Manuel J. Carretero-Ayuso

Analysis of the Execution Deficiencies of Flat Roofs with Bituminous Membranes

AbstractAccording to some studies, flat roofs are one of the construction elements that most frequently suffer from damage and anomalies. It is important to carry out a verification of the execution processes of waterproofing membranes to reduce the number of failures as much as possible and prevent future associated damages. This paper details the 47 evaluation parameters that were applied to 61 construction projects, rated in terms of their quality in five levels of importance of the deficiencies, based on the supervision performed by quality control entities during the execution of the works. The results numerically demonstrate the importance of prior supervision of project design to produce more satisfactory results and reduce the probability of problems in the future. The most common problems in flat roofs with bituminous membranes are identified and rated, of which issues concerning the tail-ends with peripheral elements stand out.

Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses on Project Deficiencies in Flat-Roof Design in Extremadura, Spain

AbstractThe present paper reports on the analysis performed over a set of 44 final designs projected in the period 2000 to 2007, and is aimed at performing a quantitative and qualitative analysis on the prevalence of project deficiencies in flat roofs in construction building projects. The methodology is based on the study of a set of control parameters to point out the most frequent deficiencies in flat-roof designs. Out of the total number of sample projects, only eight (18.18% of total number of projects) were categorized as high-quality projects, while 17 (38.63%) and 19 (43.18%) were finally regarded as intermediate and low-quality, respectively. The use of accurate methodologies at former project stages to identify potential failures or construction deficiencies in advance is a successful predictive strategy, which directly enhances infrastructure sustainability. It provided they might prevent between 70 and 80% of the standard pathologies addressed for flat roofs, and might moreover achieve annual ...

Diagnosis of functioning incidences from judicial claims in building installations in Spain

Building facilities are an important part of construction, given that they interact with the rest of the building and may generate complaints from and dissatisfaction among the users, with subsequent litigation in courts. Expert reports used during judicial processes resulting from user complaints constitute an original source of knowledge on incidences in facilities. This article analyses the anomalies detected in 15 different types of installations from a total of 496 buildings under study, in which judicial claims were filed between 2008 and 2010, in Spain. In total, 854 incidences were found. The material damages and causes and consequences were analysed. These incidences were categorised qualitatively and quantitatively, and the most recurrent situations were studied. Through statistical analysis, the building typology, climate and location with the greatest likelihood of manifesting problems in each facility were determined, as well as the complaint risk factor per facility. It was also detected that most of the incidences (41.34%) were caused by lack of water-tightness in the facilities. With this information, technicians will be able to detect the most conflicting points and reduce failures in the execution of their projects, thus improving building construction quality.

Análisis de los fallos y daños en las cubiertas de los edificios

DOI: 10.7764/RDLC.16.1.145 This paper presents the analysis of 801 damage occurrences in building roofs, which were classified qualitatively as well as quantitatively. They have been correlated according to the type of roof in question, and the most frequent situations have been determined. The prevalence of the causes behind these problems is indicated, and a technical discussion concerning each one is presented. These results provide property developers, designers and construction managers with information on the critical points of roofs, as a way to minimize defects in their building sites. This damage analysis provides a series of lessons learnt in order to improve the quality of construction in general.

Multiparameter Evaluation of Deficiencies in Tiled Pitched Roofs

AbstractRoofs are one of the construction elements most directly affected by external climate agents and most sensitive to deficiencies caused by errors or lack of maintenance. In this study, 65 construction projects of tile-covered pitched roofs were analyzed, studying the deficiencies found during the execution process, in terms of whether or not the project’s design had been previously controlled. A total of 380 deficiencies were detected, which amounts to an average of 5.85 deficiencies per project studied. Each of these deficiencies was assigned to a location group and assigned a level of importance (as evaluated by peers) to estimate the possible damage it might lead to in the future.

An analysis of technical facilities failures in modern Spanish houses

The correct execution of facilities in housing determines their maintenance and comfort. The objective of this article is to identify the usual functional failures, common in technical facilities of houses, study their causes and determine their consequences. To this effect, a total of 153 detached houses (18%), 231 attached houses (27%), 444 apartment blocks (52%) and 26 residential buildings of other types (3%) were analysed. The facilities with the greatest number of detected failures were ‘covered sanitation pipes’ (24.00%), ‘exposed sanitation pipes’ (20.73%), ‘ventilation’ (13.93%), ‘heating and air conditioning’ (11.01%) and ‘plumbing’ (9.72%). The most common types of failures identified were ‘malfunctions’ (41.22%) and ‘humidity/runoffs in finished elements’ (37.55%). The housing typology which concentrates the most failures is ‘apartment block’ (52%), followed by ‘attached houses’ (27%). The causes, in general, are one of the following three: ‘installation anomaly’, ‘omission of/in an installation’ and ‘joints or tail-ends inadequately placed or deteriorated’. Practical application: This work presents a methodological procedure which allows designers to identify the most common incidences in building facilities and the causes leading to them, analyse their consequences and avoid their appearance in the design stage.