Ireland: Trade magazine “Plan, The Business of Building” March 2004:
                    “BS 6399-2, a very precise Wind Load Calculation”

Northern Ireland: Trade magazine “Specify, Northern Ireland`s No. 1 Construction
                                           Magazine” November/December 2003: “Wind Load Calculations”

England: Trade magazine “Roofing” October 2003:
                      “Impact of  Climate Change on Flat Roofs”

Germany: Trade magazine „Dachbau Magazin“ Nr. 5 von Mai 2003:
                      „Einsparung durch sehr präzise Windlastberechnung“

Ireland: Trade magazine “Plan, The Business of Building” July 2001:
                    “Waterproofing Membranes”

Belgium: Trade magazine “Roof Belgium” 1994-7:
                    “Rénovation de la toiture d`un grand bâtiment industriel”

Modern materials like synthetic polymers enable the economic waterproofing of roofs in all sizes, shapes and colours. Nevertheless however, it remains a fact that hardly any other building component is subject to such extreme stress as the roof. Storms, hail,
UV-radiation, aggressive pollutants as well as temperature fluctuations of almost 100°C number among these stresses which a roof is subject to. The incompatibility of the layers of the roof build up or poor job execution can also prove to be additional stresses for the roof waterproofing. Therefore, one should not wonder why the service life of a roof waterproofing is, in general, much less than that for the entire building structure.

Only through careful planning, the suitable selection of the individual layers of the roof build up and through professional installation can roof waterproofing attain the life span desired. This, however, requires knowledge and experience, since, in addition to maintaining specified guidelines, location-specific conditions, e.g. usage of the building, must always be taken into consideration as well.

Planning errors, material breakdown or poor job execution can lead to the failing of the roof waterproofing. Once a roof has become leaky, the functionality of the roof can in most cases be restored at a corresponding cost. It is even possible to upgrade a roof through modification or renovation measures. A careful damage analysis represents the first step. Only then can a renewal concept be established and subsequently implemented.

The maintenance of regulations alone no longer offers sufficient protection nowadays. Times have changed! The global warming of the earth´s surface - a fact which is no longer being debated by experts today - has resulted in a climatic change with a never-before-witnessed intensification of storms and precipitations. The only thing which is now being discussed is the question of how fast this global warming will proceed during this century and, consequently, how strong this could affect climate in addition. Even now, wind speeds of 150 km/h can occur almost all over, even in places where, in accordance with building standards, it is not expected.

Roof damage caused by storms have dramatically increased in recent decades. What can one do against such damage? At any rate, observe the existing building regulations and what is even better, build in additional safety precautions and, above all, avoid the so-called "optimisation" of fixing measures in those cases when this simply prove to be hidden defects in guideline-regulated safety factors.

In spite of fire-protection regulations, there are many dangers existing on roofs which are not taken into consideration, e.g. high fire load or the possibility of burning molten materials dropping during fires. Both mentioned roof properties can act as deciding factors relating to the speed at which the fire spreads. In extreme cases, the fire fighters no longer have a chance to save the building or part of it from the fire and must focus their attention only on, at least, saving adjacent buildings from the flames.

The generation of smoke is directly proportional to the extent of the fire, whereby the volume of the smoke can be equal to several thousand times the volume of the burning materials. Therefore, most victims of a fire do not die in the flames - in 80% of the cases it´s the smoke which causes death! - Both in new buildings as well as in the case of old-roof renewal, the potential fire and smoke can be reduced considerably by carrying out the corresponding measures.