海角视频

When a crack appears in a building, a bridge becomes unstable or foundations fail with serious consequences, the immediate question is always: what went wrong? This is where forensic engineering steps in 鈥� a specialism that combines engineering expertise with investigative rigour to determine the root cause of failures in structures, systems, or components.

This same expertise can be applied to improve the structural integrity of existing buildings 鈥� whether by restoring those at risk, investigating potential vulnerabilities, or increasing the capacity of structurally sound buildings, which is the focus of 海角视频’s forensic engineering team.

The need to assess, reuse, upgrade, alter, repurpose, or extend existing building structures or rectify defects is increasing. The Building Safety Act (BSA), along with rising sustainability targets, continues to drive this trend. These works often require structural strengthening, which can be extremely costly and disruptive, especially in buildings not originally designed for such interventions. In some cases, however, significant strengthening may not be necessary.

This is where our advanced structural analysis techniques come in, accurately calculating the existing capacity of a structure to avoid or minimise disruptive interventions and reduce costs for our clients. 海角视频鈥檚 forensic engineering team draws on expertise from across a range of disciplines including structural engineering, facades, fire engineering, geotechnical and civil engineering.

Building Safety Act

The Building Safety Act 2022 has been introduced in England (with some limited provision extending to Wales) to strengthen the regulatory regime for Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs) and other in-scope buildings to improve accountability, risk management and assurance. It aims to ensure that building safety becomes a central focus on all residential building developments by creating a clear proportionate framework for the design, construction and management of residential buildings, high rise in particular.

Julian McFarland, a director in 海角视频鈥檚 structural engineering team, explains: “Existing HRBs require the Principal Accountable Person (PAP) to develop and maintain Safety Case Reports outlining structural and fire risks and how they are managed. We can utilise our extensive expertise to provide structural risk assessments for incorporation into the safety case reports to allow a practical and thorough account of the structural risk status in keeping with the intentions of the new regulations. For any potential design issues raised as part of building safety case reviews, we can provide a more detailed assessment of the issues using state of the art advanced analysis.”

Sustainability targets

The increased awareness on the sustainable design of buildings and new developments has also bought focus to the existing building market, with a growing consideration around the repurposing of existing building stock before opting for a new-build approach. It is not now unusual for planning applications to require carbon calculations alongside descriptions of a proposed development鈥檚 sustainable credentials as part of the submission. As the industry moves on from the well-established area of operational carbon 鈥� energy consumed once the building is in use 鈥� focus has turned to embodied carbon for which the structure and its materiality plays a significant role.

Embodied carbon recommendations and targets across construction are only likely to become more stringent as the industry determines the most appropriate way to tackle this aspect of the climate crisis. This focus on reuse and the repurposing of buildings again leads building owners to consider what structural assessments may be necessary to get the most out of their existing building stock. This also requires a forensic approach.

Amid this background of regulatory and societal shifts, our forensics teams are busier than ever helping clients to understand their buildings.

Punching shear

One common example of the kind of work the team takes on involves the remediation of failures involving reinforced concrete (RC) flat slab construction, particularly in transfer slabs. This is one of the most common building construction forms, especially in mixed-use residential buildings. A fundamental requirement is to resist 鈥減unching shear鈥�, a failure involving columns punching through the floor slab and risking a collapse.

The standard assessment methods normally employed by engineering consultants are often rudimentary, based on limited test geometries and can provide inaccurate results. When applied conservatively, they can lead to an inefficient structure with spare load capacity, but when used incorrectly, these rudimentary calculations can lead to significant structural defects.

Using the latest advanced analysis techniques, we can accurately simulate the realistic capacity of RC slabs. Together with specialist consultants ASDEA, 海角视频鈥檚 forensic engineering team is utilising non-linear analysis to provide accurate results and in turn, avoid unnecessary strengthening works. This is important to deal with the most complex structural arrangements, checking unusual geometries and non-compliant reinforcement detailing. These methods require highly specialist expertise. But it provides clear reassurance that appropriate and proportionate measures are being taken by our clients on their buildings.

Julian McFarland adds: “The principles of these techniques have a variety of applications. For example, reducing the amount of remedial works required in defective RC structures, assessing existing RC buildings for redevelopment, and increasing the structural efficiency of the new-build design of complex RC interfaces. We can also model remedial strengthening works that are smaller in scale and more refined than those typically identified using conventional methods.

“Ultimately, avoiding or minimising strengthening works and increasing structural efficiencies in our design not only makes way for a more sustainable solution but also often a more cost-effective solution.”

Read more: Forensic engineering: Your building 鈥渉ealth check鈥�