Structural Deficiency:

Causes, Inspection
and Monitoring

Girish M G
Asst. Professor Senior Scale
Department of Civil Engineering
Manipal Institute of Technology-Manipal
 Contents
• Introduction
• Definition of Deficiency in Structure
• Types of Deficiency
• Causes of Deficiency
• Inspection of Deficiency in Structure by Visual Inspection and NDT-
(Rebound Hammer and Ultrasound)
• Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)
• Conclusion
• References
• Q&A

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 Types of Deficiency in Structures
(ACI 201.1R-08: Guide for conducting a visual inspection of concrete
in service)

Nonstructural Deficiencies
❖ Surface deficiency resulting from conditions of the design, construction, or service life of the building.

❖ Are not immediately critical to the performance of the structure, but they can cause further

deterioration, which can eventually lead to structural deficiencies.

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 Types of Deficiency in Structures
(ACI 201.1R-08: Guide for conducting a visual inspection of concrete
in service)

Structural Deficiencies
❖ Due to the design, construction, and service life of the building.

❖ Structural deficiency in concrete indicates the breakdown of the material to a point that

threatens the structural capacity of the members. Deterioration of this type is a critical

factor in the continued use of the building.

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 Causes of Structural Deficiency

1. Design:
• Miscalculation of
Forces/Loads
• Parameter estimation
• Connections

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 Properties of foundation soil

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 Execution

• Eccentric loadings due to column not truly vertical

• Improper placing of reinforcement
δ

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 Poor Maintenance

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 Inspection of Deficiency in
structures (NDT)
Visual Inspection Technique
• Simple
• Involves very few components
• Suitable for identifying defects which are open to the surface only

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 Conclusion

By adopting (i) ethical practice in design and

construction (ii) construction technology and (iii)
modern diagnosis and prognosis procedure of structure
it is possible to improve the service life of the
structures and also avert/minimize the risk of failure
and the casualties.

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 References
• ACI 201.1R-08: Guide for conducting a visual inspection
of concrete in service
• A Case Study Of Engineering Ethics: Lesson Learned From
Building Collapse Disaster Toward Malaysian Engineers,
European International Journal of Science and
Technology Vol. 3 No. 4 May, 2014
• Structural Failure of Buildings: Issues and Challenges,
World Scientific News 66 (2017) 97-108

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