What Could be the Preventive Measures for a Building Collapse?

1. What Could be the Preventive Measures for a Building Collapse? Whenever a building collapses, whether it is old, during or after construction, under repair, or during natural vulnerabilities, such as cyclone or earthquake, it will send waves of shakes in the minds of the public. People start wondering, can such a disaster happen with them and their family. Of course, there is no basis to be scared, as the rate of collapse of new buildings to the existing ones is negligible. However, you cannot remain neglectful, as it proves lethal and upsetting for you as well as for your whole family. Thus, this is the correct time to know and identify the reasons for the building collapse and to take preventive and corrective measures if it is applicable to you. 1. Weak Foundations Properly designed foundation resting on well-compacted soil at adequate depth increase the stability of the building for lifetime and reduce the risk of the building collapse. The foundation may also fail when the soil of footing base is not investigated properly, or they are placed in corrosive soil. Foundations of the building are also affected due to soil liquefaction during Earthquake. The error while designing the foundation also leads to the poor stability of the building. It is in this way that the building may collapse due to the failure of the foundation. 2. Use of Inferior Materials Inferior materials are those construction materials which do not meet the specification i.e. they lack in size or physical properties (weight, density, etc.), lack of chemical properties, or substandard specifications. The use of inferior materials reduces the load-bearing capacity, i.e. the strength of building. In many parts of the world, particularly developing countries the major cause of the collapse of building is due to the use of inferior materials. 3. Repairing or Restoration/Renovation The building may collapse fully or partially when unthoughtful alteration or unauthorized construction is carried out at the time repairing or restoration/renovation. During repairing or restoration or renovation, you are subjecting the building to additional load or are trying to change load path of the building or making certain elements under repair, redundant, I.e. they do not participate in resisting load). The change in load path causes excessive stress in structural elements which may be a reason for the collapse of building. 4. Maintenance are not taken care properly Water leakages, structural or non-structural cracks, spalling of concrete or the honeycombed concrete, loose plaster are the damages of the building which deteriorates the structure. Deterioration of concrete or structural components results in the poor stability of the building due to loss of its proportions i.e. strength. If the buildings are not repaired in time or not maintained regularly, the damages will continue to increase and it may be the reason for the collapse of building fully or partially. Poor maintenance invites corrosion of metal item or carbonation of concrete or degradation due to sun’s heat or UV rays, all leading to cascading deterioration. 5. Faulty Execution & Inadequate Supervision

2. The execution errors by the engineer onsite contractor, wrong decisions and supervision lapses of construction head, the stupidity of workers, and the lack of knowledge of standard construction materials and construction processes lead to the low quality of construction work. These deficiencies reduce the load-bearing capacity of the building in terms of strength and also reduce life and durability of the building, which may result in the collapse of building fully or partially due to lack of integrity and homogeneity. What Needs to be done? 1. Build Earthquake-Proof Constructions A seismic zone map released on September 20, 2016 by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) states that 59% of households in India are vulnerable to severe and moderate earthquake. Effective pre-planning carried out by the government and builders and general awareness in this regard has the potential to save thousands of lives. Thus, it will be a wise step to learn from other earthquake- prone countries such as Japan that is several steps ahead from the rest of the world in building earthquake-proof structures. Among the several methods, the most common is installing beams that transfer the sway, dissipation units, and incorporation of flexible material. 2. Avoid Major Alteration Another major cause of building collapse are the major alternations that are made to the basic exterior and interior arrangement of the structure. For example, removal of one of the beams that provide support to the building could make it susceptible to damage. Additional and Illegal constructions should be monitored and banned. These add-ons put extra pressure on the weight holding capacity of the building giving rise to cracks on the walls. Also, in the cases of dilapidated establishments, the focus should be on its repair rather on modifications which reduce the longevity. 3. Awareness of the construction area Look for architectural designs that are common in your area of construction. For example, regions that receive heavy rainfall every year have houses with tiled roofs and effective drainage mechanism to avoid flooding and consequent weakening of the foundation. Similarly, high-rise buildings in zones susceptible to typhoons need to be flexible yet durable enough to withstand high wind velocity, whereas smaller homes in the same region need to have deep set windows. Construction’s Information Initiative by Hariom Epoxy Shield For more information, visit our Social Media #EpoxyCoatedTMTBarsinMumbai, #CoatedTMTBarsinMumbai, #FusionBondedEpoxyCoatinginMumbai, #EpoxyShieldedTMTBarsinMumbai, #TMTBarsinMumbai, #ConstructionBusinessinMumbai, #TMTRebarsinMumbai, #fusionbondedepoxycoatedrebarsinchennai, #coateddowelbarsinchennai,

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