Construction defects: waterproofing, part 4

Construction defects: underground waterproofing, planning versus execution, part 4

By: engineer Ron Arad, Arad Bedek Bayit

More failure points behind construction and underground waterproofing defects

1. Inspection and oversight

Waterproofing is hard to inspect or monitor unless the supervisor has broad, hands-on experience. In most cases, only the result tells the truth, and by the time water penetration becomes visible, it's too late: the repairs are already difficult and expensive.

2. The warranty period

Once a project wraps up, the professionals move on. If water gets in, the waterproofing contractor gets the call.
Under the Sale (Apartments) Law, contractors must repair construction defects during both the inspection period and the warranty period.

For waterproofing and dampness problems from any source (walls, roof, shelter), that means three years of inspection period (tkufat bedek), plus three more years of warranty period on top of it. A strong, responsible contractor will carry out the repairs properly, as the law requires.

But sometimes the damage from a leak, let alone the waterproofing fix itself, is so expensive that a weak contractor simply can't afford to do it right, and temporary patches begin instead, aimed only at pushing the problem into next year and hoping it holds.

3. Cutting corners on the developer's end

One of the most painful causes of failure is saving money on exactly the thing you should spend on: a proper waterproofing consultant and sound planning.
Getting both right sometimes means costs that are high and hard to predict up front.

Developers sometimes pressure their waterproofing consultant into cheaper details, which often leads straight to serious construction and waterproofing defects. Other times they simply pick a cheaper consultant, and cheap, as the saying goes, often turns out expensive.

Back to the question we opened with

So how did Noah really manage such a massive waterproofing job, in such stormy seas, for so long? Here are a few answers, and everyone can pick the one that feels right to them:
1. Divine help. In truth, it would not have been possible without the Creator's help.

No one could have pulled off waterproofing on that scale with the means available to Noah.
2. Noah had all the time and materials he needed to do the job properly, without worrying about time or money, which today are a central constraint on every project.

3. Noah knew that he, his family and every survivor of the flood would depend on the ark for a long time under the harshest conditions, and that pushed him to make it work.