What is a "Leaky Condo"? by Jack McCuaig, P.Eng.
McCuaig & Associates Engineering Ltd.
One of the frustrations that is commonly expressed by our clients is that NEW buildings have more problems with the building envelope than old ones.
This is a fair comment and there are several reasons for this.
Although I would rather not comment on most of the Barret Commissions findings, one of their most important conclusions I do agree with: existing building codes are adequate to provide an acceptable building envelope.
It is common to blame city/district inspectors for not doing adequate inspections. Traditionally however, local authorities have accepted that a qualified design professional assuring that a design is adequate should be enough. Ten years ago it was unheard of for a structural design submitted to the city to be recalculated. The existence of a professional engineer's stamp should be adequate. In truth, it is. Although accidents do happen, it is EXTREMELY rare for a building to collapse due to poor design. The Save On Foods collapse was a huge news item across North America because this sort of thing is so rare even though millions of buildings have been built before and since then, with no problems.
If a professional (architect or engineer) certified that the building is sound, in my opinion, it is a waste of taxpayers money to require a separate body to completely review all aspects of the design.
So why the problem?
New code requirements were introduced in the 1980's which required improved energy performance. This required, among other things, a tightly sealed wall system (inside and out).
Window manufacturers faced increased competition, from offshore as well as within Canada, to produce cheaper windows that had improved thermal resistance. Welded corners became simply caulked, and tight fits were not.
The down-turn in the economy of eastern Canada caused a flood of new construction workers to BC with no experience with our rainforest environment. Although it rains in eastern Canada, the environment is such that leaks into a wall system can dry out and essentially not be a problem.
Aggressive negotiating by developers significantly reduced the fees of the design professionals. The effect was to reduce the number of inspections. In my opinion, the biggest problem is inadequate inspections by these professionals at the time of construction.
The above items came together in the following way:
New wall designs required by code CAN work but are more difficult to design and build, and if there is a problem, the sealed walls will hide the problem until significant rot has occurred.
The more difficult designs, requiring more details and inspections, are being done by the designers for less money in less time.
The more difficult installations are being done by an inexperienced workforce.
Large building booms are exhausting the monetary and time resources of local authorities to carry out any inspections beyond the bare minimum and so they rely more heavily on the design professionals.
Put it all together and this was inevitable.