(Note: Thiis part was posted in the blog last year. This article has been now updated on the basis of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Report, 2023, Special Edition (R1)) Introduction: The United Nations General Assembly (UN-GA) formulated in 2015, a set of 17 number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals, intended to be achieved by 2030. These SDGs are included in Agenda 2030 of United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals Report, 2023, Special Edition, UN (R1) states, “Halfway to the deadline for the 2030 Agenda, the SDG Progress Report; Special Edition shows we a ..read more

MAINTENANCE OF BUILDING FABRIC — REPAIR AND REHABILITATION The discussion in this part of the article is in continuation with that of the last part under the subhead of Remedial measures for non-structural distresses/damages. Repairing of Chaja——As discussed under the head of identification of defects, the chaja develops flexural cracks, transverse cracks (Figure 10(a)) and other non- structural defects. If cracks are not extensive, the repairing may be carried out with polymer modified cement mortar after cleaning the top surface (where the flexural cracks have appeared) and applying a bond c ..read more

MAINTENANCE OF BUILDING FABRIC – REPAIR AND REHABILITATION The discussion in this part of the article is in continuation with that of Part V. Type of strategy/method (PHASE II(b) in Figure 2): After the distresses/damages under both the categories, i.e. structural and non-structural have been duly identified (as discussed in the earlier parts of this article), the strategy/option/method for their (defects’) remedy has to be ascertained /designed based on the appropriate analysis of the respective technical reasons, as involved. A brief discussion on the strategies/options/methods normally adop ..read more

MAINTENANCE OF BUILDING FABRIC — REPAIR AND REHABILITATION The discussion in this part of the article is in continuation with that of Part IV. Ground floor having no basement floor—–As already stated earlier,the ground floor slab constitutes a component of the building envelope. In most of the buildings, the floor-slab is of the cross section as shown in Figure 9. The ground floors constructed with the layers, as shown have been found to have no non-structural damages such as dampness, cracks on floors, seepage of underground water, termite attack, sagging of floor etc. in many buildings excee ..read more

THIS BLOG HAS BEEN PLACED IN 36th POSITION IN— “50 Best Indian Construction Blogs and Websites”, as published in https://property.feedspot.com/indian_construction_blogs/ (The best Indian Construction blogs from thousands of blogs on the web and ranked by traffic, social media followers & freshness) Dr. H. K. Barua expresses his sincere thanks and gratitude to all the viewers of his Blog ..read more

MAINTENANCE OF BUILDING FABRIC — REPAIR AND REHABILITATION As stated in Part III, the discussion on Non-structural distress/damage in the building fabric is resumed in this part. (b) Non-structural distress and damage: The non-structural distresses/ damages may appear in both the structural and non-structural elements of the building fabric. These distresses do not adversely impact the stability and integrity of the building. However, they do affect its (building’s) functionality, in terms of inconveniences to the users, aesthetic values etc. apart from decreasing the lifespan of the building ..read more

MAINTENANCE OF BUILDING FABRIC — REPAIR AND REHABILITATION As stated in Part II, the discussion in this part is resumed from the subhead ‘Structural distress/damage in beam’. Structural distress/damage in beam: The structural actions causing structural distresses/damages in a beam of a RCC building are primarily bending moment, shear force and torsional moment. The bending moment is responsible for the development of flexural cracks in tension zone and crushing of concrete in compression zone. On the other hand, the vertical shear and torsional moments are responsible for the development of sh ..read more

MAINTENANCE OF BUILDING FABRIC — REPAIR AND REHABILITATION: General: The maintenance of the building fabric (defined in Part I) broadly involves three strategies—Repair, Rehabilitation and Retrofitting. The understanding of these three strategies in clear terms is a prerequisite for making a judicious choice of the strategies for the maintenance of a building, depending on present condition, type of use, age and the extent of deterioration of the elements and components of a particular building. The maintenance of a building fabric is an absolute necessity for ensuring the continuity of its or ..read more

INTRODUCTION: The maintenance of a buildings is an important area to be duly taken care of during its life-time for keeping the built environment in good condition so that it continues to serve the objectives for which it has been built. The maintenance management deserves due attention of the owner. Today, different guidelines including a number of software relating to maintenance management of buildings are internationally available. In India too, there are a number of standards (R1, R2, R3, R4) published by BIS apart from books and other publications. While thinking of this area of manageme ..read more

The discussion in Part II of this article was concluded on completion of Phase 2 (Figure 4). In this part, the discussion is resumed from Phase 3 (Alternative strengthening options). Alternative Strengthening Options: The alternative strengthening measures have been developed in the recent past and in use in India till now only in a few buildings —- apparently  one in Gujrat and one in Delhi. These options are based on the principles of Base Isolation and Supplemental Damping (Energy Dissipation). Base Isolation: The principle of base isolation consists in separating the superstructure fr ..read more