Abstract
A modified periodic inspection reporting system based on Article 12 of the Building Standards Act was enforced on 1 April 2008 in Japan. The Periodic Inspection Reporting System based on the article entered its 11th year since its enforcement in 2019. We investigated more than 100 residential building inspection reports based on this article in Kitakyushu of Japan and found what kind of defects can be reported in this investigation system. In this paper, we show the typical defects and related problems of Japanese residential buildings. According to the data, we scrutinized existing building inspection and maintenance procedures defining the problematic areas of older housing complexes and outlined some deterioration trends. We analyzed, in particular, the state of building foundations, exterior and interior walls, roofs, evacuation passages, facilities, and the state of exterior tiles in the function of solar orientation, and quantified the number of problems correlated to the age of the buildings. In parallel, we reviewed the current state of the laws and policies applied to building quality and management in Japan. We analyzed the whole building inspection process, identifying some flaws that limit its effectiveness and reach, due mostly to miscommunications between the property owners, local government, and the contractors. Based on that, we proposed an alternative and improved building management system.
Highlights
IntroductionThe topic of rigorous and effective building maintenance is very important as it extends the lifespans of existing buildings, which in turn promotes a more sustainable use of our built environment
We propose the development of a database of diagnostic records of buildings based on the reports of periodic inspections targeted at buildings in accordance with the periodic inspection reporting system, with the aim of making use of them in building management [3]
A new prospective on the situation of the building management and inspection system put in place in Japan has been made, and after contrasting the field inspections and the documentation related to the buildings studied here, some adjustments to the current system have been outlined
Summary
The topic of rigorous and effective building maintenance is very important as it extends the lifespans of existing buildings, which in turn promotes a more sustainable use of our built environment. Having our buildings in decent functioning and safe conditions over many years improves the general urban environment and contributes to creating a better living space for people. Most buildings that were built 30 to 40 years ago seem to have been planned and built with little thought about their future maintenance, which have made them very difficult repair on a large scale. All this makes evident that building inspections systems and maintenance policies can be improved
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