Report on Defects of Construction Industry in Singapore

Abstract of Defects of Construction Industry in Singapore

            Singapore is the most developed country of Asia, with the most significant number of constructions with a rapid increase in the completion rate to meet the large numbers of the residential areas and business industry. And that’s why Singapore becomes popular by providing the highest quality methods and techniques in the making and increasing the production of the materials in the construction industry. Even they are providing the options on how to use these creative ideas and modern technologies for the betterment and to reduce the defect and the cost. As the technologies getting advanced day by day, their usage would also be increased, and the outcome of results is getting in the shape of more enhancement in the design, which pays more focus on the effectiveness of the quality.that’s why the defects more infliction for the construction company.

In this study, the discussion is about primary defects that were aroused in Singapore while constructed high-rise buildings, the issues which were facing are cracks in structure, leakage of water, precast concrete defects, and these defects often occur at the frontage of the buildings because of stating root causes, and the precipitating environmental situations, and types of the usual areas which are facing these difficulties such as defects, and they give the appropriate measurement to get rid from these defects and suggesting the best practices in the construction. (Michael, 1998)

Introduction of Defects of Construction Industry in Singapore

Building defects are characterized as the Make off and inadequate and inappropriate in the fulfillment of the buildings. The building disasters happen because of poor constructing, selection of unsuitable places, and poor management planning in the making of architecture. The imperfect building is the cause of deformity and the lack of proper outline. On the other side concrete is the primary and versatile material which is used in the making of a building, and concrete is the necessary part, or we may be called the original content. While using this, one should need to understand the behaviors which is required for the making of concrete. Any negligence in placement, maintenance, and design move towards the degeneration and the intended functions.

Building defects were the leading cause behind the failure of the features of the building, such as structure, utility, system. The design structures were the main reason which causes defects, weather impact, and poor artistry. According to the law of building contracts, the day to day inspection of a building can be done, and it is respectively ten years and five years for residential and commercial buildings. Major building defects happen due to cost factors of most of the developers, and owners rejected the leading causes which enhance the chance of occurrence.

The discussion of the report about the Watertown project, which was assigned by the dealer, the project included an apartment which is consisted of four storeys including basements in it, and it is situated in the Punggol area. The building design involves the RC structural frame with rooftop, and the outer side of the building has the envelope, which is cover with the precast panels of concrete. The primary purpose of this study is to describe the different types of defects of the building, which mainly occur in Singapore, the high rates of structural defects over the past years, and the study aim is to give the solution to resolve these issues as well as proposing different management strategies to prevent the disasters and defects by using best-constructed materials. These practices help in improving the excellent quality of buildings and reduce the expense of remaking or repairing the building again, and this is beneficial for occupants and developers. (Lim, 2016)

There were two types of defects, which are Latent defects and Patent defects. Latent detects they refer to as the detect which is not visible during the inspection, and these defects occur after the building is constructed correctly, and the Patent defects involve to as the defects which were occurred during the control of the building when the building was under construction. Both flaws were needed to detect out at the right time because they are transferable and tend to move on the other side of the component and become the cause of damage for those contents as well. Defects can harm the buildings, and these defects classified into two categories Structural Defects and Non-structural defects.

Structural Defects of Defects of Construction Industry in Singapore

The imperfect implication of any disfigurement in a supporting component of a building that had the defected plan or inappropriate work of the manship or deficiency in the constructed material is called structural defects. And as per the suggestions of the engineerings, the errors can be classified as the imperfections in the establishment of building, which includes floor breakage, divider breakage, and these imperfections can only because of using lousy quality soil in the structure of making a building. And deformities in the building occur due to inadequate support, wear and tear, crumbling, and overburdening the building; by all these situations, structure fails to maintain his original shape. And the primary deformities happen because of splits, reduction, and consumption of steel. The list of the structural Defects are given below:

Water leakage Defects

As was reported by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), Water leakage and water tightness were the leading and most common issues among the High-rise buildings of Singapore and many other countries as well. The research on the related problem can be held by the National University of Singapore in his study the researchers said that almost 36% defects of the buildings were caused by water leakage in the wet areas. As per the given information, the problem of water leakage in the premises is increased the total cost of constructing the building, and as well as they will also increase the expense of the in maintenance, repairing and replacement process throughout the entire life in the service of the building. Water seepage can mainly take place in the specific four areas of the building. And these four areas consisted of joints of the building, between two pipes of penetration, floor trap connections, and cracks can also occur on the walls and slabs. These defects were connected to succeeding and failure of the buildings, such as Building breaks, spalling of concrete, and peeling off paints. (Cooke, 2014)

Leakage through pipes penetration/ Floor Traps

In 2002 a research was conducted by studies in his findings the noticeable numbers of water leakage takes place in the cases of having Floor trap surroundings in most of High-rise buildings of Singapore, but due to lack of terms in the knowledge of the designers lead toward the inappropriate design connection, becomes the reason of waterproofing system, and use of low quality materials of the building, and lousy craftsmanship of casting concrete on the specified area and unappropriates use of sealants onto the joints and other possible reasons which leads the building toward water leakage defects.

Leakage through Cracks

The inaccurate processing of concrete while making the concrete mixture the results of the concrete mix is the manifest of porousness and absorbable concrete, which cause the cracks to form. When the thickness of the concrete cover is not as per requirement then this will spall out the pavement, and this spalling will, later on, get as in the form of cracks on the wall of a high-rise building and then turn out as rebars, and thus this will lead toward corrosion.

Properties of concrete were mainly due to the mixing of water into the concrete. Adding water in the concrete mixture will give the result as protection deficiency in the penetration pipes, and this will, later on, move towards the failure of the waterproofing layer.

Leakage through Construction joints

Leakage would be caused by inadequate construction knowledge of architecture, and they failed to notice the proper filling of the bones during construction, or they put the wrong concreting material during development, and this may result in the leakage from the joints. Despite this, the fewer or no skills of the installer also cause the leakage problem.

Mainly the leakage of the construction joints can be effect by the movements of the framework of the panels and Floors. These all leakages happen because of differential settlement, thermal and moisture expansion, and contraction. The seepage of water among these joints was extensive because of using insignificant and insufficient waterproofing materials. The thickness of the water through inappropriate and less source of exhausting air pipelines caused the spalling of concrete.

               Figure 5. Visible Wet Patches Through Porous Internal Wall

Leakage through Internal walls and Porous Slab

Leakage through internal walls porous slabs would be likely by the occurrence of Moisture in the wet patches, which were exposed through ceilings and the partitions of the wall and it generally occurs due to using insufficient waterproofing material and ventilation problem, and this is just because of presented rooms with the consistent wet conditions such as Washrooms, washrooms transmit a large amount of moisturization through slabs of the floor which affects the ceiling on the lowest level. (Kondev, 2017)

Remedial Measures of the Leakage issue

Most of the problems which were associated with water leakage problems are holding due to poor leadership or failure regarding inspection using the right material: to handle these, questions the remedial issues were included and these problems were discussed below:

·         The full skill employees were needed who are trained in conducting waterproofing works.

·         Ensure that before using the waterproofing membrane, check before the layer is settled down well across the area all around the floor as well as to reduce the height up to 300mm.

·         Make sure that all the designs were checked and approved by professional architecture.

·         Significant materials should be used in the method statement.

·         Make sure the drainage system is proper.

·         The level of the Bathroom floors would be appropriately designed to avoid potential water retention.

·         Installation methods should be followed, and the type of products accordingly provides the specification by the engineer.

·         Make sure that the underlying surface should be dry enough or and place the waterproofing membrane in a suitable condition or in the best environment which is required to fixing the layer.

·         QAQC should be check properly to co9nducted this all the time.

·         Conduct the proper tests which were needed to apply to the products to meet the required quality for the better outcome of the condition.

According to the paradigm.” Prevention is better than cure” this is the perfect strategy of the perspective to detect the defects and adaptation of the excellent practices of the construction; using this strategy can prevent and solve the water leakage defects. This is required the desire of the owners and makers to save their budgets on the repair work.

Conventional Precast Concrete Defects

A precast concrete system is the most popular for getting the fastest productivity, and this method will give the outclass pre-fabricated from the environment and factories, and this method is friendly for the environment because this material has the less wastage quality on-site and this will have the reusable properties of molding steel during casting. In Singapore most of the constructors used this method of constructing High-rise buildings because use of this method saves the affordable amount during the period of the construction. On the other side, using the precast method and use the concrete through the precast process gives sustainability and provides high-cost of maintenance. Despite all these, BCA offers a detailed report on the primary precast concrete defects and defines the methods to address the problems. Other than this method facilitates the incompetent contractors and improper work skills and lousy planning for the projects on-site the issues related to them, which leads the building defects. The following were the fewer common defects that were found in the construction of the precast concrete. (Stark, 2015)

Cracks on Precast Concrete Components

The cracks that appear on the precast component of concrete is because of transferring of panels of concrete during making the design of the building, and due to communication gap between lifters and worker of the project and Mismanagement of the site for constructing the building, inappropriate design of the building by the engineers and use of low-quality material, these all situations are then turned into as the result of cracks on the precast components and these cracks weaken down the building and the risk of disasters will increase. We need to do precautionary elements to avoid these defects from happening such as suggest the proper design of the structure which is made by the expert and professional engineer or architecture, make sure that supplier supply the same material as it was specified to deliver, make sure that the inspection of the site can be done carefully and now the site is evident for the construction purpose, hire the expert and well-skilled workers and make sure their coordination during the process of pulling.

Water Tightness at Connections

Water tightness at connections is an essential part of the precast construction in construction industry of Singapore, and these problems were faced in the last few decades by the industry. But the issue can be now resolved by using new technologies and advance information about the construction process. But other than that, water tightness is still the main problem that comes out during the joints when it's passing through slight minute gaps. This connection is happening where water flows in large and excess amounts, such as Bathrooms. Precast pipes are connected in portions, and these parts may face leakage in some cases. Possible reforms would be taking for the appropriate technique for connections of the joints to gain a stable structure to disclose the no opening pore for the seepage of water to seep out from any corner that can be done in the design phase. Similarly as per the other defects it is necessary to have the professional, and well-trained labor is required for this part in the construction of the building, and authorized person of QAQC is needed to check the consistency of the work to make sure the excellent artistry.

Alignment and Dimensional Deviation

The defect in the building in arising due to Alignment and Dimensional deviational, as it the essential effect which is mostly calculated in the structured design of the buildings, precast panels were the limit of the criteria which is allowed by the deviation, for example the difference for the precast wall panel is almost in 3mm height to 6mm height as per CONQUAS 21. To avoid these cases, the magnitude should be checked while the prefabricated components were cast in the factory, it is necessary to conduct the cube test to make sure that this will gain the needed grade, and also ensure the supervision according to the check-list of the house holdings, so this will accomplish the required quality such as resisting specific load. Moreover, the curtain walls were the most desired among the engineers in the construction of buildings because this will not provide harm to overall weight of the building and saves them money on large amounts. (Ming Shan, 2019)

 Non-Structural Defect of Defects of Construction Industry in Singapore

Non-structured defects referred to as the non-basic deformity of the private structures, and they may portray the imperfections of a component, which is not so important in the working of inappropriate work of the individual building. According to the engineer's inadequate deformity do not corporate the misperfection in the blockwork, mortar works, and moisture from the old structure. Some of the Non-structural defects are as follow:

Building Façade Defects  Y Curtain Wall Defects

The curtain wall system can mainly be used as an exterior Façade of high-rise buildings in Singapore. In curtain Wall system, there are three main components, e.g., glazing, gaskets, and Aluminum Frame. Having these significant elements of the curtain wall system as façade components as well the leading cause it’s designed is Non-structural, and this component makes them lightweight and because of this glazing would not be occurred and this process will defuse the heat and bring the sunlight at the same time in the building without any hurdle.

Besides making every effort to avoid the defects in the building, the error will also have occurred because the mistakes are always unavoidable. The common effects which mostly happened in the curtain wall system were: water ingress ad glazing Failure. The ingression of water is caused due to lousy connection of joints, and this will happens due to shoddy work of the labor and due to some fault in the design of the panel. The most effected way to solve this issue is to conduct a test when the work of the joints is completed. Also, this is the best way to supervise the progress and performance of the employees and to ensure that all specifications were followed correctly. The glazing failure includes the process on the panels of glass, and this would appear as the minimum hairline of the cracks on the surface of the glass. This is the most significant way to take out these issues in an inappropriate design considered the workforce as well because the selection of the materials, and winds direction, carried out and these were the required tests and for the employees to better the glass quality such as heat-strength would be more preferable.

Window Leakage of Defects of Construction Industry in Singapore

The defects in the window will usually be occurred by the lousy design, using the inferior and defective material in the and mishandling during installation, and fabrication is due to poor artistry. And this would cause the essential damage to interior and loss in the wood of the window and lumber is the central part of the window if the cost will occur in this, the black patches will appear on the floor, which will affect the main entrance of the building. The defects in frames, gaskets, poor detailing on the top of frames, imbalance size of the frame, and another misalignment of the panels of the wall are just because of unprofessional workers. To reduce these defects, use the proper test to check the quality work has been done by the workers, and quality material should be used in the making of building and engaging the professionals who were expert in their fields, and also ensure that installer and supplier providing the specific materials. Method statements should be conducted ion a daily basis with the inspection to prevent the disasters from happening in the future.

           Figure 6. Water damaged Timber Flooring                Figure 7. Water penetration through window

Conclusion of Defects of Construction Industry in Singapore

It is concluded that it is hard to make the perfect building, but one should need to have the proper care and do appropriate inspections; this will help to reduce building defects. To minimize these defects it is necessary for the contractor to use the excellent quality materials done by expert team. The management team should be required which has knowledge and experience, as labor plays a vital role in the process of construction. The first inspection of the quality control should be needed, which is as follow; inspection should be done by the QAQC regularly, as well as handling the proficiency of workers, checking the details in checklist of house.

References of Defects of Construction Industry in Singapore

 Cooke, B., 2014. Management of Construction Projects. illustrated ed. s.l.:John Wiley & Sons.

Kondev, D., 2017. Multi-Party and Multi-Contract Arbitration in the Construction Industry. s.l.:John Wiley & Sons.

Lim, P., 2016. Contract Administration and Procurement in the Singapore Construction Industry. s.l.:World Scientific Publishing Company.

Michael, C. Y. L., 1998. Building Facades: A Guide To Common Defects In Tropical Climates. s.l.:World Scientific.

Ming Shan, Y. L. A. P. C. Y. H., 2019. Corruption in the Public Construction Sector. s.l.:Springer.

Stark, J. N., 2015. Construction Claims Investigation Worklist: Discover Facts and Evidence. s.l.:Nuvida Publishing.