Geotechnics for building professionals / Геотехника для профессионалов в области строительства

The foundations will affect how the other elements of a building perform and so can be a major factor in determining whether or not the building achieves its intended purpose with satisfactory long-term performance. However, decisions concerning the foundations for low-rise buildings are often made by people involved in planning and other aspects of the building development who have little formal training in geotechnical engineering. This book has been written for the benefit of such people and their non-specialist professional advisors; these include architects, surveyors, loss adjusters, planners, insurance underwriters and property developers, most of whom are likely to have only a limited understanding of the engineering of the ground. The book brings together a large quantity of material relevant to building foundations published by BRE over many years. This introductory chapter defines the scope of the book.  <...>