: Engineering and Construction The Case of CTV Building - Assignment Example

? Assignment: Engineering and Construction – The Case of CTV Building I.D. of the Assignment: Engineering and Construction – The Case of CTV Building Executive Summary This report is aimed at analysing the incident of CTV Building collapse that caused deaths of several civilians. The report also aims at formulating and organising the most important recommendations for the future course of action in the field of construction safety engineering. The analysis portion of the paper has been divided into to major subsections. In subsection 2.1, personnel management issues primarily with relation to the recruitment process of a building construction team have been analysed. Contextually, it should be mentioned that the credibility of the engineering team (that had constructed the CTV Building in late 1980s) is still under various questions. In subsection 2.2, modern disaster management conception has been applied to the case of CTV Building collapse. Next, there is the section of summary and conclusion where the issue of fire safety arrangements in the building has been raised. Negligence to fire safety protocol has been diagnosed as a big problem in most of the building designs as seen in the case of CTV Building. Subsequently, three major recommendations (or groups of recommendations) have been provided at the end of the report. Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Table of Contents 3 1. Introduction 4 2. Analysis 5 2.1 Issues regarding personnel management 10 2.2 Issues regarding disaster management 11 3. Summary and conclusions 12 4. Recommendations 13 References 15 1. Introduction On 22nd February 2011, the CTV Building situated in the heart of the city of Christchurch collapsed due to moderately strong earthquake and its aftershocks. Over one hundred people died in this disastrous collapse, which involved a huge crippling of the entire building followed by a major fire outbreak. The building was made of reinforced concrete and it had a six storied structure. Although the building cannot be called a skyscraper, it can be considered as a multi-storeyed building from an engineering point of view with considerable height and vertical elevation. As compared to the base area of the building, the building had a height that could cause damage to the entire structure due to shear and strain of a typical earthquake. (Fairfax NZ News 2013; Kam, Pampanin, and Elwood 2011) The event triggered considerable controversy throughout the engineering professionals in the region. However, CTV Building collapse and its aftermath did not have technical implications only. According to Burton (2010), the increasing synchronisation of global economy implies that the consequences of calamities have effects reaching farther than the site of the disaster. Consequently, “social context of disaster events” (Burton 2010, p. 40) has become as wide as to cover managerial and organisational issues too. Similarly, Kahn (2005) states that factors like geography, economics, public policy, etc. also affect the magnitude of a natural disaster in terms of life and property. In the case of CTV Building collapse, paradigms and practices with relation to the management of business related buildings throughout the various stages of its lifecycle appears to be highly critical. The topic needs immediate scholarly attention. 2. Analysis The seismological activities during an earthquake involve terrestrial pulsations emanating from the earth’s interior resulting into a crippling effect of the earth crust. From an engineering perspective, using materials like reinforced concrete in a combination with ductile construction mechanisms can ensure prevention of disasters such as building collapse. (Somerville 2003) However, an important question is that whether application of better management techniques can minimise risk. In the same context, application of proper building management methods can be of immense help during and after a building collapse. The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission (2012a) appears to have taken a very critical approach in this regard, especially with reference to the experience of CTV Building collapse. According to the Commission’s Final Report on the matter: “The Department of Building and Housing should work with researchers, engineering design specialists and industry product providers to progress, over time, the more developed low-damage technologies through to citation in the Building Code as acceptable solutions or verification methods. This may involve further development of existing cited Standards for materials, devices and methods of analysis.” (Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission 2011, recommendation no. 68) Hence, it can be regarded as an important consideration as to ascertain that who were/are the major role players and stakeholders in this matter. Tentative lists of role players and stakeholders are being tabulated in Table – 1 and Table – 2 respectively. Table – 1: Major role players Role players Explanation Human resource (HR) managers After the CTV Building collapse, there were allegations that the chief engineer had faked his degree and the main supervisor was under experienced. HR managers should have taken care of these issues during the initial phase of construction. Construction supervisors Construction supervisors include engineers, designers, and technicians. Engineers and designers played a negative role by using a faulty design for the building. Owners The owners appear to have neglected both the HR and technical issues Shareholders of the owner company The shareholders of the ownership company did not create enough pressure to refine its engineering and HR methods Chief engineer Faulty design and no fire safety arrangements were made by him Municipal officials Municipal officials did not examine the plan properly when it was presented to them in the mid 1980s Municipal supervisors Ongoing supervision process at Christchurch municipal area and business district appears to be full of negligence since no official issued a warning in proper time even after initial earthquakes and subsequent aftershocks had damaged the building Fire safety engineers The fire safety engineers lacked information on operating inside the burning building and the fire department had not proactively preserved any design data of the CTV Building Rescue operation members They played a constructive role by amassing photographic information after the collapse Seismological department Seismological department failed to establish its own system of building management guidance document. Seismologists apper to have given too much emphasis on reinforced concrete usage without consideration for more flexibility advisory Govt. of New Zealand The Govt. of New Zealand gave excessive power to the municipality. So when municipal officers did mistakes, the Govt. played a negative role by keeping itself away from the process of building evaluation and related permission mechanisms Table – 2: Major stakeholders Stakeholders Explanation General public Any person, pedestrians or occupants, may be harmed when a building comes down Workers of the tenant organisations Workers present in the building deserved a safer place and more attention for occupational safety on the part of their employers Tenants Tenants were the organisations like CTV who did not have sufficient power over the safety issues related to the building, although they could have created pressure on the owners Press and media Press and media needed to inform the pubic about the safety issues and disaster events as they unfurled Researchers After the CTV Building collapse, researchers have emerged as a key stakeholder since studying this case can help them research on various topics like fire safety, building safety, rescue management, engineering construction, etc. Engineers Engineers must study the case intricately to learn from the mistakes made Industry product providers Industry product providers are accountable because usability and weaknesses the materials like building grade steel, reinforced concrete, etc. have been somewhat exposed in this case. For the future, more vigil should be maintained in industrial manufacturing processes Scientists and seismological experts The case study provides ample scope of theoretical research along with scientific implications as well as technological ones Building designers The building collapsed due to mistakes in designs; designers of the building are accountable and other professional designers too must take lessons from this case Investigating commission Investigation commission that was formed after the collapse had two aims. Their stake firstly involved technical understanding and credibility. Secondly, they needed to restore confidence on the government in the eyes of general public 2.1 Issues regarding personnel management With relation to the building management practices as seen at CTV Building, it can be stated that the management process involving a construction takes off during the planning phase of the whole conception. The CTV Building had been built during 1986-87, which followed the typical civil engineering systems and concepts of the late 20th century. And to find out what had happened prior to the incident under discussion, a researcher must investigate that how the planning of the building was done. The Final Report as published by the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission (2012a) states that while planning the CTV Building, proper attention had not been paid to the contemporary design methods that are suitable for constructing earthquake resistive buildings. But in-depth news archival research reveals a bigger organisational issue that has certainly hampered the planning phase of the CTV Building at a very early stage. According to a report from the Fairfax NZ News (2012) network, it is revealed that one of the chief overseers deployed in the planning process of the building had used a fake engineering degree. Indubitably, it was a grave organisational fault that hints at some serious underlying human resource management problem in the construction engineering sector. Prior to the incident under discussion, this kind of reckless recruitment might have resulted into erroneous planning leading to defective construction. Recruitment process is a prime team building activity which can have far reaching effects on any engineering project management framework as a whole (Gray and Larson 2010). 2.2 Issues regarding disaster management During a disaster, the technical situation of the disaster site is essentially cross disciplinary. For example, if one investigates into the causes behind the extent of disaster brought about by Katrina (a tornado that hit south-eastern USA in 2005), it becomes clear that serious flaws had taken place on the part of weather forecasting professionals, rescue engineers, emergency relief staffs, etc. who come across various disciplines and specialties (Burton 2010). Similarly, during the CTV Building collapse, an unexpected but not unnatural problem surfaced. Almost as the building collapsed, a major fire broke out. In an earthquake prone area like Christchurch, fire safety engineering should have been given more importance and attention. And fire safety is a major issue in any disaster scenario. According to Proulx and Richardson (2002), fire safety is a major issue that is often neglected in the course of designing a construction site. In the case of CTV Building collapse, several survivors of the damage done by earthquake died due to fire outbreak resulting into suffocation and burning. The aftermath of the CTV Building collapse, however, suggests that the New Zealand government took a proactive stand in embarking on investigations. A powerful Royal Commission was set up which produced voluminous reports regarding the intricacies of the 22nd February earthquake events and effects. The Royal Commission has given numerous useful recommendations from both engineering and managerial viewpoints. The comprehensive rescue and recording efforts of the local rescue workers have been praised by the commission in the following paragraph: “Following the earthquake, Urban Search and Rescue engineers working on the CTV site, Mr Graham Frost, Dr Robert Heywood and Mr John Trowsdale, took extensive photographs and labelled building elements. Their public-spirited initiative created an excellent record of the state of the building and individual elements following collapse.” (Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission 2012b, recommendation no. 107) So managing the aftermath situation of disaster of such a large magnitude must involve recording activities too. In the case of CTV Building collapse, such activities were not adequate to save the lives that were already lost. However, the actions of the rescue professionals were essential for preventing similar disasters in the future and generate evidence based systematic knowledge. 3. Summary and conclusions In summarising the events in relation with the CTV Building collapse, it must be noted that there were shortcomings in all three phases of the event. Prior to the event, a faulty building design had been implemented. During the event, a major fire outbreak complicated the situation of the already crippling building which had been seriously struck by the earthquake. After the building collapse, rescue workers did an excellent job. Yet, in the long drawn investigation process, no significant steps were taken to find and actually punish the careless engineers whose design led to this mishap. According to the major New Zealand media houses, serious flaws did not only remain in the construction of CTV Building but also the investigation process was inadequate (Fairfax NZ News 2013). From particularly an organisational view of the event, it is essential that the culprits responsible for this disaster are brought to the book. For example, if the main overseer of the construction project had faked his engineering degree by the means of identity theft, he should be punished with the help of proper forensic investigation and analyses of evidence (Fairfax NZ News 2013; Burton 2010). However, a major issue has surfaced in the wake of CTV Building collapse. Are the engineers in the civil construction sector as a whole well aware of the psychosocial factors as related to events like building fire? If so, why the fire safety issues remain neglected in most construction sites and business related buildings? The key concern of analysing human behaviour during a fire outbreak is not only a major organisational concern but also an engineering debacle (Proulx 2003). 4. Recommendations A twofold approach must be adopted to modernise the human resource management and recruitment processes in construction and engineering sector. Firstly, proper reference check and background scrutiny must be conducted before formally appointing an engineering professional. Secondly, a recruitment code should be developed and enforced with enough room for legal repercussions when the code is violated by an employer. Special attention must be given to the CTV Building collapse alongside continuous forensic investigation of not only the disaster site but also the related documents and contracts that can be retrieved from the Christchurch municipal authorities. If the careless designers are not pinpointed and punished even after the deaths of so many people, the very organisational context of engineering sector will be shaken. Given the low damage profile of the Christchurch area vis-a-vis most of the earthquakes in the region, the present day building code appears to be adequate. However, fire safety engineering and services in the context of commercial and industrial buildings have to be revisited and vitalised in the municipal context of every New Zealander city and town. References Burton, I. (2010). Forensic disaster investigations in depth: A new case study model. Environment, 52 (5), 36-41 Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission (2012a). Canterbury Television Building (CTV). Final Report, Volume 6. Wellington: Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission (2012b). Roles and responsibilities. Final Report, Volume 7. Wellington: Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission (2011). Low damage building technologies. Final Report, Volume 3. Wellington: Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment Fairfax NZ News (2013). Editorial: Injustice over CTV building collapse. Fairfax New Zealand Limited. Retrieved on 12th August 2013 from http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/editorials/8639296/Editorial-Injustice-over-CTV-building-collapse Fairfax NZ News (2012). A life of lies. Fairfax New Zealand Limited. Retrieved on 12th August 2013 from http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/7682458/A-life-of-lies Gray, C.F. and Larson, E.W. (2010). Project Management: The Managerial Process. 5th ed. Sydney: McGraw Hill. Kahn, M. E. (2005). The death toll from natural disasters: the role of income, geography, and institutions. Review of Economics and Statistics, 87 (2), 271-284. Kam, W.Y., Pampanin, S., and Elwood, K. (2011). Seismic performance of reinforced concrete buildings in the 22 February Christchurch (Lyttelton) earthquake. Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering, 44 (4), 239-278 Proulx, G. (2003). Playing with fire: understanding human behavior in burning buildings. ASHRAE Journal, 45 (7), 33–35 Proulx, G. and Richardson, J.K. (2002). The human factor: building designers often forget how important the reactions of the human occupants are when they specify fire and life safety systems. Canadian Consulting Engineer, 43 (3), 35–36 Somerville, P.G. (2003). Magnitude scaling of the near fault rupture directivity pulse. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 137 (1), 201-212. Read More