Building Control requires the right skills, Simultaneously, it needs a strength ofcharacter, and also the ability to see the other man's point of view so that it canguide rather than to force compliances.

I hope my presentation have given you an appropriate setting for the variouspapers that is to come over the next two days of this Conference.

Thank you.

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Paper 2

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Privatisation ofBuildingControl Services

Speaker:Anwar Sharif b. Abduilah @ Bob Killorn

Consultant, Environmentill & Risk Mgmt 5dn Shd. -, ~ - >J _ / > ; ~

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Environmental and Risk Management Sdn. Bhd.

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P R I V A T I S L ~ T I O N OF BUILDING CONTROL SERVICES

ANWAR SI-IARIF B H ~ T ABDULLA1I IE) R. J. K I L L O R 1 ~ENVIRONI'vlENTAL AND RISK IvIANAGEl\1ENT SDN BHD

toTHE FIRST, NATIONAL BUILDING CONTROL

CONFERENCEHELD AT TIlE LEGEND :HOTEL, KUALA LUlVIPUR

N(fVEl\1BER 29 AND 30, 1994Organised by the Institution of Surveyors, Malaysia incollaboration with the l\1inistry of I-Iousing and LocalGovernment a n ~ d De1tvanBandaraya Kuala Lumpur

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PRIVATISATION OF BUILDING CONTROL SERVICES

WHAT DOES THIS REALLYMEAN?

Privatisation of course means a transfer of at least part of Government administration to theprivate sector. Traditionally, building control in countries around the world has been in thepublic domain, i.e. GovenU11ent and Local Government have been charged with theresponsibility of administering building regulations and therefore, this has been seen as aform of consumer protection.Why should Governments transfer building surveying, which is a form of consumerprotection, to private enterprise? We all know that the authorities say there is a lack ofavailable financial resourcing, but they are mostly concerned with delays being experiencedin the building approval process, and the resultant extra cost to developers as well as to thecOllU1mnity at large.One could of course argue that if Governments provided sufficient funding and resources,then the traditional building control procedures would function more efficiently, and, stillprovide a high level of independant, consumer protection.There is another important factor in the debate. That is, the private sector is more attuned toresponding to urgent deadlines and is not normally distracted by other matters. For eXan1ple,in Government and Local Government circles, quite often there are many administrativeprocedures ( ie Red Tape! ) that must be followed and in these often cause delays. There arealso of course representations received from interested persons that have to be entertained,for eXan1ple, from councillors and ratepayers.These extraneous issue do not facilitate fast tracking of building applications."THAT IS THE ROLE OF A PRIVATE BUILDING SURVEYOR

Long before the question of privatisation became a popular concept, building surveyors,~ - - - r n C l u d i n g myseTf,-were engaged in private consultancies. In Malaysia right now there is a

role which building Surveyors can perform in the private sector, ranging from matters such asdilapidation surveys and reports; inspection of buildings under construction or recentlycompIe-red in order to determine level of compliance with plans and specifications, contracts,building approvals and the uniform building by-laws; status inspection of existing buildings,to determine overall general condition in respect to the following matters :-

Structural conditionHydraulicsFire resisting constructionMeans of egressFire safetyFire protectionldetectionElectrical servicesGeneral safety mattersSecurity

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NE\V PROJECTSVlith the rapid development that is occurring in Malaysia, private building surveyors canassist developers, architects. and engineers aT every stage throughout a new project.'fake for example, a proposed multi-use, high rise building which comprises a mixture ofresidential. offices, shops. public assembly, and carparking. Such a projecT poses rnanypotential problems in terms of public safety and amenity. Indeed, the range of potentialproblems is rea]]y only restricted to whatever natural limitations there are on the architectscapability to produce radical. unorthodox conceptual designs, \vhich do not readily fit intostandard building By-Laws.For this type of project, the building surveyor can sit with the development design team andguide the developer, the architect, the M&E engineer ?.nd the C & S engineer to producedesigns that will have the best possible chance of complying with statutory requirements andwhich therefore should be approved without undue delay.This role for building surveyors is a.ctively played in many western countries and now hasadvanced to the stage whereby legislation pemlits this function to be carried out privatelyand, subject to certain qualifications, local building control authorities are obliged to acceptduly certified plans. If this process results in a much faster approval time then developersholding costs are reduced and there should be a flow-on effect to the community at large.Beyond the building approval stage, private building surveyors can assist the developer andcontractor to meet requirements imposed ,as conditions of approval. The private buildingsurveyor can carry out project monitoring and assist to obtain certificates of fnness.

OTHERBUILDING SURVEYING SERVICESA building surveyor who has additional qualifications and experience in fire technology, isthe ideal consultant to be involved-in-anyfiresafety upgrading programme for existing-tn'-Oldbuildings. Similarly, follO'.ving a period of suitable training, building surveyors canundenake risk assessments of various buildings and manufacturing industries, for insurancecompanies, insurance brokers and owners.Another function of a qualified and experienced building surveyor would be as an invaluableexpert witness in court cases.The foregoing have been some examples of the range of important building surveyingservices that can be provided in the private sector, even without any changes to currentlegislation. However, in Malaysia those services are not yet widely appreciated by small tomedium, locally based companies. On the other hand, larger companies and overseascorporations are aware of the valuable role that can be played by a building surveyingconsultancy service.

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FUTURE BUILDING SURVEYING AND BUILDING CONTROL SERVICES FORMALAYSIA

The Government is concerned with the current situation in Malaysia whereby considerabledelays are being experienced in obtaining building approvals for many projects. TheGovernment is also concerned about the lack of adequate, suitably trained and experiencedbuilding control experts throughout the country.We understand that the Ministry of Housing and Local Government has been on fact findingmission overseas and there is a committee currently working on the preparation of adiscussion paper to examine future options. The problem in Malaysia is that, development isoccurring so rapidly that existing resources in terms of professional consultants andgovernment building control officers are not able to cope, and indeed backlogs do occur.Additionally, due to the lack oCqualified persormel, projects may be approved by authoritieswho do not have the requisite qualified and experienced staff, particularly outside of KualaLumpur.Of course this provides the perfect opportunity for privatisation of building surveying. Youmay be interested to know the situation that occurs overseas and in this regard I would like tobriet1y mention what happens in both Australia and also in the United Kingdom :-

1.0 PRIVATE BUILDING SURVEYING IN AUSTRALIA

1.1 GeneralAustralia comprises six individual states and two territories, these are :-a) States - New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland

and Western Australia.b) Territories - Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory.Australian states and territories are autonomous and individually they have power tocontrol and regulate the erection of buildings within their own areas. Most states andterritories have now adopted the Building Code of Australia, in order to achievenational uniformity. There are, however, variations to the national code that applyfrom state to state.The States of New South Wales and Victoria legislated for privatised buildingsurveying about five years ago. This legislation allowed, for the first time. privatebuilding surveyors to interpose on the role normally played by the GovernmentSector.

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Environmental and Risk Management Sdn. Bild.

1.2 The New South Wales System:The New South Wales Local Government Act was amended to allow LocalGovernment (comprising approximately 170 councils throughout the state) to acceptcertification from a suitably qualified person - including a member of the AustralianInstitute of Building Surveyors. Such certification \vould be to the effect thatbuilding plans complied with various technical requirements of the Building Code ofAustralia. The private building sun 'eyor cannot. however. make assessments inrespect amenity or aesthetic issues. as this has to be appraised by the council officerswho represent the interests of the local communi') in that regard.In other words, the system in New South \\7ales provides for the local authority toultimately detemline whether a development can be approved in the form proposed orwhether it would have to be modified or even refused on planning grounds, eventhough the building application may conform to technical requirements.Despite the introduction of enabling legislation, New South Wales Council 's havebeen reluctant to take up the option, because there are a number liability issues raised.For example, if a council were 10 accept a private building surveyors certification andsubsequently approve the building application, the question arises as to whatprotection there is for the councilor for the community, if the building surveyorincorrectly issued his certification.Whilst the private building surveyor would need to take out professional indelT'.nityinsurance, this may not provide adequate coverage. Also, a problem could arise afterthe building surveyor is no longer practising.

1.3 The Victoria Svstem :In Victoria the situation allows for private certification of building approvals,whereby, private building surveyors can check plans and approve drawings. TheAustralian-l.nSf-itute of Building-Surveyors-Gla-im that Victoria's system does not fullyaddress liability problems and that, should anything go wrong, the building user maynot be protected or have any claim. Apparently insurance provisions protect only thebuilding owner and the private building surveyor. This is contrary to the objective ofproviding a building control system which should be orientated towards protection ofpublic amenity and safety.The Victoria system also allows for private building surveyors to be employed at post- approval stage, ie supervision work, which is paid for by the developer. Should thebuilding surveyor become aware of any non-compliance with the building approval,then he is empowered to serve an order on the developer and provide the government\vith a copy of the order. The Australian Institute of Building Surveyors is not happywith the Victoria system and raises the question of where will the loyalties of thebuilding surveyor lay.

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1.4 Recent developments .a) There is a strong push from building development companies for selfcertification process to be well established.

b) The Australian Institute ofBuilding Surveyors is prepared to accept a situationwhereby private building surveyors submit certification for complance withregulations which are, in fact, "prescribed standards", but opposes certificationby private building surveyors regarding as to compliance with "performancestandards".

c) Accreditation is available from a new body called Building Surveyors andAllied Bodies Accreditation Board 1992.

d) The Insurance Council of Australia foresees problems in providing long terminsurance-for building-surveyors relative to public liability and professionalindemnity cover.

2.0 PRIVATE BUILDING SURVEYING IN UNITED KINGDOM

2.1 In United Kingdom there is enabling legislation providing for private buildinginspectors. This legislation is known as The Building Act 1994 - Supervision of planand work by approved inspectors. The regulations made under The Building Act areknown as The Building (approved inspectors etc.) regulations 1991.

2.2 Basically, the Act and Regulations enable private building surveyors to check andendorse plans, to submit plans with certification to local authorities, and thelegislation also provides for inspectorial services from the private building inspectors.

2.3 Time available does not permit a more detailed examination of the British system,however, we can obtain an overview of this system by looking at the following figuresthat have been prepared by the Birmingham City Council, Department of Planningand Architecture.

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- . ~ .. - - - - -r - - - ..- - - -B1JILDINq REGULATIONS SYSTEM TN ENGLAND AND \VALES)

iICENTRAL MAKES ACTS AND REGULATIONS, SETS FEES

GOVERNMENT .. fOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT BUILDING CONTROL\!f

OVERNMENT OVER 400 LOCAL PRIVATE INDUSTRY ONLY ONE APPROVEDG CONTROL -..- AUTHORITY UNITS (APPROVED INSPECTOR SO rARINSPECTOR) (SINCE 1985)

LOCALGBUILDIN

1CHECK PLANS AND

--..- SITE WORK FORCOMPLIANCE

1THE APPROVEDINSPECTOR

REGULATIONS1985 AND 1992

LEGAL CONTRACT TOCARRY OUT

BUILDING CONTROLSUPERVISION (NOTENFORCEMENT)

1THE BUILDING

REGULATIONS 1994

CHECK PLANS ANDSITE WORK FqR I f - SERVICE

COMPLIANCE DELIVERY

1THE BUILDING ACT

1984

ENFORCE BUILDING THE APPROVEDREGULATIONS IN 1 - - 4 ~ INSPECTOR REGULATIONS

THEIR AREA (ADMINISTRATIVE ANDREVERSION)


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[ : : ~ : - LOCAL A U T H O I ~ : : ~ ~ ~ , ]THE BUILDING ACT 1984

IS THE ENABLING LEGISLATION

PROSECUTION OF BUILDERS FORCONTRAVENTIONS OF BUILDING

REGULATIONSSECTION 35 OF THE BUILDING ACT

(FINANCIAL PENALTY ONCONVICTION IN THE COURT)

'ORS1992

1

THE BUILDING REGULATIO

ENFORCEMENI +SECTION 36 OF THE BUILDING ACT THE APPROVED INSPECI1984 (CORRECTION OF WORK) REGULATIONS 1985 AND

ADi'vl1NISTER THE SERVICE TO'CUSTOMER'

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- - _.- - - .. - - -,- ------ - -SUBMISSION TO LOCAL AUTHORrry

BUILDING REGULATrON APPLICATIONMETHOD OF APPLICATIONS

I- - - - - - - 4 ~ - - - - _ - . ! . - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - r - - - - - - - -FULL PLANS - - - - - - .- - - - - - - - - - - BUILDING NOTICE

NOt

IT IS ADESIGNATED

I3UILDING AND ISA CASE IN B I

SITE INSPECTION BY BUILDINGCONTROL

IBASIC INrORMATION INACCORDANCE WITH REGULATION 12

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rBUILDING ACT

198 i l

I I

BUILDING REGULATIONS1994

BUILDING (PRESCRI13EDFEES) REGULATIONS 1994

TlIE BUILDING (APPROVEDINSPECTORS) REGULATIONS

1991(C)

I I IAPPROVED DOCUMENTS REGULAnONS SCHEDULES APPROVED

INSPECTORAPPROVEDPERSON

PUBLIC BODY

A - STRUCTURE.D - FIRE.C - WEATllER'RESISTANCE.D - TOXIC SUBSTANCES.E- SOUND.f - VENTILATJON.G - FOOD STORAGE.H - DRAINAGE.J - HEAT APPLIANCES.K- STAIRWAYS AND RAMPS.L - CONSERVATION OF fUEL.M FACILITIES FOR

DISABLED PEOPLE.N - GLAZING - MATERIALS

AND PROTECTION.MATERlAL AND WORKMANSHIP.

CERTIfIESPLANS ANDSITE WORK ASCOMPLYING.

BODY ACTINGUNDER ENACTMENTFOR PUBLICPURPOSES AND NOTFOR PROFIT.

-

CERTIFIESTHAT A AND/ORt COMPLY.

L---SClmOULE 3-REVOCATION OFREGULATIONS.

SCHEDULE 2 EXEMPTBUILDINGWORK.

SCHEDULE I SUBSTANTIVEREQUIREMENTS.

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20 REGULAnONSWHICH MUST BECOMPLIED WITHWHENAPPLICABLE.

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..__ .. .. - - - - - _.-SlJlli\lIT NOTICE TO lOCAl

1LOCAL AUTHORITYSUBMIT DETAil I'D PI ANS AND rITS"1 - - , -,. -' . I -. , -AUTlIOIUTY - CAN ONLY APPLY TO

IWILDINGS OWNED AND USED BYTIIEM OPTIONAL SUBMISSION o r

PLANS CERTIFICATECIIECKED BY LOCAL AUTHOIUTY IN 5 1EEKS CAN BE EXTENDED TO 8 WEEKSBY AGREEMENT ALSO CONDITIONAL

APPROVALS BY AGREEMENT. IF PRESCRIBED GROUNDS EXISTSUBMISSION CAN ALSO INCLUDE LOCAL AUTHORITY MUST REJECT., CERTIFICATES OF COMPLIANCE BY WITI liN 10 DA YS IF PUBLIC nODIESAPPROVED PERSONS AND MUST BE NOTICE REJECTED WORK REVERTSACCEPTED BY LOCAL AUTHORITY TO LOCAL AUTHORITY OR ANOTHEREXCEPT FOR SPECIFIC REASONS - NOTICE MUST flE SUI3MITTEDSTRUCTURAL AND TIIEIZMAL

INSULATION1LOCAL AUTHORITY CHECK WORK IN WORK IN PROGRESS IN A SIMILAR

- .. PROGRESS AND MUST BE NOTIFIED OF MANNER TO APPROVED INSPECTORCERTAIN STAGES OF '1'[ IE WORK

COMPLETION INSPECTION OF WORK FINAL CERTIFICATE ISSUED TOAND WOlZK WRITrEN OFF LOCAL AUTlIORITY - NOTE TIME

LIMITS

IF INITIi\l, N O T I C I ~ CEASES TO BE IN F O R C I ~ FOR \VI IATEVER IZEASON POWER MAY REVERTBACK TO LOCAL AUTHORITY WHO CAN ASK FOR SUFFICIENT DETAILS TO ENA13LE THEM TOTAKE OVEIZ TilE SUPERVISION OF TIlE WORK AND CAN ALSO TAKE LEGAL ACTION FOR--., CONTRAVENTIONS. HOWEVER. 1f A PLANS CERTIFICATE IN FORCE A LOCAL AUTI IORITY

CANNOT TAKE ACTION FOR CONTRAVENTION IF WORK CARRIED OUT IN ACCOIWANCE WITHPLANS.

1~ - - -

1

APPROVED INSPECTOR(MUST 13E INDEPENOENT EXCEPT FORMINOR WORK).

WORK WHILST IN PROGRESS CHECKED 131' APPROVEDINSPECTOR AND liE MUST TAKE SUCH STEPS AS MA 'I' 1 3 1 ~

REASONABLE TO ENABLE IllM TO rm SATISFIED WITHIN TIlELIMITS OF HIS PROFESSIONAL SKILL AND CARE THAT TIlE

DllILDlNG REGULATIONS ARE COMPLlEDWlTlI- NOREQUIREi\1[NTS FOR STATUTORY INSPECTIONS.

REJECTEDON PRESCRlDEDPLANS CERTIFICATE ACCEPTED I GROUNDS WITIliNI 0 DAYSL ASIFNOPLANSCElZTlFlCATE SUBMITTED

INITIAL NOTICE ACCEPTED INITIAL NOTICE REJECTEDBY LOCAL AUTHORITY: BY LOCAL AUTHORITY-

THIS lZEJECTlON CAN BEONA. FOR A 3 YEAR TERM PRESCRIBED GROUNDS

ALTHOUGH THIS CAN BE ONLYAND MUST BE WITIlINEXTENDED BY AGREEMENT. 10 WORKING DAYS. WORKB. NO ACTION CAN I3E TAKEN CANNOTGOAHEADAND13EBY LOCAL AUTIIORITY SUPERVISED I3YWIIILST IT lZEMAINS IN SUI3MITflNGFORCE. APPROVED INSPECTOR

,,

PLANS CERTIFICATE SUBMlrrED NO PLANS CERTIFICATETO LOCAL AUTHORITY BY SUBMITrEDAPPROVED INSPECTOR

SUOI\IIT INITIAL NOTICE - OPTIONAL SUflMISSION OF PLAN CElmriCATE

[ FINAL CERTIFICATE ISSUED -NOTE TIME LIMITS


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-----------rA BODY COHPOnATJi:--------r

r------ llilllVIlHJA LS---r--'-

STAniS(SEE SECTION -19 nUILDiNG ACT 198-1)(PART 11 TilE IJUILDINCi (APPROVED INSPECTOI, LTC I(ECiULATIONS 1985)

- ~PUBLIC: BODIES- - - - - - - ~

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ILL BE DESIGNATED BY APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE SECRETARY SECRETARY OF STATE TOOF THOSE BODIES AND OF STATE WIIO WILL CHECK DETAILS APPROVE nODIES AND INFORM'1:1) - FOR A MAXIMUM OF TilE OIWANISATION ETC TO ALL LOCAL AUTIIORITIES OFA I' PLACE CONDITIONS DfSCIIARCJE ITS FUNCTION TIIOS EAPPROVED

J 1 -TIFICATES Of SECRETARYOF STATE TO CIRCULATE S E C I ~ E T A R I' OF STATE TO(9) BUILDING TO ALL LOCAL AUTIIORlTIES THE FIRST INfOIU'vi LOCAL AUTIIORITIES OfBODIES AND LIST OF INSPECTORS APPROVED BY IIlM ANY ;\DDITIONS ANDANTICIPATED AND ANY ADDITIONS AND WITIIDI,AWALS FR01\'1 TilE LISTECTORS WlTllDRAWALS TO THESE FIRST LIST

11APPIWVAL CAN BEANDMUST BE WITllDRA WN SECRETARY OF STATE SHALL tvlAINTAIN

IN CERTAIN CrRCUMSTANCES BY TI IE A LlSTOF DESIGNATED BODIES AND ADESIGNATED BODIES - THIS MUST DE IN WRITING LIST OF INSPECTORS BY I Iltvl

AND LOCAL AUTIIORlTlES NOTIFIED.... 1 1IF A DESIGNATED BODY LOSES ITS ,LOCAL AUTHORITY LISTS SIIAI.L INCLUDE:STATUS POWER REVERTS BACK TOTHE SECRETARY OF STATE AND A. LIST 0\7 DESIGNATED BODIES AI'I'IWVED BY SECRETARY Of

APPIWVAL GIVEN BY DESIGNATED STATE:BODY STAND3 B. LIST OF INSPECTORS APPROVED BY SECRETARYOf STATE.

C. LIST qr: APPROVED INSPECTORS WHO I lA VE IIAD THErR- AUTIlqRITY WiTHDRAWN BY 1'1 IE DESIGNATED BODIES.i- -r

APPLY TO DESICiNATED BODIES WHO WTHE SECRETARY OF STATE - MEMBERS01'1 IERS WIS!lING TO BECOME ,\PI'RO\PEIUOD OF 5 Y[AI,S AND A1'I'I\OVAL M

DESIGNATED BODIES SHALL MAINTAINA LIST OF iNSPECTORS APPROVED BY 11INCLUDING ANY LIMITATIONS PLACES

AND INCLUDING EXPIRY DATESWITI lUHAWALS ETC

APPROVAL FOR PERSONS TO GIVE CEftCOMPLIANCE UNDER REGULATION 16ACT IS ALSO CJIVEN BY DESICJNATED

SIMILAR CONDITIONS WILL EXIST IT ISTHAT APPLY TO APPROVED INSP


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THE APPROVED INSPECTORREGULATIONS 1985 AND 1992

i l-I THE BUILDING REGULATIONS 1994I!!fI

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DELIVER THE CONTRACTREQUIREMENTS IN RESPECT OF TI-IE

BUILDING WORK.


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SERVICE DELIX'ERY ENTITLE1YTlUfIS

LOCAL GOYERNlvfENT BUILDINGCONTROL (400 UNITS NATIONALLY)

IIN THE BUSINESS rOR TI GOOD OF TlIEPEOPLE IN ITS AREA...GOVERNMENT SET FEES FOR WORK

RESOURCES ALLOCATED ACCORDINGTO LOCAL CONDITIONS1

PRIVATE INDUSTRY

irIN TIlE: BUSINESS FOR PROFIT ANDBUSINESS ENHANCEMENT

RESOURCES SET ACCORDING TO .CONTRACT CONDITIONS AND RISI


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Paper 3CON FER ENe E

Life Cycle Building Control

Speaker:Gary D EwinResident Director, University of Greenwich, UK

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Formcr Chid nllilding Survcyor, City 11


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Presented by:

Paper presented at:

L I F E CYCLE BU I LD ING c o ~ r H O L

theUNIVERSITYofGREENWICH

The 1st National Building Control Conference29-30 November 1994 at the Legend HotelKuala.Lumpur, Malaysia.

Gary D Ewin BScMSc FRICS FBEng MAPM PGCEResident Director, The Sunway College University of Greenwich Twinning ProgrammeSunway College, No.5, Jalan Kolej, BandarSunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor DarulEhsan, Malaysia.

~ ~_II~ ~SUNWAY COLLEGE

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3 .0 CONTROL AND UNDERSTANDING OF TIm BUILT ENVIRONMENT 11

2.0 BUILDING CONTROL - 'A BROAD PERSPECTIVE'

5 .1 The Nature & Importance of the Life Cycle Approach5 .2 Maintenance Technology and Stra tegies5 .3 The Role and Scope of Building Surveys5 .4 Bibl iographical References/Further Reading

2.1 The Role and Scope of Building Control2 .2 The Benefi ts of a Coordinated Approach & Action2 .3 Bui ld ing Con tro l and Insurance in Europe2.4 Private Sector Support Systems2 .5 Bibliographical References/Further Reading

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CONTENfS

Glossary of Terms

3 .1 Regulations v. Design v. Buildabi l i ty3.2 Building Function & Design3 .3 The Equator ia l Climate & Building Design3.4 Building Defect s3 .5 Bibl iographica l References/Further Reading

4 .1 Introduction4 .2 Tradi t ional Construction Techniques4 .3 New Mater ia ls in Construct ion4 .4 Bibliographical References/Further Reading

1st NationalBuilding Control Conference

EXECtITIVE SUMMARY1.0 INTRODUCTION

4 .0 ANALYSIS OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

5.0 THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

APPENDIX I6.0 SUMMARY

CopyrIght Gary D Ewin @ November 1994

Speaker: Gary D EwinThe University of Greenwich


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As th e b uild in g s to ck o f Malaysia expands and ages t he rewi l l be a growing emphasis on e x is tin g s tr uc tu re s.

The f i r s t pr inc ip l e s o f b u ild in g f un ctio n and des ign needto be kept to th e fo re in bu i ld ing con t ro l .

An unders tand ing and awareness o f the importance o fbu i ld ing inspec t ion and main tenance , wi l l help crea te as a f e r and more durable bu i l t environment .

Li fe Cycle Bui ld ing Cont ro l i s concerned with the con t ro land sa fe t y o f th e bu i l t environment th ro ug ho ut th e l i f e t imeo f bui ld ing s t r u c t u r e s .

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Regula t ions , bu i ld ing des ign and bu i l dab i l i t y a re bes tcons idered toge ther and not in i s o l a t i on if de f ec t s a re tobe avoided in bu i ld ing cons t ruc t ion .

The expe r t i s e and exper ience requi red o f bui ld ing con t ro lo f f i c e r s wi l l change with th e bu i l t environment , forc ing areview o f th e e du ca tio n and t r a in ing in bui ld ing con t ro l .

Cont inu ing p ro f e s s iona l development and an awareness o f newre sea rch and development i s the r e spons ib i l i t y o f a l lp ro fe ss io na ls in the c o ns tr uc ti on i nd u st ry .

Care must be t aken in th e app l i c a t i on o f spec i f i c a t i ons ,s t anda rds and new mater i a l s used in t empera te c l ima te s , andt h e i r s u i t a b i l i t y to t r op i c a l c l ima te s .

Safe bui ld ing design cannot be compromised by commercialp re s su r e s , and th e i n t e r e s t s and sa fe t y o f co ns t ruc t ionopera t ives , bu i ld ing use rs and the publ i c a re paramount.

Bui ld ing con t ro l ex tends beyond new bui ld to there fu rb i shment and a l t e ra t io n of ex i s t i ng bu i ld ings , andencompasses demol i t ions and dangerous s t r uc t u r e s .

The p re ssu res o f deve loping Malaysia may fo rce the i s sueso f p r i va t e bu i ld ing con t ro l organ i sa t ions , and an enhancedro le fo r the insurance i ndus t r y . A review o f p rac t i c e sabroad wi l l go some way to r eso lv ing such i s sue s .

The cha l l enges faced by bui ld ing con tro l a re grea t , butthey can be met by t ak ing th e ' I i fe cyc l e ' approach,ha rness ing p r iv a te se c to r suppor t and cont inuingp ro f e s s iona l development


EXECUTIVE.SUMMARY



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Although there is a logical sequence in the development of as i t e , the elements tha t make up tha t sequence must not be carr iedout independen tl y. For example, in the design of the s t ruc tureof a build in g th ere i s an in ter re la t ionship and interdependencebetween the s i t e and so i l inves t igat ion and the design of thesubstructure and the superstructure.

Building control , building design and building safe ty should beapproached by looking a t the design l i f e of the bui lding. Thiswil l need careful consideration on the par t of the buildingcontrol authori ty and the bui ld ing des igne r, on the method ofdesign and the se lec t ion of materia ls , and the i r appropriatenessin respec t of geological and cl imatic considerat ions .

The key to building control and therefore building safe ty , is toensure that the chain of events from s i t e inves t igat ion throughto design, construct ion, qua l i ty control and maintenance of adevelopment are not compromised a t any s tage. Any breaks in thechain could compromise the whole development. This chain formsthe l i fe cycle of building control and the bui l t environment.

The work and responsibi l i ty for a building does not stop athandover. Every project should have a profess ional ly superviseddefects l i a b i l i ty period, and a maintenance manual for thoseresponsible for the maintenance management of the finishedbui lding. In the maintenance management of a building i t is goodprac t ice to carry out profess ional ly conducted annual maintenanceinspect ions , as carr ied out by qualif ied building surveyors.These inspect ions wil l iden t i fy i tems of s t ruc tura l and fabr icrepa i r , which can be pr io r i t i s ed according to the urgency of therepair e .g . within one week, one month or one year .

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1.0 INTRODUCTION


Central to achieving building safe ty is the need for properlyqua l i f ied and experienc ed personne l a t every stage of thedevelopment process, including building and qual i ty control .Buildings need to be designed to appropria te factors of sa fe ty ,which in turn must be profess ional ly checked by the buildingcontrol Authority . Quali ty control cannot stop a t design and mustbe followed through to the s i t e construction ac t iv i t i es . Controlon the s i t e includes documented inspect ions by the buildingcontrol Authority , and cer t i f ied mater ia l t e s t s , such as regularconcrete cube crushing t e s t s , to ensure tha t the works and them ateria ls are in accordance with the design spec i f ica t ion .



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T h i s p a p e r e x a m i n e s t h e f o r e g o i n g e l e m e n t s t ha t make up 'L i feC y c l e B u i l d i n g Cont ro l ' . T he p a p e r p laces e m p h a s i s o n c rea t inga s a f e r bu i l t e n v i r o n m e n t t h r o u g h t h e e n h a n c e m e n t of t h ei n t eg r i ty o f a l l t h e s t ages o f t h e d e v e l o p m e n t process , t h r o u g hprofess ional ism an d q u al i ty c on tro l, t h r o u g h o u t t h e l i f e t ime ofa bu i ld ing d e v e l o p m e n t .

1st NationalBuilding Control Conference1 .0 INTRODUCTION ( C o n t i n u e d )



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2 .0 BUILDING CONTROL - 'A BROAD PERSPECTIVE'

These a re a l l key a reas o f concern fo r bu ild ing con t ro lau tho r i t i e s . These au tho r i t i e s wi l l f ind t ha t t he re wil l be ag rowing need fo r wider expe r t i s e and exper ience to cope wi th sucha reas as ex i s t i ng bu i ld ings , demoli t ions and dangerollss t ruc tu re s .

In the l a s t 20-30 year s advances in new technology have madeb uild in gs o bs ole te o r i n e f f i c i en t , and the same i s l ike ly tooccur in the next 20-30 years . This i s l ike ly to lead to ani nc rease in work to ex i s t i ng bu i ld ings , demoli t ion o f b u ild in g s.and bui ld ings al lowed to f a l l in to d i s r epa i r .

As the b uild in g s tock ages bui ld ing con t ro l w ~ l l have to take ani nc reas ing i n t e r e s t in ex i s t i ng s t ruc tu res and appl ica t ions fo rthe a l t e r a t i on and ex ten s ion of these s t ruc tu re s . By the year2020 many of the modern s t ruc tu res o f today wi l l be between 30and 50 year s old , and major bui ld ing fab ric rep airs a re l i ke lyto be requ i red , pa r t i cu l a r ly i f bui ld ings have not been regula r lyin spec ted and mainta ined.

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Life Cycle Building Controls t NationalBuilding Control Conference

2 .1 The Role and Scope o f Build ing ControlIn the eyes of many in the cons t ruc t ion i ndus t ry and in thepubl ic a t l a rge , the ro le of bu ild ing con tro l and the bui ld ingcon t ro l o f f i c e r (BCO) focuses on new works. However the ro le andscope of bu ild ing cont ro l ex tends to the complete l i f e cyc le o fthe bu i l t environment i . e . from new bui ld to the re furbishment ,a l t e ra t i on and ex tens ion of ex i s t i ng bui ld ings and tak ing indemoli t ions and dangerous s t ruc tu re s . The answers to the cont ro lof the bu i l t environment c an no t simply be found in th e Build in gRegula t ions , which focus on new cons t ruc t ion .

2 .2 The Benef i t s o f a Coordinated Approach and ActionThe adminis t ra t ion of the Bui ld ing Regu la t ion s and con t ro l of thebu i l t environment of a v ib ran t developing count ry l ike MalaysIai s an enormous t a sk . I t i s not on ly a case of having the r i gh tl eg i s la t ion and regula t ions but a lso having the r i gh t number andca l ib re o f s t a f f in each bui ld ing con tro l au th or i ty toe f f ec t ive ly enforce the regula t ions . This i s a s i tua t ion facedby a l l count r ie s whethe r developed o r developing. Not only i s ita case o f having the r i gh t human resources in the economy, t he rei s a lso the ' t ug o f war ' between the publ ic and pr iva te sec torsto a t t r a c t the r i gh t s t a f f .



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2 .3 Bui ld ing Contro l and Insurance in Europe

2 .2 The Benef i t s o f a Coordina ted Approach and Act ion (Contd)The work o f the . bu ild ing co ntro l au th or i ty can be made moree f fec t i ve by coordinat ing and us ing to the fu l l the resources o fth e pr iva te sec to r , the insurance and l ega l systems.

England &WalesIn England and Wales o f f i c e r s in b uild in g con t ro l have usual lyqua l i f i ed as members of the In s t i t u t e o f Bui ld ing Cont rol and arebu i ld ing surveyors o r s t r u c t u r a l eng ineer s . Many of f i c e s have a

The bu i ld ing con t ro l author i ty has an impor tant ro le to play inna t ion bui ld ing , and c rea t ing the founda t ion and fab r i c ofWawasan 2020, and to c rea te a sa fe and enduring bu i l tenvironment . Recent w orld events have shown what can happen i fwe s t r ay from t h i s pa th . There has been th e road br idge co l l apsein Seoul (South Korea) , and the bu i ld ing and road co l l apses innor thern I t a ly as a r e su l t o f poor bu i ld ing prac t ices exposed byinc lement weather .

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Life Cycle Building Controlst NationalBuilding Control Conference

Where bui ld ing c on tro l au th or i t i e s do no t have the in-houseexper t i se , they can harness the he lp o f independent profes s iona lconsu l tanc ies to check appl ica t ions . The cos t fo r these se rv iceswould be bu i l t in to the appl ica t ion fee system charged by theau thor i t y , and the c os t u lt im a te ly borne by the c l i en t and/orbui ld ing owner. Inev i t ab ly complex p ro je cts w i ll a r i se where thebui ld ing con t ro l author i ty wi l l no t have the exper t i se tocons ider and check an appl ica t ion . The key i s to recognise whent h i s i s the case , and not be drawn to re ly on the profess iona lconsu l t an t s o f the app l i can t . No system i s fool-proof , and thea pp lica nts p ro fess io na l co nsu lta nts a re only human, and it i so nly p ru de nt to have a profess iona l che ck in g s ys tem in the formo f the bu i ld ing con t ro l au thor i t y .

The insurance indust ry can increase i t s ro le in the regula t iono f the proper ty and con st ru c ti on i ndu s tr y . Compulsory insuranceca r r i ed by con t rac to rs and insurance of const ruc t ion s i t e s , andcompulsory profess iona l indemni ty insurance go a long way towardsregu la t ing the i ndus t ry , p rovi de d b re ac h es a re ac ted upon by theproper au tho r i t i e s . Provided the system of insurance i s seen tobe e f f e c t i v e and have t e e th , t h i s ca n pro ve to be a powerful a l lyin the con tro l o f the bu i l t environment .

Speaker: Gary D HwinThe University of Greenwich


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The bui ld ing cont ro l system in England and Wales i s aided by ane f f ec t ive insurance i ndus t ry and l ega l and bu i ld ing con t rac tarrangements .

2 .3 Bui ld ing Contro l and Insurance in Europe (Cont inued)combinat ion o f these profess iona l s as t h e i r profess iona leducat ion and exper ience complement each othe r .

The th ree a reas of l i ab i l i t y fo r those in th e French bu i ld ingin du str y a re con t r a c tua l , common law i . e . the r e spons ib i l i t y toth i rd pa r t i e s and the c l i en t fo r 30 years , and decennia lr e spons ib i l i t y under the Napoleonic code. Since 1978 insurance

Main la nd EuropeOn mainland Europe the.Napoleonic code has a s tr on g in flu en ce onthe l ega l and insurance system and c on se qu en tly th e bui ld ingcont ro l system. The s ys tem used in France , Belgium and Luxembourgi s e f f ec t ive ly the same.

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The re gio na l b uild in g cont ro l of f i ces admin is te r the s t a t u to ryBuild ing Regula t ions under The Bui ld ing Act 1984, and any l oca lBuild ing Bye- laws. The re i s a separa te system o f bui ld ing con t ro lin Scot land and Northern I re l and . Building cont ro l i s still, inthe main, in the pub l ic s ec to r ( r e f e r to 2 .4) under l oca lgovernment, and fees a re paid on appl ica t ions fo r BuildingRegula t ions approva l according to the value o f the works. Forsmal l sca le w o r k ~ , no t normal ly requ i r ing p la nn in g p erm is sio n,t he re i s a Build in g Notice p ro ce du re , where 48 hours no t i ce i sgiven to bu i ld ing con tro l o f th e commencement of works withouta pr io r formal appl ica t ion being made.

The procedures o f the French bu ild ing industry a re qu i t ed i f f e ren t to those o f th e UK, but both procure bu i ld ings in asa t i s f ac to ry manner. Though it i s sa id t ha t th e French sys tem i sa more secure and l e s s arduous route fo r c l i en t s , wi th l e s sconf ron ta t ion than th e UK system [Meik le , 1 98 9]. Bui ld ing con t ro land insurance in b uild in g a re l inked by the l ega l requi rement fo rd e cenni al i ns ur an c e, and the necess i ty to employ an independentSta t e approved contr61eur technique, in order to comply wi thbu il di ng r egu l at io n s and to obta in low premium insurance cover .A contr61eur technique i s requ ired to be employed on a l l pub l iccons t ruc t ion pro j ec t s , and t h e i r employment on p riv a te p ro je ctsi s usua l ly a co nd itio n o f d ec en nia l i ns ur an ce .



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However, it i s worth dwell ing on the important ro le played by theNHBCwhich co vers th e ma jo ri ty o f new houses bu i l t in England andWales. The NHBC i s a body represent ing house bu i ld ing con t rac to rsreg is te red with the organ i sa t ion , and t akes over the completefunct ion o f bui ld ing con t ro l . Purchasers o f houses bui l t andce r t i f i e d under the NHBC scheme have a 10 year guarantee aga ins t

The c l i en t s decennia l insurance i s on a p ro je ct b as is , known asdommage ouvrage, whereas the des ign team and con t rac to rs haveb la nk et in su ra nc e cover . A fur the r development has been thei nt ro d u ct io n o f a s in g le p ro je ct based insurance pol icy with oneinsurance company, ca l led pol ice unique du chant ier (PUC). Thiscovers a l l the pa r t i c ipan t s , and the normal bui ld ing insurancea f t e r the pro j e c t has been completed. PUC i s a system notfavoured by cont rac tors as they a l ready ca r ry the blanke tinsurance cover , then a lso have to add a percentage o f around1.5% to t he i r tender towards th e cos t o f the projec t insurance .

2 .3 Bui ld ing Control and Insurance in Europe (Continued)fo r th e l a t t e r has been ~ o m p u l s o r y by law. This insurance , therespons ib i l i t e c i v i l e decennale fa l l s on a l l par t i e s to apro j e c t , inc luding the c l i en t , which causes cr i t i c i sm in t ha tinsurance on a projec t i s doubled up, it app l i e s to new works,repa i r s and re furbishment works. Est imates of the e f f e c t of theadd i t i ona l cos t t h i s adds to a bu i ld ing vary from 3-8% [Meikle,1989, p49], bu t the argument for the cover i s t ha t defec ts a redeal t wi th promptly, and any l ega l arguments resolved af te rwards .The insurance covers the cur ren t owner and h is successor s . Thetheory o f th e in su ra nc e i s tha t the cos t o f the premiums wi l l be'washed out in the ef f i c i ency o f th e i ndus t ry ' , though c l i en t ssee it more as a s t r a i gh t premium on cos t .

2 .4 Pr iva t e Sector Support Systems in England and WalesThere a re moves to gradual ly pr iva t i s e bui ld ing con t ro l in theEngland and Wales, and the French system has been cons idered ,but w itho ut the decennia l insurance l ink on the bas i s o f cos t tothe i ndus t ry . There i s a l ready a pr iva t e system o f ce r t i f i c a t i oncovered by separa te regula t ions , these a re The Bui lding (ApprovedInspec to rs , e tc ) Regula t ions 1985. This se t s out the de ta i ledprocedure fo r opera t ing the system o f pr iva te ce r t i f i c a t i on .Curren t ly the only approved i n spec to r i s the Nat iona l HouseBui ld ing Council (NHBC) Bu ild in g Contro l Services Limited. Themain reason why t h i s has no t been taken up by profess iona lconsu l t anc ies i s because the l i a b i l i t i e s have been seen to behigh and th e re tu rns smal l .

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2 .5 B ib lio g ra ph ic al R efe re nc es /F urth er Reading

The bene f i t of the NHBC system i s t ha t it re l ieves the load fromthe pub lic s ec to r bui ld ing con t ro l , and ensures good bui ldingprac t i ce wi th t,he insurance system ac t ing as the t e e th . Thesystem enables cont rac tor s to produce and s e l l a good product ,which the house purchaser wants to buy and has th e c on fid en ce ofthe backing of a ' c a s t i r on ' i nsur an ce g u ar an te e .

2 .4 Pr iva t e Sector Support Systems in England and Waless t r u c t u r a l defec t s , and wi th in t h i s period a 2 year maintenanceguaran tee . The cont rac tor pays the premium fo r t h i s pol icy to theNHBC. Under the NHBC scheme ~ o n t r a c t o r s a re given an insurancer a t ing , the r a t ing depends on the number o f su cc ess fu l insurancecla ims made aga ins t the con t r ac to r . There i s a simple claimsprocedure and if a con t r ac to r de f au l t s on a claim or goes in tol i qu ida t ion , the NHBC ca l l in another l i s t ed cont rac tor to e f f ec trepa i r s a t no cos t to the house owner.

1st Na tionalBuilding Control Conference

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The West German Const ruc t ion Indust ry ,Guide fo r UK Profess iona l s[CIRIA, London, 1990J

Pro j ec t Management The Sing le EuropeanMarke t And Beyond [MSc Proper ty Development(Pro jec t Management) d i s se r t a t i on , SouthBank Poly technic , London, 1992J

The Bui ld ing Regula t ions 1991 [Revised 1992J

The French Const ruc t ion Indust ry , A guidefo r UK profess iona l s [CIRIA, London, 1989JThe Bui ld ing Regula t ions: Explained &I l l u s t r a t e d [B l a ckwe l l S c i e n t i f i cPubl ica t ions , Ninth Edi t ion 1992 (Reprinted1993) , Oxford, UKJ

Ewin, G D

Biggs, SD,Bet t s , M &Cot t l e , MJHMSO

Meikle , JL &Hil lebrandt , PMPowell-Smith,V -&Bil l ington,MJ

Speaker: Gary D EliinThe University of Greenwich


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3 .0 CONTROL AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

1. Is the des ign so lu t ion r e a l i s t i c and bui ldable?

In address ing t h i s area the re a re some important ques t ions whichwe need to ask ourselves ;

2. Are the spec i f i ed to le rances asking too much of s i t eoperat ives?

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3. Wil l the design so lu t ion c rea t e a ser ious maintenance ors t r u c t u r a l problem dur ing the l i fe t ime of the bui ld ing?

3.1 Regu lat ions v . Design v . Bui ldab i l i t yThe development o f a l a s t i ng bu i l t environment i s much more thanthe approval o f regu la t ions in i s o l a t i on . Linked to there gu la tio ns a re the d i f f e r en t des ign so lu t ions , and the way inwhich those des ign so lu t ions are put in to prac t i ce i . e. thebu i l dab i l i t y o f those so lu t ions . Bui ldabi l i ty i s the ab i l i t y fo rthe sk i l l ed and un sk il le d o p er at iv e s on s i t e to put in to p ra c tic ethe ce r t i f i ed bui ld ing des ign .

1. The prac t ice of cas t ing th in s t ruc tu ra l members and theab i l i t y to m ain ta in minimum des ign concre te cover on s i t e .

Safe bui ld ing des ign cannot a t any s tage be compromised bycommercial pres su res , and the i n t e r e s t s and sa fe ty ofcons t ruc t ion opera t ives , build ing users and the pub lic a reparamount. The fol lowing are some of the cur ren t areas of concernin r ein fo rc ed c on cr ete cons t ruc t ion :

2. The prac t ice of cas t ing ra inwate r pipes in columns. This i sdue to no prov i s ion of rodding access , pipe defec t s o rdamage caus ing pipes to block, roofs to flood (N.B. e f fec t sof weight on the s t ruc ture ) and hidden c orro sio n o f columnre inforcement by d i r e c t corros ion and carbona t ion .3. Commercial pre ssure s on con t rac to rs in the c on stru ctio n o flow cos t housing and the danger o f compromise on qua l i ty .

I t needs to be borne in mind t ha t re inforced concre te works bythe two mate r i a l s , concre te and s t e e l , working toge ther . Themoment they a re sepa ra ted o r s t e e l m isplaced, the s t ruc tu ra lcapab i l i t i e s o f a member complete ly change.


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The equa to r i a l c l imate can be descr ibed as being ' in the t rop ica lbe l t , equable ( i . e . moderate ) , never very ho t nor very cold:

The des igns and processes fo r bu i ld ings must be adjus ted to su i tthe l oca l c l imate cond i t ions . Local cu l tu r e , r e l i g ion , t r ad i t i onsand na tura l resources may also have an in f luence .

3 .1 Regula t ions v . Design v . Bui ldabi l i ty (Cont inued)I t i s worth not ing here t ha t in the UK in the 1960's the re wasa move to mass produce dwel l ings , o ften in medium and high r i seblocks to maximise ou tpu t . This lead to poor qua l i t y o f des ignand cons t ruc t ion l eading to many b locks being demolished 20-30years l a t e r due to the high cos t of repa i r s and soc ia l reasons .High densi ty housing and f l a t s have been found to c re ate s oc ia lproblems, a s i tua t ion which does not so read i ly occur with lowdens i ty housing .

3 .2 Bui ld ing Funct ion and Design - F i r s t Pr inc ip l e sThe primary funct ion o f bu i ld ings i s to provide she l t e r from theweather and a comfor tab le and safe l iv ing and workingen viro nmen t. T his func t ion i s the same anywhere, but there a res i gn i f i c an t d i f f e r ence s in the requirements o f bu i ld ings betweent r op i c a l and temperate c l ima tes . I t i s no t su f f i c i en t to simplyre i s sue des igns and spec i f i c a t i ons used in a temperate c l imate ,and expect the same t echniques and mater i a l s to work in at r op i c a l c l imate . Simi la r ly , it i s no t su f f i c i en t to s implyre i s sue des igns and spec i f i c a t i ons used in Malaysia fo r projec t sin P erth (Western Aust ra l i a ) or P erth (S co tla nd ).

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3 .3 The Equa to r i a l Climate and Bui ld ing DesignClimate i s one o f the major c on sid era tio ns in the design o fbu i ld ings . There a re a number o f fac to rs which in f luence l oca lc limat e i nc lu di ng l a t i t ude , the he igh t above sea l eve l , proximityto lake o r sea . h i l l s and vege ta t ion . Climate i s changed byde fo re s t a t i on , the dra in ing o f swamps and marshland, the dammingo f r i ve r s and the po l lu t i on o f the atmosphere. The r ecen t hazein Malaysia due to th e In do nes ia n fores t f i r e s and i ndus t r i a l andt r a f f i c po l lu t i on a re examples o f the l a t t e r . Si t e l oca ldi f fe rences a re caused by bu i ld ings e .g . wind forces around t a l lbu i ld ings . roads and open spaces . A severe o r coas t a l weatherenvi ronment i s cons idered to apply to f loo rs above the n in ths to rey o f bu i ld ings in c i ty cen t res [BRE Diges t 379 & CIBSEGuide]. In any major development it i s important to co l l ec tde ta i l ed informat ion on the c lim ate o f the area and s i t e .



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Understanding the c l imate and the way in which bu i ld ings a redesigned fo r t ha t c l ima te , provides a major s tep forward indes igning out po t en t i a l defec t s and problems in b ui ld in gs .

The equa to r i a l c l imate demands t ha t bu i ld ings be designed tocoun te r the in f luence of hea t and to minimise the e f f ec t s ofhumidi ty . East -wes t or i en t a t i on and shading a re impor tant , as i sa i r movement with l a rge exte rna l openings pa r t i cu l a r ly on thenor th and south e l eva t ions , and exte rna l su rfaces o f bu i ld ingsshould be r e f l ec t ive .

3 .3 The Equa to r i a l Cl imate and Bu i l d i ng Design (Cont inued)little seasona l va r i a t i on in temperature; A i r humid, of ten still,espec ia l l y a t n igh t . Rain on more than one- th i rd o f daysthroughout the year , sometimes very heavy. Wind speeds usua l l yl ow; s t rong winds can occur dur ing occas ional ra in squa l l s ;c loudy sk i es ; Jung le o r swamp vegeta t ion wi th abundant i nsec tlife, mould growth ' . {BRE DIGEST 302, p2 ]

3 .4 B uild in g Defec tsThe inc idence of bui ld ing defec t s in the equa tor ia l region arec lo se ly re la ted to c l ima te , pa r t i cu l a r ly hea t , humidity andi n so l a t i on . This i s in a dd it io n to the common a reas of d i f f i c u l t yin cons t ruc t ion indus t r i es throughout the world, namely adherenceto des ign codes , wor km ansh ip and qual i ty con t ro l . This has beenborne out by my own exper ience and observa t ions both in Europeand, s ince 1989, in South .Eas t Asia .

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Except ions to t h i s desc r ip t ion would be areas such as the Sta t eof Sabah in East Malaysia which i s on the edge of the WesternNorth Paci f ie Tropical Winds torm Area, which demands spec ia lprecaut ions in the des ign of bu ild ings . There have also beenea r th t remors in November 1994 o f up to 5 .6 on the R ic hte r S ca le .These a re fac to rs which need to be taken in to considera t ion inthe design of a l l bui ld ing and c i v i l engineer ing s t ruc tu res . Inthese regions bu i ld ings and o ther s t ruc tu res need to be designedto r e s i s t th e w orst e f f ec t s of the s t ronges t winds and s t ronges tear thquakes l i ke ly to occur with in t h e i r des ign l i f e t imes . Thisi s the bas is o f the guidance fo r des ign given in many windloading codes , s tandards and regu la t ions around the world. Mostof the codes apply in c ou n tr ie s with temperate c l ima tes , but th i sapproach i s j u s t as va l id in t rop i ca l regions tha t exper iencehurr i canes , typhoons, cyclones a nd /o r e ar th q ua ke s.



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Defec t s and f a i l u r e s occur as a r e su l t of f au l t s in any of thesecons t i tuents o f concre te , and the need fo r appropr ia te des ignmixes, qua l i t y of mater i a l s and workmanship cannot be s t ressedtoo highly .

Concrete should be pro tec ted a f t e r cas t ing to keep the concre temois t fo r long enough to avoid su r face cracking and ensure propercuring. Defects in concre te in clu de cra ck in g, spa l l ing ands t a in ing due to the c orr os io n o f s t e e l re inforcement , usua l ly dueto lack o f concre te cover and carbona t ion .

Ex te rna l Rendering: Exte rna l f in i shes o f cement and sand, or ofcement, l ime and sand, a re widely used on brickwork, blockwork andconcre te . They of ten su f f e r de fec t s , mainly of cracking or ofloss o f adhes ion, which cause disf igurement to the bu i ld ing . Thedefec t s a r i s e mainly from the use o f u n su it ab le p ro p or ti on s, and

Concrete Const ruc t ion: Concrete i s the most widely useds t r u c t u r a l mate r i a l , which gives good performance over longper iods , whether it i s r e in fo rced or no t , and whether it i s ca s ti n - s i t u or precas t . I t s main purpose i s to f u l f i l s t rengthrequi rements , but o ther requi rements may inc lude minimal dryingshr inkage and wet t ing expansion, impermeabi l i ty , thermalconduc t iv i ty and appearance.

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Facade Staining/Mould GrowthTimber and Wood Produc t soncrete Const ruc t ion

Surface Coat ingsExte rna l Rendering

Areas o f par t i cu l a r concern inc lude :3 .4 B uild in g Defec t s (Continued)


In the equa to r i a l reg ion the re a re no par t i cu l a r problems inmaking good qua l i ty concre te . This i s sub jec t to the qua l i ty ofthe cement and the type and qua l i ty of the aggregate being good,with the water used being c lean . Concrete mix des igns must beappropr i a t e , with proper con t ro l over p lac ing , compaction andcur ing of concre te . The h ig h temper atu re s and humid condi t ionsin the equa to r i a l region mean t ha t par t i cu l a r a t t en t i on i s neededin r espec t o f the s to rage of concre te mater i a l s , and thecon t ro l l ed cur ing o f concre te to avoid defec t s .



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Facade Sta in ing/Mould Growth: The bui ld ing facade ma y be darkenedby su r face mould growth, pa r t i cu l a r l y where su r faces remain wet,but t h i s mainly a f f e c t s appearance r a the r than s t reng th anddu r ab i l i ty , a l though lack o f maintenance over a prolonged period

Timber and Wood Produc ts : Defects occur where t imber type andgrades a re i nappropr i a t e ly spec i f i ed or a re not protected by at imber prese rva t ive or s ur fa ce c oa ti ng , e i t h e r from the c l imate ,i n sec t l i f e or both . The e f f e c t o f s o l a r rad ia t ion i s to dry ou t ,warp and s p l i t t imber . Warping can also occur through the use oft imber p re se rva t i v e s .

Surface Coat ings : In t r op i c a l c l imates the facade i s of ten givena l ig h t r ef le c tiv e su rfac e co atin g to r e f l e c t the hea t rad ia t ionfrom the sun. Masonry i s of ten pa inted to provide a f i na l f in i shfo r ae s the t i c reasons , and to sea l the masonry su r face . Theu l t r a - v i o l e t l i gh t component of the sun i s par t i cu l a r l y severe ,r equ i r ing the r ig h t s p e ci fi ca ti o n o f s ur fa c e c oa ti ng to su i t thesubs t r a t e , and good workmanship to prevent ea r ly f a i l u re . Fai lu recan occur due to poor p re pa ra tio n o f the subs t r a t e , incompletecoverage o r t rapped mois ture .

3 .4 Bu il di ng De fe cts (Cont inued)app l i ca t ion on backgrounds c on ta in in g s olu ble su lpha tes , butunsa t i s fac tory workmanship in a pp lic at io n i s also sometimes acon t r ibu to ry cause . As with i n t e rna l render ing and p la s t e r ing ,ca re should be taken to avoid app ly ing on a contaminatedbackground, o r applying a s t rong mix on a weak background orundercoa t . The suc t ion o f the background should be adjus ted i fnecessary by wet t ing before app l i c a t i on , par t i cu l a r l y impor tantin a t r op i c a l c l imate . Smooth backgrounds should be keyed beforeapplying render .

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Termi tes , in pa r t i cu l a r , consume and des t roy wood or o therce l lu lose rna te l ' i a l , making it necessary to avoid the use 0 fsu scep t i b l e m a t e ~ i a l s in those a reas . Bui ld ing des ig n h ere mustaim to exc lude such insec t s from bu i ld ings , if such defec t s anddecay a re to be avoided. In some o f the developed areas o f Chinait was recent ly repor ted in the pres s t ha t up to 90% of someareas were i n fes t ed with t e rmi t e s o r whi te an t s , i nc lud ing in anewly completed nuc lea r power s t a t ion (November 1994). Avoidanceo f t h i s problem can be achieved by bu i ld ing in t e rmi te sh ie ldsand by poisoning the ground, bui ld ing morta r and concre te incon tac t with the ground.



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3 . 5 R e f e r e n c e s / F u r t h e r ReadingnULLD I NG RESEARCH ESTABL!SIIMENT (DUE) POOL!CAT!ONSGarston, Watford WD2 7JR ENGLANDBRE OVERSEAS BUILDING NOTES (OBN)aBN 170 Termites and t r o p i c a l b u i l d i n gOBN 177 Avoiding f a u l t s and f a i l u r e s i n b ui l d in gsaBN 188 Buildings and t r o p i c a l windstorms

3 .4 B uild in g Defects (Continued)may lead to a d e t e r i o r a t i o n o f the s u r f a c e . The des igner andb u i l d i n g c o n t r o l o f f i c e ~ (nCO) need to be aware t h a t therequirement to c r e a t e s h e l t e r and shade from the sun can a l s oc r e a te s ta in i n g of the facade by the d i f f e r e n t 'washing ' a f f e c t sof the r a i n . This i s p a r t i c u l a r l y the case around windowopenings, and where w a l l s have no weathered and t h r o a t e d coping,such as a t p a r a p e t s . Mould growth and v e g e t a t i o n grow r a p i d l y i nthe e q u a t o r i a l c l i m a t e , and a i d the s t a i n i n g and decay o f theb u i l d in g f a b ri c i f not ,removed.

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Life Cycle Building Conlrols t NationalOuilding Control Conference

BRE DIGESTS302 Bu ild in g o ve rs ea s i n warm c l i m a t e s382 New m a t e r i a l s i n hot c l i m a t e s370 Cont rol o f l i c h e n s. mould and s i m i l a r growths280 Cleaning e x t e r n a l s u r f a c e s o f b u i l d i n g s



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4 .2 Trad i t i ona l Cons t ruc t ion Techniques

Table 1 l i s t s th e fac to rs which a f f e c t the performance o fconc re t e in t r op i c a l c l ima te s . Cracking can occur fo r chemical(e . g. con taminated aggrega tes) , thermal ( tempera tu re /poorconc re t e cu ring) o r s t r u c t u r a l ( loading) reasons . Cracks inre inforced conc re t e a re descr ibed as fo l lows:

Where the bu i ld ing frame i s exposed on th e facade, de f ec t s showthemselves as cracks and ru st s ta in in g . The f ac to r s impor tant int h i s r espec t a re the e f f e c t s o f th e c l imate , the or i en t a t i on o fthe cracking in r e l a t i on to th e r ein fo rc ement and the cause o fthe c rack ing .

The s t reng th and i n t eg r i ty o f r e in fo rced conc re t e r e l i e s on thedepth o f conc re t e cover to th e re in fo rcement and th e qua l i ty ofth e concre te . The se rv ice l i f e of re inforced conc re t e i s reducedby the environment through ca rbona t ion , and by cracking whicha l lows oxygen and mois tu re to be presen t so t ha t prematurecor ros ion o f re in fo rcement can occur .

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4 .0 ANALYSIS OF TilE BUILT ENVIRONMENT


4 .1 [n t roduct ionThe bu i l t environment in a deve loping coun t ry l ike Malaysia i scons t an t l y changing and new technology and mate r i a l s a recon t inua l ly being in t roduced. As ou t l ined in 2.1 the ro le ofbu i ld ing con t ro l o f f i c e r s wi l l change, and to meet the cha l l engesthey wi l l need to have not only a growing knowledge o fcons t ruc t ion t echn iques but a l so bui ld ing de fec t s , decaymechanisms and new mate r i a l s . This sec t ion ana lyses somet r ad i t i ona l cons t ruc t ion t echn iques and cons ide rs new mate r i a l s .

Re in fo rc ed Conc re teThe use o f re in fo rc ed conc re t e frame cons t ruc t ion i s widespread,no more so than in Malays ia , where a l l types o f b ui ld in gs fromhousing to high r i s e of f i c e bu ild ings a re bu il t in t h i s way.Trad i t i ona l l y th e r . c . frame has been exposed to the e l e m e n t ~e i t h e r fu l l y , with the use o f i n f i l l panel cons t r uc t i on , o rpa r t i a l l y , w ith the use of pa r t i a l cur t a in wal l cons t ruc t ion . Inboth cases t h i s has le ad to the need to m ain ta in th e frame whereit i s exposed to the weather . M o ~ e r n c ladding and cu r t a i n wal l ingt echn iques now fu l ly enc lose bu i ld ings , removing the t h r ea t o fc l ima t i c decay from the bui ld ing frame.



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Live cracks a re those which do vary in width wi th t ime.

Intersect ing cracks are cracks which cu t across the I i ne 0 fth e s t e e l re in fo rcement .Dormant cracks a re cracks caused due to shr inkage and wi l lnot vary in width with t ime.

TABLE 1 : FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OFCONCRETE IN TROPICAL CLIMATES[REFERS BRE DIGEST 302]AGENT CONCRETE

MOISTURE PREMATURE HYDRATION OF CEMENTDURING STORAGE REDUCESPERFORMANCE. MO ISTURE AI OS CUJlEOF SET CONCRETE.SOLAR RADIATION PREMi\TURE EVAPORATION OF WATER(THERMAL ACTION) AND RAPID SETTING LEAD TOSURFACE CRACKING AND POOR CUREOF CONCRETE.POLLUTION - ATMOSPHERIC CHLORIDES IN SEA SPRAY ORGASES, SALT (AIRBORNE OR AGGREGATES AFFECT ALKALINITY,IN GROUND) GRIT ETC. LEAD TO CORROSION OFREINFORCEMENT. CARBON DIOXIDECAUSES CARBONATION. SULPHATESIN THE GROUND CAUSE SWELLINGAND DISRUPTION.INSECTS. MICRO-ORGANISMS SURFACE MOULD GROWTH CAN CAUSEBLACKENING.GENERAL CEMENT STORAGE NEEDS ATTENTIONIN InJMID CLIMATES.

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the co rro s ion ofs t e e l in conc re tet ime needed fo rbecome conducive

a long


cracksoincident cracks a rere in fo rcement .

1st NationalBuilding Control Conference4 .2 Trad i t i ona l Cons t ruc t ion Techn iques (Con ti nued )

Figure 1 i l l u s t r a t e s the mechanism by whichs t e e l re in fo rcement occurs . The cor ros ion o fi s mainly an e le ctr oc hem ic al p ro ce ss . Thecond i t ions a t the s te el /c o n cr et e i n te rf ac e to



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4 .2 Trad i t i ona l Construct ion Techniques (Cont inued)to cor ros ion is. ca l led the i n i t i a t i on Lime. Act ive cor ros iono cc urs d urin g th e su bs eq ue nt propagat ion t ime.

Carbona t ion occurs when the a tmospher ic carbon dioxide pene t ra t esthe concre te and, in the presence o f w ater , forms weak carbonicac id , a reac t ion then t akes place which des t roys the pass iva t ingoxide l aye r protec t ing the s t e e l re inforcement al lowing corros ionto take p lace .

S tee l re in fo rc ing ba rs embedded in good qua l i t y concre te withsu f f i c i en t cover do not usua l ly cor rode . This i s because ther e l a t ive ly high a lka l ine cond i t ions encourage th e fo rm atio n o fa pas siv atin g film on the su r face o f the s tee l , which reducess i gn i f iean t ly the ra te a t which e lec t rochemical corros ion occu rs .Pass iv i ty can be des t royed by carbonat ion of the concre te coverand /o r by th e p re sen ce of ch lo r ides around the s t e e l .

To summarise fo r co rro s ion to occur, ch lo r ides and /o r carbondiox ide must be presen t w ith mo istu re and oxygen. Any de fec t s inthe concre te cover wi l l promote the pene t ra t ion o f thesesubs tances to the re in fo rc ing s t e e l and acce le ra te the onse t ofcor ros ion . The subsequent ra te of cor ros ion depends primari lyupon the or i en t a t i on o f the crack in r e l a t i on to there inforcement and whether the crack i s dormant or l i ve .

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FIGURE 1: CRACKS AND CORROSION IN REINFORCED CONCRETE[REFERS BRE DIGEST 389)FIG. 1 .1 COINCIDENT CRACKS

. \

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.... .... ;

Cl/CO ABLE TO2

. ..." '''': ". "\" .....

, .. .... _.... .. -- . -: '. .. ~ . . . '

... : .

. . '~ - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . ; .

PLAN

o + H 0 A B ~ E TO PENETRATE2 2

FIG. 1 .2 INTERSECTING CRACKS

TO C A T H O D I \ ~ \ ~ _ //tANODlC AREASELEVATION .. ' ' ' ,: '. i ' ' . ' - ~ .' .'


KEY: ANODIC AREA . . . ACTIVE CORROSION OCCURRING.Speaker: Gary D EwinThe University of Greenwich


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Defect ive render can be due to th e fo llowin g:

4 .2 Trad i t i ona l Construct ion Techniques (Continued)

Render Mix. The render mix being too r i ch (o r wet) to avoidcracking .

Evidence of the fa i lu re of exte rna l render ing can be seen bycracking and the detachment o f the render from the backgroundresu l t ing in moisture pene t ra t ion to the s t ruc tu re .

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Poros i ty and Suc t ion . These a f f e c t the adhesion of therender ing and in f luence the choice o f the type of mix andthe method o f a pp lic atio n. Backgrounds with high suct ionmust be wetted f i r s t to p revent w ater being drawn from therender caus ing crack ing . The render mix must be s t rongenough to exclude the ra in .

Background/Render St reng th . The render ing being s t rongerthan the background or p re cedin g r ende r coa ts . The s t rengthof the background should be adequate to r e s t r a in shr inkageor thermal movements of the render ing . Such movement o fs t rong render ing mixes on r e l a t ive ly weak backgrounds maypu l l the su r face o f f the wal l .

Mechanical Key. Inadequate bond or mechanical key to thewal l . I f the natu re of the background does not givesu f f i c i en t key it may be necessary to f ix metal mesh,roughen the su r face o r apply a spa t te r coat or bondingmedium.

Const ruct ion Jo i n t s . Movement in the background, withi n su f f i c i en t reinforcement a t cons t ruc t ion j o in t s coveredby render .


External RenderingEx te rn a l r ende ri ng combines the funct ions of excluding ra in andimproving the appearance of wal l s . The background to whlctl therender ing i s to b.e app l ied i s the most important fac tor beforedecid ing on the mix design and the number of coats .


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Exte rna l Rendering: (Cont inued)4.2 l ' r ad i t i ona l Cons t ruc t ion Techn ique s (Cont inued )

New mate r ia l s such as p la s t i c s , bi tuminous roof ing membranes,commercial j o in t sea l an t s , thermal insu la t ion mate r ia l s and

New mate r i a l s , such as glass re in fo rced p la s t i c s (GRP), poJymer-modified bitumen roof ing f e l t s and ant i -ca rbona t ion coat ings fo rconcre te , a re widely be lieved to be be t t e r than t r ad i t i ona lmate r i a l s , due to t h e i r economy o f use , ve r s a t i l i t y andperformance. However most of the exper ience gained w ith thesemate r ia l s has been in temperate c l ima tes , and ca re in t h e i rspec i f i ca t i on i s needed in o th er c l im ate s , such as the t rop ics .

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4 .3 New Ma ter ia ls in Cons t ruc t ionAs demand grows in th e d ev elo pin g world for more comfor tab le andsoph i s t i c a t ed l i f e s t y l e s t r ad i t i ona l bui ld ing des igns a re givingway to more complex forms of cons t ruc t ion , espec i a l l y in townsand c i t i e s . This can be seen in the facade o f modern bu i ld ingswi th growing use o f cladd ing systems us ing var ious types o fmate r i a l s which a re new to the t rop i ca l c l ima te , al though wel le sta bl is he d in temperate c l ima tes .

Figure 2 i l l u s t r a t e s the main poin ts whic h n eed to be rememberedin a re nd er d esig n. E x te rn al render ing should cons i s t o f no t l essthan two coa ts , appl ied a t i n t e rva l s adequate to al low one coa tto d ry and shr ink before apply ing the next coa t . One undercoatand a f in i sh ing coat a re normal ly adequate but ex t r a coa t s arenecessary on metal l a th backgrounds to l eve l uneven su r faces , toprovide a key or increased r e s i s t ance to ra in pene t ra t ion .S pa tte rdash co ats a re normally 3mm to 5mm t h i ck , undercoats 8mmto 16mm th ick and the f i n a l coatis normal ly 8mm to 10mm int h i ckness . Some f i ne r t ex tured machine appl ied f in i shes may beas th in as 3mm.

Cons t ruc t ion and Arch it ec tu r al De t ai li n g . I f the backgroundc on ta in s so lu ble su lp ha te sa l t s and re]1lains wet for longper iods , chemical ac t ion between the s a l t s and cement inthe mortar or rendering may r e su l t in cracking ,d i s i n t eg ra t ion o r loss of adhes ion o f the render i ng. Onsuch backgrounds, proper de t a i l i ng o f a rch i t ec tu ra lfea tu res i s e s s en t i a l to prevent pene t ra t ion of waterbehind render ing .



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. -. ') . " .. ,.' . - ., .- . . ' 0.: " .

.". ,


\. ' : : . ~ .

TEXTURED HENDEH SURFACES ARE USUALLY BETTERAS THEY DO NOT SO READILY SHOW DEFECTS ANDPOOR WORKMANSHIP.

JOINTS RAKED 13 m m ~

PROTECTION AT HEAD. . ""'---,,-----"'1

"

FIGURE 2: EXTERNAL RENDERING

ROOF OR WINDOW HEADCONSTRUCTION

UNDERCOAT 8-16 nun ~SUBSEQUENT COATS 111 I NNER , ;AND WEAKEH ,-', ':"'----------------.. ' .

NOTE:

STOP HENDER ABOVEDAMP-PROOF COURSE


Speaker: Gary D EwinThe Univers ity of Greenwich

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4 .3 New Mater ia l s in Cons t ruc t ion (Cont inued)su r face coa t ings genera l ly perform l e s s wel l in t r op i c a l cl i rnalpsthan in temperate c l Ima t e s . This i s due to s t rong sunshine( p a r t i cu l a r l y the u l t r a v io l e t com pon ent) an d to h ig h h um id ity ,which acce le ra te s many o f the processe s and m echanism s in thebreakdown o f the mate r ia l s . Table 2 summarises the e f f e c t s o fweather cond i t ions on ma te ria ls in t r op i c a l c l imates such as t ha to f Malaysia .

TABLE 2: THE EFFECTS OF TROPICAL CLIMATESON MATERIALSW ~ ~ ~

WEATHER EFFECTHIGH MEAN TEMPERATURE GENERALLY MOlm Ri\PIDDETERIORATION OF BOTU SURFACEAND BULK PROPERTIES.CLEl\R ATMOSPIIERE; BRIGIU ENHANCED SURFACE BREAKDOWN,SUNSHINE; HIGH LEVELS OF GENERAL HIGH TEMPERATUREULTRA VIOLET RADIATION EFFECTS; INITIATION OF SPECIFICBREAKDOWN REACTIONS.HIGH MEAN HUMIDITY MOISTUllE-ASSOCIATED BREAKDOWN,WEAKENING OF INTER FACIALBONDS, MOULD GHOWTH.HIGH RAINFALL MOISTURE EFFECTS, EROSION.MARITIME CONDITIONS (CLEAR ENHANCED RATES OF DEGHAD1\TION,ATMOSPHERE, HUMID, SALINE) CORROSION OF METALS,Dhi'ERIORATION OF SUBSTHATES.1\TMOSPHF...RIC POLLUTION LITTLE EFFECT ON ORGANICMATERIALS, THOUGH COATING OFDIRT ON SUHFACE MAY PHOTECTFROM SOLAH DEGUADATION.

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BRE DEFECTS ACTION SHEETS (DAS)

BUILDING RESEARCH E S T A B L I S I ~ N T (nRE) PUBLICATIONSGars ton . Watford WD2 7JR ENGLANDBRE OVERSEAS BUILDING NQTESaBN 180 Bitumen co ver in gs fo r f l a t roof sBRE DIGESTS389 Concre te , cracking and co rro sio n o f ~ e i n f o r c e m e n t382 New mate r i a l s in hot c l imates361 Why do bu i ld ings crack?326 ConcretePar t 2: spec i f i ca t i on , design and qua l i t y con t ro l325 Concrete Pa r t 1: Mater ia l s265 The durab i l i t y o f s t e e l in c on cre te : P ar t 3 The repa i r o fr ei nf or ce d c on cr et e264 The durab i l i t y of s t e e l in c on cre te : P ar t 2 Diagnos is andassessment o f co rr os ion -c ra cked concr e te363 The durab i l i t y of s t e e l in conc re te : Part 1 Mechanism o fpro tec t ion and cor ros ion223 Wall cladding: des ign ing to minimise defec t s due toinaccurac ies and movements217 Wall cladding defec t s and t h e i r diagnos is199 Gett ing good f i t196 Exte rna l rendered f in i shes176 F ai lu re p atte rn s and impl ica t ions

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Mitche l l ' s Fin i shes[Longman, London, 1989]

Cladding of Bui ld ings[Longman, London, 1990]

Mitche l l ' Mater ia l s[Longman, London, 1986]

Exte rna l wal l s : render ing - appl ica t ion (S i t e )Exte rna l wal l s : render ing- r e s i s t i ng ra in pene t ra t ion (Design)

1st NationalBuilding Control Conference4 .4 Refe rences /Fur the r ReadingBrookes A J ,

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