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Purpose of the work
For years, the Association for Airtightness in Buildings (FLiB e.V.) and the WTA guidelines (WTA: Scientific and technical working group) have been providing information on airtightness concepts and specifications for technical planners and contractors. More often than not, however, the con- tractors never get ahold of this information. In this presentation I will explain how you can use air- tightness concepts to develop user-friendly specifications which come in handy for the contractors.
Method of approach
For several years, the Association for Airtightness in Buildings (FLiB e.V.) and the WTA (Scientific and technical working group) have been offering technical planners and contractors hands-on guidelines in their "Airtightness Concept" and "MB 6-9 to 6-11" to create airtight layers according to good professional practice. I will analyze these guidelines and combine them with strategies which test service providers contributed based on their experience on site. Ultimately, this will en- sure a reliable flow of information from the planning phase down to construction activities on site.
Content of the contribution
Many a time test service providers who are responsible for quality assurance stand agape before the airtight barrier: “Why did the contractors apply the adhesive materials in the wrong place?
Why didn't they use the material that has proven to be the best choice for this situation? Why don't they alert others when the situation on site does not match the plan? Where are the detailed specifications? Why did they lay pipes in front of rough work? Why didn't they "repair" the folds in the airtight sheeting? Why do we have a base that's not suited for bonding? Why do the stakeholders in the building project fail to understand that they are a team? Why doesn't anybody read the guidelines in the airtightness concept? Why does everyone improvise without giving a second thought?”
Every defect of execution might have a multitude of reasons which I will analyze. Once you've identified the problem you can come up with a prevention strategy and eventually include it into the detailed planning process.
These problems do not occur because the contractors aren't sufficiently trained or skilled. Rather, they are often caused by details in the plan which are weak, incomplete, infeasible or do not reflect reality. This is where we as technical planners come in. We have to acquire an in-depth expertise and use it when planning the practical details.
Results and assessment of their significance
I will explain that the specifications we provide can be much more user-friendly when we add hands-on information that is relevant for the contractors working on site. Of course the root causes and solutions described above will vary from case to case. Not only is it important to explain why we chose to plan a project in a certain way, it is also important to point out pitfalls that might lead to defects.
Conclusions
Basically, a detailed technical drawing has to reflect the real situation and motivate the contractors. A picture is worth more than a thousand words. A detail is perfect only if even a layperson understands it and feels that it is a valuable asset for their work on site. It is equally important to establish which kind of workmanship will not be accepted.