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New CA - III (3.8.2009)
New CA - III (3.8.2009)
BUILDING SURVEYING
Critical Analysis
Case 3:
1.0 Background 1
1.0 Background
The re-roofing work was carried out within the period between Feb 2009 and March
2009. At the time being, I was a Technical Officer in Estates, Health and Safety
The subject flat roof was on an academic building in campus, which was built in year
1986, with reinforced concrete structure. It was approximately 330 m2 in area, regular
in shape, and finished with concrete tiles (Layout Plan at Appendix A). Water seepage
problem was often reported to the top floor. Furthermore, the subject roof was
selected to house with the new chillers to the campus air-conditioning system.
To carry out a desktop study with checking the maintenance records and relevant
assurance measures.
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Case 3 – Re-roofing Work to an Existing Building on Campus
To identify the possible cause of water seepage, condition surveys to the subject roof
were conducted in dry and wet days. The existing waterproofing material was mastic
asphalt, aged over 20 years. The warranty of roofing system was expired. Only a few
utilities were resting on the roof and no pipe was concealed inside the roof slab. The
condition of the roof was poor with vegetation growth and defective roof finishes.
Based on the survey findings and maintenance record of the subject roof, I suggested
the most possible cause of the seepage was the rainwater penetration through the aged
roof system.
With assessment to the three available repair options, i.e. patch repair, overlaying and
According to past maintenance record, patch repairs to the roof were conducted times
in the past years, but with unsatisfied performance. Besides, the leakage area was
found so extensive that patch repair was not suitable in terms of economical and
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Case 3 – Re-roofing Work to an Existing Building on Campus
The installation of new chillers system would increase the imposed loading to the
subject roof. Overlaying system was not recommended to prevent further increasing
the loading to the roof. Besides, overlaying system would also have the bonding
problem with existing roofing system whereas the complete re-roofing has no such
problem.
The existing waterproofing layer was used over 20 years. The layer went beyond its
lift expectancy and showed the sign of deterioration. Therefore, complete replacement
Furthermore, the new chillers system to be installed would cause obstruction to any
was preferred and would benefit most among all these three options.
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Case 3 – Re-roofing Work to an Existing Building on Campus
In order to select the most appropriate product between the two types of proprietary
applied membrane), I evaluated their performance in terms of time, cost and quality.
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Case 3 – Re-roofing Work to an Existing Building on Campus
a. Time Required
The construction period of liquid-applied membrane was relatively longer than the
sheet-applied one due to its longer drying time. However, the existence of new
concrete plinths for chillers would increase the required working time for the
overlapping and interfacing areas for sheet-applied membrance, thus, would reduce
b. Cost Required
The existence of new concrete plinth for chillers would increase the wastage when
applying the sheet-applied membrane, thus further increase the material cost to the
type. Liquid-applied membrane was considered more economical due to the high
skilled labour cost required can be offset with the lower material cost to the sheet-
applied membrane.
c. Quality Assurance
Even though the subject roof was flat and regular in shape, the newly installed
concrete plinth for the chillers plants would cause obstruction to the sheet-applied
membrane installation. Such obstruction would increase the difficulty and workability
for sheet-applied membrane and increase the chance of water leakage at the joint
waterproofing membrane for this re-roofing project and was agreed with my superior.
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Case 3 – Re-roofing Work to an Existing Building on Campus
requirements and detailed material specification in the contract. I also requested the
Besides, I conducted frequent site supervisions especially at the time of clearing the
Appendix B) and all debris was required to be properly packed in nylon bags and
removed from the roof deck regularly to avoid overloading the roof slab. Any
etc had to be rectified. Proceeding to next stage was not allowed until my inspection
After the application of water-proofing layer, water flooding test were also conducted
to assure the quality performance (site photos 7-8 in Appendix B). The test was
carried out with a control amount of water, and temporarily retained for at least forty-
Thermographic Scanning Test was then applied to identify the location and quantity
minimize the weather effect to the tests and to have more accurate results, I requested
the test conducted in fine weather which closed to the designed condition as specified.
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Case 3 – Re-roofing Work to an Existing Building on Campus
At last, warranty from the contractor was required for the roofing system to guarantee
the watertight condition for a period of ten years from the date of completion stated in
Every task has its own characteristic and usually has options for selection like the
repair options and different re-roofing materials in this project. Critical thinking,
information and data and to balance the key issues in order to have a best selection as
a result. Through the case, I also found that good planning and close monitoring of the
works can ensure works to be executed in a precise and efficient manner which is
especially important for the works to be completed within the tight schedule. Besides,
I gained in-depth knowledge to the used tests by knowing their underlying principles
knowledge and skills for handing future maintenance and improvement works.
thinking and consider things in different perspectives. In the past, I only focused on
the project side, such as project duration, ease of equality control and cost
effectiveness. However, I revealed that communication with the stakeholders was the
key of the project success. Having consideration in different parties’ view would help
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Case 3 – Re-roofing Work to an Existing Building on Campus
maintenance or repair work and improved my analytical ability for a suitable remedial
future.
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Case 3 – Re-roofing Work to an Existing Building on Campus
Appendix A
(Approval obtained from Employer for the use of drawing – for educational use only)
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Case 3 – Re-roofing Work to an Existing Building on Campus
Appendix B
Photo 1 Photo 2
Photo 3 Photo 4
Photo 5 Photo 6
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Case 3 – Re-roofing Work to an Existing Building on Campus
Photo 7 Photo 8
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