Structural Inspections

A comprehensive Building Inspection begins with an examination of its structural components

Structural components of most buildings include such elements as frames, beams, foundation, roof, joists, and rafters.

Any engineered product used in residential or commercial buildings is governed by Part 4 of the Ontario Building Code. Any changes or modifications to an engineered building product has to be approved by a designer and who must provide a stamped detail covering the modification.

The foundation is portion of the buildings structure that transfers the weight of the building into the ground and they can generally be broken down into two categories.

Shallow foundations

Shallow foundations transfers a building’s weight load to the earth near the surface. Types of shallow foundations include spread footing foundations , mat-slab foundations , slab-on-grade foundations , pad foundations, rubble trench foundations and eathbag foundations.

Shallow footings are generally embedded into soil at about a meter deep. There are two common types, one of them being the spread footing which consists of pads or strips that extend below the frost line and transfers the weight of the building to to soil or bedrock. The other being the slab on grade footing which transfers the weight of the building to the soil through a concrete slab poured directly on the surface.

Deep foundations

A deep foundation is determined by the depth it is embedded into the ground. There are several reasons an engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow one but the most common would be poor soil at shallow depths. Deep foundations can be made out of timber, steel, reinforced concrete and pre-stressed concrete.

Footings

Footings are designed to carry the load of the future building with limited settlement by a geotechnical engineer but the footing itself is designed by a structural engineer. The primary concerns of designing foundations and footings are the bearing capacity and settlement. It is very important that a foundation does not carry a load beyond it’s bearing capacity or it will fail. When considering settlement, total settlement and differential settlement are generally considered. Differential settlement is when one part of the foundation settles more then the rest.

The Barrie Home Inspector is qualified to inspect and report on the following components of the Ontario Building Code:

Structural Design - General Requirements - Part 4 · Dead and live loads, Snow and rain loads, Wind loads · Earthquake loads, Special structures and their loads · Foundations designed to Part 4 · General requirements - Part 9 · Footings - Part 9 · Foundation walls - Part 9 · Roof and ceiling framing - Part 9 · Floors - Part 9 · Walls - Part 9 · Above grade masonry - Part 9 · Special structural components - Part 9 · Special building types - Part 9 · Farm buildings · Renovation - Part 11

 Part 9 Structural inspections include  legal considerations, soil conditions, excavations, footings and foundations (including general principals of concrete mix design and cold and hot-weather placement); transfer of forces acting on a building; masonry construction, trusses as well as spatial separations and exposure protection as they apply to the structural elements of a building.