Degradation and Deterioration Processes in Swimming Pools Adjoining Real Estate Developments

Abstract

Regrettably, the existence of multiple deficiencies in construction has become commonplaceto the point of appearing to be a part and parcel of the very process of executing construction works; many now consider it inevitable. In no other industrial sector does the production ofan object lead most stakeholders to a growing degree of dissatisfaction – not only future users but also, for different reasons, the professionals participating in the process. Certainly, one of the reasons for this is that each building is normally a prototype (designed and built for the first time), implying uncertainty and the lack of studying possible difficulties until they have emerged. There is yet another series of reasons that worsen this situation: often, designers do not take note of problems (and their solutions) to take them into account in future designs. Neither do construction companies foresee corrective measures to problems – trying instead to quicklycover errors or draw economic benefits from changing the execution procedure. When the owner of a house experiences certain construction problems that are not solved within the warranty period, they often have no choice but to resort to the judicial route. In thisprocess, an expert is charged with drafting a report describing the existence of the existing flaws or degradations. These reports are paid for by the insurance company of the technicians under complaint and they constitute the data source of this study – namely, the reports of the civil responsibility insurance of Spanish technical architects. One the lawsuit is initiated, the existence of said problems is examined, along with their na- ture, extension, and type, based on the technical reports. Once the judge rules on the corre- sponding result, and if so willed by the defendants, the disputing parties can appeal to a highercourt. In such a case, the suit re-commences, until the legal procedure definitively ends. This long technical and judicial path leads to the validation of the data source used and to the find- ings presented in this communication regarding swimming pools adjoining houses. A total of 146 cases were analysed and characterised into 3 different types of degradations. The first type is ‘settling’ (DE1) of the construction element itself, occurring in about 60% of situations. The second type is ‘fissurations’, occurring in 24% of occasions. With regard to the pathology origin of these cases, 4 different types were 193 found, with the main one being the ‘absence or deficiency of soil compaction’ underneath the swimming pools (PO1=71%). In ad- dition to this data, this research produced an interrelation matrix for these two parameters, forming the binomial pairs referred to as ‘deterioration process’. This information is without precedents in the international scientific literature that was reviewed.