Discussion on session 2
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Published:1984
P. S. Pell, 1984. "Discussion on session 2", Design Life of Buildings: Proceedings of a symposium organised by the Institution of Civil Engineers, in association with the Concrete Society and the Royal Institute of British Architects, held at the Institution of Civil Engineers, 26-27 November 1984
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The papers in this session were concerned with detailing which is, of course, the most important contribution to durability and life of a building structure. But detailing is part of the design process which itself is only the first step in the factors that affect the performance and life of a building. There are three crucial stages
(a) design and detailing
(b) construction, i.e. workmanship and supervision
(c) proper inspection and maintenance during life.
Much design effort goes into considerations of building form, function and layout and on the structural side much attention is given to loading which is normally very imprecisely defined in CP 3. With this very doubtful data sophisticated design and analysis procedures are performed to ensure the safety and serviceability (as affected by loading) of the structure. However, the majority of problems arising in buildings are initiated not by loading but by poor durability. Is it impossible to develop a mechanistic model to describe the deterioration of a building due to environmental effects and other deterioration of materials?
