Building diagnostics versus effectiveness of repairs

¹ Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Geodesy, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Grunwaldzki sq. 24, 50-365 Wroclaw, Poland
² Faculty of Civil Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland

^* Corresponding author: bohdan.stawiski@upwr.edu.pl

Abstract

Building diagnostics before renovation is an important stage in the process of designing and making future repairs and modernization of buildings. Performed hastily, without careful analysis, it may be the cause of wrong decisions about the method of repair. The experience of the person performing the tests usually has an impact on the identification of existing hazards. The article presents an example of the effects of cursory execution of diagnostics on a multi-family residential building. The building was inspected, as it turned out later not precisely, and the causes of damage were wrongly identified. As a result of a cursory diagnosis, works were designed and carried out, which instead of eliminating structural defects have increased them. The causes of errors have been found at the stage of identifying failure, recommendations and repair of a cavity curtain wall. In the summary it was emphasized, that expert experience gained on many examples of differently damaged buildings, under the supervision of a person with experience is necessary for theoretical knowledge to be verified, and the reports were prepared without any faults.