Extract

The construction industry is one of the largest contributors to the economic development of a country, but dealing with major challenges such as building defects. Defects can affect project cost, duration and stakeholders’ relationships. Thus, to reduce the adverse effects, identification of defects in the early stages of the construction is essential. To identify the most prevalent defects, this paper used the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) database as the main source of data. Five cases from VCAT database were chosen and the most frequently observed defects were considered for further analysis. Accordingly, installation errors in pipes, water damages, plumbing defects, internal water leakages and wall cracking were some of the common defects observed in the selected case studies. A Defects Identification and Analysis Framework (DIAF) was then proposed by mapping the defects with their potential causes and the identification technologies such as the ASDMCon (Advanced Sensory Based Defect Management at Construction Sites), BIM-based Defect Management (BIMDM), Electric- Type Geophysical and Infrared Thermography. The proposed framework can help construction managers or quality managers to mitigate building defects. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a framework which can be used to identify and analyse defects in buildings.

Building defects; construction industry; defect detecting technologies.

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