Failures of Floor and Wall Tile Installations Occur Due to a Lack of Compliance with the Governing Building Code Requirements by Many Professionals Involved in the Installation Process

摘要

Opportunities to investigate numerous floor tile and wall tile installations after they have sustained functionality failures, mainly in south Florida, indicate that there is a level of resistance, a lack of understanding, and/or a lack of awareness of appropriate knowledge imbued by some of the industry professionals, designers, contractors and/or trades performing the tile installations. Observed failure conditions indicate substantial neglect with respect to requirements documented in the building codes, the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standards, and/or manufacturer installation instructions. Such literature comprises the tile installation "industry standards". Case studies will be described and discussed that include various tile materials such as stone, porcelain and ceramic utilized in various flooring and bathroom wall tile installations that have experienced a failure. The repeated non-compliance with the appropriate industry standards during the installation process demonstrates a level of neglect that has resulted in failure due to inappropriate construction practices. This indicates that it has become common for installers to cut corners, as observed by the poor installation techniques and workmanship in the case studies presented herein. Building code requirements, industry standards and manufacturer instructions often utilized by south Florida industry professionals include: the Florida Building Code; Horizontal Surfaces - an Excerpt from the Dimension Stone Design Manual, 7.1 by the Marble Institute of America; the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) Handbook for Ceramic, Glass, and Stone Tile Installation (2011); and the ANSI A108.01, A108.1A, B and C, A108.02, and A108.5, American National Standards for the Installation of Ceramic Tile. Additional relevant information also includes select manufacturer instructions and guidelines for various associated materials and components. The historical Southern Standard Building Code and the subsequent South Florida Building Code were the precursor codes and partial basis for the current Florida Building Code. In research of building codes extending as far back as the 1985 Standard Building Code, tile installation requirements included explicit reference to the ANSI A108 standards as well, and these requirements still exist today in the current Florida Building Code editions.