Location: the parking area of a new residential building in Hod Hasharon.
Description: this is the fire safety piping and the building's main water supply piping, running along a wall that borders the entrance to the parking garage. The wall has a fall of about 4 m into the ramp below, so a solid, wall-type railing was built to a height of 1.05 m from the floor.
The defect: the piping running parallel to the wall, and the iron guard around it, sit only about 50 cm above the floor and allow climbing. A child can easily climb onto the pipe or the iron guard, then onto the wall, and, heaven forbid, fall into the ramp below, a drop of about 4 m.
The cause: a lack of proper thought at the design stage.
The consequences: a severe safety hazard.
Standard: the defect violates Israeli Standard 1142 for railings, which the contractor is bound to meet.
The repair: remove the ability to climb by boxing in the piping to the height of the railing, or by relocating the railing's route.
Cost of repair: about ₪10,000
The engineers of Arad Bedek Bayit, led by building engineer Ron Arad, whom courts appoint as their own expert on construction defects. The company has been inspecting apartments and buildings since 2001. Engineer Ron Arad · More about the company