it is important that construction is planned well with the help of certified architects and engineers after due diligence from concerned authorities to ensure that the resultant workplace or residence is safe to operate from or reside in.

1. What measures are adequate for the safety of land and building?
We live in a world of collapsible concrete! If you happen to live in any metropolitan city, you would
probably be noticing multi-storeyed apartment and skyscrapers as far as your eyes can see. All fancy
buildings with beautiful exteriors and interiors which is probably the dream house and workspace for
most of us. However have we ever wondered if these tall or even small and good looking structures
constructed on land are actually a safe haven for us?
Most of us would not have forgotten the Bhuj earthquake, January 2001– An epitome of destruction
both in terms of property and lives. Countless buildings collapsed as far as 250 kilometers away from the
epicenter – Thanks to the poor construction quality and violation of the Code of Indian Standards for
earthquake-resistant design. The last 25 years have witnessed most of the buildings to be made up of
brick masonry infill walls violating the safety standards and remaining as a threat to the people residing
within and around such structures. Ideally the buildings should be equipped with RC frame construction
mechanism to sustain lateral roads instead of the most commonly used traditional structural design
based on gravity loads. However construction using former technology is negligible in India and even a
minute jolt is capable of shaking such structures and causing severe damage.
There are various factors that lead to poor quality of construction and negligence on part of the builder.
Firstly, the builder builds the property only for sale purpose and has no personal interest in the longevity
or strength of the structure thus paying no heed to it. Secondly, a poor construction means lower cost
incurred which in turn results in a higher sale margin for the builder and developer resulting in larger
profits. Thirdly the professionally licensed architects receive formal training and license by their
professional board. However the structural engineers and contractors who are mainly given the
responsibility of construction do not require any licensing thus their skills and expertise are definitely
questionable and more often than not compromised resulting in weak and uneven structures. Fourthly,
the ratio and proportions in which the raw materials are used is not as per directives as the owners
focus remains on cost saving instead of delivering value to the home owners. There are various other
factors including foundation issues, number of floors built, occupancy ratios, etc. that goes a long way in
defining the safety of the building. Let us now have a look at what are the typical features of a safe
building and the checks and measures a construction should follow to ensure strength in its make.
Land Safety
• Wetland Study – These are lands that periodically get saturated by surface water and mainly
constitute of swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. A careful and in-depth study of such
lands in necessary before deciding whether durable structures can be constructed on such lands
or not.
• Flood Plain Analysis – These are areas prone to flooding within a 100 year span resulting in
damage to any property constructed on it. A civil engineer should conduct a careful inspection
of any creek or drainage along the path of planned construction in order to ensure that any
flood plain is eliminated from its construction map.
• Testing of Soil –Soil testing becomes a necessity in case rock formations or unstable or
expansive soil is suspected by the civil engineer. Such testing is done by a certified agency which

2. has expertise in this field. In case the road cuts in grading of trenches for utility lines are
anticipated to be less than five feet deep, the engineer might not recommend a soil test at all.
• Topography mapping – Thanks to the GPS (Global Positioning) technology for making the
topographical mapping task easier and cheaper as compared to past. The maps available with
the relevant authorities should not be trusted blindly specially if improvement in roads or other
areas are planned along the construction site .New topographic is a much needed
recommendation and should be doneby the civil engineering team.
• Archeological or historical study – It is important to know the background of the land you are
about to purchase to not get a surprise like a burial ground or something of archeologic
relevance when you dig into the ground for construction purposes. These may be a deterrent to
the planned construction.
• Environmental Analysis – This analysis is carried out in phase wise manner and the objective of
it is to identify any environmental concerns related to the land on which construction is being
planned. Any environmental hazard may later prove to be very harmful for the residents of
those buildings. Thus a survey is carried out to find out if any hazardous material is present in
that area and in case of positive results, arrangements are made to eliminate such materials and
construction should only be commenced post specific tests and clearance from requisite
authorities.
Building Safety
• Siting – The buildings do not share any common wall with adjacent buildings and maintain a
distance of at least five metres from neighboring structure. Such construction is found mainly in
flat sloped and hilly areas. The basic reason behind keeping a space between two structures
during construction is to ensure that in case of any vibrations occurring due to seismic activity,
both structures do not come in contact and vibrate independent of each other. Therefore
vibration in one structure might not essentially result in damage to the adjacent structure. This
simple construction step can definitely do a lot of damage control.
• Building configuration –The architecture should be designed in such a way that there is a
regular geometry in the entire structure. These days, the building configurations are
geometrically irregular owing to the lighting and ventilation requirements thus causing
additional stress in handling load in case of any seismic activity.
• Functional Planning – The modern era buildings are created for purpose of multiple occupancy
where many families reside within one apartment or building. To ensure safety of the residents,
suitable fire and emergency exits must be planned in case of contingency. A three to four storey
building should have at least one to two fire protected staircase while a multi-storeyed
apartment should have both fire protected elevators and minimum of one stair case to enable
residents exit safely.
• Modification to structures – In case further floors are planned to be added to the existing
building structure, adequate load planning should be done keeping all aspects in mind. Only if
the structure is capable of taking additional load, should the construction be permitted, else
not. Any changes to existing structure such as closing of open balconies to create extra space by
residents or creating an additional wall or destructing of existing wall should also not be

3. permitted under any circumstances. Doing any of this may change the geometrical alignment of
the building making it riskier to live in.
• Robust load resisting systems – Uniform load resisting systems should be created both in terms
of gravity load-resisting system and lateral load-resisting system. The system should ensure that
the load transfer path is direct.
• Accurate building dimensions – The dimensions of the building in terms of length, width and
height is majorly dependent on factors such as type of construction and number of individual
units to be constructed within the building. Ideally the length is 12*12 metres while width
follows 17*17 meter dimensions. In case of a buildings with two units per floor, a typical
dimension shall be 12*17 metres. The dimensions go a great deal in defining the strength and
resistance of the structure.
• Foundation – It goes without saying that a strong foundation is the cornerstone to the longevity
and resilience of the building. The foundation should be deep and built with usage of requisite
materials to add the required strength to the structure. Two structures are mainly used in
creation of a strong foundation –
a. Steel frame Structure–Such structuresare designed using stainless steel in a manner
that even if the foundation of the building is hot by an earthquake resulting in horizontal
base movements, the damage to the building will be constrained and it shall only face a
very low impact of the seismic movements. All the components used for building this
foundation including frames, slabs and walls shall have stainless steel structure attach to
it for support.
b. RCC Structure–A very commonly used technology in Japan post the devastation caused
by Kobe earthquake in 1995, RCC structure foundations call for a complete makeover in
design as compared to Steel Frame Structure. It functions using the ductility approach
and by applying gravity force to the column of structure to give it extended strength.
• Base Isolation Technology –Lead-rubber bearings alternatively known as isolation bearing
function as massive shock absorbers allowing structures to move back and forth on its
foundation during a seismic activity. Placing such bearings within the structure or installing them
on the ground-structure interface makes them effective for damage control against an
earthquake by not letting the waves of damage travel up to the surface of the structure. This is
also a very effective tool in protecting the building against the daily vibrations of regular traffic
and nearby underground railways thus enhancing its life by many years.
• Other precautions- Precautions should be observed while doing sanitary work, plumbing,
electrical wiring or any such work such that it does not create any puncture or weakness in the
walls and allied construction. It should also be noted that construction should be carried out in a
manner that all exits to the building such as stairs should not come in direct contact with ground
so that it is not broken in adverse conditions and there is still a way to leave premises.
To conclude the topic, it is important that construction is planned well with the help of certified
architects and engineers after due diligence from concerned authorities to ensure that the resultant
workplace or residence is safe to operate from or reside in.