- Water ingress
- Unwanted water entering a building. The entry point and the place where a leak shows can be far apart.
- Curtain walling
- An external wall hung off the building structure, usually aluminium framing with glass or infill panels. Joints, gaskets and drainage decide its weather performance. Stick systems are assembled on site piece by piece; unitised systems arrive as factory made panels.
- Pressure plate and cap
- On a stick curtain wall, the external plate that clamps the glass against the gaskets, covered by a decorative cap. Loose plates and failed cap seals are a common leak path.
- Glazing gasket
- A shaped rubber seal between the glass and the frame. Gaskets shrink, harden and pull back from corners with age, which lets water past.
- Glazing bead
- The removable strip that holds the glass in the frame on many window systems. Beads are removed to replace glass.
- Insulated glass unit (IGU)
- Two or more panes sealed around a spacer bar, with air or argon between. Misting inside the unit means the edge seal has failed; condensation on the room side is a different problem.
- Toughened and laminated glass
- Toughened glass is heat treated and breaks into small pieces; laminated glass has an interlayer that holds the pieces together. Overhead and balustrade glass is usually laminated for that reason.
- Thermal break
- The plastic section inside an aluminium frame that separates the inside and outside metal, reducing heat loss and condensation.
- Perimeter joint
- The junction between a window, door or facade element and the surrounding wall. Usually sealant, sometimes a membrane, and a frequent leak path.
- Movement joint
- A joint designed to let parts of the building move against each other. Its materials have to suit the movement; rigid repairs fail.
- Drainage slots and weep holes
- Openings that let water drain out of a frame or cavity. They are part of the design and should never be sealed.
- Cavity tray and DPC
- A cavity tray directs water inside a wall cavity out to the face. A damp proof course (DPC) stops moisture moving through part of the construction. Gaps in either show up as leaks.
- Copings, flashings and membrane laps
- Copings cap parapets. Flashings shed water at junctions. Membrane laps are the overlaps in waterproofing layers. Their continuity is what keeps a roof edge dry.
- Rainscreen cladding
- An outer skin of panels on a carrier system with a ventilated cavity behind and the weatherproof layer on the wall itself. Cavity barriers in the cavity are part of the fire strategy.
- Spandrel panel
- The opaque panel in a curtain wall at floor level, hiding the slab edge, usually glass with a backing or an insulated panel.
- Friction stay and tilt-turn gear
- Friction stays are the hinges on top hung and side hung windows. Tilt-turn gear lets a window tilt inwards for ventilation and swing open for cleaning. Both wear and go out of adjustment.
- TipTronic
- Schüco's motorised window opening system, controlled from a switch or the building management system.
- Doorset and ironmongery
- A doorset is the leaf, frame and all its components as a tested assembly. Ironmongery is the hinges, locks, closers and handles. A fire door's performance depends on the whole doorset, not the leaf.
- Intumescent and smoke seals
- Intumescent seals swell with heat to close the gap around a fire door. Smoke seals are brushes or fins that stop cold smoke. Both have to match the doorset's certificate.
- FD30 and FD60
- Fire door ratings for 30 and 60 minutes. The S suffix (FD30S) means the doorset also has smoke seals.
- BMU, cradle and MEWP
- A building maintenance unit (BMU) is permanent roof mounted access equipment that lowers a cradle down the facade. A temporary cradle hangs from roof rigs. A mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) is a cherry picker or scissor lift.
- Rope access
- Working on the facade from ropes, by trained technicians working in pairs. Often the quickest and cheapest way to reach a defect on a building without a BMU.
- RAMS
- Risk assessments and method statements: the document that sets out how a job will be done safely, agreed before work starts.
- CWCT
- The Centre for Window and Cladding Technology, whose standards and technical notes set out how facades are tested and maintained in the UK.
- SFG20
- The industry standard library of maintenance schedules used by facilities teams, with schedules for windows, doors, curtain walling and cladding.
- PPM
- Planned preventative maintenance: scheduled inspection and servicing to stop faults rather than react to them.
See how these details come together in a leak investigation, or go to our services.