Look Out Below

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Unmaintained facades can pose a risk to the people below. Do we really need to wait for somebody to be injured or killed before we change our attitudes towards commercial facade maintenance?

Readers of this blog, and anybody who knows me, will tell you I am somewhat obsessed with the subject of facade maintenance. In NZ, we are simply too complacent about maintenance, and I feel like we are hurtling towards an incident where somebody is injured (or worse) by something from a facade hitting them.

I am lucky enough to have a lot of clients who take maintenance seriously and look after their facades. That is not the case for all commercial high-rise facades though. Whether it is because the owners simply do not understand that facades need maintenance, or they just don’t want to maintain the facade, it’s an increasing issue for the built environment, and the public.

1) Loose flashing.
2) Transom where flashing has already fallen off (same building as photo 1).
3) Loose spalling concrete.
4) Spalled concrete removed from building during inspection.
5) Spalled concrete removed from building during inspection.
6) View of removed tiles after some of the tiles fell from the building.

I believe step one in preventing a high-rise commercial facade from causing harm, is for people to understand facades need maintenance – proper maintenance… not window cleaning (see blog – Time and Gravity Bite: The Case for Forward Maintenance Plans).

So, how do we get commercial high-rise owners to see the value in maintenance? Do we need a stick being wielded in the form of legislation – should facade condition inspections be part of our BWOF (Building Warrant of Fitness)? Or perhaps an incentive carrot dangled by insurers – could there be a premium reduction for owners who can prove their facade is being properly maintained? Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer. All I do know is I have seen too many examples of things falling off facades to think the status quo is working.

If we take action now, we could substantially reduce the risks some of these unmaintained facades pose. Outside of NZ, there are various examples of legislation being enacted to deal with these issues. We should be looking to these examples and making the changes needed to ensure these once beautiful facades don’t become hazardous to the people below.

For more of my thoughts on this subject, take a look at Issue 8 of NZIBS’s The Journal:

Article: Heads-up: Commercial facades need maintenance too – Issue 8 of The Journal

By Victoria Richardson