Finding Faults with Residential Buildings
Since 2004, Buildsure Associates has provided house inspection services, completing over 700 inspections. This chapter describes the inspection process and the methods used to communicate the results to the house owner. A random sample of 70 reports was t
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Abstract Since 2004, Buildsure Associates has provided house inspection services, completing over 700 inspections. This chapter describes the inspection process and the methods used to communicate the results to the house owner. A random sample of 70 reports was taken and processed into a database which has been subject to statistical analysis. The large majority were for free-standing timber-framed houses with different claddings. 46 % of the houses had only suspended floors, 30 % only slab-on-grade, and the rest both floor types. Just one-fifth (21 %) of the houses could be considered to be in excellent condition. The full set of reports was also examined to select common problems, and these are discussed with appropriate site photographs. Given that when a house is being sold, the seller wishes to present it in the most positive light, this would suggest there is a very large, currently unmet, need for house maintenance work. Three common issues have been identified: asbestos (present in 36 % of reports), high moisture levels (35 % mean timber moisture levels of 14 % or above), and subfloor ventilation (53 % of the timber bearer moisture measurements were in the 16 % to over 22 % range). The identification of problems is a first step to their resolution. Future analysis of this database, along with other research exploring the condition of New Zealand houses, is being undertaken and will help to lead not only to improved durability of the houses but also create an improved environment for living. Keywords Houses New Zealand
Moisture Maintenance Asbestos Subfloor ventilation
N. Isaacs (&) E. Duff School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand e-mail: [email protected] E. Duff e-mail: [email protected] J. Bowler Buildsure Associates Ltd., Wellington, New Zealand e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 J.M.P.Q. Delgado (ed.), Case Studies of Building Pathology in Cultural Heritage, Building Pathology and Rehabilitation 7, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0639-5_4
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Fig. 1 House condition assessment logo
1 Introduction The shift to a performance based, national building code in 1992 (Government of New Zealand 1991) coupled with changes in construction training over the following decade, has meant that house purchasers can no longer rely on a simple, visual prepurchase inspection. An inspection using the skills of an experienced construction professional with knowledge of common building faults and failures provides a degree of security for the prospective purchaser that potentially expensive failures or inadequacies have been identified. Buildsure Associates Ltd.,1 and its predecessor, is a private company that has been undertaking house inspection services since 2004. Approximately 700 inspections have been completed, the majority for a house condition assessment (Fig. 1) of stand-alone houses. This results in a detailed report and a “House Warrant of Fitness.” The warrant is subject to the genera
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