Chapter 9 How buildings fail

This chapter introduces the concept of building failure, covering the methods of failure commonly seen such as progressive collapse and failure due to ongoing serviceability issues leading to deterioration of all, or part, of the structure. It discusses the requirements of suitable building foundations and the cause and effect of external environmental issues on the substructure and the requirement for adequate pre-construction investigations. The analysis and design of buildings will be discussed and this will review the requirements of material suitability, ongoing structural stability and the knowledge/experience of the designer and checking engineer. Material failure will also be covered, including deleterious materials along with long-term serviceability issues associated with common building materials and their degradation which can ultimately lead to building failure.