Conducting a Whole House Inspection for Latent Fastener-into-Pipe Defects Using Visual and Thermal Information

A certain class of building defects continues to plague the construction industry, despite a variety of defensive techniques put in place to prevent them. The defects occur when a nail or screw comes into contact with a copper pipe or penetrates a plastic pipe carrying fluids. If these defects are not caught during construction, they can turn into leaks that can go undetected for years. The resulting leaks can result in mold growth, dry rot or even structural damage in extreme cases. Contractors in California have a ten-year liability window for these types of defects. Finding cost-effective ways to eliminate these defects during construction can lower builders overall warranty costs and improve overall customer satisfaction. In a 2005 Inframation paper, we introduced techniques that we developed to detect this class of latent construction defects in copper water pipes carrying either hot or cold water. In a 2006, paper we extended those techniques to include PVC or copper drain and vent pipes where the use of water to heat the pipes is not a viable approach.