Page 470 - Construction Waterproofing Handbook

12.10 CHAPTER TWELVE

FIGURE 12.9 Testing of curtain wall only, with no tran-
sition details. (Courtesy of Architectural Testing, Inc.)

If leakage occurs and the sealant was not part of original detailing, it should not be
installed until determination of the leakage is resolved. Sealants are not long-life-cycle
products compared to other envelope components, and they require much more mainte-
nance than the typical envelope components of glass, metal masonry concrete, or stone.
Sealants can offer short-term solutions during testing but often do not function during
weathering cycles such as thermal movement of the composite envelope. Even if sealants
will perform in this detailing, if they are not part of the original design the owner’s main-
tenance requirements are increased for envelopes that include sealants and their short life
cycles. Such attempts at quick fixes should not be permitted, considering the effect and the
costs committed for testing, as well as the possible long-term effects of using sealants as
a stopgap measure.
ASTM provides evaluation criteria for the selection of independent laboratory testing
agencies. These tests include ASTM E-669-79, which provides criteria for evaluation of lab-
oratories involved in testing and evaluating components of a building envelope, and ASTM
E-548-84, which includes generic criteria for evaluating testing and inspection firms.