Abstract

This thesis' objective is to develop a tool to support the diagnostic process during a building envelope investigation. Access to the files of the Quebec Home Builder's Association (APCHQ) allowed information on residential building envelope failures in Quebec to be collected and organized into a computer database. Analysis of the database information pointed to water infiltration as the most frequent failure in the first 5 years of life of the houses. Inappropriate design accounted for 43% of the problems, 25% were due to deficient workmanship, and 11% to wrong detailing. The database built in this research could be a framework to collect and disseminate information about problems in the building envelope in Quebec and Canada. Thus, with it, a portrait of the current building envelope problems can be made. The prototype tool was designed and implemented to demonstrate how a tool integrating a database populated with well-documented and relevant cases of failure can be used in in-situ investigations. The tool works by supplying relevant similar cases of envelope failures. Developed using Microsoft Access, it allows delving into the 96 cases of the database and automates the production of reports. An evaluation of the prototype tool finally led to the development of guidelines for the next generation of a diagnostic support tool. Such tool should combine retrieving of similar cases with interrogation of relevant general knowledge in order to make a diagnosis and propose remedial measures. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)