Structural Audit : Survey and Diagnosis of Buildings
The recent building collapse has raised troubling questions about the safety of buildings. Such stories shock people and local governing bodies awake to the issue of maintenance of their residences. Maintenance of buildings and carrying out structural audit is like carrying out routine health check-ups. It is structural health monitoring and is a must, especially if the building is more than 30 years old.
Purpose of Structural Audit:
- To understand the condition of building and project the expected future life of dwelling.
- To find critical areas to repair immediately.
- To comply with municipal or any statutory requirement.
Structural Audit is a mandatory requirement. It stipulates that if the age of a building is 15 to 30 years then structural audit must be carried out once in 5 years and for building older then 30 years it must be carried out once in 3 years. You may, however go for it even earlier if you suspect the condition of your building to be bad. To carry out structural and allied repairs a licensed structural engineer should be appointed.
Structural Audit Process: Survey and Diagnosis of Building
Visual inspection of individual building / structures from inside and outside and to study present status of different structural members.
Noting and Mapping of various observations on building plans such as Load transfer system, Structural framing system, Structural deficiencies, Settlement (if any), Foundation deterioration, Cracks in RCC members, Cracks in masonry / plaster, Leakages, Loads on structure, Defects in non-structural elements etc. and Identification of broad areas / locations in the structure requiring further detail investigation and for conducting various ND Tests.
Various Non Destructive Tests required for Structural Audit of buildings :
- Rebound Hammer Test
- Ultra sonic Pulse Velocity Test
- Carbonation Test
- Half Cell Potential Test
- Chemical Analysis ( For Chloride, So3, PH Value )
- Concrete Cover and Rebar Mapping
- Core Test
A Structural audit report contains of Detailed survey report with observation, suggestions & recommendations for priority wise repairs with item wise cost estimates.
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