Maintenance Plan For Wet Area In Building: Proposal For Improvement

Literature Review

The foremost unit of this section of the plan is to introduce the key aspects of the buildings which are needed to be planned in such a way so that it do not have issues related to wet areas as it can negative impact both the residents and as well as it is very harmful for the surrounding environments. Before planning the proposal it very important to evaluate the existing infrastructure of the building especially the wet areas. The efficiency of the proposed plan will be based on these factors (Tam et al., 2017). All the team members who will be dedicatedly working for this issue must be having clarity about their personal objective as well as the objective of their team. The maintenance manual have to be followed efficiently by all the concerned workers of the project. The proposed building should be designed and developed in such a way that the issues related to wet areas can be minimized to a significant extent with the help of frequent high level inspections.

The maintenance plan will be having roofing file for each rooms of the building to scrutinize and manage the issues related to it (Mili, 2016). The different types of specifications of the impact areas of the impacted building such as the metal sheets, copings, roof to wall connections, flashings and splits in the stripping plies are considered in the maintenance plan. The moisture survey is one of the most important specifications of this maintenance plan every corner of the building are subjected to major through examination so that the efficiency of the maintenance plan is maintained effectively (Hedaoo & Khese, 2016). All the penetrations and the racks should are carefully noticed in the buildings in the first place so that all the possible loop holes of the plan is covered up. Inspection of coupling and circulation of the pumping system of the buildings are the other essential parameters of the maintenance plan (Parr, Whitney & Berkelman, 2015). The inspection of the sewage ejection pipelines is a very important aspect of this maintenance plan as it contributes most effectively in the cause of these issues. Ensuites and laundries are the other departments of a wet area building which are considered with greater importance in this maintenance report which comes after the evaluation of the inspection of the sewage plan.

As discussed by Barreira, Almeida & Delgado (2016), the different issues related to the wet areas of the building are discussed in this paper. The main strength of this paper is that it focuses minutely on all the issue such as the moisture level of the buildings and growth of harmful microorganism in the infected areas which can negatively impact both the building and the residents. All the causes of the wet conditions in building are discussed in this article such as the built in moisture, increasing damp conditions of the walls and ceilings, infiltrations which are caused due to wind driven snow and rain, increase in moisture level in the building due to hygroscopic phenomenon, increase in moisture level due to adverse environmental factors such as flood and hurricanes and surface condensation. One of the other strength of this paper that it proposes an effective tools known as the infrared thermography to access the moisture related issues in the wet areas of the buildings. The paper considers the above mentioned technique with the other similar techniques used for solving the same issues. This resource helps in the identification of the invisible moisture problems. The paper also states about the limitation of the mentioned technique. The prime weakness of this paper is that it do not discuss the efficiency of the infrared thermography technique.

Current Defects in Wet Areas

According to Othman et al. (2015), their paper discusses about the moisture problems and buildings defects, the impact of the wetness on the energy consumption of the building are the main topic of discussion of the paper. The paper focuses on the impact of this issue on different structures of the buildings due to the moisture issues and building defects. The main strength of this paper is that it discusses this issue in specific industries such as the healthcare industry, as this is a major issue in that industry and have the capability of having a direct negative effect on the patients. The other most essential asset of this paper is that is states the most infected part of the building which is the roof, ceiling, wall and floor. The weakness of this paper is that it do not discusses the methods by which these issues can be minimized.

There are many types of defects in wet areas which is the main reason behind the incorporation of this issue. This section of the maintenance plan will be helping to know about the causes of the defects in details so that effective strategies can be identified and developed to minimize the issue.

Washrooms: It is one of the most significant area which contributes greatly in this issue. In spite of the necessary steps taken by the contractors of the buildings, most of the building faces the water proof issues which happens after the several years of the completion of the buildings. The water which is leaked from the washroom such as shower contributes hugely in the water leaking (Talib et al., 2015). The specifications of the washroom such as the shower walls, floor and internal junctions should be effectively managed so that the problem can be minimized significantly. All the penetrations should be solved in order to deal with the issue.

Laundries: The leakages from the laundry is the other most important cause of the leakages. The leakages are caused due to the negligence of the waste water from the laundries (Mustafaraj et al., 2014). Walls and pipelines used in the laundries should be different from the other parts of the building as leakage in those parts have the capability to fully impact the building as a whole.

Rain water pipes: The rain water pipes are the other source of wet areas in the buildings (Morgan et al., 2014). Lack of maintenance is also one of the main factors of cause of this problem.  The leakage from the pipes damages the wall of the building from both inside and outside. The construction material of the water pipeline is the other reason behind the damp in the buildings.

Faulty construction: The materials used in the construction of buildings should be off high quality as it should have the capability to contain the damping conditions in buildings. The capillary actions of the water is also a significant aspect regarding the damping factors in buildings. To deal with these issue, defective damp proof course are applied by experts which help in the prevention of this issue to a reasonable extent.

The solutions of the problems are focused in this unit of the maintenance plan. Considering the issues coming from washrooms and laundries, the measurement of the walls and tiles of the floors and the ceilings should be above 180 millimeter so that the leakage chances are minimized (Herrera, Chamorro & Martín, 2015). The pipe joints should be checked so that water do not leak from those joints. The problems coming from the rain water pipes should be solved by frequent evaluation of the rain water pipes as the efficiency of those piper decreases with time. The problem faculty constructions can be significantly improved with the help of the improved quality of items. The old pipelines should be changed frequently so that leakage can be solved. The rusted downpipe should also be examined frequently in order to find the loopholes. The storage of the rain water in the terrace is the other important factor which leads to dampness (Ko et al., 2015). Water which is discharged from the kitchens should also be made to pass through thick walls as they can also effectively contribute in forming the wet area in buildings.

BREEM is first ever sustainability assessment method for buildings. The three main objectives of BREEM are as followings:

Empower: It includes the persons concerned with the commission, ownership, delivery, manage, communities to accomplish the sustainability aspirations.

Encourage: It supports continuous performance improvement and innovation which can go beyond the rules and regulation of the method.

Build confidence and value: Independent certification which provides benefits to the individual, society and business.

Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method is one of the most reputed sustainability assessment methods all across the European countries such as United Kingdom, France, Italy and Poland for different kinds of projects related to the construction industry (Altomonte, Saadouni & Schiavon, 2016). The extensive application of this kinds of methods is gaining momentum in the other European countries as well. Its enhanced specifications are one of the reasons behind its global acceptance among other sustainability assessment methods (Faulconbridge & Yalciner, 2015). All the master planning projects and the infrastructure are mostly considered by this type of method. The main functionality of this type of sustainability method is to identify the high performing assets across the environmental life cycle form new construction to in use and refurbishment. This is the mostly used method of renovating or redecoration of the building for different types of purposes (Altomonte et al., 2017). The standards which are followed in this type of method helps the investors, developers and building owners of a construction project to enhance their existing infrastructure and improve the performance of the building structures (Schweber & Haroglu, 2014). This type of method are used for maintaining both the interior as well as the exterior of the buildings. This method can be used to retain, improve and future proofing the assets of a building in a construction project instead of destroying the assets or demolishing the assets. It helps to increase the value of the assets of a building structure and indirectly helps in improving the standard of living and working condition such as occupation, health, satisfaction and productivity.

 The different aspects regarding the security of the buildings such as the environmental factors are met using this type of sustainability assessment method. The prime contribution of this method is that it helps in dealing with major issues such as the high utility bills, poor ventilating systems and the negative health impacts (Seinre, Kurnitski & Voll, 2014). Any type of poor infrastructural site can be converted into a modern live able standard with the help of this assessment method. The buildings of the construction projects can be made economically, socially and environmentally sustainable with the help of this methodology. Good sustainable designing, low running cost, healthy internal environmental environment are the outcome of using this type of methodology (Lim & Yoon, 2015). The most significant contribution of this method is energy efficiency and the other most significant reasons are minimization of the health impacts. New ventilation systems can be introduced with the help of this method. The environmental certification scheme associated with the BREEM domestic refurbishment considers the following category such as the management, health and wellbeing, energy, materials, waste, pollution and innovation.

The green star is defined as the type of sustainability assessment tools for the construction projects in Australia. Launched in 2003, this type of rating system is used to maintain a good environmental life cycle considering the construction company. The rating is generally achieved during the planning phase of the project, design and construction of the project as well as in the operational phase of the projects (Zuo & Zhao, 2014). This rating system considers the construction projects from the point of view of the environmental prospects. The prime benefit of using this type of rating system is the enhancement of the health conditions, enhancement in the productivity and operational cost savings. The extensive application of this rating system in Australia is increasing to other parts of the world as well due to its enhanced specifications (Illankoon et al., 2016). This rating system helps in different types of environmental aspects such as the decrease in green house emission, less utilization of electrical energy, efficient utilization of water for different kinds of activities both in organization as well as in residential buildings. This rating system promotes reuse of different kinds of elements which are associated with the construction industry. The green star certification is defined as the formal process by which an independent assessment panel reviewed documentary evidence that a project meets green star benchmarks within each credit (Morris et al., 2018). The different principles of green star community national framework are as followings:

Enhanced Live ability: The communities which gets service from the green star includes in the enhanced liveability of green star. The specification if this principal is that it I much more diverse than the other principles. This particular principal is affordable, inclusive and healthy. This principal focused more on social interaction and ownership in order to improve the wellbeing of the people.

Economic prosperity: This type of community is used for the purpose of providing economic prosperity to the communities, business diversity, innovation and economic development which supports local employment is the main purpose of this principal.

Environmental Responsibility: This is one of the most significant principal amongst all the other principals as it focuses on the environmental aspects and natural values. This is less resource intensive than the other principles (Gandhi & Jupp, 2014). Their foremost determination is to maintain the ecological balance in to the system. The departments falling under this category are transport, buildings and tourism.

 Design Excellence: This type of principal is different from the other principals as it focuses on the identity of distinct characters which are a part of the overall concept.

Leadership and governance: The vision of leaders as well as their leadership qualities plays a huge role in the application of the green star sustainability assessment tools.

This section of the paper will focus on one of the most widely used sustainability assessment tool known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; it is a type of green building certification program. This tool is started in 1993 by Mike Italiano, Rick Fedrizzi and David Gottfried and it is the most popular green building rating system in the world (Donghwan, Yong & Hyoungsub, 2015). This type of sustainability assessment tool is helpful in creating a healthy, efficient and economical buildings. The LEED certification is one of most recognized symbol of sustainability achievement. More than 94000 projects are using this tool every day. This type of tool is used in 165 countries all over the world for the purpose of saving resources such as energy and water. Generation and management of waste products can be controlled with the help of this sustainability assessment tool. There are many aspects of this tool such as attracting tenants or clients to increase the business reach of the service, the service provided by this tool is also economical compared to the other type of tools (Freybote, Sun & Yang, 2015). The efficiency and productivity can also be enhanced with the application of the LEED buildings. Communities are enhanced with the use of the sustainability assessment tool. The foremost determination of LEED is to provide better, brighter and healthier way for life.

Building Design and Construction

Interior Design and Construction

Building Operations and Maintenance

Neighborhood Development

Homes

                                                                  Figure 1: The different levels of this tool

                                                                               Created by the author

                                     

Saving money

Conserving energy

Better building material choices

Driving innovation

                                                                           Figure 3: Prime objectives of LEED

                                                                                     Created by the author

The version of the LEED keeps on changing according to specific business conditions which are helpful to improve the overall experience the project.

Materials	Performance based	Smart grid
Focus on materials to get better understanding and the effect of those materials on human lives (Rastogi et al., 2017).	The LEED have a strong performance management approach to indoor environmental quality for better occupant comfort.	The LEED enhances  its rules and regulations according to the needs and requirements of the projects, new smart grids are coming into place every day

                                                                             Figure 4: Sections of improvements

                                                                                      Created by the author

The concerned authorities of LEED are providing user friendly methods all over the world to increase their business reach. The following steps are required to become a LEED associated professional.

• The primary step to become a LEED professional is to attain the LEED green associate certification.
• There are different categories of LEED certificates each having its own specifications, users needs to understand their choice among the categories and choose the appropriate certificate.
• The next step is a test conducted by the LEED authority to validate the chosen certificate; it is done by filling a registration form and giving a test.
• The rules and regulations of LEED are always subjected to major changes which are the reason why each of its users has to continuously go through the education policy of LEED.

The characteristic feature of the building certification system is that it provides third party verification than the community or a specific building is abiding by the rules and regulations of LEED. The LEED authority ensures that the contractions are designed and developed according to the norms of LEED which aims at improving the quality of performance in the entire department such as the environmental aspects as well as from the perspective of energy saving (Jalaei & Jrade, 2015). The LEED certification is between 1-5 years in length. The users of those certificates have to follow certain norms such as the tracking and recording of the building performance data throughout the performance period. The registration and certification cost of LEED is around $600 and $2,250 to $22,500 respectively. The entire money directly goes to the United States Green Building Council.

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