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Building Condition Assessment

Author: LAU Yeo Shin | 19 June, 2020

Have ever worry about the condition of the building that you are currently staying? Does your building remain safe after so many years of occupation without major maintenance? Are there any hidden threats in your building? What could you do should there be any defects in your building? How serious and urgent are those defects? It is these concerns that a Building Condition Assessment is addressing.

Just like every light bulb has its lifetime, so does every material used in a permanent building as well as those fittings fixed onto it. Material ages over time and gives rise to defects. Building Condition Assessment identifies these existing defects or developing-into-defects in early stage, hence allows remedy to be taken before such defects form or worsen over time.

Civil, structural, electrical and mechanical systems are among the scopes that may be tackled in Building Condition Assessment. The exact scope of assessment will depend on the specific scopes requested by building owners. Such assessment is conducted in a systematic approach which may include interview with building owner, review of building plans, visual inspection, onsite measurements and other necessary steps which the competent engineer deems necessary for the purpose of the assessment. Preliminary assessment will be conducted based on the collected information to identify the root cause and extent of damage of identified defects.

General engineering recommendations for defect rectification will be provided in the engineering report submitted to the building owner at the end of such assessment. Further detail investigation may be proposed by the engineer if complicated or major defects are found in the assessment and the root causes and solutions of such defects are unable to be determined through the general inspection in Building Condition Assessment. Such further investigation often involves extensive well-planned on-site instrumental tests as well as material samplings for various laboratory tests.

Building Condition Assessment is sometimes a statutory requirement. Under Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 (Act 133), local authority may require buildings that exceed five storeys and have been standing for at least ten years from the date of Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) to perform compulsory Building Condition Assessment and submit a report thereafter. The local authority may further require the building owner to appoint competent engineer to conduct the same assessment in a maximum interval of ten years after its first assessment. Such Building Condition Assessment is focused at assessing the building structural integrity through visual inspection. Should the visual inspection discovers severe structural defects which are deemed to pose safety threat to building occupiers, engineer is required to request permission from the local authority for a full structural investigation (Building Defect Assessment). Upon the receipt of engineering report for Building Defect Assessment, the local authority is given the legal power under Act 133 to order for building closure and demolition in the worst case scenario if building retrofit alternative deems technically unacceptable.

In conclusion, Building Condition Assessment may be regarded as a routine medical check-up for buildings. It assists building owners to identify and rectify any defects or potential causes of defects before they get worse. Prevention is always better than cure.

 

LAU Yeo Shin
Technical Partner
IPM Professional Services Sdn Bhd

 


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Building Condition Assessment

Building Condition Assessment

IPM Professional Services is experienced in providing professional Building Condition Assessment (building audit) in terms of civil, structure, mechanical and electrical assessment, based on every client’s needs. In general, this assessment is requested by the property owner, management corporation, or building manager when the related building face issues such as defects, hazards, improvements needed, or requirement from the local council.

Building Condition Assessment is a kind of “health check” for the building. It is used to determine the general condition of a building for the purposes below:

The process of the assessment starts with site visit where our engineers will inspect the building and surroundings. Activities such as photo-taking, video record, measurement, and collect information from the person in charges, as well as review available as-built drawings. After this information collected, our team will evaluate the information and produce a detailed report with observation, problem, and recommendation/ proposal. The results of the assessment and information gathered are also useful for future building maintenances, retrofitting works or building extension. The presentation can be done based on the client’s needs.

The scope of Building Condition Assessment may include not limited to:

Building Defect Assessment shall be conducted if major building defects discovered.

Our Experiences:

Periodic Inspection of Buildings
(Pemeriksaan Bangunan Berkala)

IPM Professional Services is experienced in providing Visual Inspection including inspect the building conditions, prepare related reports with the proper formats and liaise with the local council to obtain the Certificate of Completion of Inspection (“Sijil Penyempurnaan Pemeriksaan”)

Under Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974: Section 85A, visual inspection is compulsory to be carried out for 10 years old tall building (exceeding 5 storeys), and the subsequent inspection shall be repeated in 10 years basis. The objective of the visual inspection is to assess the condition and performance of the building to ensure the building is safe to occupy for another 10 years. Therefore, the report will conclude the level of building safety.

In common practice, the local authority (LA) will inform the building owner or management corporation by written notice. As soon as the notice is received, the building owner or management corporation has to engage the Professional Engineer with Practicing Certificate (PEPC) to carry out visual inspection for the building. Upon the completion of the inspection, a report will be prepared by PEPC and submitted to the LA within the stipulated time frame.

The report will consist of the 5 main chapters, which include the introduction of the building, observation during the visual inspection, the root cause of defects, proposed rectification measures, and conclusion (safe or unsafe). If the PEPC in his opinion that the structural defect will likely endanger or reduce the structural integrity, then the PEPC shall recommend a full structural investigation (Building Defect Assessment) to be carried out and it will be under the separate scope of services.

Sample Notice of Local Authority

Sample “Sijil Penyempurnaan Pemeriksaan”