Condition assessment of buildings in Romania: A proposed method and case study - ScienceDirect

In this article, the place Romania develops a new method in assessing the condition of the building. This method can helps in
building safer environment for present and future generations. The Romanian norms said that this method is useful and
economically can save money. This method represented as PEST (Romanian acronym for method of assessing the technical
condition), involves in a procedure in carrying out site investigations, evaluating the damages and degradation classes of the
buildings. They are using colour codes in order to increase the level awareness of the building owners. According to the ample
literature review done by the authors there’s no such methods have been proposed so far in Romania. They are performing this
method in 62 buildings in Romania. They were assuring that this method is efficient and applicable to all various types of
buildings. The result was reliable and precise according to their study.

The first step in assessing the condition of a building consists in collecting preliminary information about the geotechnical
conditions, constructive system, elements and materials, determining the initial designed performances and identifying any
subsequent changes or modifications that were brought to the building during its operation stage.

Next, on-site inspections are carried out aiming to check the system compliance with the original designed parameters and to
identify the damage extent of the construction elements.

The last step of a BCA (Building Condition Assessment) consists in preparing the report that synthetizes one or more of the
following aspects:

 damage extent with respect to each inspected system (structural elements, envelope, horizontal and vertical
partitions, infrastructure, pavements, cladding and coatings, roof, plastering, building services – HVAC, sewer, water
and sanitary, electric, etc.);
 evaluation and classification of the existing damages, with respect to their source, extent and impact;
 remaining useful life of building components;
 systemic compliance with the initial design intent;
 prioritizing the repairing and maintenance works;
 decision upon the safe operation of the building;
 Establishing the building performance factor, based on which the future strategy and necessary actions are selected.

One of the main objectives in the design of the proposed BCA method was to reduce, as much as possible, the time of
inspecting and assessing the condition of buildings.

Instruments that is used in visual inspections mostly in BAC:

 Measuring tapes
  Crack width ruler(Gilson crack monitor)

 Moisture detector

 Thermometer(optional)
 Photographic surveys(optional)

Portuguese method for building condition assessment | Emerald Insight

This study in the Portugal discusses the condition of buildings. They have also their own method of assessing the old buildings in
Portugal. The method was develop to be part of the new Urban Tenancy Regime and was approved in 2006. The method was
developed in six phases; analysis of existing instruments; formulation of the proposal; discussions with organisations in the
rented sector; pilot; and technical presentations of the final version. This method was usable and acceptable since the balanced
was achieved between the accuracy of results. The results are used to determine the maximum annual rent value and to
summon landlords to carry out repairs if the state of the building falls short of the required standard of maintenance. In a
broader perspective, the method is also used to assess of rented stock condition of large property owners and, in an adapted
form, to assess buildings viability and determine repair needs. This paper is relevant because it describes the assessment
method; the previous methods for assessing the condition of Portuguese buildings were too simplistic and lacked the accuracy,
transparency and independence required.
Comprehensive plan for assessing and improving safety level of commercial centers towards the
prevention of social and economical consequences of accidents - ScienceDirect

This study was an attempt to assess the safety level of Tehran’s commercial centres in Iran and provide control measures to
prevent possible accidents. Safety indexes are extracted, some checklists are prepared, and the resources are accordingly
assessed. This study proposes five alternatives for improving the safety of commercial centres, as follows:

 implementing audit and evaluation system,

 establishing reliability management system for fire fighting equipment,
 monitoring and analysing accidents and preparing GIS maps,
 implementing 5S system in workplace and
 establishing a reliability management system for safety trainings.

Based on the results of this study, managers and other decision-makers in the area of urban planning and commercial
centres can identify weak points in the system, improve their safety level, and, thereby, be effective in reducing the social
and economic consequences of accidents.