Building Maintenance Note

Definition
Building maintenance can be defined as the total of all the actions that keep the building
working properly.
Purpose
To allow the building elements to achieve their functions in the required standard that was
originally planned.
Types
● Responsive Maintenance: Unexpected works identified and demanding urgent and
perhaps an emergency response as a result of a disaster.
● Planned Maintenance: Tasks such as routine maintenance like checking electrical safety,
gas ducts, etc. May be carried out at regular intervals either annually, quarterly, or
monthly. Others include regular cleaning, or for a longer period of time like replacing
furniture after every 5 years or kitchen fittings after 10 years.

Dilapidation
The state of disrepair of the building or part of the building structure as a result of failure to
repair.
Schedule of Dilapidation
Taking inventory of the condition of the existing building and giving recommendations of its
repair as well as the cost implications.
Schedule of Repairs
Inventory of the existing condition of the building.
Types of Schedule of Dilapidation
● Interim Schedule: Done during the period of lease with a notice to repair given to the
tenants.
● Terminal Schedule: Done at the end of a lease when the tenant’s lease is over and they
are about to move out.
Related Terms
● Renovation: Improve or upgrade a structure from its present condition.
● Restoration: To return a building to the original state it was.
● Reconstruction: To construct almost a new building by breaking a part of the existing
one.
Causes and Agents of Deterioration of Buildings
Buildings must meet various requirements and must withstand the rigors of gravity, the
elements, and at the same time are expected to last for many years. Consideration must be
given to every stage of the building process for ways of reducing the incidence of defects and
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prolonging the durability of the building. Therefore, understanding the causes and agents of
deterioration is necessary.
Factors of Deterioration (Influences Renovation)
. Aging Stock of a Building
More expenditure is expected for maintenance because of the aging of a building,
especially the older the structure, the more money will be spent to maintain it.
. Obsolescence of the Building
Upgrading needed for buildings to prevent them from being old (obsolete) because
developments face keen competition to attract new tenants or retain existing ones.
. Advent of New Technology
Changes and modifications to existing buildings are required to meet new demands,
which are called out by the renovation of the existing structures.
. Rising Social Expectations and Aspirations
The natural increase in expectations and purchasing power leads to the rise of higher
standards for both maintenance and renovation works (higher standard of living).
. Legal Development
This imposes an increased burden on building owners to maintain and keep their premises
safe. This will push for higher standards and a greater degree of professionalism and
thoughtfulness in the execution of the maintenance works.
. Environmental Issues
Protective measures against pollution and erosion.
A. Causes and Agents of deterioration Design Deficiencies
. Approach to Design Many maintenance problems arise when the design is sound in
principle but has no probability of satisfactory achievement in practice. Some designers
fail to realize that their designs can be too complex for the site conditions and can
present problems of buildability. The designer must be fully aware of the client’s needs.
Defects can often occur because of lack of understanding of how a building is to be used.
Inadequacies and faults also result from the owners and the designers attempting to
provide too much with insufficient money.
. Selection or Choice of Materials
Many materials are satisfactory in some conditions but not in others. The choice of design
details in relation to the materials to be used and in relation to the proposed use of the
building and its environment is a key factor most affecting the risk of defects and failures.
The designer must either design to suit the materials available or, for a required design,
choose materials which are expected to perform satisfactorily with that design in that
environment. It is also necessary to consider the likely behavior of combinations of
different materials in use.
. Environmental Factors
Factors arising from above-ground conditions will usually include climate, atmospheric
conditions, pollution, and exposure to other conditions. Below-ground factors will include
the nature of the soil, drainage, and site stability.
. Shape and Form
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Building maintenance consumes a large proportion of building material resources.
Attention should be paid to designing buildings which will cut down maintenance
expenditure in the future.
. Orientation of Buildings
Arrangement of the axis of the building is a way of controlling the effects of the sun, wind,
or rain. The building may be oriented to capture the heat of the sun or it may be turned to
evade the solar heat in the tropics. Orientation may also be used to control air flow
circulation and reduce the disadvantages of wind, rain, and snow when prevailing
currents are predictable.
. Design and Maintainability
Design often gives too much emphasis on aesthetics at the expense of maintainability.
There must be continuous interaction between consultants and maintenance managers in
the initial planning as well as the final design of the building.
(Note: All the above causes are under design deficiency.)
B. Construction Faults
Inadequate supervision and the substitution of poor materials/components or fixings would lead
to deterioration of buildings.
. Control of Materials
Materials used in buildings must normally be purchased according to specifications or to
be similar to the agreed sample. Materials which do not comply with the specifications
should be rejected.
. Control of Works from Site
Careful supervision of building works at all stages is necessary to complement good
designs, specifications, and detailing by the designers.
. Lack of Maintenance
The client’s brief for a new building often determines the long-term maintenance needs of
the building. The brief should indicate performance requirements and possible changes in
use, as well as a proactive policy for operating, cleaning, and maintaining the building.
Designers should provide advice to the client on maintenance matters.
. Change of Use of Building
Buildings are usually designed for a specific use. During the design stage, the designer
will make provision for that use only. Problems arise when alterations or changes in use
by the owners or users occur without the designer being consulted.
. Vandalism
Vandalism is caused by willful damage to the building or structure. Other factors that
increase the incidence of vandalism include lack of security, poor space layout, wrong
choice of materials, and poor lighting arrangements. Any act of vandalism could affect
the aesthetic appearance of the material/component. The end result is a higher
maintenance cost.
C. Weathering Agents
. Solar Radiation
Solar radiation is received at the surface of the earth directly and as diffused long-wave
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radiation.
Solar radiation affects building materials in two ways:
i. Chemical effect of visible and ultra-violet radiation to speed up the rate of deterioration
carried by other agents.
ii. Dimensional change in material that occurs when solar radiation is absorbed as it
strikes the material.
. Moisture
It is the principal agent of deterioration and is probably also the agent with the highest
influence on properties of materials. In other words, moisture is the prerequisite for
physical, chemical, or biological reactions to take place.
. Winds
Winds can cause direct damage by the removal of part of a building. It can cause
dampness by driving moisture into or through a building fabric and excessive heat losses
in the interior of the building by uncontrolled air changes.
. Driving Rain
The effect of driving rain is that the vertical surfaces facing the wind receive rainfall at an
angle. Construction details should be used to minimize its deterioration effects.
. Chemical Agents
. Corrosion
Atmospheric corrosion means an oxidation process where metal combines with
oxygen in the air to form rust. The process is usually accompanied by expansion of
the metal, which can affect adjacent materials.
. Sulphate Attack
In presence of damp condition, sulphate will react with tricalcium aluminate in a
building material (a constituent of portland cement & hydraulic lime) which causes
cement or mortar to expand and eventually disintegrate.
. Crystallization of Salts
Soluble salts may be present in certain building materials or may be conveyed into
them by movement of moisture from the ground or adjoining materials. When
moisture gets into the material and evaporates from the surface, the concentration
of salt increases until it crystallises out. This would cause surface disfiguring.

DIAGNOSIS AND INVESTIGATION

Building diagnosis: building diagnosis involves the process in which relevant experts
investigate the existing condition of a building, carry out necessary tests, evaluate the data
collected, make recommendations professionally and predict the future performance of the
building.

The process makes use of variety of techniques ranging from visual inspection to sophisticated
instruments. It is obvious that building diagnosis involves expects from a wide range of
disciplines.
NEEDS FOR BUILDING DIAGNOSIS
During the lifetime of a building, there will be many occasions where the physical condition of
the building would have deteriorated thus affecting the its continuous use. The building owner
should know when such occasions occurs so that relevant experts would be called upon to
arrest the problem on time. Diagnosis assessment will be required under the following
circumstances:
● Persistent defects such as cracks and deformation which may appear to worsen
progressively may need diagnostics to determine the cause.
● Aging of Structure. It is advisable that old buildings be checked periodically to
determine the presence and effects of hidden defects such as decreasing of concrete
strength or corrosion of steel reinforcements.
● Change of use/rehabilitation: A diagnostic assessment should be considered to examine
suitability of a new usages and the extent of the rehabilitation work required.
● Sale of property: A diagnostic assessments should be considered to know the condition
of the building, disclose to the purchaser of the defects and their rectifications.
● Post-Crisis assessment: After severe crisis such as fire incidents, an assessment is
needed to ascertain the structural stability and safety of the buildings.

PROCESSES OF INVESTIGATION
A plan of action has to be drawn to make sure that the investigations process progresses
without unnecessary inconvenience to the occupants in the building. The process involves the
following:
● Preliminaries: Documentation survey on maintenance records like as-built drawings,
structural drawings, M&E drawings and specifications should be carried out.
● Visual Inspection: On-site investigation rely merely on sight, hearing, touch and smell.
Additional information may be obtained by conducting interviews with occupants and
maintenance personnel. Visual inspection is essential as it may lead to selection of other
methods of investigation.
● Testing and monitoring: Techniques which include nondestructive, semi-destructive and
destructive tests, and chemical and physical analysis of materials should be carried out.
● Exploration works: This includes the techniques of removing obstructions to facilitate
closer inspection on hidden parts of a building.

First thing when dealing with a dilapidated building is the as-built drawing, the schedule of
dilapidations propose a design based on interaction with your client, develop the brief, carry out
the design, liaise with other professionals, take for approval.

Causes of foundation defects:

. Movement of soils
● Clay soil: Usually shrinks on drying and swells again when wet and this is responsible for
 ● Clay soil: Usually shrinks on drying and swells again when wet and this is responsible for
the movement. Shallow foundations: The shrinking when drying is accompanied by an
increase in bearing strength while the swelling when wet reduces its bearing strength.
● Sandy soils: Dense beds of sand form excellent foundation soils but underdrain water
can wash out the finer particles leaving coarse materials in a less stable condition. Much
of the bearing capacity may be lost in such circumstances.
● Organic soils in made-up grounds: Pits and other soils which contain a high proportion
of organic matter from decayed vegetables vary greatly in volume as their water contents
change. These soils are highly compressible so that they can even settle greatly under
their own weight, therefore the bearing capacity of such soils are low, poor and should not
be used for construction purposes unless deep foundations passing through the fill can
be designed and provided.
● Swallow holes in limestones: In chalk or limestone areas, cavities in the rock can form
by the action of streams dissolving the rock away. When the overburden collapses into
the cavity a swallow hole is formed on the surface causing serious damage to the building
above or near the site.

. Other movements:
● Effect of vegetation: Extraction of moisture by tree roots in shrinkable clay will cause the
soil to shrink. If this shrinkage takes place under the foundation there is tendency for it to
settle thus affecting the stability of the building.
● Slopes and excavations: Clay soils on slopes are likely to move down hill slowly which
could be subjected to creep and this could result to heavy pressure on walls.
● Vibration and Sudden shocks: Vibration may be caused by traffic or machineries. If they
are prolonged and intense, they may affect the foundation causing them to settle
gradually. An explosion can generate sudden shock which can affect the stability of the
building structure and ground support.
● Mining subsidence: Building above mining tunnels can suffer deformation as the ground
subsidence over the working or the structure. Initially the building tends to tilt but
subsequently the tilt decreases and settlement increases as the ground below is
affected.
● Deferential Settlement: when settlement is uniform over the whole area of the building,
it is very unlikely to cause same to the superstructure. Damage is as a result of what is
called differential settlement, in which one side of the building subsided more than the
other, leading to cracks and stresses in the superstructure.

UNDERPINNING
Underpinning is the process of remedying a faulty foundation. Reinforcing the foundation
of a distressed structure.

It is a highly skilled operator and should be undertaken by experienced firm. No one is like the
other, and each must be given individual consideration for the most economical and safest
scheme to be worked out. It is also generally necessary to provide extensive support through
the process when excavating close to the foundation. Underpinning of a structure is required;
● To support a structure which is sinking or tilting due to ground subsidence.
● As a safeguard against possible settlement of a structure when excavating close to or
below the foundation level.
● To enable the foundation to be deepened for structural reasons.
● To increase the width of the foundation to permit header loads to be carried by increasing
the storey height of the building.
● To enable a building to be moved to a new site.

Procedure for underpinning:

. Excavate rectangular pits or logs at intervals beneath the existing foundation.
. Pits are then filled with concrete or brick wall up to the underside of the existing
foundation.
. After, intervening legs are excavated and the concrete or brick work constructed within
them to bond on the brick work already in place.
. Maximum length of wall which can be left unsupported above each leg is usually 1.2-1.5m
for normal construction.
. The unsupported length should be equally distributed over the length of the wall.
. The sum of the unsupported length should not exceed 1/4 of the total length of the
structure.
. If the load is heavily loaded or shows signs of structural weakness the unsupported
length at any given point should not exceed 1/5 or 1/6 of its total length.
. Concrete should be placed as quickly as possible after excavation in each leg.
. Block work or brick work can be used to fill the spacing between the top of the
underpinning concrete and the underside of the existing foundation.
. When excavating each wall or leg sufficient space is allowed in front of the wall to provide
adequate walking space.
. No earth faces should be left unsupported overnight.

SHOVING
Types
. Dead Shores:
○ Purpose: Support dead or superimposed loads of a building, especially during
alteration/repair work.
○ Details: Vertical struts bearing on the ground at the required distance away from
the wall; used in underpinning operations and surmounted by horizontal beams
between the pair of shores. Must be securely braced together to provide firm
beaming.
. Raking Shores:
○ Purpose: Provide temporary support to a wall which has become defective, unsafe,
or as a precautionary measure during alteration works.
○ Details: Arrangement may depend on the height of the building, load to be carried,
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or extent of openings/space available adjacent to the building.
. Flying Shores:
○ Purpose: Provide support between buildings where an intervening building has
been demolished.
○ Details: Used where the feet of the bracing shores obstruct operations; butt/flying
shores do not bear on the ground, merely provide restraint against buckling or
tilting.

Concrete Defects
Factors Affecting Concrete Durability:
. Faulty Design: Wrong mix proportion and inadequate joint provision (e.g., expansion
joints and under-design of certain elements like reinforcement).
. Inferior Materials: Caused by the use of partially hydrated cement, contaminated water,
or aggregate.
. Poor Construction Practice:Caused by faulty formwork/improper placing causing
segregation and inadequate curing, leading to shrinkage cracks; can also result from
inadequate vibration and placement of steel.
. Abuse of Structure:Lack of maintenance and change of use of the structure.
. Environmental Effects:Caused by thermal movement, moisture movement, freezing and
thawing of ice on the concrete surface.
. Chemical Aggression/Attack:Includes sulphate attack, bleaching a lime heat, and acid
attack.
. Physical Aggression:Includes abrasion and cavitation.
Types and Causes of Concrete Defects:
● Spalling of Concrete: Indicates corrosion of spalling occurs despite adequate cover, the
concrete is likely porous and weak.
● When spalling occurs in flat roofs and bathrooms accompanied by damp and wet patches,
it suggests water penetration.
● Vertical and Diagonal Cracks in Beams: Indicate beams may be overstressed or under-
designed, or applied loads are higher than assumed in the design.
● Vertical Cracks in Columns: Indicate a high level of compressive stress in the members.
● Random Cracks in Floors: Indicate age or lack of meaningful movement in joints.

Timber and Timber Roof Defects

Defects in Timber:
. Natural Defects: Occur during the growth of the tree, including:
○ Knots: Part of the branch enclosed within the growing trunk; develops knots
causing deviation of the grain and may lead to a hole within the trunk.
○ Shakes: Separation of fibers along the grain owing to stresses developed in the
tree.
. Conversion Defects: Due to unsound practices in cutting or attempts to economize
during conversion of the timber.
 . Seasoning Defects: Directly caused by movement changes in timber due to changes in
moisture content; mostly irreversible, including:
○ Checks: Longitudinal separation of fibers which does not extend throughout the
cross-section of the wood.
○ Warp: Distortion in converted timber causing a departure from its original shape.
○ Collapse: Condition which may occur during early stages of seasoning when wet
timber shrinks unevenly or excessively.
. Fungal Attack: Fungi are the chief cause of decay of timber; development depends on
moisture, oxygen, and cellulose in timber; presence of any one causes decay; fungal
attack can be caused by either dry or wet rot.
○ Dry Rot: Active when particularly seasoned wood is fixed in a warm, damp, and
poorly ventilated position.
○ Wet Rot: Active in timber excessively wet weather located in the interior or exterior
of the building.
. Insect Attack: Beetles of different kinds affect timber because the organic nature of the
material is favorable to its life cycle of hatching, growing, and emerging.
. Termite Attack: Termites are found mostly in tropics; classified into:
○ Dry Wood Termites: Can confine themselves entirely within the timber and need no
contact with the ground; may fly into the building or be carried there by previously
infested timber.
○ Soil Termites: More widespread and need to maintain contact to the ground; cause
destruction by constructing tubes or covered galleries in the soil over the
intervening plaster or concrete.

Dampness
One of the most serious defects in buildings; apart from causing deterioration by disintegration
of the structure, also results in damage to furniture and contents as stains and fungal growth,
severely affecting the health of the occupants. Good design measures are essential to keep
moisture out of the building. Dampness can enter building materials causing their deterioration.
Causes of Dampness:
. Water Introduced During Construction: During bricklaying and plastering, pores of
water are introduced into the block; the wall remains damp until a hot season has passed.
. Penetration of Water Through Roofs, Parapets, or Chimneys: Roofs may admit fine rain
particles, particularly in exposed situations; roofs must be made to an adequate pitch,
securely fixed, and with generous overhang of the eaves to prevent such penetrations;
parapets and chimneys can collect and deliver water to certain parts of the building below
roof level unless they have adequate damp-proofing and flashings.
. Penetration of Water Through Walls: Occurs most commonly through walls exposed to
prevailing wet winds or where evaporation is retarded; sometimes the fault may be from
leaking gutter or downpipes.
. Penetration of Water Through Broken or Decayed Plumbing Pipes: Placed in walls
could also cause dampness.
 . Rising Damp: Moisture from the ground rising in a porous wall may be caused by:
○ Absence of Damp Proof Courses (DPC).
. Bridging of Damp Proof Causes Internally: By floor screed laid which is not beyond the
DPC for the wall or external rendering which is liable to crack/shear, allowing dampness to
rise and moisture to penetrate.

Schedule of Dilapidation:
● Analysis: Start from the entrance of the building; type of flooring, walls, soffits, and
condors.