After dozens of interviews with the people who represent B.C.'s residential homebuilding industry, one thing be-comes clear the industry is working hard to fix the leaky condominium problem. We mistakenly tend to think of buildings like cars, he says. But cars are constructed in plants where everything is carefully controlled. Buildings are subject to weather conditions, site variations, all sorts of unpredictable aspects.
Buildings are unique, each handcrafted.
So there is no one factor, rather different combinations of factors with each one. Before vapour barriers were mandated, buildings let moisture in, yet they also let it escape, so they dried out. They weren't creating a rot situation. One positive outcome of the current catastrophe is the recognition that the design and shapes of our buildings need to shed rain, he says. There is universal acknowledgement that architects, engineers and planners have to be careful with buildingdesign guidelines to make buildings more rainprotected.