A study of the impact of building processes on the technological performance of multi-storeyed buildings element of study: External wall Nairobi Central Area

Abstract

This study is about building processes and their effect on the performance of tall buildings from a technological perspective. The study was not concerned with the poetic and spatial issues of Architecture. The study focused on practical issues associated with materials and construction techniques applied during usage of these materials. The research examined how the selection and usage of these materials affected the performance of buildings in- service. The external wall of multi-storeyed buildings was used as the element for study. The hypothesis of this study is that building processes have an influence on the performance of buildings once in service. It has been established in the literature review that the failures likely to occur in a tall building are dampness, displacement of components, discolouring of components and cracking of components. These are the broad categories of defects likely to be found in a building. The predictor variables were established to be the design process, construction process and maintenance of buildings. The analysis of data from the survey of Nairobi buildings revealed that their performance is mostly affected by water related defects. Displacement of components and cracking of components were the second and third most occurring defects respectively. It has also been established through the study that building failure in Nairobi central area is a significant issue because none of the buildings surveyed was free from defects. On average each building-s.ujTered from 6 different types of defects. The analysis of the data, collected from the field also revealed that for every fault that occurs in a building there exists two types of causes. These are the primary causes and the secondary causes. A secondary cause is the immediate cause of a failure while the primary cause is the real cause responsible for the failure. Natural agents such as wind, rain, sun, gravity etc are the secondary causes of building failures while human actions such as inadequate design, poor workmanship and delayed maintenance comprise the pnmary causes. The conclusion drawn from this research is that the performance of buildings depends largely on the way design, construction and maintenance of the buildings is handled. These are the significant components of the building process which have a strong influence on the ultimate performance of a building. The research has established that there exist no feedback mechanism in the building process, that the relationships between the key components of the process are weak and that the individual components of the process need to be improved. The research has recommended the relevant actions that need to be taken to improve this situation.