Continuing the articles referring to the technical standards that establish guidelines for civil construction, today, we will discuss NBR 16747. It's about building inspection, that is, it provides guidelines, concepts, terminology, and procedures related to building inspection, aimed at standardizing methodology, establishing methods and minimum stages of the activity.
In addition, this standard applies to buildings of any type, public or private, for the overall assessment of the building, mainly through sensory examinations by a qualified professional.
But before we begin, let's understand what it consists of and what is the importance of building inspection for the construction industry.
1 - Scope of ABNT NBR 16747
Building inspection is a process that aims to assist in building management and, when performed regularly, contributes to the mitigation of technical and economic risks associated with loss of performance. Its frequency is in accordance with current laws and regulations, as well as with the possible recommendation of the inspection professional.
The purpose of the building inspection activity established in this Standard is to verify the state of conservation and operation of the building, its systems and subsystems, in order to allow systemic monitoring of behavior in use throughout its useful life, so that the minimum conditions necessary for the safety, habitability and durability of the building are maintained.
It is, therefore, a work with the purpose of instructing the management of the use, operation and maintenance of the building, and it certainly does not lend itself to the purpose of instituting legal actions to assert responsibility for possible construction irregularities.
According to the specificities of each building, the systems, subsystems, elements and constructive components to be included in the building inspection will be determined. The activity of building inspection, because of its nature as a global analysis of the condition of conservation and operation of the building, inherently has multidisciplinary characteristics and may require teams with professionals from different backgrounds.
The building inspection considered in this standard is not intended to exhaustively assess compliance with all technical standards that apply to buildings.
It is also considered that it has a fundamentally sensory character, thus making it clear that the identification of problems that have not manifested inadequate functioning, symptoms or apparent signs, or that can only be identified by specific tests, is not part of the process. The building inspection subject to this standard also does not replace the periodic inspection activities that are part of the maintenance programs.
Thus, it can be understood that the building inspection described by this standard performs the function of a “general clinical” examination, which evaluates the overall conditions of the building and detects the existence of conservation or functioning problems, based on a primarily sensory analysis by one or more qualified professionals, such that this team must be taken in accordance with the technical characteristics and complexities of the systems and procedures described in this standard.
It may be recommended to hire specialized inspections, or other actions, when it is necessary to supplement or deepen the diagnosis.
Now that we have clarified what is covered by standard 16747, let's get to the topics:
2 - Normative References
The second topic lists the regulatory references, that is, what are the other standards cited and referenced by standard 16747, they are: NBR 5674, NBR 13752, NBR 14037, NBR 15575-1, NBR 15575-2, NBR 15575-3, NBR 15575-4, NBR 15575-5, NBR 15575-6, NBR 16280 and NBR ISO 5492.
3 - Terms and Definitions
Topic 3 refers to the terms and definitions, that is, all the terms mentioned in the standard are explained. If you want to know more about each of them, we recommend that you consult the standard, because there you can find all the details!
4 - Professional Attributions
The fourth topic tells us about what professional attributions are when we talk about building inspection, that is, which professional is responsible for building inspection. And she tells us that building inspections must be carried out only by qualified professionals, duly registered with the relevant professional councils and within the respective professional attributions contemplated in current legislation.
5 - Building inspection procedure:
5.1 - Scope of the Analysis
The fourth topic tells us about what professional attributions are when we talk about building inspection, that is, which professional is responsible for building inspection. And she tells us that building inspections must be carried out only by qualified professionals, duly registered with the relevant professional councils and within the respective professional attributions contemplated in current legislation.
Now we have enough information to get into the main subject addressed by NBR 16747: how the building inspection procedure takes place. And to begin with, let's understand what must be considered when carrying out the building inspection. Thus, the scope of performance evaluation in building inspection must consider, at a minimum, the following conditions:
- Safety (structural safety, fire safety, and safety in use and operation).
- Habitability (watertightness; health, hygiene and air quality; functionality and accessibility).
- Sustainability (durability and maintainability).
Thus, all the steps that make up the building inspection procedure must observe these points.
5.2 - Stages of the building inspection methodology
But, after all, what are the stages of the building inspection methodology? That's what we're going to talk about now! We will mention each stage of the process, but remember to consult the entire standard, because here the idea is to have a general notion, right? So, we have that the building inspection procedure involves the following steps:
Data collection and documentation;
Analysis of the data and documentation requested and made available;
Anamnesis to identify the building's constructive characteristics (age, maintenance history, interventions, renovations and changes in use that occurred, etc.)
Building surveys in systemic ways, considering the complexity of existing facilities;
Classification of detected irregularities;
Recommendation of the actions necessary to restore or preserve the performance of the building's systems, subsystems, and constructive elements;
Organization of priorities, at levels of urgency, taking into account the recommendations presented by the building inspector;
Maintenance and use assessment.
Here, we only mention the steps that must be followed to carry out the building inspection, but it is good to know that in the standard you can find all the details of each of them. Therefore, it is essential to consult it before starting to do any work in this area, okay?
6 - Drafting and issuance of the technical inspection report
After completing each step mentioned above, it is possible to issue the technical inspection report, which consists of a complete document resulting from the inspection carried out, which must have, at a minimum, the following content:
- identification of the applicant or contractor and legal responsible for the building;
- technical description of the building (location, month and year of beginning of the occupation, type of use, number of buildings when undertaking multiple buildings, number of floors, number of units when building with private units, built area, typology of the main construction systems and more detailed description, when necessary);
- date of the surveys that comprised the inspection;
- requested documentation and documentation provided;
- analysis of the documentation provided;
- complete description of the building inspection methodology, accompanied by data, photos, sketches, standards or technical documents used, or whatever is necessary to make clear the methods adopted;
- list of inspected and uninspected systems, elements, construction components, and equipment;
- description of the anomalies and faults in use, operation or maintenance and non-compliances found in the construction systems and in the documentation analyzed, including in previous building inspection reports;
- classification of detected irregularities;
- recommendation of the actions necessary to restore or preserve the performance of the building's systems, subsystems, and constructive elements;
- organization of priorities, at levels of urgency, taking into account the recommendations presented by the building inspector;
- assessment of the maintenance of systems and equipment and of the building's conditions of use;
- conclusions and final considerations;
- closure;
- date of the technical building inspection report;
- signature of the responsible professional (s), accompanied by the number on the respective class council;
- Technical Responsibility (ART) annotation or Technical Responsibility Record (RRT).
Today, we discussed NBR 16747, which determines the guidelines for conducting a building inspection. It is a very important issue that requires great care, since there are several stages and each of them requires details that make the difference in the end.
Therefore, before starting a job, study the entire norm calmly so that you get a result beyond the expected one, right? And remember that this article may have helped you, but it doesn't dispense with all the information you can acquire by reading the full standard! Until next time!
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