James D Cummins

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James D Cummins Company
Building Systems Consultants

• Introduction to a Roof Management Program

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Why do you need a Roof Management Program?

• The roof is the only portion of the building that
  requires major rehabilitation periodically.
• When examining the construction industry today,
  the area of roofing stands out above all others
  as being more problematic in quality of
  craftsmanship, material performance, and the
  total design system.
• The volume of low-sloped roofing alone annually
  installed in the United States totals about 3
  billion square feet, enough to cover most large
  cities nearly twice.
• Of this vast volume, 4 to 5 percent fail
  prematurely, according to surveys conducted for a
  National Bureau of Standards report.
• This same report notes that some industry experts
  estimate a still higher failure rate.
• Regardless of the precise percentage, roofing
  failures constitute a major problem and a huge
  economic burden on building owners plagued with
  the high costs for repairs or tear-off
  replacement.

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Premature Roofing Failures are Caused by Economic
and Technical Factors

• Economically, a buildings roof system normally
  lags far behind the more architecturally
  glamorous building subsystems competing for the
  building owners money. Penny-wise,
  dollar-foolish decisions underlie many premature
  roofing failures.
• Technically, some of the factors contributing to
  premature roof failures can be listed as follows
• The extraordinary rigors of roof performance
  requirements
• Proliferation of new materials
• Complexity of roof system designs
• Expanding roof dimensions
• Field applications problems
• The modern trend toward more flexible buildings

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Roofs Must Withstand a Much Broader Attack from
Natural Forces than Other Building Components

• In some parts of the continental United States,
  roof surfaces experience annual temperature
  changes exceeding 200 degrees F and daily changes
  exceed 100 degrees F. These temperature changes
  can occur rapidly, as when a summer shower
  suddenly cools the sun-baked membrane surface.
  Solar radiation heats the roof to extraordinary
  temperatures, up to 180 degrees F for black
  surfaces. This heat greatly accelerates
  photochemical deterioration. Rain, snow, sleet
  and hailstones pound the roof acid mists and
  other airborne pollutants even fungus attack
  the roof.

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New decks, insulation, vapor retarders, membrane
and flashing materials, used in countless
combinations has complicated the
field-manufacturing process and the designers
job of evaluating durability.Until a material
has been field tested in service, its durability
remains highly unpredictable. Accelerated
laboratory tests are better than nothing, but
in-service performance is essential for proving a
materials durability. Some materials enter the
roofing market lacking even laboratory testing.
Proliferation of New Roof Materials

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Many Materials are Satisfactory in Themselves,
but Prove Disastrous When Incorporated With Others

• Incompatible materials in built-up roof systems.
  Insulation generally raises the probability of
  condensation entrapment within the roofing
  system. The threat of condensation entrapment in
  turn creates the possible need for another roof
  component, a vapor retarder designed to intercept
  the flow of water vapor into the insulation,
  where it can cause membrane ridging, aggravated
  blistering, and destruction of the insulation
  itself. The vapor retarder may create the need
  for venting the insulation. And so it goes, with
  each solution creating its own sub-problems.

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Roof Designers Must Never Consider a Component in
Isolation

• Roof Designers must always investigate the
  compatibility of all components with other
  materials and its effects on the whole system.
• Far more important than the quality of the
  individual materials, are their design and
  installation as compatible components of an
  integrated system.

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Roofing Industry Lags in the Promulgation of
Installation Standards and Test Methods

• Instead of focusing on the whole field
  manufactured roof system, the true guide to
  roofing system performance, the industry has
  concentrated on the component-material quality.
• Except for the fire and wind up-lift resistance,
  there are no generally accepted tests for
  performance of the entire built-up roof system
  assembly from these components.

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We Oversee the Demise of the Old Roof as well as
the Specification of a New Roof

• As a consultant, we serve as both the
  pediatrician and the undertaker.
• In this role, we are now beginning to receive
  ample opportunity to develop programs to improve
  the inventory of thousands of square miles of
  roof.
• With you, the building caretakers working with
  us, we should be able to achieve our goals of
  improving the life and performance of your roofs.

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Benefits of a Planned Roof Program

• Identify, define, and prioritize your roofing
  needs.
• Establish your work scope.
• Eliminate crisis roof management and risks.
• Create your long-term plan of action.
• Maintain and upgrade your roof needs annually.
• Improve the overall protection of your roofs
  through a scheduled, defined, and itemized
  maintenance needs program.

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• Reduce your roof maintenance cost through
  accurate repair identification methods.
• Reduce your overall life cycle costs and extend
  roof service life.
• Provide a management tool for
• justification of action
• short and long-term budgeting
• asset improvements
• The program pays for itself, therefore, it saves
  money.

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Development of a Roof Management Program must
include

• Roof management philosophy, program roles, and
  responsibilities.
• Setting up a roofing database.
• Inspecting and rating the relative condition of
  all roofs and the decision making process of
  repair versus re-roof.
• Detailed step-by-step procedures for repair and
  replacement.
• Quality assurance controls and inspections for
  on-going projects.
• On-going training programs and on-going roof
  sections.

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James D. Cummins Company
Building Systems Consultants