Pathology, diagnosis, prevention and maintenance of structures

For many years, pathology in the building industry has been a focus of interest, leading to better construction with the introduction of recommendations and then definitive standards.

Dealing with claims, either individually or in families, will have enabled us to draw conclusions, and thus avoid their recurrence. As the saying goes, "failure follows failure". In the TI collection, there are already many specific articles dealing with the subject, sometimes in great detail. Some very experienced and expert authors have already, better than we could, evoked and dealt with the subject. A link to their article will be provided; similarly, we will refer the reader to other, more specialized parts of the collection.

Our aim, as a generalist, is to summarize, or bring together, all the pathologies relating to building materials and structures in a synthetic and exhaustive manner. At the same time, diagnosis, causes, prevention and repair will be discussed in the form of generalities, brief reminders or additions to existing articles.

It's not an easy exercise, but we've come up with an approach based on feedback from 30 years of building maintenance at RATP!

The first section deals with building materials, followed by a second section devoted to building structures. Finally, the appendix covers foundations and structures in contact with the ground.

Reminder: "Renovation work on old buildings covers a very wide range of "upgrades", from the simple replacement of old pipes and sanitary appliances, to the complete restructuring of a building, with preservation of the facades".