01/05/2013
DEFECTS IN BUILDING SERVICES
Dr Chitrarekha Kabre
MAINTENANCE OF MECHANICAL
SYSTEMS IN BUILDINGS
Symptoms
Insufficient water pressure or
flows
Brownish water/grit and
deposit
Stoppage of supply
Water seepage
Unclean water, algae growth,
dirt and deposit
Sudden rise in consumption
Noisy water pumps, noisy
water inlets
Symptoms
Inadequate water pressure
No water supply
Water leakage, rusty stains
Alarm not working (when
tested), false alarm or warning
lights on signal panels
Portable equipment lost or Inadequate protection or poor
misplaced glass panels of alarm management
switch-box broken
Non-functioning of equipment
Possible Causes
Blockage or leakage of
components of the supply
system such as pipes or valves
Rusty pipes or dirty supply
tanks
Pump failure, breakage of
supply pipe
Defective water tanks, pipes
(pipe joints) or valves
Defective or missing water tank
cover
Leakage in the system after
water meters
Defective water pumps, undue
water pressure
Possible Causes
Blockage or leakage of
components of the supply
system such as pipes or valves
Failure of pump, breakage of
the supply system
Damage, corrosion or failure of
pipes, joints or valves
Alarm wiring defect, short
circuit
Inadequate maintenance or
servicing
Symptoms
Stoppage of supply/system
breakdown
Sudden or frequent fuse or
circuit breaker cut off leading to
stoppage
Heating of switches & wires
Electric sparks or shocks,
electrocution
Symptoms
Stoppage, excessive noise
during operation, indicator
lamps off, unstable lifting,
malfunction of buttons and
indicator lamps
Occasional overrun
Doors not closing properly
Defective mechanical parts,
frequent stoppage, alarm
signals
Possible Causes
Failure of fuse or circuit breaker
Earth leakage, overloading
Overloading
Inadequate earth bonding
Possible Causes
Ageing of parts, mechanical
failure
Landing misalignment
Parts ageing, mechanical
failure, rubbish obstructing
operation
Inadequate servicing
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Symptoms Possible Causes

Not cool enough, not warm
enough
Noisy, no air movement
Engines sound normal but no
air movement
Noisy blowers or propellers
movement
Poor indoor air qualilty
Poor efficiency, leakage of
refrigerant dust and dirt at heat
transmission fins
Loosing parts, blowers or
propellers breakage
Dust screens blocked, air ducts
and grilles needs cleaning
Misalignment of motor shafts
Insufficient fresh air intake,

Dripping and substandard

output of cool or warm air
Noisy blowers or propellers
movement
mal-function of intake air filter
Insulation failure
VENTILATION AND AIR
CONDITIONING
Misalignment of motor shafts

Natural ventilation Mechanical ventilation

• It is a requirement of the Building Regulations that any habitable room
shall (unless it is ventilated by mechanical means) have one or more
ventilation openings.
• The total area of the openable part of a window, hinged panel or
adjustable louvre must be 1/20 of the floor area of the room served and
open directly to the external air. The opening portion must not be less
than 1.75 m above the floor. A door opening directly to the external air
may be utilised if it contains a ventilation opening having a total area of
not less than 0.01m2 which can be opened when the door is shut.
• habitable rooms have permanent ventilators in the form of terracotta air
bricks or patent horizontal window ventilators fitted within the glazing
rebates at the top of the metal or timber window. Both these methods are
effective provided they are properly positioned and do not result in
unpleasant draughts.
• The occupiers have often blocked the vent apertures with rolled up pieces
of paper, thus rendering this type of ventilation ineffective. Whichever
system is found, only accidental damage can occur.
• Mechanical ventilation is an essential requirement for internal bathrooms,
WCs and kitchens where there is no natural ventilation at all. The
equipment consists of metal duct extractor fans allowing three complete
changes of air per hour and must discharge directly into the external air.
• Some extractor fans are controlled by the lighting switch operated by the
person entering the compartment. The Building Regulations require that
lavatories must be approached through a ventilated lobby, but corridors
and staircase landings are permissible approaches.
• A duct must be provided from the outside air into an internal lobby,
whether mechanical extraction is used or not.
• These simple mechanical systems rarely give trouble if the fan motor is
functioning satisfactorily. The installers of this equipment will usually
supply the occupiers with maintenance instructions that are simple to
follow and easy to carry out. If there are doubts concerning the motor’s
performance then it is advisable to add this to the list of items to be
checked by the electrical engineer.

Mechanical ventilation Mechanical ventilation

Three types of systems 1. Extract systems: cold climate
1. Extract systems  Useful near a source of contamination, such
2. Supply systems as toilets, kitchen cooker hoods, laboratory
3. Balanced systems fume cupboards
 These creates negative pressures
 Relief should be provided by vent openings

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Extract system
Mechanical ventilation
3. Balanced systems: all climates
• have both supply and exhaust provided by
mechanical means.
• Theses can provide a great degree of control,
but are expensive
• The supply flow is usually kept higher than
the exhaust, to keep a slight positive
pressure and thus prevent unwanted dust
entry.
Mechanical ventilation
• Heat recovery ventilation (HRV)-cold season
• Energy recovery ventilation (ERV) – hot season
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Mechanical ventilation
2. Supply systems: in hot and mixed climates
• Bring in filtered outside air and create a positive
pressure. Air must be released through vents.
• Useful, where the entry of dust should be
prevented.
• A special form of this is the fire ventilation,
which forces air at high pressure (some 500 Pa)
into staircases and corridors, to keep the escape
route free of smoke.
Mechanical ventilation
Mechanical ventilation
• The ventilation heat loss (Qv, in a cool climate)
can be reduced by a ventilation heat recovery
system
• Employ a heat exchanger (rotary or a plate type)
or a heat transfer loop, to pre-heat the air
intake by the exhaust air, without mixing the
two air streams
• Temperature of Exhaust air is upgraded by a
heat pump before it heats the intake.
• This could be a reversible system, to assist
cooling.
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Mechanical ventilation Mechanical ventilation

A rotary heat exchanger for

ventilation heat recovery
A ventilation heat recovery, assisted by a heat pump

Mechanical ventilation Mechanical ventilation

Filters can be of one of four types
• Fans are used to drive the air. Two
main types 1. Dry filters
1. Propeller or axial flow fans : very 2. Wet filters
effective when working against
small back pressure (flow resistance
3. Air washers
when fitted in casing). 4. Electrostatic
2. Centrifugal (or radial flow) fans: the
intake is axial, the output is
tangential. Work against large back
pressure, or on quietness.

Mechanical ventilation Mechanical ventilation

1. Dry filters:
• 25-50 mm thick, usually disposable, panel or
roller type, using a fabric or porous paper or
other fibrous material.
• Some types can be cleaned by water.
• Dry filters are more efficient than the wet
ones, but usually become ‘loaded’ (clogged
up) quicker
2. Wet filters:
• 12-100 mm thick pads, e.g. metal turnings
between wire meshes, oil coated (viscous
impingement filters)
• These are washable, reusable and are
effective down to 10μm particle sizes.

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Mechanical ventilation
3. Air washers
• Fine sprays against the air intake stream,
particularly useful where the air is very dry
and needs humidification, but also used as
precooler.
• These must be followed by a set of
‘eliminator plates’, to arrest any water
droplets carried by the air stream and drain
these to a sump.
Mechanical ventilation
Ducts
• To convey and distribute the air.
• Usually made of sheet metal of rectangular cross-
section
• Plastic materials are also used in circular or oval
sections.
• Larger sizes ‘builder’s work’ ducts are used, formed in
brick or concrete, or framed and sheeted.
– Greater surface friction (suitable for lower flow velocities)
and
– Difficult to prevent air leakages.
Air conditioning systems
• Air conditioning systems control
1. The temperature
2. The Humidity
3. The purity of the air
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Mechanical ventilation
4. Electrostatic
• Upto 12kV static charges on metal plates
• These are effective down to 0.01μm particle
size, and normally used with a coarser
pre-filter.
• These are the best filters for particularly
clean areas, such as laboratories or
operating theatres.
Maintenance of Mechanical
Ventilation systems
• These simple mechanical systems rarely give
trouble if the fan motor is functioning
satisfactorily.
• The installers of this equipment will usually
supply the occupiers with maintenance
instructions that are simple to follow and easy
to carry out.
Air conditioning systems
The simplest system is the room conditioner
• A packaged unit which can be installed in a
window or an external wall.
• Its capacity may be upto 10kW.
• It has a direct expansion evaporator cooling
coil and a condenser cooled by the outdoor
air.
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Air conditioning systems Air conditioning systems

Schematic diagram of a A console type air

packaged air conditioner conditioner unit
unit C: compressor
C: compressor M: motor
M: motor E: evaporator
E: evaporator

Air conditioning systems Air conditioning systems

• In larger systems the air is treated in an air-
handling unit, which includes the fan and is
An air conditioner ‘split distributed by a ductwork
unit’ • The heating coil of the air-handling unit is served
C: compressor by a boiler, which delivers hot water.
M: motor • The cooling coil can be of direct expansion type,
E: evaporator i.e. the evaporator of the cooling machine itself,
or the cooling machine can become a chiller (the
evaporator shaped as a refrigerant-to-water heat
exchanger) supplying chilled water to the cooling
coil

Principles of a heat pump

An ammonia/water absorption chiller
(or cooling machine)
 The high pressured gas is released
to the evaporator, where it expand
and cools atmosphere
 The hot ammonia is
cooled to the atmosphere

 A working fluid or refrigerant (organic fluoride or a hydrocarbon is

• Heat input expels the
circulated in a closed loop by the compressor. ammonia (refrigerant)
 A pressure release valve keeps the condenser side under high pressure from the solution
and the evaporator side under low pressure and low temperature.
 When the fluid is compressed it becomes hot and liquefies, whilst it  Reabsorbed in the water
emit heat to the sink, in this case the room air. Passing through the
choke it evaporates and its temperature drops, so that it can pick up
heat from a source. This heat source may be the atmosphere

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Air conditioning systems
A typical central air-handling unit
(arrangement diagram)
a. An all-air system
 The plant is centralized and the treated air is distributed by
a network of ducts.
 Inflexible system, using quite large ducts for both supply
and return
 The air volume flow rate to each room is constant and the
required condition is set at the central plant
b. An induction system
 The central plant may produce over-cooled and very dry air
and supply this to induction units in each room, where the
supply air jet induces a flow and mixing with room air, thus
creating a recirculation.
 Heating or cooling coils may or may not be included in these
units, which may be supplied from a central chiller and boiler.
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Four basic A/C systems
a. Variable air volume system (VAV)
 The supply air condition is constant and the cooling
requirement of each room can be matched by reducing or
increasing the air flow at the diffuser.
 This is the most energy efficient system.
c. A dual duct system
 Two central air-handling units, supplying cooled or heated
air respectively, which are ducted to each room and can be
mixed at the outlet to the desired condition.
 A very flexible but in energy terms very wasteful system.
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Maintenance of Air Conditioning

d. Local air-handling system
systems
• Whatever type of installation has been installed a
good maintenance programme is vital and this
includes regular inspections by the engineer
responsible for the operation and maintenance.
• In the case of large installations the heating and
ventilation system will be the responsibility of the
plant engineer. A good engineer will always keep
a comprehensive operating manual and planned
 Each room or group of rooms would have its own fan-coil maintenance scheme including details of the
unit, supplied by chilled and hot water from a central plant. operating programme which the system is to
 Each room may have its own controls. perform.

Top five problems with AC

• 5. Faulty wiring: Improper, haphazard or uncertified A/C wiring is dangerous and a potential fire
hazard. Bad wiring often prevents the system from getting power, or can trip the circuit breaker.
4. Low refrigerant: Refrigerant (more commonly referred to as Freon) is the chemical that cools
the air. Low refrigerant may indicate a leak or problem with the refrigerant system. If your air
conditioning system needs to be recharged with refrigerant, typically that means there is a
leak. All refrigerant leaks should be located and repaired.
3. Outside fan is not working: The outside fan is responsible for transferring the heat from your
home to the outside air. If the fan on the outside unit doesn’t run, proper heat transfer is not
taking place and the air conditioning compressor may overheat and trip the safety overload.
Worse yet, it may cause internal damage to the compressor.
2. Outside unit not functional: This typically indicates lack of power, contactor problems or even
a faulty thermostat.
1. Frozen Inside coil: A frozen coil often indicates a problem with the airflow, such as restrictions
caused by dirty air filters or blocked return air ductwork. Frozen indoor coils could also be caused
by low refrigerant.
• In many cases, the only way a homeowner can prevent these common problems is by
participating in a preventive maintenance program.
• Bad wiring, low refrigerant and airflow problems can be detected during routine maintenance tune-
ups.