Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Summer 2018 - 31

BLACK ARTS

ELECTRONIC LEAK
DETECTION ESSENTIALS
OFTEN A FAILURE TO
COMMUNICATE?
BY PETER BROOKS, PRESIDENT, IR ANALYZERS/VECTOR MAPPING

Many of us are familiar with the iconic 1967
film Cool Hand Luke and one of the most
famous lines in American cinema - "What
we've got here is a failure to communicate,"
spoken by the warden - played by Strother
Martin, and later thrown back at him by
Paul Newman as Luke, a rebellious prisoner.

f course, conditions in the roofing
and waterproofing industry are not
nearly as dire as in the sweltering
southern prison camp depicted in
the movie. However, many Electronic
Leak Detection (ELD) specifications
fail to adequately communicate the
design requirements for constructing
a testable assembly, the experience of
service providers, the testing procedures
required and specific deliverables.
ELD involves the use of electrodes to
generate an electronic field that can be
used to detect leaks on the surface of
waterproofing.
As designers have become familiar
with ELD's many advantages over flood
testing, and membrane integrity testing
with ELD has rapidly become the first

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choice for owners, manufacturers, architects, specifiers, consultants, and contractors around the world. ELD on roofing
and waterproofing membranes is proving
faster, safer, more accurate and often less
expensive than flood testing. However, as
with all new technologies, there are growing pains. This article addresses some
of the factors affecting the testability
of common roofing and waterproofing
assemblies, and the necessity of specifying
alternative grounding media in certain
systems.
When first introduced, ELD was
largely utilized for membrane integrity
testing on vegetative roofing assemblies
and other Inverted Roof Membrane Assemblies (IRMA) with overburden above
the waterproofing membrane. Over time,

WHEN SPECIFYING
ELECTRONIC LEAK
DETECTION, IT'S
IMPORTANT TO
UNDERSTAND THAT
THREE CONDITIONS
ARE REQUIRED FOR
ACCURATE TESTING:
1. A ground beneath the
membrane to receive the
electrical test currents
(typically a structural concrete
deck, metal deck or alternative
grounding medium).
2. A membrane that is
electrically nonconductive to
separate the two sides of the
electric circuit (+ / -).
3. No electrically insulating
materials between the
membrane and the ground.

Electronic Leak Detection has proven so effective on IRMA roofs that many design firms
now incorporate Electronic Leak Detection
in their construction documents as a standard
practice. However, with so many roofing and
waterproofing materials and constructions
available, there is often confusion as to what
constitutes a testable assembly. Also, architects,
consultants and designers frequently employ
boilerplate specifications utilized on previous
projects, and ELD service providers often see
specifications that do not adequately address
the conditions of the new project. In particular,
specifications designed for testing IRMA roofs
are not adequate for conventional insulated
roofing assemblies. Increasingly, ELD service
providers are being asked to perform integrity
testing on systems that can be difficult or
impossible to test as specified.
LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR / SUMMER 2018 / 31

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