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Diagnosis and Repair of Water Seepage (Part 3 of 3)Evaluation of Various Seepage Repair Methods through a Post-Repair Survey

Sr Matthew TM ChanMBA, MHKIS, PFM

Sr Danny PM ChengFHKIS, RPS(BS), AP(Surveyor)

BACKGROUND

Seepage can come rom dierent sources and exist in variousorms, including foor seepage due to waterproong ailure,external wall seepage due to rain penetration, internal wallseepage through bathroom dry wall partitions, embeddedpipe leakage, etc. Among the various orms o seepage,loor seepage usually presents the greatest problem, as itinvolves upper and lower fats, while disturbing recticationworks are oten required or the upper lat instead o thecomplainants fat.

There are three comparatively common seepage repairmethods in dealing with loor seepage. These methodsare tanking (a complete re-laying o the waterprooinglayer), chemical injection, and deep penetration chemicaltreatment. All have been used or many years. In theollowing paragraphs, we shall look at the specications andeectiveness o each repair method.

SPECIFICATION OF THE REPAIR METHODS

The recommended specications or the three methods aredescribed below:

(a) Tanking system

- Fast-setting character or occupied fats;- cementitious system, coating, or screeding type is oten

needed or ast-setting purposes and or existing dampsubstrate; thereore, those cold cure fexible membranetypes are not suitable or seepage cases;

- existing foor drains, i removed, should be replaced bywell-tted replacements;

- the proprietary waterprooing system should havea waterprooing layer or it should penetrate andcrystallize into the substrate capillaries/pores and blockthe passage o water;

- suitable or verticalsuraces i appliedto walls;

- capable o sealingstatic cracks andcapillaries;

- compatible andbonds well with allsuraces; and

- complies with Air

Pollution Control(VOC) Regulations.

(b) Chemical Injection

- Polyurethane or other suitable resin;- reacts with water;- i polyurethane is used, it shall oam up to ll in voids/

cracks and the oam shall be o a closed cell structure;- able to seal hairline cracks smaller than 0.5mm;- viscosity should not exceed 700mPas at 20 degrees;- minimal shrinkage or elastic injection materials and no

shrinkage or semi-rigid or rigid injection materials;- non-fammable and can be painted on;- non-toxic and does not constitute a saety hazard to

operatives and occupants;- or crack repairs, drill holes beside the cracks at 45

degrees inclined rom the crack surace to a depth ohal the thickness o the ceiling slab and at intervals oabout 150mm c/c;

- or porous concrete repairs, drill holes vertically atintervals o about 100mm c/c and at a depth o hal thethickness o the slab; and

- apply the second injection ater the rst injection unless

otherwise recommended by the manuacturer.

Waterproong layer to the foorand skirting o a toilet

(c) Deep penetration chemical treatment

- For waterproong materials based on Silane/Siloxane/Silicone technology (perhaps in combination witha silicate penetrating material), the recommendedminimum content o Silane should be at least 35% (useo Trimethoxysilane is not permitted);

- water-based, odourless, and o low VOC not exceeding

100g/L;- suitable or tiled and slightly damp suraces;

Injection packers drilled into the concrete on both sideso the identied crack

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EVALUATION OF THE EXISTING SEEPAGE REPAIR

METHODS

In order to systematically appraise the perormance othese three common methods, a large scale evaluation wasconducted in 2010 by re-visiting some 255 fats with repairs

done in the immediate past our years and recording thedampness readings with moisture meters. This large scaleevaluation covered 61 estates and 255 fats.

EFFECTIVENESS OF THE VARIOUS REPAIR METHODS

First, it is necessary to dene the term success rate, whichis quoted in the evaluation results below. The rate excludesall moderate and serious seepage cases, but include verymild seepage cases, since very mild seepage is unlikely toproduce any visible deect or nuisance to tenants due to theminute amount o moisture present in the concrete, whichnormally could only be detected with a moisture meter.Based on the large scale survey results, the ollowing ndings

are revealed:

(a) The tanking method, with a success rate o about 80%,is regarded as a practical and comprehensive repairchoice although there is certainly room or improvement,as we ound that many unsuccessul cases were likelyrelated to poor workmanship and diiculty in treatingthe waterproong around the pipe penetrations or foordrains, even i the material actor could not be excluded.

(b) Chemical injection had an unexpectedly high successrate o 85%, suggesting that this method is reliable ithe situation is appropriate or employing it. The results

also showed that perormance did not deteriorate withtime (at least not during the our-year period). One

When considering which repair option to adopt, apart rompondering the eectiveness o each method, the extent andnature o the seepage (whether it is local or extensive) shouldalso be taken into account.

Tanking is more eective or generalized foor slab seepage,but involves more disruptive work. Localized seepagecould be resolved with less disturbing methods, includingchemical injection, deep penetration treatment, high lowgrouting around the pipe plinth/foor drain, the replacemento embedded leaking drains, etc. Diagnosing the sourceo seepage would help one select the most suitable repair

method and is the most important rst step in resolving theseepage nuisance.

Spray deep penetrating sealer on the existing mortar pointing

High fow waterproong grout

- achieves early waterprooing properties (appliedsurace should re-open in six hours) and displays earlyresistance to wash o;

- non-toxic and does not constitute a saety hazard to

operatives and occupants;- removes dirt, grease, and loose materials rom suracesto which it is applied;

- ixes cracks and tile joints made good by proprietarymaterial prior to its application; and

- is applied in two or three coats as per manuacturersinstructions.

possible reason or the high success rate could be thatsite inspectors precluded the use o this method orserious seepage cases. Despite the methods proveneectiveness at stopping water leakage rom above, any

trapped moisture above the grouted layer o the ceilingslab may lead to a deterioration o the concrete structurein the long term.

(c) Deep penetration treatment tends to be more eectiveat stopping wall seepage (94%) than loor seepage(67%). Among the three methods, this has been usedthe least, as the odour it produces oten leads occupantsto reject it. Since many suppliers now produce odour-ree alternatives, this method could be reconsidered ithe seepage is mild and the condition o loor inish issuitable or its application.

(d) The success rates o the various repairs should be taken

or broad reerence only, as they could have been aectedby many actors like workmanship, source o seepage,site restraints, etc. Since then, we have reviewed therepairs speciications and quality control veriicationrequirements and believe that the success rates will go upin the uture.

CONCLUSION

Apart rom the above three methods, other localized repairmethods have emerged in recent years. They include thepipe plinth jacket, which covers the pipe plinth with a layero high fow waterproong grout to seal up localized cracks

or gaps around pipe penetration areas.

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Interpretation of Construction Contracts:No New Thing under the Sun (Part II)

Mr Eric ChungBarrister-at-LawFHKIS, FRICSPast Chairman of the Quantity Surveying Division of HKIS

In the second part o his article below, Mr Chung continues

his analysis o the ollowing waiver provision:

SCC-20(6)(4) The Main Contractor also hereby irrevocably

waives any right to direct loss and/or expense and any

other claims (including claims or damages) arising

rom any circumstances or the rst 90 calendar days oextension o time granted by the Project Manager

The objective theory of English contract law

Unlike contract law in France and many other European

countries, English contract law is based on the objective

theory. This theory was trenchantly expressed by Lord

Homann in the recent case o Chartbrook Ltd v Persimmon

Homes Ltd[2009], 1 AC 1101, as one that:

mixes up the ascertainment o intention with the rules

o law by depersonalising the contracting parties and

asking, not what their intentions actually were, but

what a reasonable outside observer would have taken

them to be (emphasis mine).

Analyzing the language used

Mr Hon also relied on arising rom any circumstances

to support his opinion that only an EOT with an L&E

entitlement was contemplated by the rst 90 days by reading

these words as reerring back to [the waived] loss and/or

expenses.

I disagree. My rst observation is that the words used in theprovision are waives any right to direct loss and/or expense

and not the waived loss and/or expense. My second

observation is that I read the expression arising rom any

circumstances as reerring back to both limbs, namely the

direct loss and/or expense limb and the any other claims

(including claims or damages) limb, instead o just the rst

limb as Mr Hon suggested. I my readings are correct, the

Contractor should be taken to have waived any right to

direct loss and/or expense arising rom any circumstances

as well as any other claims (including claims or damages)

arising rom any circumstances or the rst 90 calendar days

o [the] extension o time granted.

In my view, the crucial words are or the rst 90 calendar

days o [the] extension o time granted because they

provide the proper context in which to construe what the

Contractor was being asked to waive be it the L&E or any

other claim arising rom any circumstance or the irst 90

calendar days o the EOT. The words or the 90 calendar

days o [the] extension o time are perectly plain andcontain no indication, one way or another, o which EOT

events should orm the subject matter o the rst 90 calendar

days o the EOT, as any permutation o EOT events will do.

As such, the irst 90 calendar days must embrace both

entitling and neutral events.

I now turn to the words, any right to direct loss and/or

expense. I the EOT comprising the rst 90 calendar days,

properly construed, should include both entitling and neutral

events, the permutation o the rst 90 calendar days o the

EOT would not become known until the irst 90 days o

delay materialized, and neither would the question o the

Contractor's L&E entitlement. Any right to direct loss and/or

expense must thereore mean any right to direct loss and/

or expense that may arise.

Mr Hon's interpretation has an insurmountable hurdle. I

he is correct, then the words the irst 90 calendar days

o [the] time granted would have to be understood to

mean, in eect, the rst 151 calendar days o [the] time

granted based on what actually occurred (the rst 61 days

o the EOT being granted or inclement weather [a neutral

event] plus another 90 days yet to be granted [presumably

entitling event(s)]). This cannot be right.

The courts do not easily accept that people make

linguistic mistakes

Is there an answer available to the Employer or why the

language used in SCC-20(6)(4) ailed to relect what was

intended? As noted above, the question o what was

intended could only be determined by reerencing what a

reasonable person with the background knowledge would

have understood what the parties had agreed upon. In any

event, the courts would require a very strong case beore

they can be convinced that the words used by the parties do

not refect their agreement. In Chartbrook Ltd v Persimmon

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Homes Ltd[2009], 1 AC 1101, Lord Homann said:

[The courts] do not easily accept that people

have made linguistic mistakes, particularly in ormaldocuments.

Construction contracts are ormal documents. The courts

will not easily accept that waiver provisions, which are

intended to curtail or even extinguish a contractor's right to

compensation, do not mean what they plainly say.

To conclude, I read SCC-20(6)(4) as simply requiring the

Contractor to waive whatever right to the L&E he might

have or the irst 90 calendar days o the EOT granted or

whatever ground(s).

For the sake o completeness, I turn to a more delicate point.

Is the Contractor's understanding relevant to

interpretation?

I have said above (and in Part I) that what the Employer

intended SCC-20(6)(4) to mean is irrelevant to its

interpretation. How about the Contractor's understanding

o its meaning? The simple answer is also irrelevant.

But what the tendering contractors as a group understood

SCC-20(6)(4) to mean may not be irrelevant. In Investors,

Lord Lloyd1 particularly stressed two actors:

(i) the purpose o the document alling to be construed

and

(ii) the readership to whom the document was addressed.

The document in Investors was a claim orm. Its purpose

was to inorm the investor in relatively non-technical

language what his rights and liabilities were upon his receipt

o compensation. On readership, Lord Lloyd cited, with

approval, Lord Diplock's judgment in Porter v National Union

o Journalists [1980], I.R.L.R. 404:

The readership to which the rules are addressed consists

o ordinary working journalists, not judges or lawyers

versed in the semantic technicalities of statutory

draftsmanship (emphasis mine).

Is the reasonable man the same man in all cases?

The intended readers o SCC-20(6)(4) were those invited to

tender or the renovation contract, including the one who

won the contract. What they as a group understood about

the extent o the L&E entitlement which they were asked to

waive seems to me to be a relevant consideration. O course

I am not suggesting that the Contractor could call other

tenderers as his witnesses or the purpose o explaining to

the court their understandings o the clause. That would beinadmissible because they, too, would be giving evidence o

their subjective understandings o SCC-20(6)(4) and that

would inringe upon the objective theory o interpretation.

In my view, the court may be asked to consider what

a reasonable tendering contractor with the parties

background knowledge would have understood the clause

to mean. He would not be the same reasonable person

on the street, but one with all the attributes o the tendering

contractors.

The contra proferentem rule

Had SCC-20(6)(4) been ambiguous and capable o two

reasonable interpretations, the court would have had to apply

the contra proerentem rule and adopt the interpretation less

avourable to the Employer (on whose behal the ambiguous

waiver provision was drated), but I do not see any ambiguity

in SCC-20(6)(4).

For the above reasons, I would have placed my bet on the

Contractor's interpretation.

Let wiser heads settle it

I set out above what I understood to be the guiding

principles or interpreting commercial contracts by reerring

to some leading cases that were recently decided by the

highest courts in the UK. But these cases merely served

to underline the strength o the established principles and

demonstrated how they could apply to new circumstances.

But there is no new thing under the sun so ar as this area o

law is concerned. I hope these cases can assist the ordinary

quantity surveyor in drating and interpreting contractual

clauses.

In the course o illustrating the application o these cases,I adopted Mr Hon's case as a working example and put

orward my alternative opinions or readers consideration.

As Chie Justice Holt once said ater he had done research on

his own: I have stirred these points, which wiser heads in

time may settle.

1 Lord Lloyd was the dissenting judge in Investors, but this part o his

speech was not contradicted by the majority.

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Columbarium, Oh, ColumbariumMr WK ChungMHKIS, GPD

The irst time I came across the word columbarium outsideHong Kong was in a visit to Masada, the ormer KingHerods summer palace which was later turned into a Jewishrevolutionary base against the Roman Empire during the FirstCentury. It was built on a remote high ground overlooking theDead Sea in the distance and, given its topography, was an idealplace or a ortress. Inside the ortress, there was a little spacedesignated as a columbarium where pigeons were bred in theniches. Pigeons were a source o meat (protein), which wasparticularly important during the Roman siege o the ortress.When Masada nally ell to the Romans, they ound the placeempty and quiet, with only two women and ive children let

behind. The rest o the deenders knew too well the ate thatawaited them in the event o their capture and decided to endtheir lives violently on the night beore the Romans stormed theortress.

Over time, the niches became deposit places or humanremains. These are the catacombs. I would imagine that theyhave become popular because they take up less space and arean eective means o land utilization. Columbaria now assumedierent orms that oten refect the culture and history o theirlocales. The Columbarium o San Francisco, with its beautiularchitecture, is such an example. Some cultures may accepthuman ashes to be located close to living quarters, but othercultures treat them as unclean, although in terms o hygiene,they are not sources o disease, as the process o cremationinvolves the application o high temperatures. But cultureplays an important role in the planning or the location o acolumbarium.

In Hong Kong, columbaria are either provided by thegovernment or the private sector. Niches in public columbariaare neat and tidy and relatively inexpensive, whereasprivate niches sell such added values as good eng shui andmaintenance services, including certain religious rituals. Someprivate columbaria are run by non-prot organizations and arereligious. Notably, prices or private niches vary a lot. So ar,public niches are in short supply, while private niches are an

extremely lucrative business. That explains why even illegalniches sell at high prices. Those who buy them are runninga high risk o being denied access to their ashes once thegovernment reclaims the space. Moreover, the public mayeventually have to pay or putting things back in the right order.

As our population, prompted by the post-war baby boom, isageing rapidly, the demand or niches will escalate over the nextten to 20 years. The government should consider opening upthe market to more private participants. This may take on theorm o open competition through bids or some governmentsites suitable or such purposes and allowing or land exchangesor lease modications on private lands. There are sites alreadyzoned and marked or columbaria on town plans. No oneexpects that this will be an easy job because o NIMBY*. In the

meantime, the government should consider excising certainparcels o land within Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery or suchpurposes pending new zoning or rezoning o suitable sites. Inplanning the ormer closed areas, such as Hung Lung Hangin the North District, the Government should consider zoningpart o these areas or columbarium purposes. In the long run,columbaria are a big industry.

"It is believed that the term, columbarium originates rom columbra, meaningdove in Latin. The niches are the dovecots where doves or pigeons were bred."

"Po Fuk Shan is an example o an in situ land exchange through whichthe Government disposed o a site or a private columbarium purposes.

The architecture is an imitation o that o the Tang Dynasty. Prices oniches vary with 'eng shui' and services."

The industry will grow as more private unds are poured in. Butthe above does not take away the governments responsibility toprovide basic niches. With the introduction o proper rules andregulations and an adequate supply o public and private niches,the market can more eectively regulate itsel.

The Government should not allow the problem to drit away. Atthe moment, grievances are mounting, as people nd nowhereto put their relatives ashes ater cremation and there is along queue or public niches. The success o a governmentsadministration is not only judged by what it has done or itspeople, but also by how its people are treated. This includestheir journeys to their nal resting places.

*NIMBY: Not In My Backyard