CMA3004 Building Design And Building Science Case Study Sample

Introduction Of Building Inspection Report

Buildings are made for different purposes. With respect to the use of the buildings, the buildings are classified. Although one thing that is common in these different forms of buildings is that all of them undergo depreciation. There are different reasons behind this. For this reason, it is needed that the condition and system present in the building be constantly evaluated. There are different ways of doing this. Among these ways, one of the best ways is to do an inspection of the building. There are different forms of inspection of a building that exists in the actual practice. Among these methods, the type of inspection that was used in this project was the visual inspection. In this method, pictures of the different portions of the building were taken. The name of the building that was taken here was Wood Wharf J1/J3 which is situated in London. After that, the pictures were analyzed in order to find different details of the building. The first thing that was done in this project was to find out the details of the building. The details of the location & address of the building are presented here. Also, the description of the design & uses are also present in this report.

In addition to this, the description of the type of foundation that is present in the building was also elaborated. Moreover, the type of materials that were used in making the foundation of this building was also presented here. The details of the different components present in the superstructure of the building are also present in this project. Moreover, there can be seen different elements in the building other than the structural elements. The details of the several aspects of these elements are present in this report. Furthermore, it was observed that there were different forms of defects present in the building. The description of the defects along with the causes & solution of these were explained in this project.

Discussion

Building Identification

Location Map

This building is present in London, UK.

Postcode

The postcode of this location is E14 9SF

Facade

The facade of a building refers to the system of architecture present in the external wall of a building. In this building, it can be seen that the external wall of the building is made of concrete wall.

Building Date

It was built in 2023

Building Description

Purpose

It is to be noted that there are different forms of buildings in the real world. The buildings are classified into different categories depending on the use of the buildings. In this case, the building that was chosen for this project is a residential building. This type of building refers to the buildings that are mainly used for the purpose of living.

Design

It is to be noted that there are different forms of designs employed in making buildings. There are many factors that decide the selection of the design of the building. In this case, it can be seen that the building that was selected here is a residential building that has 5 storeys. So, it can be referred to as a low-rise building (Chen et al. 2019). Hence the general designs for a low-rise building were adopted here for making the building.

Building method

There was a particular method that was followed in making this residential building. It can be seen that the building that was considered for this project is situated in a residential apartment. The building foundation is made of a pile foundation. Three piles are there under each pile cap. The superstructure of the building is made in a rectangular shape.

Structural materials

There were different forms of materials were used in making the building. The main material that was used here for making the building was concrete. In addition to this, steel reinforcement was also used as a structural material (Chen et al. 2019). Moreover, the items like doors & windows are made with frame steel and glass panels.

Substructure

It is to be noted that foundations are one of the most important elements of a building. The main work that this element does is to transfer the loads that are coming from the superstructure of the building (Grosso et al. 2020). The different details of the foundation of the building are as follows.

System of foundation

The system of a foundation refers to the type of method that is used for transmitting load to the ground. It can be seen that the different forms of foundation possess different types of systems. In this building, a pile foundation is present. The loads from the slabs of the building come to the beams & columns directly. After this, the columns take the loads to the foundation. In the foundation the pile cap distributes the loads coming on it into the three piles that are present in the foundation. Lastly, these piles transfer the load to the ground.

Construction method

There are different methods are used for constructing different forms of foundations. In this building, it can be seen that a pile foundation was used. To make this foundation, the first thing that was done was to drive piles into the ground (Luli? et al. 2021). Three piles were connected together by means of a pile cap. On this pile cap, the column was raised up to the roof level.

Materials used in the construction of the foundation

There are different materials are used in making foundations. The difference in materials is seen because of the different components of the foundation. The main material that was used in making the foundation was concrete. This made the body of the column and pile. Moreover, steel was used as the reinforcement of the piles and columns.

Superstructure

Walls

Walls are the external covering of a building. This covers the building from the outside. This type of wall is called the external wall. There is another form of the wall that is also there in the building. This is called the partition walls.

Description

In this building, there can be seen two types of walls are there in this building. The first one is called an external building. This is the wall that covers the building from the outside. There is another form of wall that is present in the building. It is called the partition wall (Nepomuceno et al. 2022). The main work that these walls do is to divide the space of the building into different usable spaces.

Materials

There are different materials were used in making the two types of walls of the building. It can be seen that the external wall of the building is made of concrete. This is actually the PCC that made the external wall of the building (Uroš et al. 2020). In addition to this, the internal “partition walls” are made of concrete partition walls having a thickness of half of the external building.

System

There can be seen a particular system in the wall of the building. The walls are not load-bearing walls. It means the walls are not carrying any form of load. Loads are only carried by the beam and columns.

Floors

The floor is the component of a building that supports the different live loads of the building. It can be seen that all the members rest on the floors. Hence, it can be said that the floors take all the loading and transfer it to the columns.

Description

In this building that was considered in this project, there can be seen floors of RCC. This is because this type of flooring is needed to be used for transmitting loads. Also, there can be seen covering of tiles on the floor (Soto et al. 2020). This was done in order to remove the effect of the reaction with the atmospheric moisture.

Materials

There are different materials were used in making the floors of the building. The main floor is made of RCC. In this, there can be seen the use of concrete with steel reinforcement (Tan et al. 2022). Moreover, the floors are covered with material like tiles.

System

The floors carry all the loads that are present in the building in the form of live loads. Then these are transmitted to the column. After this column transfer those loads to the pile foundation (Hoskere, 2019). At last, the loads get transferred to the ground below.

Roof

It is the upper part of the building. The main work of this is to cover the building from above. It also protects the building from external forces. The description of this is as follows.

Description

It is to be noted that this building is a part of a residential apartment. The roof of the building is a sloped roof. Above the top floor of the building, there can be seen parapet wall is present in making the roof protection of the building (Ekanayake et al. 2021). This parapet wall is used in order to prevent the falling of the occupants from the roof.

Materials

The material that was used as the base of the roof was RCC. Also, the parapet wall of the roof is made of brick.

System

The flat roof system is present in the roof of this building. There can be seen protective coating on the floor of the roof in order to prevent leakage of water.

Non-structural materials

Floor Finishing

This refers to the covering of the floor that is present in the building. The different aspects of the floor covering are as follows.

System

The floor is covered with tiles throughout. The main work that it does is to protect the RCC floor from the environmental forces of the atmosphere (Tká? & Mésároš, 2019). The joints of the tiles were sealed with proper sealing materials to stop the leakage of moisture and other materials into the level below.

Material

The main material that was used in the floor finishing of the building was tiles. The main material that was used in making the floor tiles was white clay. Also, the material that was used in jointing the tiles was grout. Firstly, grout was placed on the floor (Krügener et al. 2020). Then the tiles were placed on the grout and those were joined together.

Environmental issues

There is no such environmental issue that can be seen because of floor finishing. However, the waste products that are generated because of the construction of the floor finish have some environmental impact.

Mechanical characteristics

The tiles used in the floor finish are sound enough to resist different chemical attacks. Also, this can carry the impact loading because the live load acts on it.

Thermal Characteristics

The tiles that were used here are not good thermal conductors. Hence, it provides a good thermal insulation.

Staircase

It is the element of the building that is mainly used for accessing the different floors within the building.

System

It is to be noted that there are different forms of staircase used in actual practice. This depends on the availability of space, the type of material available, and the orientation of the inside space of the building. In this building, a dog-legged stair was used (Novak et al. 2020). This consists of two runs and a slab in between two floors.

Material

For making the staircase of this building two types of material were used here. The first one is RCC. This was used in making the deck slab and the “riser & trade” of the staircase (Zhan et al. 2019). Moreover, the railings and balusters of the staircase are made of wood.

Environmental issues

It is to be noted that RCC is not a sustainable material. Hence, with the use of RCC materials, there is always an impact on the environment.

Mechanical characteristics

Depending on the type of building RCC was the best material for making the staircase of the building. It possesses a good strength. Hence, wider spans that can carry a high load can be used in the staircase.

Thermal Characteristics

The staircase is made of RCC. Hence, it can be seen as a good a good amount of thermal conduction is seen through the staircase.

Windows

This is the component of the building that does the work of providing interaction of the inside space of the building with the environment outside. Also, sometimes this is also used by means of access.

System

In this building, the windows were placed at regular intervals in order to permit interaction with the atmosphere. It can be seen that the size of the windows that were provided here is as per the use and size of the room.

Material

There are two types of materials were used in making the windows of the building. It can be seen that the frame of the windows is made of steel. Moreover, the panels of the windows are made of glass.

Environmental issues

There is no such environmental issue that can be seen because of the windows. Although, it can be seen that in the daytime, because of the glass used in the window, the temperature of the room increases.

Mechanical characteristics

The windows present in the building have good mechanical strength.

Thermal Characteristics

The glass present in the windows is responsible for making the inside of the building warm by allowing sunlight during the daytime.

Ceiling

This is the upper covering of a floor.

System

The ceiling of this building is a flat ceiling that is actually the RCC floor of the upper floor.

Material

The material that was used here in making the ceiling was RCC.

Environmental issues

There are no major environmental concerns are there because of the ceiling.

Mechanical characteristics

This possesses good mechanical strength.

Thermal Characteristics

This ceiling of the building is a good thermal conductor.

Interior Finishing

This refers to the finishing of the partition walls of the building. The partition walls are made with concrete and finished with plasters followed by paint.

System

This finishing does not carry any form of load.

Material

The main materials used in making the interior finish are cement mortar and paint.

Environmental issues

There are no environmental issues because of this.

Mechanical characteristics

This possesses good mechanical strength.

Thermal Characteristics

This provides a good thermal insulation.

Material Behavior

Defect 1: Dampness on the walls

It can be seen that in the different walls of the building, there are signs of dampness. There are different locations within the building where the sign of dampness of in the building.

Description

In the different walls of the building, it can be seen that wet patches are there. There are different reasons are there that are responsible for this (Jacob et al. 2021). This weakens the area of the wall that is affected by dampness.

Cause

It can be seen that there were different reasons that were found that were contributing to the dampness. These reasons are as follows.

• The first reason for this is the presence of broken “rain gutters” on the roof.
• Improper quality of the waterproofing course is another reason for this.
• The improper quality of concrete is also another reason for this.
• Presence of cracks on the “external walls”.
• Leaking of pipes.
• Improper quality of construction materials.

Solution

Considering the different causes of dampness the possible solutions of these are as follows.

• Repairing the broken drainage facilities.
• Proving enough floorboards so that the moisture can get the chance to disappear from the soil beneath.
• Providing good damp-proof courses.
• Painting the damped surface.

Defect 2: Improper finishing of the joints at the staircase

It is to be noted that different forms of ill effects can be observed because of the improper finishing of joints. The description of this is as follows.

Description

It can be seen that at the staircase portion, the finishing is not good. This results in a rough surface present in the staircase (Sánchez et al. 2020). Moreover, there can be seen waste materials are still there on the staircase.

Causes

It can be seen that there are different reasons responsible for the improper finishing of the surface. These are as follows.

The main reason that is responsible for this is the improper workmanship of the workers. It can be seen that because of the improper finishing work by the workers this for of defects occurs. Moreover, another reason that can be responsible for this is the reaction of the finishing material with the atmospheric moisture (Chen et al. 2021). These are the reasons that mainly result in generating this defect.

Solution

There are different solutions are there in regarding this defect. These are as follows.

The first thing that can be done is to trim the additional finishing from the surface in order to make the surface smooth. Moreover, Proper finishing materials should be used to make the quality of the finishing better.

Defect 3: Improper sealing of electrical wiring

It is to be noted that electrical services are one of the most important connections for a building. In this building, it can be seen that there is some electrical wiring that is not properly covered (Topchiy & Bolotova, 2019). The description of this defect is as follows.

Description

In the different places of the building, it can be seen that the wirings are not properly sealed. In other words, the wirings are placed openly within the reach of the occupants. This creates a chance of fatal accidents.

Causes

There are some causes are there that can be responsible for this. These are as follows.

• Improper workmanship of the workers.
• Improper planning of the wiring system.

Solution

There are some potential solutions are there that can be used against this defect. These are as follows.

• The first thing that can be done is to properly do the sealing of electrical cables.
• Another solution to this is to make proper places in the false ceiling to keep the long-length wirings.

Conclusion

In this project, the different characteristics of the inspection of a building were highlighted. It can be seen that the different details of a building can be obtained from the inspection. In this project, the first thing that was done was to select a building. The name of the building that was selected here is present in the country UK and the name of the building is Wood Wharf. Firstly, the details of the address and characteristics of the building are found here. After this, the details of the type of foundation present here along with its material details were analyzed. Also, the details of the elements of the superstructure are found here. The different forms of defects present in the building are also mentioned in this report.

References

Books

• Chen, K., Reichard, G., & Xu, X. (2019, June). Opportunities for applying camera-equipped drones towards performance inspections of building facades. In ASCE International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering 2019 (pp. 113-120). Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers. https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/9780784482445.015
• Uroš, M., Šavor Novak, M., Atali?, J., Sigmund, Z., Bani?ek, M., Demši?, M., & Hak, S. (2020). Post-earthquake damage assessment of buildings–procedure for conducting building inspections. Gra?evinar, 72(12.), 1089-1115. https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/364391

Journals

• Chen, K., Reichard, G., Akanmu, A., & Xu, X. (2021). Geo-registering UAV-captured close-range images to GIS-based spatial model for building façade inspections. Automation in Construction, 122, 103503. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926580520310839
• Grosso, R., Mecca, U., Moglia, G., Prizzon, F., & Rebaudengo, M. (2020). Collecting built environment information using UAVs: Time and applicability in building inspection activities. Sustainability, 12(11), 4731. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4731
• Hoskere, V. A. (2020). Developing autonomy in structural inspections through computer vision and graphics (Doctoral dissertation). https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/117278
• Jacob-Loyola, N., Muñoz-La Rivera, F., Herrera, R. F., & Atencio, E. (2021). Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for physical progress monitoring of construction. Sensors, 21(12), 4227. https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/12/4227 [Retrieved on: 13.09.2023]
• Krügener, K., Ornik, J., Schneider, L. M., Jäckel, A., Koch-Dandolo, C. L., Castro-Camus, E., ... & Viöl, W. (2020). Terahertz inspection of buildings and architectural art. Applied Sciences, 10(15), 5166. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/15/5166
• Luli?, L., Oži?, K., Kiši?ek, T., Hafner, I., & Stepinac, M. (2021). Post-earthquake damage assessment—Case study of the educational building after the Zagreb earthquake. Sustainability, 13(11), 6353. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/6353
• Nepomuceno, D. T., Bennetts, J., Pregnolato, M., Tryfonas, T., & Vardanega, P. J. (2022, November). Development of a schema for the remote inspection of Bridges. In Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Bridge Engineering (pp. 1-16). Thomas Telford Ltd. https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/jbren.22.00027
• Novak, M. S., Uros, M., Atalic, J., Herak, M., Demsic, M., Banicek, M., ... & Todoric, M. (2020). Zagreb earthquake of 22 March 2020-preliminary report on seismologic aspects and damage to buildings. Gradevinar, 72(ARTICLE), 843-867. https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/282164
• Sánchez-Aparicio, L. J., Masciotta, M. G., García-Alvarez, J., Ramos, L. F., Oliveira, D. V., Martín-Jiménez, J. A., ... & Monteiro, P. (2020). Web-GIS approach to preventive conservation of heritage buildings. Automation in Construction, 118, 103304. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926580520306749
• Soto-Martin, O., Fuentes-Porto, A., & Martin-Gutierrez, J. (2020). A digital reconstruction of a historical building and virtual reintegration of mural paintings to create an interactive and immersive experience in virtual reality. Applied Sciences, 10(2), 597. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/2/597
• Zhan, J., Ge, X. J., Huang, S., Zhao, L., Wong, J. K. W., & He, S. X. (2019). Improvement of the inspection-repair process with building information modelling and image classification. Facilities, 37(7/8), 395-414. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/F-01-2018-0005/full/html

Articles

• Chen, J., Liu, D., Li, S., & Hu, D. (2019). Registering georeferenced photos to a building information model to extract structures of interest. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 42, 100937.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S147403461930028X
• Ekanayake, B., Wong, J. K. W., Fini, A. A. F., & Smith, P. (2021). Computer vision-based interior construction progress monitoring: A literature review and future research directions. Automation in Construction, 127, 103705. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926580521001564
• Tan, Y., Li, G., Cai, R., Ma, J., & Wang, M. (2022). Mapping and modelling defect data from UAV-captured images to BIM for building external wall inspection. Automation in Construction, 139, 104284. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926580522001571
• Tká?, M., & Mésároš, P. (2019). Utilizing drone technology in civil engineering. Selected Scientific Papers-Journal of Civil Engineering, 14(1), 27-37. https://sciendo.com/article/10.1515/sspjce-2019-0003
• Topchiy, D., & Bolotova, A. (2019, December). Assessment and inspection of the technical condition of monolithic reinforced structures in transportation infrastructure facilities. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1425, No. 1, p. 012005). IOP Publishing. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1425/1/012005/meta