Service life estimation of paint-rendered facade in public residential buildings in forest climatic design zone of Nigeria

The financial resources available for infrastructure maintenance and rehabilitation are always limited thus creating a need for efficient resource management and for the ability to predict maintenance actions throughout the infrastructure service period. Service life prediction has assumed a primary role as it allows a more rational use of construction elements and serving as a useful tool in the definition of preventive maintenance plans providing an increase in performance of various building element especially those used in the facades. This research is based on a field data collected through the administration of questionnaires about the state of deterioration of in-service buildings. The degradation is defined by a number of factors that together contribute to the deterioration of painted surfaces thus ending their service life. Out of the 1034 number of buildings that used paint coatings in the facades, a total of 118 buildings was used. In the study, a mathematical model was defined using a linear regression analysis and this enables the coating’s deterioration over time to be expressed as a function of various degradation factors. The model which enabled degradation patterns to be identified yielded a minimum (reference) service life of paint coatings of 3 years and maximum reference life of 5 years and an average service life of 5 years. An analysis was then performed that suggested maintenance strategies at interval of 5 years and terminates at a period of 20 years. This study contributes to the maintenance of painted facades through the provision of a lifespan of paint that can be used to generate a maintenance guide which ultimately leads to economic and performance gains.