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Describes a case study that applies the principles of “a proposed quantitative model for building repair and maintenance” developed in theory by Alani et al. The proposed model relies on the relationship between the number of defects and time where the collection of the number of defects data has been made using a condition based survey and specifically developed survey form. Using established declining balance depreciation methods a close correlation between the models cost/time and quality/time curves has been determined. Applies the proposed coded system of observing, assessing, recording and appraising the condition of the elements of a large residential building and calculates the cost of repairing and maintaining (at a pre‐determined condition) the elements of that specific building.

This paper presents a comparative study of three well‐established building maintenance forecasting models in conjunction with a quantitative model which has been developed recently. After a brief introduction of each method, data collected from a large building survey were mapped into four distinctive methods and comparison was carried out in terms of priorities that these four methods adopt for future maintenance work. An analysis of responses to a questionnaire including 100 companies and individuals involved in maintenance and facilities management work (including quantity surveyors’ organisations) revealed that 100 percent of the public sector organisations use maintenance assessment methods for their prioritisation of maintenance management work. It also revealed that 92 percent of the private sector and 95 percent of all the organisations use condition based maintenance assessment methods for the prioritisation of maintenance operations. Results of this questionnaire have been used as introductory material to support the necessity for this piece of research.

Considerable amounts of work have been carried out in developing cost models for the repair and maintenance of earthquake damaged buildings in recent years. Most of these developments have been based on methods and approaches using risk analysis, probabilistic earthquake and scenario earthquakes. The main objectives of this paper can be summarised as: to highlight the extent and variability of influencing factors (quantitative and qualitative) affecting the repair and maintenance of post‐earthquake damage to buildings and structures; and to present the first configuration of a proposed quantitative model for the repair and maintenance of damage inflicted on buildings.

To achieve this, an in‐depth review of the available literature in this field was deemed necessary. The presented literature review, demonstrates the need and the gap in knowledge, as well as the complexity of the subject for such development. In developing the proposed model, attention has been paid to the recommendations made and good practice observed within the industry and the corresponding literature. The suggested assessment mechanism of buildings (data collection) has been proposed in conjunction with the ATC – 38 post‐earthquake building assessment forms and the ASCE/FEMA 356 – pre‐standard and commentary for the seismic rehabilitation of building. The ability (mechanism) to estimate the cost of required repair and maintenance based on a thorough condition survey of the inflicted damage on buildings was of paramount importance in this study.

The main finding reported in this paper, apart from the presented cost estimation methodology and the first configuration of a quantitative model, is the necessity to acquire and establish a broad knowledge base of variables and parameters, influencing such development.

This paper certainly paves the way for a more rigorous and comprehensive approach for further development in this field.

Surveyor variability has a significant impact on the accuracy and reliability of house condition surveys. Reports on one particular cognitive bias that surveyors may use when undertaking house condition surveys – the confirmation bias. Two experiments are conducted to investigate the confirmation bias. The experiments seem to indicate that the confirmation bias does have the potential to have an impact on condition survey decision making and therefore to contribute to surveyor variability. Methods of dealing with the bias are discussed; particularly the potential application of expert systems alongside hand‐held data‐capture devices.

The importance of survey data accuracy is paramount if school maintenance programs are to be a true reflection of the maintenance needs of that school. Previous research has identified the issue of surveyor variability, i.e. the situation where two or more surveyors, surveying the same building, arrive at very different survey decisions. The research presented in this paper reports on social judgement theory – a model of a surveyor’s judgements where the varying values of surveyors, in terms of the “importance” they give to building elements, can be elicited by using the regression formula. The results of the research can be used to normalise survey data in an attempt to make them more truly reflect the actual condition of a school. The results can also be used to assess training requirements for individual surveyors.

The purpose of this paper is to develop non-leaching and eco-friendly antimicrobial waterborne polyacrylates with excellent antibacterial properties by grafting antibacterial vinyl monomer, glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) modified polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride (PHMG).

PHMG of different molecular weights were modified by GMA to synthesize antibacterial vinyl monomer, GMA-modified PHMG (GPHMG). Different content and molecular weights of GPHMG were used to synthesize antimicrobial waterborne polyacrylates through emulsion polymerization.

The addition of GPHMG gained by modifying PHMG showed little influence on thermal stability of the films, but decreased the glass transition temperature(Tg). Meanwhile, the tensile strength decreased, while the breaking elongation increased. The antibacterial properties of the antibacterial films with different GPHMG contents were studied, when GPHMG content was around 0.9 Wt.%, antibacterial films showed excellent antibacterial activity (antibacterial rate >= 99.99 per cent). When weight content of GPHMG in the films remained constant, antibacterial property of films increased first and then decreased with the increase of molecular weight of GPHMG. The structural antibacterial polymer film had more perdurable antibacterial activity than the blended one.

The grafting efficiency of GPHMG to antimicrobial waterborne polyacrylates could be further improved.

Antimicrobial waterborne polyacrylates with excellent antibacterial properties can be used to antibacterial coating and adhesive.

The antibacterial properties of films with different molecular weight of GPHMG were studied, and the durability and stability of antibacterial properties between structural antimicrobial films and blended antimicrobial films were also investigated by ring-diffusion method.