WHAT IS STRUCTURAL MOVEMENT?

Subsidence, settlement, heave, sway, bouncy floors, bulging walls, cracks, expansion and contraction are all forms of structural movement. Such movement occurs all the time, and usually its magnitude is so small it passes unnoticed. Only when distortions and cracks threaten the use or safety of the structure need we be concerned.

Brickwall structural movement.

Wall structural movement.

Major structural movement of Victorian Houses.

WHAT CAUSES STRUCTURAL MOVEMENT?

New structures are designed to carry their own weight and imposed loads so that strains are kept within reasonable limits; safety factors are included to cater for variations in quality of materials, design and construction inaccuracies, and random or accidental forces. In historic structures detrimental movement results from inadequate design and construction, decay and ill-considered alterations.