You might be interested in the list below of the stages in the “life” of a structure\u00a0in the built environment.\u00a0 Structures include earthworks and waterworks – a reshaping of the natural environment, as well as buildings and bridges.<\/p>\n
I came across\u00a0the basic list – the first nine stages,\u00a0while reading the latest, 2012 edition of Guidelines for Forensic Engineering Practice. (Ref. 1)\u00a0 I added the 10th stage – demolishing, because that’s what often\u00a0happens to structures after they have been decommissioned.\u00a0 The list is a useful\u00a0breakdown of\u00a0the aging of a\u00a0structure.<\/p>\n
The Guidelines\u00a0<\/em>were published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).\u00a0 Civil engineering includes structural engineering and geotechnical engineering.<\/p>\n I see the list providing\u00a0context and facilitating communication between\u00a0counsel, insurance claims managers and consultants,\u00a0and an\u00a0engineering expert.\u00a0 Failures and personal injury accidents can occur pretty well any time during the life of a structure.<\/p>\n Principles governing communication between counsel and expert have been developed\u00a0recently by The Ontario Advocates’ Society. (Ref. 2)\u00a0 The following list of stages\u00a0in the life of a structure will further help\u00a0counsel and an engineering expert\u00a0talk to one another when a failure or personal injury accident occurs:<\/p>\n ASCE say that, “Failure can be defined as an unacceptable difference\u00a0between an actual condition or performance and the intended or reasonably anticipated condition or performance.”\u00a0 This can occur\u00a0during any stage in\u00a0the life\u00a0of a structure.<\/p>\n Furthermore, “Failure need not involve a complete or even\u00a0partial collapse.\u00a0 It may involve a less catastrophic deficiency or performance problem, such as unacceptable\u00a0deformation, cracking, water- or weather-resistance, or other such phenomena.”<\/p>\n It’s not difficult to imagine that failure can occur at any stage.\u00a0 Nor that personal injury accidents can occur at any stage.<\/p>\n Communication is\u00a0easier\u00a0for both counsel and client and counsel and engineering expert if we all have an idea of a structure’s “life” and\u00a0the stages it\u00a0goes through as it ages\u00a0 The list above can help us.<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You might be interested in the list below of the stages in the “life” of a structure\u00a0in the built environment.\u00a0 Structures include earthworks and waterworks – a reshaping of the natural environment, as well as buildings and bridges. I came … Continue reading \n
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