SHREE K.

J POLYTECHNIC, BHARUCH

CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

DIV: C-1

REPORT ON

Assessment of Significant Causes And Remedies Of

Defects College Building

SUBMITTED BY

SR. ENROLLMENT NAME

NO. NO.
1 156450306079 PATEL MAHMADTALHA L.

FACULTY SIGNATURE
 Abstract –

This study focuses on the contribution factors of building defects in college

building. There are several building defects commonly found in buildings. In fact,
building defects are becoming ordinary phenomena in the construction industry which
results in negative impacts on college, in the means of building performance, health
and safety aspects and overall environment conditions as well as teaching and
learning processes. Thus, a study is planned to identify the common building defects
faced by college buildings in Bharuch. Then, a thorough inspection is conducted and
the respective defects are recorded with the aid of photographic. As the outcomes
from the inspection the main factors contributing to those building defects had been
determined. Besides, appropriate mitigation solutions on the building defects have
been offered, which are extremely essential in retaining a healthy and serviceable
college building.

 Result, Analysis and Discussion-

1.Defective concrete, spalling or loose plaster in ceilings

 Surface with water/rust staining, water

 leakage Patterned cracking
 Bulging, falling off of concrete patches with reinforcement exposed, often
rusty
 falling off of plaster/tiles

POSSIBLE CAUSES:

Defective concrete as a result of ageing is commonly found in old buildings.

Persistent water leakage may affect the steel reinforcement.
Weak concrete caused by the use of salty water in concrete mix, or overloading are
also common causes in spalling.

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1. Gap and Detachment –

There were some visible gaps found between the elements,

such as walls, columns, beams, ceilings, door frames etc. A gap was also found
between the wall and door frames. Shrinkage and expansion of the door frames
(timber materials) due to the atmospheric conditions may result in gap. Besides door
frames, other timber materials such as ceiling battens were also found to have gap
from the wall. In such circumstances, dampness may penetrate into the building and
resulted in water stain. Moreover, column detached from the wall is basically caused
by poor construction and workmanship.

2. Cracks -

Cracks happened on the various elements in college buildings such as

walls, ceilings, beams, columns and even floors. There were many structural and non-
structural cracks found. Structural cracks took place in walls, beams and columns.
However, non-structural cracks usually happened in plaster or other finishes with
cement rendering. Different types of cracking such as vertical, horizontal, diagonal and
hairline were found in the school buildings. Some parts of the inspected college
showed serious cracks while some only showed minor cracks. From the inspection,
cracks in wall were in various directions and varying in width from fine hair cracks to
5mm or more. The hairline cracks in plaster and other finishes affected the appearance
of the structure but fortunately did not pose any safety concern. There were long and
continuous cracks across the walls, beams, columns, ceilings and floors. Moreover, a
diagonal crack was found at the corner of door where the crack tip was very thin with
increased thickness at the initial point.

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 The various techniques to cure cracks and gaps are as below –

1. Epoxy injection
2. Routing and sealing
3. Stitching
4. Drilling and plugging
5. Gravity Filling
6. Overlay and surface treatment

3. Peeling Paint -

Peeling paint was the most common defect which was critically found on the
building façade, especially on the plastered walls, ceilings, beams and columns. These
components were consistently exposed to sunlight, rain, wind and dampness, resulting
in peeling paint. The excessive exposure spoiled the surface of paint and thus the
surface became chalky, flake and blistered. The problem of peeling paint in building
mostly occurred on the walls, internal or external. The paint on ceiling was also
gradually peeled off due to the present of moisture.

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 Contribution Factors To Building Defects

1. Climatic Conditions -

India is a hot and humid country where heavy rainfall and warm sunshine are
all year round. This in turn causes the building tend to weather promptly, especially
the building materials which are exposed to external elements such as sunlight, rain,
wind and atmospheric pollution. In such circumferences, problems such as dampness,
mould growth, peeling paint, discoloration and corrosion can easily happen. Defects
happened not solely caused by one factors; in fact, they are interlinked.

2. Building Age –

Most of school buildings are more than 40-50 years old. The longer a building
is exposed to the atmosphere, the higher tendency for it to deteriorate. In point of fact,
all elements of school buildings have a tendency to decay at a lesser or greater rate
due to aging . For example, timber is basically an aging building material. It will decay
after a period of time if no proper inspection and maintenance are conducted.

3. Maintenance of School Buildings –

Most of the colleges do not practice scheduled maintenance, but carry out
emergency maintenance when necessary, except for the private college. Formally,
government colleges have to apply and wait for the allocation from Ministry of
Education for the repair and maintenance purposes when problems have occurred.
However, private colleges perform their maintenance programs which are more
systematic. They conducted scheduled maintenance to every component in colleges
in order to keep those components in good condition.
4. Poor Workmanship –

Poor workmanship can worsen the building quality and performance, such as
poor installation methods, poor mixing of materials, poor handling of materials and
poor planning. It is found that the tiles are not installed adequately during the
construction stage. In other words, they are not well aligned and untidy. Tiles are used
as finishes, therefore, must be able to withstand the heavy impact acting on it as well
as enhance its aesthetic value.

5. Insufficient Awareness –

Vandalism is one of the irresponsible actions that can damage the college
facilities and infrastructures. Insufficient awareness and knowledge among the
students are the root causes of vandalism. Besides, softer building materials often
invite the cases of vandalism. The examples of vandalism are doodle on the walls and
bash the doors. Apart from that, the consciousness of college authorities and students
in the maintenance aspect is still low. They do not really alert and practice
maintenance to look after the schools’ facilities and infrastructures. This results in
more damages and problems in the building structures.

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6. Corrosion of Reinforcement -

A properly designed and constructed concrete is initially water-tight and the

reinforcement steel within it is well protected by a physical barrier of concrete cover
which has low permeability and high density. Concrete also gives steel within it a
chemical protection. Steel will not corrode as long as concrete around it is impervious
and does not allow moisture or chlorides to penetrate within the cover area. Steel
corrosion will also not occur as long as concrete surrounding it is alkaline in nature
having a high pH value.

Concrete normally provides excellent protection to reinforcing steel.

Notwithstanding this, there are large number of cases in which corrosion of
reinforcement has caused damage to concrete structures within a few years from the
time of construction resulting in loss of mass, stiffness and bond in concrete and
therefore concrete repair becomes inevitable as considerable loss of strength takes
place.

7. Poor Construction practices -

The construction industry has in general fallen prey to non-technical persons

most of whom have little or no knowledge of correct construction practices. There is a
general lack of good construction practices either due to ignorance, carelessness,
greed or negligence. Or worse still, a combination of all of these. For a healthy building
it is absolutely necessary for the construction agency and the owner to ensure good
quality materials selection and good construction practices. All the way to building
completion every step must be properly supervised and controlled without cutting
corners.

Some of the main causes for poor construction practices and inadequate quality
of buildings are given below:

 Improper selection of materials.

 Selection of poor quality cheap materials.
 Inadequate and improper proportioning of mix constituents of concrete, mortar etc.
 Inadequate control on various steps of concrete production such as batching,
mixing, transporting, placing, finishing and curing
 Inadequate quality control and supervision causing large voids (honey combs) and
cracks resulting in leakages and ultimately causing faster deterioration of concrete.
 Improper construction joints between subsequent concrete pours or between
concrete framework and masonry.
 Addition of excess water in concrete and mortar mixes.
 Poor quality of plumbing and sanitation materials and practices.

8. Foundation settlement –

The place where concrete commonly subsides is near a house. Whether the
home is built on a basement or crawlspace, the over-dig is subsequently backfilled.
Unless the backfill material is compacted in lifts as the over-dig is filled, it will settle
over time. This settling will cause any concrete poured atop it to settle along with it.

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The other reasons for foundation to settle are change in moisture content of soil below
or around the foundation, overload of super structure and decay of organic matters
present in subsoil. Uniform settlement up to some tolerance does not cause the
problem but differential settlement is something that results in severe crack problem.

 Conclusions –

College buildings vastly exposed to all sort of problems due to numerous main
factors. Building defects are critical as they can physically affect the building
appearance as well as damage the building structure. This can subsequently affect
the safety of the building users. Therefore, appropriate solutions to mitigate building
defects in college should be carried out in order to ensure the college buildings do not
easily fall into defects. If the defects were not taken seriously, it may consequently
lead to structural failure. In brief, all parties such as local government authorities,
college authorities, consultants, contractors and public, should be involved in the
remedial works and work together in order to diminish the occurrences of defects and
failures in college buildings. They should have a close partnership to work mutually in
order to form a strong and sustainable built environment in college.

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