In recent decades, more and more glass façades have been built, both elaborate iconic façades and simple standard façades. This paper is intended to provide an overview of common damage to glass and façade construction that we often see today after a few years in operation. This ranges from common glass damage (whether due to inadequate structural calculations or design errors), problems with IGUs, coatings, frames up to maintenance and cleaning errors and the very common leaks in façades.
The topics of maintenance, care, periodic building inspections of façades (with a new guideline as a supplement to VDI6200) and the expected life cycle of façades are discussed. Façades make an important contribution to sustainable building and the need for optimization is highlighted. These points are therefore very important for frequently arising questions as to whether and how heritage-protected façades can be renovated. Examples from my work as a publicly appointed and certified expert and from the field of façade refurbishment will be shown.