A tool for detecting and diagnosing faults in the drainage systems of existing buildings

Abstract

A building drainage system is an essential facility for building construction. The faulty performance of drainage equipment invalidates the entire system and threatens people’s health. A comprehensive tool for diagnosing the drainage systems of existing buildings, based on an empirical approach and levelling methodology was validated by studying 53 building drainage systems. Drainage system faults or problems were explicitly detected for facilitating decision-making regarding retrofitting. This paper proposes a comprehensive strategy and diagnostic tool that involves using a personal computer and mobile device application to diagnose faults in existing buildings. The proposed diagnostic tool can enable applying building information modelling in managing the performance and infection risk of building drainage systems.