Building Pathology and Inspection of Building Construction

This report provides two case studies about building deterioration and their inspection and diagnosis using building pathology tools. It includes the causes, hazards, and remedies for the identified issues.

Running head: BUILDING PATHOLOGY
Building Pathology and Inspection of Building Construction
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive summary
This report is aimed to provide two case studies about building deterioration have
been presented while assessing their problems with proper inspection and diagnosis tools of
building pathology. This systematic assessment includes five stapes mainly Symptom,
Condition, Causes, Hazard identification and remedy. The report includes the remedies and
further required assessment for the two chosen buildings as well.

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Table of Content
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................4
Case study 1:..............................................................................................................................4
Building Background:............................................................................................................4
Problem..................................................................................................................................5
Initial analysis and assumption..............................................................................................6
Testing methods.....................................................................................................................6
Data collection and analysis...................................................................................................6
Further assessment.................................................................................................................9
Possible Causes......................................................................................................................9
Risks and Hazards................................................................................................................10
Remedy or solution:.............................................................................................................11
Case study 2:............................................................................................................................11
Background:.........................................................................................................................11
Problem................................................................................................................................12
Initial analysis and assumption............................................................................................12
Testing methods...................................................................................................................13
Data collection and analysis.................................................................................................14
Further assessment...............................................................................................................16
Possible Causes....................................................................................................................16
Risks and Hazards................................................................................................................17
Remedy or solution:.............................................................................................................17

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Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................18
References:...............................................................................................................................19

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Introduction:
Business pathology defines two major work processes include Producing information
that will assist in the effective management of service loss and developing methodologies for
assessment of defects and failures and consequential service loss. Three types of
deteriorations can be found in any construction namely, Dampness, Bio-decay and Cracking
(Kumar & Gardoni, 2013). The purpose of the inspection is to identify the causes and provide
remedy to secure the building from potential hazards. This systematic assessment includes
five stapes mainly Symptom, Condition, Causes, Hazard identification and remedy (Lerma et
al., 2014). In this report two case studies about building deterioration have been presented
while assessing their problems with proper inspection and diagnosis tools of building
pathology. The report also provides the remedies and further required assessment for these
two building.
Case study 1:
Building Background:
Building A is a housing building situated in residential area near Quarry Bay Park,
Hong Kong. The apartment is at 7th floor sharing a common passage or corridor with other 4
apartments. The floor plan of the chosen apartment is presented below. The building was
founded in 2006.

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Living/Dining
Room
6 x 12sq.m
Bed Room
9x6sq.m
Toilet
3x5sq.m
Kitchen
6 x 3sq.m
Interior Wall 8cm
Damp wall
Figure1: Floor plan of the apartment
Source: (Created by author)
Problem
The internal wall of the bed room had some issues regarding damping and tarmac
surface. The damp is highly concentrated at one of the wall of the bedroom. Besides, different
scattered damp was present across the interior wall of the kitchen as well. These damps were
not depends on the exterior weather or atmosphere. However, these spots and tarmac increase
when the residents stay in the house constantly more than 24 hours.
Exterior Wall 15cm

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Figure2: Bed room wall of the apartment
Source: (Created by author)
Initial analysis and assumption
Damp causes because of the increased moisture in concrete or in other internal layer
of the walls, such as bricks, metallic foundation, cladding and others. In this case the damp
varies depending on the utilisation of the house in spite of raining or other external causes.
Therefore, the problem could be caused because of the faults in plumbing system or other
internal cladding issues.
Testing methods
For the initial testing 2 types of investigation procedure has been used including the
visual investigation and the instrumental investigation. For instrumental investigation a
measurement tape and a moisture meter have been used. For further assessment other
investigation methods will be used as per the requirement (Karagiannis et al., 2016).

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Data collection and analysis
Initially the internal wall has been investigated From visual inspection of indoor and
outdoor many issues has been found which may and may not be contribute to the damp of
wall. The major finding is the position of the damp which has been identified at the
intermediate wall between bedroom and toilet.
Figure3: Bed room wall of the apartment
Source: (Created by author)
The bath room and toilet has been investigated to find any clue of source. The
concealed water line for shower and water tap is situated at the other side of the damped wall.
From the visual inspection it can be said that internal dispute of water system can cause
leakage of water within the wall.

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Figure 4: Toilet wall
Source: (Created by author)
From the moisture measurement readings the following readings has been found at the
damp area of wall. The moisture test has been conducted by considering both horizontal and
vertical test. The vertical test was conducted by taking 4 moisture values at the period of 50
cm. The horizontal testing has been conducted with same procedure. The following table
presents the detail value
Moisture Level Mean Moisture level
Vertical test 35%
27.532%
25%
18%
Horizontal test 35%
24.525%

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Damp
area
Disputed water line of
opposite side
Toilet-Bedroom
boundary wall
18%
20%
From the instrumental data about moisture level it is clear that the mean moisture
level of both horizontal and vertical area is higher than the ideal value that is 5 to 14% Mc. At
the same time the mean value of vertical points are bigger than the values found form
horizontal measurement. The following diagram shows the estimated situation from the
bedroom view.
Figure5: Visual estimation of moisture
Source: (Created by author)
Further assessment
As per the current assessment report it has not identified that if only the concealed
pipeline is causing the damping issues or there are other internal concealed blockages are

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Tiles cover
Cladding
Concrete
Water line
Brickwork
Spreading
liquid and
moisture
Moisture
underneath the
tiles
ToiletBedroom
responsible. Therefore, to investigate further level NDI or non destructive investigation is not
enough. The concealed pipelines have to be exposed by drilling through the brick layers of
the wall.
Possible Causes
The durability of concealed pipeline depends on the quality of materials and the
internal distance within two joints in plumbing work. As per the investigation it has been
found that using the pipeline more causes more damping and moisture spreading. Besides,
from the damp measurement analysis it has been clear that some of the vertical concealed
pipelines of toilet-bedroom boundary wall are causing lockage (Kylili et al., 2014). From the
following diagram the situation could be understood.
Figure 6: Cross-sectional projection of wall
Source: (Created by author)

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From the above diagram it can be seen that due to the thick layer of tiles on Toilet
side, the moisture have not been exposed. However, old and weak concrete work helped the
water and moisture to be exposed in bedroom side of the boundary wall.
Risks and Hazards
Damp and moisture spreading can have devastating effect on the walls that can
weaken the foundation of the building even further. According to the building history the
apartment was built 9 years ago and no repairing and maintenance work has been done in the
plumbing and other concealed lines. As a result of the weakening the walls other decays can
be occur like crack or building movement. Damping because of the external water source can
be resisted comparatively easily. However, moisture from internal layer can spread very
faster while having multiple bad effect on the structural metals of the building as well
(Moropoulou et al., 2013). Rapid internal spreading of moisture can reduce the load
endurance of the wall causing structural defects. If the metallic structure of the building
caches the moisture it will decay rapidly causing rapid weakening of building. Other
apartments of this building will be affected from this. Long time moisture concrete can help
to initiate bio-chemical degradation or decay. It could increase the impact exponentially
leaving less option for repairing.
Remedy or solution:
High moisture level caused by external source can be treated with external repairing
through removing exterior cladding of the building and providing better water and moisture
resistant claddings. However, in this case the moisture source is internal, which requires
detailed inspection and detection of all plumbing failures and potential failures. After that the
pipeline should be repaired or replaced by new pipeline with better concealing ability.

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Dining Space
12 x 12sq.m
Kitchen
8x6sq.m
Store room
7 x 4sq.m
Interior Wall 8cm
Washroom
3 x 4sq.m
Detected
Crack
Exterior Wall 15cm Exterior Wall 18 cm
Besides, the affected wall also require maintenance. The particular sections of the wall that
grabbed the maximum amount of moisture should be reconstructed completely.
Case study 2:
Background:
Restaurant R is a commercial building situated near high way of Quarry Bay Park,
Hong Kong. The building was initially a very small warehouse and used as retail operation
and storage. The main segment of the building was constructed in 1994. However in 2010 the
main building has been extended aiming to build a hospitality premise. The following floor
plan presents the 2d top down view of building.
Figure7: Floor plan of the restaurant
Source: (Created by author)

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Currently the old section of the building is the main dining space and the extended portions
are the kitchen, store room and wash room.
Problem
Both internal and external wall of the dining room had some issues regarding cracking
and fractured surface. The cracks are increasing rapidly across the exterior wall and the
interior wall of the dining area. Some of the claddings of the exterior side of the wall even
have even fallen apart. The cracks are net structured where both horizontal and vertical
cracks are present. The cladding of interior side of the wall became fragile causing
dislocation of cladding.
Initial analysis and assumption
Crack is a very common form of deterioration and structural failures. Crack can be
horizontal or vertical. Horizontal crack could appear because of the moisture, chemical
decay, weakening of cladding and others. However vertical cracks are rare and display major
faults and potential risks. In this case both horizontal and vertical cracks have been identified
in net structure. It is also known that this portion of the building older than 24 years. In such
old buildings material weakening is usually found as the major cause of the crack. Therefore
it can be assumed that the building material of the wall crossed the maximum time of
durability and the load is causing more strain than its capability (Barbin et al., 2013).
Testing methods
To test the type of the crack the gap and depth of the crack should be measured. Due
to lack of time the relative movement between walls could not be measured. 3 types of
inspection have been conducted to identify the possible causes of this situation. First the
visual inspection has been conducted to find any other symptoms of deteriorations and the
expansion of the current deterioration. The gap of the cracks has been measured by vernier

14BUILDING PATHOLOGY
calliper to get a fine measurement of cracks. After the detection of the crack type the UPV or
Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity testing has been used measure the condition of the concrete and the
break work as well.
Data collection and analysis
Both internal and external part of the building has been inspected. The following
image is the photographic capture of internal wall of the dining space of the restaurant.
Figure 8: Interior wall of the restaurant
Source: (Created by author)
From the interior inspection it has been found the interior part of the wall has some shrinkage
type cracks. Majorly the diagonal cracks has been fund with some vertical hair cracks. These
cracks have been found on only the companied wall. The following picture shows the
condition of exterior part of the wall.

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Figure 9: Exterior wall of the restaurant
Source: (Created by author)
From the exterior it has been identified that the cladding of the exterior part is
showing more cracks with better depth. The exterior part of that particular wall showed
vertical, horizontal and diagonal crack. These net like structure clearly indicates underlying
stress and even constructional defects.
In next phase the crack measurement has been conducted and the following table
presents the results of the measurement.
Crack measurement Mean Crack width
Internal Crack 3.5 mm
3.75 mm4 mm
2.5 mm
5 mm
External crack 4.5 mm
4.1 mm5.5 mm
3.5 mm

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3 mm
From the above results it is clear that cracks indentified both in internal and external side of
the wall were not caused by the thermal expansion or minor stress in cladding or shrinkage.
The mean value of exterior side is 4.1 mm which clearly indicates the structural disputes.
The results of the UPV or Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity testing have been presented in the
following table. The test has been conducted in a linear direction from one side of the wall to
other side to measure the difference in decay. The presented value of each record is the mean
of exterior and interior material testing. The wall was 12 meter wide, therefore, the testing
has been done periodically by placing 10 different position with 1.2 meter distance in each.
Horizontal position of wall Speed of UP (km/sec)
Left end 3.75 Mean = 3.05
SD = 0.573.55
3.35
2.75
Middle 2
2.53
2.8
3.25
Right end 3.55
From the above results it has been found that the mean velocity of the UW or
Ultrasonic wave through the wall material is 3.05 km/sec with the standard deviation of the
0.57 km. Therefore, the speed ranged from 2.48 to 3.42. As per the bandwidth of
measurement, reading lower than 3 should be considered as the bad condition of the
construction quality. The exact middle of the wall showed minimum value, which was 2.
However, the terminal point has shown value greater than 3.5 km/sec.

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Further assessment
To examine the source of structural weakening more in-depth examination will be
required. The Thermal monitoring and X-ray vision inspection are required to find internal
damages and decays. Apart from that other part of the building should be also investigated
through visual and instrumental inspection.
Possible Causes
From the historical analysis of the building it has been found that the building is at
least 24 years old. Therefore, the particular wall has already lost it stress handling capacity.
From the width measurement it is also clear that structural issues are causing this cracks.
From the UPV testing it has been found the building material of the wall is getting weak and
loosing tension handling quality (Regier & Hoult, 2015). At the same time it has been
identified that the thickness of the exterior walls of the extended area is higher than the
thickness of the exterior wall of dining space. Therefore different stress on the same wall is
causing unequal load, which is causing rapid cracking and fracturing of internal and external
layers of wall.
Risks and Hazards
Multiple types of cracks due to dispute in construction material can have devastating
effect on the walls that can weaken the foundation of the building even further. As a result of
the weakening the walls the vertical cracks have been occurred which have shown the risk of
falling down of the wall. These risks can be more destructive in case of any building
movement. Cracking because of material quality can also cause unequal load in other part of
the building while causing extended weakening (Gucunski & National Research Council,
2013). If the metallic structure of the building experiences the unequal load the impact of the

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deterioration will be permanent. Total foundation of the building can collapse if it will remain
unrepaired.
Remedy or solution:
Hair crack by poor cladding material or thermal expansion can be treated with
external repairing through filling the cracks of repairing the cladding of the building and
providing better thermal insulator claddings. However, in this case the decay of materials is
causing the issues which requires compete reconstruction of the wall (He et al., 2013). After
reconstruction the wall the other part of the building should be also investigated while
making adequate arrangement to resist any natural movement of soil and foundation.
Conclusion:
From the above report it has been found that Symptom, Condition, Causes, Hazard
identification and remedy are the five major factors of above case studies. In these both
studies the further assessment and diagnosis is required which may include the Destructive
Inspection procedures. From the first case study has been found that some of the vertical
concealed pipelines of toilet-bedroom boundary wall are causing lockage. From the case
study 2 it has been found that the building material of the wall is getting weak and loosing
tension handling quality.

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References:
Barbin, D. F., ElMasry, G., Sun, D. W., & Allen, P. (2013). Non-destructive determination of
chemical composition in intact and minced pork using near-infrared hyperspectral
imaging. Food chemistry, 138(2-3), 1162-1171.
Gucunski, N., & National Research Council. (2013). Nondestructive testing to identify
concrete bridge deck deterioration. Transportation Research Board.
He, H. J., Wu, D., & Sun, D. W. (2013). Non-destructive and rapid analysis of moisture
distribution in farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fillets using visible and near-
infrared hyperspectral imaging. Innovative Food Science & Emerging
Technologies, 18, 237-245.
Karagiannis, N., Karoglou, M., Bakolas, A., & Moropoulou, A. (2016). Building materials
capillary rise coefficient: Concepts, determination and parameters involved. In New
Approaches to Building Pathology and Durability (pp. 27-44). Springer, Singapore.
Kumar, R., & Gardoni, P. (2013). Stochastic modeling of deterioration in buildings and civil
infrastructure. In Handbook of seismic risk analysis and management of civil
infrastructure systems (pp. 410-434).
Kylili, A., Fokaides, P. A., Christou, P., & Kalogirou, S. A. (2014). Infrared thermography
(IRT) applications for building diagnostics: A review. Applied Energy, 134, 531-549.
Lerma, C., Mas, Á., Gil, E., Vercher, J., & Peñalver, M. J. (2014). Pathology of building
materials in historic buildings. Relationship between laboratory testing and infrared
thermography. Materiales de Construcción, 64(313), 009.

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Moropoulou, A., Labropoulos, K. C., Delegou, E. T., Karoglou, M., & Bakolas, A. (2013).
Non-destructive techniques as a tool for the protection of built cultural
heritage. Construction and Building Materials, 48, 1222-1239.
Regier, R., & Hoult, N. A. (2015). Concrete deterioration detection using distributed sensors.
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Structures and Buildings, 168(2),
118-126.