The air barrier is one of the most critical components within the building enclosure assembly. Many times, if not all, it performs more than the air barrier function. This would include things such as the water-resistive barrier, the vapor barrier, and even sometimes your insulation. It controls air, moisture , and heat in some cases. As the air barrier is located within the wall assembly and not easily accessed from the exterior or interior, it takes a lot of time and effort to remediate problems and is a costly endeavor for the building owners. One of the risk management strategies is to include a quality assurance program in the specifications that require certified contractors, evaluated material and on‐site 3rd party audits.

This presentation will discuss the role of the quality assurance audit, point out what to look for and provide real-life examples that can help you identify installation issues on your project.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain how site quality assurance audits fit into an overall quality assurance and risk management strategy.
2. Determine environmental and substrate conditions and their impact on the air barrier installation.
3. Diagnose typical issues found during an audit process in the installation of various air barrier systems by visual inspection.
4. Through the use of job site photos, demonstrate the physical testing that can be done on a variety of air barrier system.

Ryan Dalgleish, CSI

Ryan has been involved in the building enclosure and building performance areas of construction for over 20 years. Ryan is an educator and developer of building enclosure education/credentialing programs for building sub-trades, and is part of the Quality Assurance management team for field air barrier installation across North America. Ryan is a certified Net Zero building instructor and is a frequent speaker at various technical events and conferences. Ryan obtained credentials in Adult Education, Leadership from the University of Manitoba and has been mentored and trained by some of the best building scientists in the world.