Waterproofing integrity and water tightness of buildings in the tropic

Abstract

For tropical countries in Southeast Asia, frequent heavy rains and the local habit of using lots of water in wet areas such as toilets and bathrooms within dwelling units are the major reasons that waterproofing designs fail to prevent the water ingress into buildings. Unfortunately, not many studies on the effectiveness of waterproofing system for such climatic conditions and social habits have been reported. Results of studies conducted on various categories of defects related to water ingress and water tightness for public housing projects and others buildings in Singapore are reported. Examination of waterproofing failures in Singapore and other Southeast Asia countries showed the cause of the failure was because the waterproofing designs adopted were mainly copied from developed temperate countries in the earlier years. Based on the causes of waterproofing failures, revised details are proposed for tropical countries with frequent heavy rains and similar social habits to eliminate these failures in an integrated approach, that is, design, construction, and maintenance, to achieve efficiency, durability, ease of construction and maintenance, overall quality assurance, and cost effectiveness for the waterproofing system. Revised details adopted to achieve waterproofing integrity and water tightness of conventional and prefabricated buildings in the tropic are presented.