Location
Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland
Event Website
https://event.ceri2020.exordo.com/
Start Date
28-8-2020 11:45 AM
End Date
28-8-2020 1:00 PM
Description
A recent study on failures of structures in Ireland indicated that approximately 40% could be apportioned to designer error. A 2019 report into recent structural cracking of a high-rise building in Sydney Australia recommended that Independent third party checking by a Chartered Engineer should be a requirement on all major projects prior to construction. The report also stated that the critical elements of the design on these projects should be identified. It is obvious that a certain percentage of buildings constructed each year contain design flaws and only a small proportion of these ever result in a failure. However there is often little warning of failure and the first indication of a structural problem may be after a failure has occurred. Validation of designs in industries such as manufacturing and aeronautical engineering are a requirement driven by regulatory authorities, however structural engineering is a largely self-regulating industry. In Ireland, the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations requires structural design documentation to be submitted to Building Control, however this system does not constitute a validation of design and does not address potential oversights or errors made by designers. There is no data available on the proportion of design consultancies carrying out systematic checking of structural designs, however there is anecdotal evidence that checking is not always carried out. A process to carry out independent checking of structural designs was developed in Waterman Moylan Engineering Consultants in 2015 to complement existing ISO 9001 quality management procedures and has been in operation since. This process has been successful in highlighting and addressing design issues early in the design process, thus reducing re-work and potential risk of issues carrying through to construction phase. Approximately 50 design reviews have been carried out by the author who is an experienced Chartered Engineer, lecturer in scheme design and independent of the in-house design teams. Buildings reviewed include commercial offices, hotels, residential apartments, prisons, schools and industrial buildings. A number of common issues have been identified in designs across different project types and project teams. The study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of these patterns in order to improve awareness of recurring design issues, disseminate lessons learned and aid designers when carrying out scheme designs in highlighting critical elements requiring more detailed consideration.
Recommended Citation
Crean, Patrick and Osborne, Richard, "An Evaluation of Design Issues Identified During Reviews of Structural Designs Of Buildings From 2015 To 2020" (2020). Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020. 3.
https://sword.cit.ie/ceri/2020/11/3
Included in
Civil Engineering Commons, Construction Engineering and Management Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, Geotechnical Engineering Commons, Hydraulic Engineering Commons, Structural Engineering Commons, Transportation Engineering Commons
An Evaluation of Design Issues Identified During Reviews of Structural Designs Of Buildings From 2015 To 2020
Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland
A recent study on failures of structures in Ireland indicated that approximately 40% could be apportioned to designer error. A 2019 report into recent structural cracking of a high-rise building in Sydney Australia recommended that Independent third party checking by a Chartered Engineer should be a requirement on all major projects prior to construction. The report also stated that the critical elements of the design on these projects should be identified. It is obvious that a certain percentage of buildings constructed each year contain design flaws and only a small proportion of these ever result in a failure. However there is often little warning of failure and the first indication of a structural problem may be after a failure has occurred. Validation of designs in industries such as manufacturing and aeronautical engineering are a requirement driven by regulatory authorities, however structural engineering is a largely self-regulating industry. In Ireland, the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations requires structural design documentation to be submitted to Building Control, however this system does not constitute a validation of design and does not address potential oversights or errors made by designers. There is no data available on the proportion of design consultancies carrying out systematic checking of structural designs, however there is anecdotal evidence that checking is not always carried out. A process to carry out independent checking of structural designs was developed in Waterman Moylan Engineering Consultants in 2015 to complement existing ISO 9001 quality management procedures and has been in operation since. This process has been successful in highlighting and addressing design issues early in the design process, thus reducing re-work and potential risk of issues carrying through to construction phase. Approximately 50 design reviews have been carried out by the author who is an experienced Chartered Engineer, lecturer in scheme design and independent of the in-house design teams. Buildings reviewed include commercial offices, hotels, residential apartments, prisons, schools and industrial buildings. A number of common issues have been identified in designs across different project types and project teams. The study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of these patterns in order to improve awareness of recurring design issues, disseminate lessons learned and aid designers when carrying out scheme designs in highlighting critical elements requiring more detailed consideration.
https://sword.cit.ie/ceri/2020/11/3
