• Building Envelope Consultants and Scientists

ESTABLISHING THE LEAK PATH

Finding water leaks in your building can be scary. If left uncontrolled, water damage and mold could soon set it causing additional costs for repair. Finding the source leak is paramount to prevent additional water intrusion, but water is fluid and follows the path of least resistance. A sign of a leak in one area may be originating from another area, or maybe it only leaks under the conditions such as wind-driven rain.

BECS’s expert staff understands the frustrations owners, managers, and tenants face when they see signs of water. Following practices outlined by ASTM and AAMA allows BECS to perform diagnostic testing with water to simulate rainfall or wind-driven rain to identify the source of entry and to follow the leak path.

COMMON WATER TESTS

“Quality Assurance and Diagnostic Water Leakage Field Check of Installed Storefronts, Curtain Walls, and Sloped Glazing Systems”

“Voluntary Specification for Field Testing of Newly Installed Fenestration Products”

“Voluntary Specification for Field Testing of Newly Installed Storefronts, Curtain Walls and Sloped Glazing Systems”

“Standard Test Method for Water Penetration of Exterior Windows, Skylights, Doors, and Curtain Walls by Cyclic Static Air Pressure Difference”

“Standard Test Method for Field Measurement of Air Leakage Through Installed Exterior Windows and Doors”

“Standard Test Method for Field Determination of Water Penetration of Masonry Wall Surfaces”

“Standard Test Method for Evaluation of Water Leakage Performance of Masonry Wall Drainage Systems”

“Standard Test Method for Water Penetration of Exterior Windows, Skylights, Doors, and Curtain Walls by Uniform Static Air Pressure Difference”

“Standard Test Method for Field Testing Water Penetration”

“Standard Guide for Evaluating Water”

“Standard Test Method for Determining Relative Humidity in Concrete Floor Slabs Using in situ Probes”

OTHER COMMON TESTS

Coatings, membranes, and sealants all have specified requirements to properly stick to a surface properly. Underestimating substrates, poor surface preparation, and inadequate installation can cause these components to separate and lose their protective values or outright fail.

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When your building is leaking air, you are losing money, efficiencies, and increasing your use of energy. Testing air barriers, windows, curtain walls and other fenestrations will assist in identifying areas where air may be escaping.

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Walls are supposed to keep the outside out, or at least provide a path for water that is penetrated through the masonry. When drainage pathways are clogged or caulked over, water will often find its way into the interior of the building, rather than finding a pathway back out. To understand how much water is being penetrated through the masonry, penetration testing is performed to understand recorded volumes of water penetrating under a monitored constant pressure.

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BECS Labs

BECS identified that to provide the best solutions to our clients, we need to ensure the expertise of performance testing should be at our client’s fingertips, so we developed BECS Labs. BECS Labs provides field and laboratory testing capabilities to fully support our building envelope consultants. We bring the experience and foremost experts in the industry to the science of the building envelope and its performance. BECS Labs can test the performance of the building and bring to the project actionable data. We will test how your current building performs, test products to ensure they have the capacity to keep the inside in and the outside out.

  • Forensic Testing
  • Thermal, Moisture and Air Infiltration
  • Acoustic Performance Analysis
  • Air Barrier Inspections and Whole Building Air Tightness
  • Performance Mockup Design and Testing
  • Mortar Analysis and Masonry Absorption
  • Life Safety / Structural Load Testing
  • Electronic Leak Detection of Membranes
  • Product Testing and Evaluations
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