Some Legal and Organisational Aspects: Buildings

A variety of opinions were expressed by the participants at the Cambridge colloquium, as they had been asked to present their thoughts on design life from different viewpoints. The debates ranged widely as new opinions were outlined. For this colloquium the main opinions have been assembled and examined by pairs of presenters as client requirements, legal and organisational, and technical considerations. It is evident that there is considerable agreement on some of the principles and some of the difficulties which the concept of design life entails. So how best to make progress and signpost the way ahead? D.W. Quinion

Identification of what needs to be inspected, when and how It is not possible to inspect economically all parts of a building or civil engineering structure. The rear face of a basement wall against which backfill has been placed or the condition of the embedded length of concrete or steel piles are examples of items which are extremely expensive to inspect. They have therefore to be detailed appropriately. Any structure should be classified into areas or items which cannot be inspected regularly, those which may be inspected regularly, and those which definitely need to be inspected frequently. This classification should be carried out at the design concept stage: it is the responsibility of the design team. M.S. Fletcher

When considering the life to be expected from a structure before any major repairs are needed, it is important to remember that most structures are likely to require some maintenance during their service lives. This is especially true where structures are exposed to the demanding conditions of the natural environment as well as having to cope with often onerous ‘manmade’ loading. A structure could in particular circumstances be designed with a very limited life in view and with no provision for maintenance, but such structures are the exception rather than the rule. D.A. Holland