All Insights
Aged Care
Diagnostech works with large Not-for-Profit Aged Care Provider to rectify water penetration issues in main Residential Building
RSL Lifecare, a large not-for-profit organisation operating in the aged care sector, engaged Diagnostech to help rectify a host of water penetration issues in one of the main buildings situated in their Narrabeen retirement village.
This involved conducting comprehensive testing to determine the cause of the water leaking before Diagnostech could then write and design the project specifications, and successfully tender the job to ensure it would be completed to the highest standard and satisfaction of the aged care facility.
This case study focuses on Diagnostech’s approach and management of this large-scale aged care building remediation project.
Situation
Situated on top of a hill with a stunning view of Narrabeen Lagoon, the operators of this highly sought-after aged care and retirement village, RSL LifeCare, were looking to address a whole range of water penetration issues plaguing one of their main residential buildings.
With several balconies leaking water, they called on Diagnostech to help with identifying and subsequently rectifying the issue at hand.
Before Diagnostech could begin to remediate the issue, however, we first had to conduct a wide range of testing on the building to identify the cause of the water penetration.
Once this was complete, Diagnostech Senior Building Consultants, Dennis Stephenson and Tom Mackay, wrote and designed the project specifications in order to run a competitive tender process.
From here, once the right contractor for the job was found, Diagnostech’s role became to oversee and manage this aged care building remediation project from beginning to end.
Goals
Naturally, the main and overarching goal of this building project was to identify the source of and rectify the water penetration issues affecting several balconies on the main residential building of this aged care complex.
In doing so, the aged care provider could be confident that each of the affected balconies would not only be restored to a watertight condition, but that they would continue to remain safe for resident use.
As a byproduct of this project, one of the additional goals here was to ensure that this building and its surrounds could continue to remain operational and safely accessible to staff and residents throughout the duration of the works.
Challenges
Understandably, working in and around a retirement village and aged care facility presented our team at Diagnostech and the contractor with a range of unique challenges not typically associated with most projects.
Of course, this required some out-of-the-box thinking and problem-solving throughout the design phase of the project in order for these challenges to be overcome.
The first major challenge that this presented was that there were many elderly residents moving in and around the affected building – some of whom were highly immobile or movement impaired. This meant ensuring that the area could remain safe for these residents throughout the project.
Some of the building’s residents also had very specific daily requirements or routines and it was important that these could continue to be met as closely as possible throughout as well.
As part of rectifying the water penetration issues on the affected balconies, we also had to ensure that wheelchair accessibility would be built into the new designs of each balcony so as not to rob the residents of their independence or mobility.
All of these challenges were important considerations that had a dramatic influence on the planning and design phase of this aged care project.
Solution
Once the tender process was complete, our team assisted with contract management and technical superintendent services.
In close collaboration with the selected contractor and site managers, TSA Management, all structural and engineering work was planned to ensure minimal disruption to the daily lives of the building’s residents.
Each balcony was redesigned in a way that would eliminate the existing water penetration issues and once again render the area waterproof.
Additionally, wheelchair accessibility was made a top priority alongside waterproofing throughout the redesign of every balcony to ensure residents could get the most out of their new outdoor areas.
Results
With Senior Building Consultants, Dennis Stephenson and Tom Mackay, at the helm, Diagnostech was able to completely revise the design of each balcony over a 12-month period, ensuring each would remain waterproof and leak-free, while also providing greater accessibility to residents in wheelchairs.
After the success of this initial project, TSA Management chose to award several other critical remediation projects around RSL LifeCare’s Narrabeen site to Diagnostech – marking the beginning of a long and successful working relationship.
Of these subsequent projects, one of the most notable involved the recladding of another important building on the site that had previously been cladded using combustible Aluminium Composite Panels (ACP).
