Building Condition Assessment

Introduction

As buildings age, those responsible for them must get involved with condition surveys. these individuals have to evaluate materials, conduct destructive or non-destructive tests, evaluate results and decide on the necessary actions for structural rehabilitation. this seminar explains the step-by-step procedures for conducting a condition survey of concrete, steel, timber and masonry structures, hvac, mould, plumbing, electrical and fire safety systems. the strengths and limitations of destructive and non-destructive techniques, along with their suitability for a variety of situations, are discussed.

Main Topics:

• Assessing building conditions
• Structural condition of wood
• Structural condition of steel & concrete
• Foundations
• Building envelope: testing & monitoring
• Roofing, doors & windows
• HVAC, plumbing systems
• Electrical systems, elevators/escalators
• Site elements & life expectancy
• Review condition reports & case studies

Objectives

After participating in this course, you will be able to:

• Follow the visual inspection methods used by specialists
• Use the latest destructive and non-destructive investigation techniques when conducting a building condition survey
• Select destructive and non-destructive testing techniques based on their strengths and limitations, and suitability to your concrete, steel, timber and masonry structures
• Interpret building system result
• Assess the useful life of the building systems and the whole building

Training Methodology

This is an interactive course. There will be open question and answer sessions, regular group exercises and activities, videos, case studies, and presentations on best practice. Participants will have the opportunity to share with the facilitator and other participants on what works well and not so well for them, as well as work on issues from their own organizations. The online course is conducted online using MS-Teams/ClickMeeting.

Who Should Attend?

• Structural engineers 
• Project engineers & managers 
• Consulting engineers 
• Designers
• Facility supervisors & managers
• Building services managers 
• Technicians & technologists
• Capital asset personnel
• Inspection personnel 
• Architects

Course Outline

Module I: Introduction, workshop preview, learning outcomes, and the assessment method 

• Objective for building condition assessment
• Procedures and checklists for assessing buildings
• A comprehensive study of condition survey of a building
• Examples of assessing various building components

Structural condition assessment and evaluation of wood structures

• Wood as construction material, pressure-treated wood
• Visual inspection of columns, beams, fasteners and connectors, structural panels, shear walls and diaphragms, roofs, glue-laminated timber, and metal plate connected wood trusses
• Material evaluation
• Destructive and non-destructive testing
• Strength considerations
• Assessing the risk of failure
• Case studies
• Checklist for wood structures problems

Structural condition assessment and evaluation of steel structures 

• Types of damage: corrosion, structural deficiencies and distress
• Visual inspection of columns, beams and trusses
• Material condition
• Destructive and nondestructive testing techniques
• Performance rating of components
• Upgrading of existing structures
• Reporting data reduction
• Case studies: condition assessment of a steel building
• Checklist for 80% of steel structure problems

Structural condition assessment and evaluation of masonry structures

• Types of damage: dampness, spalling, efflorescence, corrosion of ties, structural deficiencies and distress
• Visual inspection of load-bearing walls, columns and brick veneer
• Material evaluation
• Destructive and non-destructive testing
• Statistical evaluation of test data
• Strength considerations
• Assessing the risk of failure
•  reporting-data reduction
• Case studies
• Checklist for 80% of masonry structures problems

Module II: Structural condition assessment and evaluation of concrete structures

• Causes of concrete deterioration: frost action, chemical attack, alkali-aggregate reaction, mechanical abrasion, non-uniform volume change, corrosion of embedded reinforcement
• Types of damage: cracking, water leakage, staining, corrosion-related damage, structural deficiencies and distress, fire damage
• Visual inspection of columns, beams, slabs, parking garages
• Material evaluation
• Destructive and non-destructive testing
• Statistical evaluation of test data
• Strength considerations
• Durability considerations
• Assessing the risk of failure
• Reporting-data reduction
• Case studies
• Checklist for 80% of concrete structures

Foundation:

• Soil type and bearing capacity
• Soil modifications
• Type of foundation-shallow or deep
• Foundation cracks/repairs
• Foundation settlement
• Checklist for 80% of foundations problems

Testing and monitoring building envelope

• Standard, non-destructive testing, and monitoring of building envelopes will be discussed encompassing the techniques and advantages of ground-penetrating radar and impact-echo to evaluate envelope conditions including:
• Standard tests: testing brick mortar in the field, testing vapour pressure in the field
• NDT tests: general principles of ground-penetrating radar, general principles and uses of impact-echo testing, comparison of the two NDT methods using case histories: evaluating the presence of cracking in stone masonry, evaluating the presence of voids in solid masonry units, evaluating the internal deterioration of historical masonry
• Monitoring buildings including: stress, crack and building envelope movement-methods and accuracies ,moisture-methods and accuracies
• Case study at venue location
• Inspection
• Warranties
• Condition – membrane, aluminum/copper sheets
• Repairs and replacements
• Case studies – inspection – observations – detection of defects and corrective repairs and replacement decisions

Module III: Doors and windows

• Procedure for inspection
• Deterioration
• Repairs or replacement decision

Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning 

• System type- air furnace, central hot water boilers, electric furnaces, forced air, ducted forced air, hot water, cooling tower, humidifiers, evaporators, and condensers, evaporative coolers
• Condition assessment of components
• Tests
• Assessing the risk of failure
• Reporting-data reduction
• Case studies
• Checklist for condition survey of hvac systems

Module IV: Areas of high-water episode potential

• Musty odor
• Floor coverings with water damage
• Behind wallpaper
• Ventilation equipment: filters, insulation, ducts, fan rooms
• Humidification units
• Checklist for condition survey

Plumbing system fixtures, drains and vents

• Domestic hot and cold water piping systems
• Sump and ejector pumps
• Hydronic systems
• Plumbing system materials and valves
• Checklist for 80% of plumbing problems

Electrical system single and three-phase wiring

• Metering arrangements
• Fuse panels and circuit breakers
• Transformers
• Feeders and services
• Subsystems: fire alarm system, life safety system, emergency lighting, emergency power
• Checklist for 80% of electrical problems

Fire safety life safety and property protection

• Containment
• Early warning system
• Fire alarm
• Egress
• Suppression
• Checklist for 80% of fire safety problems

Module V: Elevators or escalators

• Inspection – what can go wrong and what to check
• Determining if inspection by a specialist is necessary
• Repairs or replacement decision

Site Elements Martin Gears-Up

• Parking lot, pavement, lights, signs, parking meters, drainage, fire hydrant,
• Substation, water and electricity hookups
• Condition survey and corrective action

Life expectancy

• Calculating expected useful life of a building from the expected lie of its components

Written report and presentation

• General condition report for the owner
• Introduction to the report
• Order of magnitude estimate for required repairs
• Unpredictable repair
• Descriptive text for each element
• Appendices: pictures, maintenance recommendations, glossary