Structural Design of Buildings

Presented in a clear structure and user-friendly style, Paul Smith's Structural Design of Buildings goes through all the structural aspects of a building and assesses the importance of the different components. Many people undertake, supervise or survey buildings without fully understanding and appreciating the key structural parameters in their construction. This essential on-site guide to the behaviour of a building's structure gives some of the basics of structures together with plenty of real-life examples. Essentially a practical book, it will not over-complicate the theoretical aspects but will explain the structural importance of the different parts of a building and examine common problems, the most frequent causes of structural failures, and their remedies. Written for building surveyors and designers as well as building control officers and building owners, the book explains how structures differ between modern and traditional buildings and, in particular, the likely failures if the structural components are not given proper consideration. This is a resource for the planning stages and also for use on site. The guidance offered is developed from the author's many years of responding to requests from building professionals for clarification of the behaviour of the structural elements of buildings. The book is relevant to new build, renovations, alterations, conversions or examining an existing structural problem; it covers both domestic and commercial buildings.