Building condition ratings using infrared thermography: a preliminary study

Deterioration and defects in building components are key aspects to consider when assessing buildings’ conditions, as they may influence the building’s functionality. The typical defects include cracking, moisture, dampness, and architectural defects. This paper aims to evaluate the defects in a building using a non-destructive testing (NDT), which is the Infrared Thermography (IRT) method. A visual inspection method is then conducted to verify the results of the IRT method. The combination of IRT and visual inspection methods can identify the type of defect and level of severity more accurately. In both methods, ratings or scores are given to the collected defect data to determine the consistency between them. Two (2) buildings were selected as case studies; AA1 and BB2 are multistorey buildings. From those, 51 and 67 spots were taken from the IRT method and further verification process, respectively. Among the defects that were found were moisture, dampness, cracking, staining, chipping, and flaking paint. From all the findings, IRT was found to be comparable with the visual inspection results for serious defects such as cracking and flaking paint. However, IRT was believed to underestimate the architectural defects of staining and chipping. Even so, serious defects such as dampness were also underestimated in IRT due to the fact that the temperature difference between different ratings will not differ much. In conclusion, the IRT method has the potential to be used as a tool for building condition rating. However, it should be assisted with a visual inspection, and more research needs to be conducted for its practicality.