Perceptions of Building Occupants on Effectiveness of Practiced Damp Remediation Measures in Ghana

Abstract

This study sought to assess the perceptions of building occupants on the level of effectiveness of some practiced damp remediation measures in Ghana through a questionnaire survey of 5,100 inhabitants living in buildings in eleven major towns in Ghana. The study employed the average weighted model where the average effective scores of all the damp remediation measures studied were considered by the inhabitants as highly ineffective. However, the rankings of these measures by their Effective Index Values based on the level of effectiveness attached to each measure by the respondents showed that using damp proof courses and membranes and construction of aprons at the base of walls showed some level of effectiveness in their application to address the problem of dampness in residential buildings in Ghana. These findings call for the urgent need for all stakeholders in Ghana and other tropical countries to educate building occupants on the need to satisfactorily address the problem of dampness in buildings.

Keywords: dampness, Effectiveness, inhabitants, measures