What is Preliminary Inspection and Structural Appraisal?

Preliminary Inspection and Structural Appraisal for Building in the construction industry involves a systematic investigation, testing, analysis, and evaluation of buildings to assess their safety, reliability, and functionality. This is commonly performed during building renovations, post-disaster assessments, when buildings exceed their design lifespan, or when significant quality issues arise. Through on-site surveys, instrument testing, and structural calculations, the building's health is determined, and treatment recommendations are provided to ensure life safety and normal use.

Main occasions and reasons for assessment:

• Before renovation: When planning to add floors, expand, change use, or increase capacity.

• Exceeding service life: When a building reaches its design lifespan and continued use is planned.

• Quality problems: When significant cracks, deformation, tilting, or corrosion occur.

• Disasters and accidents: After earthquakes, fires, explosions, or other disasters.

• Surrounding environmental impact: When there is deep excavation in the surrounding area.

• Disputes or before major repairs: When there are doubts about the engineering quality or when major repairs are planned.

Inspection and assessment content and process:

• Data collection and on-site survey: Understanding the building's history and structural system, and making preliminary records of damaged parts, scope, and extent.

• Testing and monitoring:

• Non-destructive testing: Testing material strength, cracks, and defects.

• Structural testing: Measuring deformation, displacement, and settlement, and verifying load-bearing capacity.

• Long-term monitoring: Real-time monitoring of key structures using sensors, video, etc., especially for tall and complex structures.

• Analysis and evaluation: Combining test data and standards to analyze the cause of damage, assess the safety level (e.g., hazard level), and determine whether it meets safety requirements.

• Report issuance: Writing an assessment report containing test results, damage analysis, evaluation conclusions, and treatment recommendations.

Technical methods:

• Traditional methods: Crack observation, rebound testing, ultrasonic testing, static load testing, etc.

• Modern technologies: BIM visualization, sensor monitoring, satellite remote sensing, and drone inspection, achieving integrated monitoring from air, land, and space.

Relevant standards:

• Primarily based on national and local standards such as the "Standards for Quality Inspection and Assessment of Buildings" and other relevant regulations.

In short, building inspection and assessment is like giving a house a "health check." When a building has problems, requires major renovations, or is old, professional investigation and testing are used to determine if the building is safe, whether it can still be used, and how to repair it. This is an important means of ensuring building safety.