It comes from the built environment. Exactly where in the environment and how problems can develop – and owners experience damage – is seen below in the answer to this question. A simple, high-school-level multiplication at the end of this short blog – but first, a few easily understood comments on what’s involved in engineering..
“Engineering at its best addresses the concerns and accommodates the interests of the parties involved at each stage in the life cycle of an engineered facility.
- Seeing a need
- Conceptualizing how to meet the need
- Planning
- Investigating
- Designing
- Constructing
- Inspecting
- Operating
- Maintaining
- Renovating
- Reconfiguring, and,
- Decommissioning
The goal of the engineering effort can be seen as satisfying the concerns of people at each of these stages, or at least dissatisfying them as little as possible.” (Ref. 1)
***
I added Seeing a Need to this well thought-out list in Ref. 1 because you can’t conceptualize meeting a need until you recognize you’ve got one.
I added Investigating because it’s an important stage, particularly
- for the part of a facility below the ground surface,
- for earthworks of any kind,
- for anything that impacts the environment and
- when new materials and design and construction procedures are involved.
And I added Inspecting because it’s important to ensuring the facility is constructed according to the design, for the agreed cost.
***
“Forensic engineering can be defined as applying engineering principles, knowledge and experience to problems and failures where legal liability may be decided in a legal forum. However, much of the work of forensic engineering leads to the resolution of a problem without formal legal proceedings.” (after Ref. 1)
“Failure can be defined as an unacceptable difference between an actual condition and the intended or reasonably anticipated condition of an engineered facility. Failure may not involve a complete or even partial collapse. It may involve a less catastrophic deficiency or performance problem such as unacceptable: (after Ref. 1)
- potholes in the pavement,
- foundation settlement,
- structural movement and cracking,
- earthworks, slope and retaining wall movement,
- water and weather damage,
- leaking roof,
- environmental contamination,
- structure and infra-structure maintenance,
- repair of a problem, and,
- mechanical and electrical equipment operation.”
One writer identified 209 ways a building can fail – and that was just in the part of the building above the ground surface. (Ref. 2) A building can also fail in numerous ways below ground. In fact, the part of the structure below ground – foundation, basement, utility pipes, drainage systems – is in many ways the most complex part to design and construct. Not the most glamorous part, just the most complex. Another writer identified numerous ways that a building’s basement and foundations can cause problems. (Ref. 3)
Contractors will tell you they are glad when they get out of the ground and start erecting the upper part of a structure.
A building is just one of the many 100s of different structures with their component parts that comprise the built environment – think about that, 1 of many 100s. Look around next time you’re outside and count just the ones you see.
When can a structure fail in it’s life cycle – in the process from it’s inception and birth to it’s decommissioning at the end of it’s useful life? At any of the 12 stages in the list above.
To answer the question, Where does civil litigation come from? Count the places:
- many 100s of different structures
- multiplied by 100s of ways some can fail
- multiplied by the 12 stages in an engineered facility’s life
- multiplied by the different parties at each stage who might feel wronged and entitled to damages.
At it’s simplest, allowing two wronged parties at each stage, almost a quarter of a million ways that civil litigation can develop – 240,000.
I’m sure a similar calculation could be done for personal injury accidents in the built environment. For example, the numerous slip, trip and fall accidents – likely more than the traffic accidents in the Atlantic provinces in 2016.
References
- Kardon, Joshua B., ed,, Guidelines for Forensic Engineering Practice, The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Reston, Virginia, 2012
- Nicastro, David H., ed., Failure Mechanisms in Building Construction, ASCE, Reston, Virginia, 1997
- The National Research Council of Canada, Performance Guidelines for Basement Envelope Systems and Materials, Final Research Report, April 2007