The 2023.2.6 Türkiye earthquake destroyed many houses in Türkiye. In addition to the new construction, many buildings urgently need to be repaired to meet their requirements, but a few owners will have questions about why they need to do the house appraisal before the structural reinforcement?

1. First of all, from the design point of view, the structural engineer has considered the multiple safety reserves when designing the house structure: the reinforcement is calculated according to the bearing capacity limit, the fixed load is considered, and the possible live load is also fully considered, and the load combination has enlarged its coefficient. Then, adverse conditions (earthquake, rainstorm, blizzard, typhoon, etc.) are considered in the combination calculation. The structural design code has multiple means to ensure safety, such as mandatory structural measures.

2. From the actual use of houses, the current safety and quality of many houses cannot be determined without the house inspection and appraisal. Because there are no relevant housing design, construction data, use and transformation files, and it is impossible to determine whether many plants are constructed according to the drawings, construction quality and material quality. Just like a person who feels that there is a problem in his or her body, if he or she does not pass the examination, he or she will not be able to determine the patient's physical condition and the cause of the disease, so he or she will not be able to apply medicine to the disease.

3. From the perspective of housing safety management, the housing management department must determine that the house renovation and storey addition of the client's house is through a formal and professional way. Without the house safety inspection and appraisal certificate, the house renovation and reinforcement of the house does not pass the formal and qualified institutions, and does not pass the approval of the relevant house use, commercial and property rights.

Contents of house safety appraisal and evaluation:

1. Detection and review of the building structure (no drawings need to be surveyed frequently);

2. Detection of the strength of the main structural materials of the house;

3. Detection of relative uneven settlement and inclination of buildings;

4. Detection of house damage;

5. Investigation and analysis of house reconstruction scheme and service load;

6. Analysis and evaluation of the safety of the building structure (taking into account and not checking the bearing capacity under the earthquake);

7. Put forward suggestions for solving existing problems;