INTRODUCTION

Malaysia is one of the developing countries and many projects are being implemented.
Currently, which some of the projects involve construction of buildings. The construction industry
helps to generate the nation’s economy as well as providing benefits to construction companies.
But some of these firms acted unprofessionally by involving in projects that do not meet the
standard especially in housing development. There are a lot of defects to the houses purchased by
house buyers especially in terms of material and workmanship. Building defect occurs to either
the new building or the old ones. Defect within new buildings is maybe of non-compliance with
Building Code and published acceptable tolerances and standards. Meanwhile the older buildings,
or building out of warranty period, may not comply with these standards but must be judged against
the standard at the time of construction or refurbishment. Defects and deterioration are common
problems in any built structures. However, various defects are more common in an old structure
defects are defined as the deterioration of building features and services to unsatisfactory quality
levels of requirement of the users. Common types of building defects include: structural defects
resulting in cracks or collapse; defective or faulty electrical wiring or lighting, defective or faulty
plumbing, inadequate drainage systems, faulty ventilation, cooling or heating systems, insufficient
insulation or sound proofing, and inadequate fire protection suppression systems. Plus, dry rot,
wood rot, mold, fungus, or termite or vermin infestation may also be the result of a building defect.
A building defect may also include damage caused by land movement or earth settlement. Proving
a building defect commonly requires the hiring and testimony of a highly trained and experienced
expert. To minimize the problem, the contactor must provide workers with necessary experience
and skills.

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1.0 FIELDWORK BACKGROUND

Location: No 19, Jalan Raja 2, Taman Sri Raja, Parit Raja, 86400 Batu Pahat,Johor.

In this report, the proposed sample location of the fieldwork for the visual inspection is my rental
house in Parit Raja. The house is located quite far from campus(UTHM). The house is located near
Balai Police Parit Raja as shown in figures below.

Date of visual inspection : 24th APRIL 2019

Condition state during your inspection:

During the inspection which have been conducted, in my opinion the condition of the building
isn’t yet at a critical stage and moderate condition and still can functioning with supervision. but
if drag further then there might be damage finished towards the constructing and customer’s
lifestyles may be threated. The figure 1 below shows the building that is being chosen for
inspection.

Figure 1 shows the selected fieldwork

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2.0 TYPE OF BUILDING COMPONENTS

2.1 Building Fabric

The term 'building fabric' refers to structural materials, cladding, insulation, finishes, etc., that
enclose the interior of a building, separating the internal from the external. The building fabric is
a critical component of any building, since it both protects the building occupants and plays a
major role in regulating the indoor environment. Consisting of the building's roof, floor slabs,
walls, windows, and doors, the fabric controls the flow of energy between the interior and exterior
of the building. An optimal design of the building fabric may provide significant reductions in
heating and cooling loads-which in turn can allow downsizing of mechanical equipment. the
activity and equipment inside the building generate a significant amount of heat, the thermal loads
may be primarily internal (from people and equipment) rather than external (from the sun). This
affects the rate at which a building gains or loses heat. Building Configuration also has significant
impacts upon the efficiency and requirements of the building fabric. Therefore, the knowledge of
the various properties of the building fabric enables mathematical modeling of a whole building
by taking all the various components and their areas into account and subjecting the hypothetical
building to a dynamic regime of internal energy inputs, external solar loads, outside air
temperatures, wind velocities, etc. Thus, if all the fundamental sources of heat loss and heat gain
in a building are properly considered, it is possible to determine quite accurately the resulting
internal conditions within it and, more importantly, how comfortable it is likely to be or how much
air-conditioning energy will be required to make it so. Very broadly, for most buildings, the
building fabric will include several elements:

1. Floor

2. Wall

3. Roof

4. Window

5. Door

6. Finishes

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3.0 DETAILS OF 10 COMPONENTS OF DEFECTS

Defects Building component

a) Floor crack Building fabric(Floor)

b) Crack on wall Building fabric (wall)

c) Peeling paint Building fabric (wall)

d) Dampness Building fabric (finishes)

e) Staining Building fabric (wall)

f) Rust stain Building fabric (window)

g) Poor toilet flush Building services

h) Loose plug Building services (electrical

equipment)
i) Fungi and Small Plant Attack Building fabric(wall)

j) Chalking Building fabric(wall)

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 4.0 ANALYSIS OF DEFECTS (SYMPTOMS, CAUSES, REMEDIAL MEASURES)

Defects Symptoms Causes Remedial measures

1. Floor Crack
2. Crack on Walls
1. A sign that there’s 1. They are overloaded
something wrong or because the structure
with the foundation. has settled or heaved.
2. Settlement occurs
when the soil
beneath your
foundation is too
unstable to support
the weight of your
home and it shifts
1. Are overloaded or 1. Horizontal crack are
because the structure more
has settled or heaved. likely to be caused by
lateral pressure. It is the
nature of many
construction materials
to crack as they age and
as they expand and
contract, particularly
with exposure to
moisture as they get wet
and dry out alternately.
1.By using a hammer and
cold chisel you “chase
the crack” by following it
in length and breaking
away any loose edges or
access material. This will
allow for the filler to
adhere to the materials
more effectively, and
help rule out the chance
of trapped air in the
crack. After applying
your epoxy or
polyurethane filler into
the crack, give it a few
minutes to settle and
allow for low spots to set
in.
1.Walls should not be
built tightly to the
columns.
2. Foundation should be
taken as
much as deep to
minimize the effect of
moisture entry as much
as possible.

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3. Peeling paint 1.Long-term 1.Water seepage 1. Arrest moisture
exposure to low through roof, toilets source
levels of lead may
2. Prepare and treat the
produce
surface
3. Repaint on receiving
surface with moisture
content not
exceeding 6%

4. Dampness 1. Unwanted and 1. Cause damage in 1. Good quality cement

excessive water or brickwork by saturating mortar (1:3) should be
them, decaying and used to produce definite
moisture. breaking up of mortar pattern and perfect bond
joints, rotting in the in the building
timber structures, 2. Cavity walls are more
defecting by the reliable than solid walls
corrosion of iron and in preventing the
steel materials and dampness
destroying the
equipment in the
building.

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5. Staining 1.Condensation on 1. Use of details 1. Remove defective
windows, wet walls, that traps and paint and prepare
peeling paper. accumulates dirt. surface accordingly to
Streak marks are receive paint
formed when dirt 2. Apply with more
gets washed down dirt-resistant paint
along the sides of the system
painted vertical walls,
especially on
elastomeric coated wall.

6. Rust Stains 1. Moisture can be a 1. Caused by contact 1. Use a clean, wet cloth
symptom with water. to rinse the lemon juice
and the cleaning solution
off your window. Rinse
your cloth frequently.

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7. Poor Toilet flush 1. High water leaks 1. Toilets that are 1. Reconnect the lift wire
into pan via flushing slowly and or lift chain that connects
overflow tube incompletely the lift arm from the
flapper.
2. Replace inlet valve or
inlet washers

8. Loose plug 1.Dangling of plug 1. Improper drilling of 1. Proper sizing of

cover screw material should be used
like length of screw

9. Fungi and Small Plant Attack 1. Wet like surface 1. Water leakage 1. Proper material should
2. Moisture be used for environment
3. Humidity where receives less of
sunlight.

10. Chalking 1. Use of no 1.Chalking can cause 1. Use weather resistant

weathering resistant color fading. paint for areas exposed to
pain weather or UV.
2. Prepare surface and
repaint with appropriate
system

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5.0 SUPPORTIVE TECHNOLOGY EVIDENT (SELFIE PICTURE)

Figure 2.0 Rust Stains Figure 3.0 Poor Toilet flush

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6.0 REFERENCES

1. F Abu Bakar (2008) Satisfaction Level on Quality of Material and Workmanship of low

cost housing in Klang Valley.

2. BUILDING DEFECTS. (2009). Retrieved from DAVID HALL BUILDING APPRAISALS:

http://www.buildingdefects.com.au/

3. CONSTRUCTION DEFECTS - CAUSES OF FAILURES OF BUILDING ENVELOPES.

(2007). Retrieved from METROPOLITAN ENGINEERING, CONSULTING & FORENSICS:
https://sites.google.com/site/metropolitanenvironmental/causes-of-failures-of-building-envelopes

4. Jamal, H. (2017, August 15). Structural & Non-Structural Defects in Building Construction.
Retrieved from https://www.aboutcivil.org/structural-non-structural-defects-in-construction.html

5. Taylor, GoO, (2000) Material in Construction- An Introduction, third edition, Pearson

Education Ltd. England.

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