Finding fault with your buildings

Recent building collapses in India’s financial capital and nearby Bangladesh have opened a debate about the safety of buildings, which are new or considerably old. Even buildings, which are as old as 10 years are susceptible to damage due to poor construction. So, how to find the faults or gauge the life of a building? It is pretty difficult unless one is an expert in that field; otherwise one has to believe what the builders have to say about the quality of their construction.

Since builders are not giving any form of surety to the purchasers about the quality of their construction, one can’t sue them in the appropriate court of law in case damage to building occurs soon after taking possession of the building. While 74 people had lost their lives in the Thane building collapse, the death toll in the Savar building collapse was more than 700. 

In South Asian cities due to rapid urbanisation building collapses are a common feature in small buildings belonging to low income and informal or semi-formal neighborhoods. In fact, if one goes by the number of building collapses, it is quite possible that the death toll caused by such collapses can be higher than the large-scale ones, which happen occasionally.

One of the reasons, which lead to building collapse, is gap in the system due to poor quality of construction. Also, usage of substandard materials and untrained or unskilled workers making multi-storey buildings without engineering knowledge, are also lead to structural collapse, says Kishor Pate, CMD of Amit Enterprises, a leading builder.

Soil testing is very important procedure to understand the nature of the soil to withstand the building’s weight. Constructing high-rises without performing proper soil analysis can cause cracks on the main structure and on pavement.

Improperly built structures may face foundation problems, which include noise from windows and doors, windows get jammed or separated from main frames, cracks near corners of doors or windows and wall joints, widening of cracks in basement or water seepage or leaky roofs.

Cracks that are horizontal or vertical on plastered walls are normal that are only due to shrinkage and drying. But jagged cracks resemble stair steps generally indicate settling condition or structural movement.

Cracks, whose widths are less than 1/8th of an inch is occurred due to stress and hence is harmless. However, cracks that are 1/4th of an inch or more can be more serious, says Kishor.

For concrete walls, diagonal as well as vertical cracks signify foundation movement. If the vertical crack increases at the bottom or top, it can be because of gradual heaving or settling. Stair-step cracks also indicate something basically wrong.

Horizontal cracks happen due to design defects or building up of pressure behind the wall. Horizontal cracks can be more serious. Those who do not have adequate technical knowledge on design aspects should not build buildings. In India since there is no legislation to decide the qualification of builders, inexperienced builders build even approved buildings designed by international repute designer.

Economic condition and rising cost of land and building materials drive people, especially those living on low income, to seek cheaper options. This invariably means people would be at the mercy of fly-by-night developers with no reputations to protect consumers’ interests. This is regrettable, as many reputed developers have projects in different price-bands. Also, one should understand that lower price does not mean bad or low construction quality.