Every year, building owners, development teams, and their insurers spend hundreds of millions of dollars litigating and repairing water intrusion problems. The collateral damages include thousands of tons of wasted building materials, increases in insurance rates, non-renewal of policies, lost productivity, and injured reputations. The vast majority of these problems are the result of water intrusions that cause moisture to accumulate in the concealed spaces of buildings. The failure to detect, identify, and correct minor water intrusions at the earliest stages is considered the greatest cause of premature roof failure. This is particularly true of roofing materials applied on low-slope or flat roofs. Costly roofing problems are often the result of design deficiencies, faulty installation, or damage from other trades after installation. Even when properly designed and installed, roofing materials deteriorate from exposure. Roof designs that incorporate a waterproofing membrane under a green roof or other overburden greatly exacerbate the problem of locating leaks. Unchecked moisture accumulation will reduce the structural integrity of buildings by creating rot in wood and corrosion in steel. Moisture can affect the health of occupants directly by breeding harmful organisms such as mould spores. Moisture can reduce the service life of the building structure and sensitive electronics through premature degradation of components. In short, uncontrolled moisture will negate the most vital and important qualities of a building.
