Apparatus, system and method for detecting defects in building structures

A system for detecting a defect in a building structure, the system comprising:

• (a) a detection unit comprising a moveable base, said moveable base comprising a pair of spaced-apart terminals defining a probe attached to and projecting from said moveable base, said terminals being dimensioned for immersing into a fluid situated adjacent a first side of an electrically insulating member of the building structure, said electrically insulating member being supported at a second side thereof by an electrically conductive support of the building structure, said detection unit being operable to produce a measurement of electrical current flow within said fluid between said terminals when said terminals are contacting said fluid and a potential difference is being generated between said electrically conductive support and said fluid, said detection unit being operable to determine, at a first location of said detection unit in response to said measurement produced at said first location only, an indication of the direction from said first location toward the defect;
• (b) a locator operable to determine said first location;
• and
• (c) a memory for storing said indication and said first location in association with each other.

A method of detecting a defect in a building structure, the method comprising:

• (a) generating an electrical potential difference between an electrically conductive support of the building structure and a fluid situated adjacent a first side of an electrically insulating member of the building structure, said electrically insulating member being supported at a second side thereof by said electrically conductive support;
• (b) producing, by a detection unit at a first location of said detection unit, a measurement of electrical current flow within said fluid between a pair of spaced-apart terminals defining a probe attached to and projecting from a moveable base of said detection unit when said terminals are contacting said fluid;
• (c) determining, by said detection unit at said first location in response to said measurement produced at said first location only, an indication of the direction from said first location toward the defect;
• (d) determining said first location;
• and
• (e) storing in a memory said indication and said first location in association with each other.