Structural Safety Assessment Audit Firm


Structural safety assessment is a global analysis of a structure to determine its capability to sustain its service loads and environmental impacts when in use. It is a crucial process if the integrity of structures is to be preserved and avoided structural failure with propensity to cause destructions, fatal accidents, and loss of lives and property.A Structural safety assessment and audit firm is responsible for ensuring the processes discussed in above.

Key components of structural safety assessment and audit:

Inspection and Data Collection:

  • ✓ Non-destructive examination by simple and direct observation of the surface for flaws that are open to sight.
  • ✓ Collecting data on design features, the materials used in construction and movement history.

Load Analysis:

    Evaluating the loads the structure is subjected to, including:
  • ✓ Fixed loads (indigenous, including the weight of the structure).
  • ✓ Variable loads (live, like people and items of furniture).
  • ✓ Environmental loads; wind, earthquake, snow, etc.

Material Testing:

  • ✓ Evaluation of construction materials including concrete, steel, timber, or any other construction material with the help of test conducted in laboratory or site.

Structural Analysis:

  • ✓ In this case, mathematical models and other software tools are employed to study the structural response of the structure under various loading conditions.
  • ✓ To determine stress, strain and deformation of some structures.

Compliance with Codes and Standards:

  • ✓ Conforming to the regional elevated structures code, norms and directives, and the global code the structure is in if imported.

Risk Assessment:

  • ✓ Detecting risks which may lead to the compromise of safety in the environment.
  • ✓ Predicting the likelihood and the outcome of structural failure.

Recommendations for Improvement:

  • ✓ Writing reports including recommendations for required modifications, additions or upgrades as to improve facilities security and functionality.

Why Structural integrity assessment is important in Bangladesh?

Assessment of structural safety as well as structural audit are extremely significant to Bangladesh because of its geographical, economic and social factors. Out of these problems, some of the most devastating areas include effects of population densities, urbanization, natural disasters and generally low and weak compliance with construction regulations. Here’s why these assessments and audits are essential:

✅ Low Resistant to Natural Disasters

  • • Earthquakes: Buildings in Bangladesh are always under the threat of an earthquake, mainly historic or poorly constructed ones since Bangladesh is situated in a seismically vulnerable region.
  • • Cyclones and Floods: The country is prone to cyclones, flooding and storm surges that gradually degrade structures and buildings in the region.
  • Torrential Rainfall: Down pours cause soil erosion and undermine earthworks supports.

Importance: Structural safety assessments can take place in the building assuming disaster prone regions so as to safeguard the lives and properties from these natural disasters.

✅ Rapid urbanization and the population density vary significantly in Hakim and West African countries.

  • • Certain cities, including Dhaka and Chittagong are growing beyond control as an urban complex.
  • • Housing and commercial properties have high demand, and as this demand increases, buildings are developed with poor standards, with little regard for safety, durability and quality as these can make a building too expensive to develop.

Importance: Audits are conducted to check properity in construction practices ad materials to offset threats by the tightly packed buildings in the central city region.

✅ Aging Infrastructure

  • • A good many bridges, flyovers, industrial structures, and public offices in Bangladesh are old, dating back to the 1970s and the 1980s.
  • • They become dangerous structures due to signs of poor maintenance such as signs of deterioration of the structures.

Importance: While regular audits of infrastructures tell of structural problems in these structures hence dangerous incidences such as collapses maybe prevented.

✅ Industrial and Workplace Crisis

  • • The worst incidence in recent times to have brought in light the issues related to unsafe building was the Rana Plaza tragedy of May 2013 where more than 1,100 garment workers lost their lives.
  • • Large structures contain vast and complex working environments having numerous industrial structures and large working populations putting many at great danger if the structures are unsecure.

Importance: Employing structural assessments are crucial for safety within the workplaces most importantly in Bangladesh’s increasing garment and manufacturing industries.

✅ Lack of Efficient Compliance with Basic Standard Requirements

  • • However, Bangladesh does possess construction codes such as the BNBC; nevertheless, enforcement is often weak because professionals are either ignorant; corrupt; or lack the resources necessary to follow through.
  • • With inadequate design approvals or inadequate inspections, many buildings are erected on the ground.

Importance: Code reviews and assessments complement each other for the simple reason that it adds another level of checks and balances in the scheme of things more so in checking whether or not the relevant code has been followed or not as well as checking for areas of compromise.

✅ Safeguarding Economic and Social Assets

  • • These are assessment of value in infrastructure such as; roads and bridges, hospitals, school, etc which may involve large amounts of cash.
  • • It impacts services and livelihoods; worsens the quality of public buildings; undermines public trust; threatens people’s lives; and gaps structural gaps.

Importance: Risk evaluations protect the investments from possible depletions since durability and serviceability may be in question.

✅ He seeks to promote Sustainable Development

  • • Green construction techniques are now widely used as a way of minimizing the effects of climate change.
  • • Auctions guarantee that the materials used as well as the designs are both eco and people friendly.

Importance: Promoting safety audits ensures that responsible development is embraced in concert with safe construction practice.

✅ Legal and Insurance Requirement

  • • The structural safety certifications are needed for meeting legal requisites and for making insurance claims.
  • • Approximately to the structural assessments, the building owners are likely to encounter lawsuits in the event of accidents.

Importance: These are important issues since failing to pass audits exposes building owners to law suits besides being in a position to obtain insurance policies.

Conclusion: Structural Safety assessment and Structural Auditing are not simply formal processes of dictating what can be built where in Bangladesh; they are critical mechanisms for delivering human lives, securely guarding investments, and steadily contributing towards equitable development. These processes put emphasis on improving the situation with natural disasters, problems of the new urbanization, and the reconditioning of aging structures, all of which improve the safety of the built environment.

How VERITAS(VTL) Conduct a Structural Safety Assessment and Audit?