A Guide for Structural Health Monitoring of Buildings in Sri Lanka

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of a building, also known as a ‘Structural Audit’, is a method of ascertaining the performance of the building in its operational condition. SHM has been in existence for a long time under different names. In the past, it was practice for a professional to be called upon to make a structural assessment of the structure if the building was about to change hands, had to undergo structural changes, or even to observe distress points. However after few building failures around the world especially the collapse of an eight storied building in Dhaka in 2013, the trend (especially in Asia) changed and building operators found the need for a structural audit at a regular basis. Major multinational operating in south Asian countries has made it mandatory to check the structural stability of the buildings (especially factory buildings) on an annual basis in order to have a continued business. SHM of a building is a specialised job, and an experienced professionally qualified civil/structural engineer is usually tasked with this function. This paper is structured according to the three main categories of SHM (1) Observation and Non Destructive Testing (NDT) under operational condition; (2) analysing data to check performance of the structure under the present condition; and (3) recommendations and remedial action, if required. In Sri Lanka, it has been a practice to issue a report on visual observation of the building. This paper seeks to set out a methodical manner in conducting inspections for SHM within the Sri Lankan context.