Quantifying the impact of inadequate building management and maintenance on damage, failures and functional defects

Damage, failures, and defects in buildings create an enormous cost for stakeholders. This study examined technical aspects of inadequate management and maintenance causing moisture and indoor environment related damage instances. Using a dataset of 2100 diagnosed causes of damage based on real damage investigations carried out in Sweden, several of the factors causing damage were identified. The collected causes of damage in the dataset were cross-compared to several parameters and variables. Almost one-fourth of all building damage resulted from inadequate management and maintenance, with 87% of these cases being the responsibility of property owners or their trustees. In total, 38% of the management and maintenance-related damage was found to be associated with building services systems, such as inadequate stormwater treatment or defective ventilation. Furthermore, a high proportion of damage (20%) was attributed to an exceeded technical service life, particularly in roofing and terrace membranes, walls, and doors. Rain and snow were the most common sources causing damage in the management phase. A high portion of the causes of damage were on an elementary level and should be easily avoidable, such as insufficient cleaning of ventilation pipes and gutters, or worn-out building components where the technical service life was exceeded. Based on the results, a list of recommendations for preventive actions was made.