A study on the pathologies of foundations elements in Andalusia

Abstract

The adequate knowledge of the building pathologies is one of the key aspects that help to understand the performance of the building elements, the intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting them as well as the errors that can be potentially committed in their execution, both at the project or implementation stages. Andalusia in one of the largest regions in Europe and, to the best of our knowledge, no specific study dealing with the most common pathologies related to the various elements that constitute the foundation of the buildings was available to the date. Only a precedent analyzing structural pathologies nationwide has been found in the Ph.D. Thesis of Vieitez-Chamosa. This research aims at gathering the results obtained through the expert reports of incidents occurred in recent years, obtaining and classifying them to draw useful conclusions that may be of interest for the directors of execution of the work. In this connection, it must be born in one’s mind that, according to Professor Lasheras, it can be stated that a defect is a lack of quality in origin.