Building envelope testing performed and/or peer reviewed by an expert waterproofing consultant is a key component in the success and lifecycle of any construction project.
“Rarely is attention given to testing the 1% of a building envelope that creates 90% of the water intrusion problems.” – Michael T. Kubal
This quote above from Michael T. Kubal’s Waterproofing, The Building Envelope highlights one of the key purposes for hiring a third-party expert waterproofing consultant like California Consultants, even if you already have a general contractor and architect hired for the project.
A waterproofing consultant specializes in building envelope design, testing, specifications, and quality assurance, ensuring predictable performance and lifecycles of the building envelope systems.
In our experience, projects that do not take the building envelope and enclosure systems seriously from design through execution, included in-depth testing with the latest technologies, do not achieve watertight performance.
Addressing potential issues early in the design phase can prevent costly fixes later. It’s not unusual for a $1,000 flashing component to cost $100,000 to fully mitigate if not installed correctly with the right detailing, material choices, transitions, fasteners, primers, and adhesion. The damages could be rather extensive. This is the dangers of not performing expert building envelope testing
It’s unreasonable to expect an architect, without specific experience and engineering disciplines represented, to design and execute a watertight building envelope correctly. Just as a general contractor must hire trades with professional training and at least five years of experience on projects of similar size, scope, and complexity, the architect must engage professional disciplines with relevant experience. Ownership should not expect the architect to design the building envelope independently. In our forensic water intrusion investigation division, more often than not, we see new construction residential projects are not watertight upon completion.
What these projects have in common is the absence of expert representation during the design and execution of the waterproofing and/or water management disciplines.
Whether it is new construction, maintenance or a purchase, ensure the waterproofing discipline is represented in your building. Even if you believe you already have proper representation for building envelope testing, California Consultants can still perform a peer review to identify any errors or omissions in the design of the building envelope system. Contact us today to speak to a member of our team.
