TO EMAIL
REGARDING
Mr. Judy Slutsky judy@rcabc.org RCABC Guarantee Corp. 9734 - 201st Street Langley, BC, V1M 3E8
8985.000 RCABC Claim Research Phase 1 Research DATE
September 8, 2015
Study of the Impact of the RCABC RoofStar Guarantee on Roofing Issues & Potential Warranty Claims Dear Mr. Slutsky, As requested by RCABC Guarantee Corp., RDH Building Engineering Ltd. (RDH) has performed an analysis to assess the impact of the RCABC RoofStar Guarantee on roofing issues and potential warranty claims for flat roofs in the Lower Mainland of BC. This analysis was performed utilizing RDH’s building asset management database in conjunction with information provided for matching buildings from RCABC. This letter provides a summary of the key findings of the study, with more detailed information within the attached appendix. Recommendations for next steps and further analysis are also provided.
Introduction The service life of a roof is dependent on a number of factors including but not limited to: climate and environmental conditions, materials selection, detailing, traffic & use, workmanship, and maintenance. These factors are well understood and documented within the roofing industry. In addition to these factors, risk management through third party roof warranty or guarantee programs such as the RCABC RoofStar Guarantee program can also be considered, as participation in these programs drives many decisions related to quality of workmanship, materials selection, and maintenance. In order to study the impact of the RCABC program on the frequency of roofing issues and potential claims, independent research was performed by RDH Building Engineering Ltd. (RDH) to evaluate the in-service performance of comparable roofs with and without an RCABC guarantee. This analysis was performed for several hundred flat roofs in the Lower Mainland of BC over their first 10 years of life - both with and without an RCABC guarantee. The population of roofs for analysis were taken from RDH’s internal building asset database, which contains observations for over eight-hundred buildings. The statistical approach was also compared to the claims history of another 3rd party building enclosure warranty program in place in BC during the same period. The primary focus of Phase 1 of the research study was to analyze the relationship between the presence of the risk managed RCABC guarantee and the risk of roofing problems or potential claims during the active guarantee period (5 to 10 years). A later phase of the study will evaluate the financial implications of these roofing issues and review the claims plus roofing maintenance, repair, and replacement costs for this population of RCABC and
8985_000 2015 09 08 GF LTR RCABC Guarantee Program Evaluation Phase 1 Report.docm
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