ASTM E1105 Standard for Water Penetration Testing Services

Water is both our most vital resource and our most destructive force. Hurricanes aside, what begins as a single raindrop can develop into a growing and moving force in a matter of a few hours that result in millions of dollars lost each year through the penetration of water through doors, exterior windows, curtain walls, and skylights. To protect against this destructive force, a standardized test procedure was created as a critical component to the quality assurance and commissioning process of a building enclosure.

The ASTM E1105 Standard for Water Penetration was developed as a field testing procedure to:

How Z6 applies the ASTM E1105 Standard

The ASTM E1105 test method consists of sealing a chamber to the interior or exterior face of the specimen to be tested, supplying air to a chamber mounted on the exterior or exhausting air from a chamber mounted on the interior, at a rate required to maintain the calibrated test pressure difference across the specimen while spraying a calibrated water delivery onto the outdoor face of the specimen at the specified rate and observing any water penetration—per Section 4, ASTM E1105.

The ASTM E1105 test procedure is specifically written for field testing. Z6 applies the standard using a calibrated spray apparatus (spray rack) adhering to one of two processes:

A successful test will demonstrate the item either meets or does not meet the selected performance criteria for resistance to water penetration. Failure criteria of this test method shall be defined as water penetration beyond a plane parallel to the glazing (the vertical plane) intersecting the innermost projection of the test specimen, not including the interior trim and hardware, under the specified conditions of air pressure difference across the specimen. Note: Water that does not travel beyond the limits of the glazing system is allowable.

Types of tests performed:

The ASTM E1105 test can be applied to the following installed exterior systems: