July 2016 — Property Management Quarterly —
Page 31
ers this water to specialty two-level
floor drains.
The top and exposed surface
(wearing surface) of a plaza is criti-
cal to its long-term performance.
Poor-quality concrete, brick, stone
and joint grout mortar will deterio-
rate with the increasing number of
freeze-thaw cycles, the application
of de-icing salts and, in some cases,
the type of loading, such as hard
wheels with impact-point loads.
Equally important to the long-
term performance of plazas is the
quality of the subbase. The subbase
of plazas on ground needs to be
competent, meaning it is properly
prepared and compacted. The sub-
base of plazas on deck varies with
the type of materials used and the
design. Masonry plazas can be set on
a bed of sand, dry or wet cementi-
tious mortar or bitumen. Stone and
precast concrete panels can be set
on pedestals.
Many issues can arise with plazas
and walkways but there are always
solutions. The culprits to damage
and problems with plazas include
design, construction, vehicular and
pedestrian damage, water, tempera-
ture changes and the construction
materials themselves. Investigation
is required to determine the root
cause of the problems and deter-
mine a restoration protocol that will
address the problem, maximize the
useful service life of the plaza and
ensure user safety. Some of the reoc-
curring problems that have been
observed over several years of plaza
investigations are tabulated in the
accompanying chart.
The restoration methods to
address these plaza issues vary in
repair effort and cost. Some can
be handled by the resident build-
ing engineer and an experienced
contractor. Most restoration work,
however, will require a large capital
expenditure. At this stage, the best
approach is to verify and determine
the root cause of the problem fol-
lowing an investigative protocol. The
findings then need to be translated
into an asset management plan with
restoration priorities, alternatives
and recommendations, and associ-
ated costs, which subsequently is
followed by construction documents.
During the renovation or restora-
tion work, pedestrian accessibility
must be provided and code require-
ments must be met. Most projects
require the work to be phased or
alternate pedestrian routes need to
be provided. Flow restrictions can be
difficult and disruptive to the build-
ing operation but the details must
be ironed out between contractor,
designer, building tenants and occu-
pants, and owner.
s
security program for a property con-
sists of combining the right balance
of technology, intrusion detection,
access control, video surveillance
and carefully chosen personnel.
3. Security training and awareness.
Training offers the opportunity
to provide specific instruction on
enhancing how the workplace popu-
lation aids in the overall protection
of the people and property.
4. Security audits.
A systematic
evaluation of a property’s security
program can measure how well it
conforms to a set of established cri-
teria and standard processes.
5. Penetration testing.
An under-
cover (authorized) professional
attempts to gain access to a prop-
erty, systems, valuables or critical
areas to test a security program’s
effectiveness.
So when considering how to make
your workplace safe, remember to
assess, develop a program, train,
audit, test and refine.
s
Estenssoro
Lisle
Reoccurring problems and potential causes
