Prefabricated Panel House in Disrepair

The issue of prefabricated panel houses in disrepair is quite prominent, mainly reflected in structural safety hazards, poor living experience, service life issues, and repair responsibilities and costs.

Structural Safety Hazards: Prefabricated panel houses, built many years ago, such as Building No. 4 and No. 5 in Bajie Residential Community constructed in the 1980s, have a prefabricated panel structure and numerous safety hazards. The exterior walls lack insulation layers, the water supply and drainage pipelines are severely aged, the interior stairs are weathered, and the exterior walls frequently experience peeling and cracking. More seriously, as shown in the case of Fengshou Community in Guanba Town, Zhong County, Chongqing, the fracture of prefabricated panels can lead to severe casualties. This is usually due to excessive temporary loads on the second-floor panels, exceeding the load-bearing capacity of the prefabricated panels, resulting in brittle fracture and falling of the panels.

Poor Living Experience: Prefabricated panel houses have significant deficiencies in sound insulation, temperature insulation, and water leakage prevention. Residents in prefabricated panel houses can be heard by their neighbors next door even when speaking slightly loudly, indicating extremely poor sound insulation. The temperature insulation effect is also unsatisfactory, with cold interiors in winter and unbearable heat in summer. Additionally, poor water leakage prevention is a major issue with prefabricated panel houses. If residents upstairs forget to turn off the faucet, the room downstairs may turn into a waterfall, causing great inconvenience to residents' lives.

Service Life Issues: The service life of prefabricated panel houses is typically only 40 years, far shorter than the 70-year service life of commercial housing. A large number of prefabricated panel houses built in the 1970s and 1980s have exceeded their designed service lives, and most are still in use beyond their intended lifespan. Their structural performance and safety can no longer be guaranteed, making them unsuitable for continued residence.

Repair Responsibilities and Costs: According to relevant regulations, the property owner is the primary responsible party for the safety of the house in use. For prefabricated panel houses that require inspection and appraisal, the local sub-district (township) shall urge the responsible party for the safety of the house in use to entrust a qualified house safety inspection and appraisal agency to conduct the inspection and appraisal and take corresponding disposal measures based on the appraisal conclusions. The costs for house safety appraisal and hazard control shall be borne by the responsible party for the safety of the house in use, undoubtedly increasing the financial burden on residents.