Expert witness report on damage on buildings

Client: E.ON Netz GmbH Regionalzentrum Nord Lehrte, Germany Services: Expert Witness Report on building structure including Asbestos Quantity Survey Period: 2005 Cooperation: Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Enders, Dipl.-Ing. Dührkop, Ingenieurgesellschaft, Hamburg

Because the office buildings Falkenstrasse 60 and 60a in Lübeck are for sale, Sellhorn Ingenieurgesellschaft had been appointed to assay the building structure and to provide an Asbestos Quantity Survey.

The older of the two building was built in 1960/1961 and the newer in 1976/1977, both as cast in situ reinforced concrete frame structures.

The older building includes basement, ground floor, three upper floors and a crawling loft.

The newer building consists of the basement, ground floor, two upper floors and a connecting structure including ground and first floor.
Total gross storey area is about 3 800 m².

Concerning the state of the buildings, an in and outside visual survey took place with the following findings:

• Buildings are not complement with today’s energy-technical standards.
• Window frames are of plastic with partly corrosive steel reinforcement. Frame corners are partly open. Shot-resistant glazing had been partly refitted.
• Natural stone facing of the cavity wall is without thermal insulation directly attached to the inner wall.
• Roof sealing is sanded roofing fabric which is partly torn and blistered.
• Fire protection is under today’s standards not existent. There are no fire bulkheads; Fire protection doors do not shut.
• External walls of the basement showing moister on the inside.
• Office floors are visual all right and appear maintained.
• The elevator has been maintained regularly but is not suitable for disabled people and wheel chair users.
• The electrical installation is predominantly in a good maintained state. Because of its age the electrical installation does not comply with some essential VDE-Standards.
• Sanitary installations are in age-related well-tended conditions.
• The central-heating boiler had been replaced in 1997. Piping is in a good state.
• The inside of the connection structure is partly affected by ants.
  
  An additional Asbestos Quantity Survey was undertaken.

Samples
Non-massive – or because of its surface conspicuous members – have been randomly investigated considering its properties. Samples of fibrous materials or fibrous conspicuous materials have been taken for further investigation with a light-optical or scanning electron microscope.

Despite most carefulness during the asbestos survey it can not be taken as grunted that no asbestos had been used in the construction stage, e.g. within cavity-walls or locally applied floor covers.

Samples have been analysed by meaning of light-optical and scanning electron microscope. Asbestos materials have been discovered in the older building at: Basement windows with asbestos boards, fire-resistant steel doors with asbestos-containing lock insulation, asbestos-containing floor cover and adhesive, sandwich boards two-sided with asbestos cover, air ventilation ducts made from asbestos boards, asbestos boards below upper floor ceilings within the connection structure.

Assessment on Urgency of Decontamination
Close bounded asbestos products
This class applies to the asbestos boards and asbestos-containing bituminous adhesives. Products are classified in a way that no hazard occurs as long as they are kept in its original structure and no mechanical treatment is applied.
Samples of the newer building did not show any signs of asbestos adhesive.

Light bounded asbestos products
The urgency of decontamination of light bounded asbestos products is defined by an Evaluation Scheme within the “Asbestos Guide”. Asbestos found during the survey within the fire-protection doors has to be declared to the light-bounded-asbestos-class. As this particularly usage of asbestos can not be evaluated by the Evaluation Scheme, the Asbestos Guide asks for classification into Class III.

Summary of Asbestos Quantity Survey
Alteration and reconstruction works including asbestos decontamination shal