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Structural Safety Assessment Report

BLACK

AMBER

DEA

Connect Fashions Ltd.


Ka-11/5, Jagannathpur, Progati Sarani,
Bashundhara, Baridhara, Dhaka
Latitude 23.811698 N
Longitude 90.421398 E
Date of Assessment: 5th July, 2015
Date of Report: 6th July, 2015
Report Code: SSA-313
Report Version: V01

Author: Iftekhar Haider


Reviewer: Mr. Nilesh Pathak

Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Executive Summary
Connect Fashions Ltd. was surveyed for structural safety on 5th July, 2015 by TV SD
Bangladesh (Pvt.) Ltd. The purpose of this survey was to identify significant structural safety
issues and to provide recommendations for remediation based on guidelines for Assessment
of Structural Integrity for existing RMG factory buildings in Bangladesh.
The assessed factory building is a 6-Storey RCC building. The building was constructed in a
single phase, construction starting in 2002. Connect Fashions Ltd. operates partially on the
2nd floor (Approx. 50% of the floor area) and completely on the 3rd, 4th and 5th floors of the
building. The partially occupied 2nd floor houses the finishing section, the 3rd and 4th floors
house the sewing floors and the 5th floor houses the Bonded warehouse and accessories godown. The 2nd floor and the remaining floor area of the 1st floor are occupied by a private
Bank (Mutual Trust Bank Ltd.) where the ground floor is occupied by the parking area and
the generator room. The roof floor was found to contain telecommunication transmission
structures (BTS room and transmission tower). The factory operates on the occupied floors
of the building on a rental basis. The structural safety assessment was carried out on the
total factory building.
The building has approval for a Basement+ 6-Storey commercial cum residential building on
29th July, 2001 from RAJUK, Dhaka.
Complete sets of structural and architectural drawings were available at the factory on the
day of assessment but found to mismatch with the as built construction. Soil test was found
at the factory on the day of assessment. According to the soil test report, soil investigation
has been conducted for foundation of a 6-Storey building. In the foundation recommendation
section of the report, construction of shallow foundation has been proposed at 7-6 depth
below EGL. According to the structural drawings, shallow foundation system has been
designed at 10-0 depth below EGL.
Note: 1 Ton = 2000 lb (As per soil test report).
Specific columns have been found highly stressed at the bottom tier level of the building,
which may pose risk to operations in the factory. Based on this non-conformity, the building
is rated AMBER. Detailed Engineering Assessment (DEA) is recommended. Immediate,
Mid-term and long-term corrective actions are recommended for this non-conformity. Other
non-conformities have been found for which long-term corrective actions are recommended.
On the day of assessment, the 1st floor and a partial floor area of the 2nd floor could not be
accessed due to restrictions from the occupying organization (Mutual Trust Bank Ltd.). Due
to this reason, the report is marked BLACK.
Some other minor non - conformities were found at the factory regarding laggings in
maintenance, summarised as follows: hair cracks on random locations of walls and damping
on random wall locations.

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Report No.: TUV-SUD/2015/P1/SSA-313

Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................................... 2
GENERAL INFORMATION .................................................................................................................... 3
Location and Co-ordinates................................................................................................................... 3
Exterior View of Factory Building ....................................................................................................... 4
Factory Information .............................................................................................................................. 5
Work activities and loading conditions on all floors ......................................................................... 5
DESCRIPTION OF STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS...................................................................................... 6
Review of structural drawings ............................................................................................................. 6
Structural Measurements ..................................................................................................................... 8
DETAILED OBSERVATIONS OF NON-CONFORMITIES .................................................................... 9
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................... 11
DETAILED ENGINEERING ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................ 12
DIFE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 13
Basic Information ................................................................................................................................ 13
Recommendations for corrective actions ........................................................................................ 13
DISCLAIMER ........................................................................................................................................ 15

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Report No.: TUV-SUD/2015/P1/SSA-313

Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

General Information
Connect Fashions Ltd.
Factory Name & Address

Ka-11/5, Jagannathpur, Progati Sarani,


Bashundhara, Baridhara, Dhaka.

Factory B Code

3606

Date of Inspection

5th July, 2015

Name of Managing Director of The


Factory

Michelle Quiah.

Name of Contact Person of The


Factory

Mr. Abdur Razzak

Phone No. of Primary Contact

+880-1711-679066

Email Address of Primary Contact

mc2@connect-bd.com

Location and Co-ordinates


Co-ordinates

Latitude 23.811698 N

Longitude 90.421398 E

Factory Building

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Report No.: TUV-SUD/2015/P1/SSA-313

Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Exterior View of Factory Building

Roof Floor
5th Floor
4th Floor
3rd Floor
2nd Floor

1st Floor

Ground Floor

Factory ID

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Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Factory Information
Total Number of Floors

Ground Floor + 5-Storey, No Basement

Which part of the building


occupied by the factory?

is

Partial area of 2nd floor, 3rd 5th floors.

Name of other factories in the


None
building (if available)
Floor ID
Year of construction
(State if building was built in phases)

Total Building

Phase

Year of Construction

Construction started
in January, 2002.

Describe any vertical or horizontal


None
extensions and when they were built
Does the building have cantilevers? Cantilevers present at all elevations of the building.
How long are they and where are The cantilever spans are: North Span - 3-6 (Partial),
they located?
South Span 5-0, West Span 5-6, East Span
5-9 (partial) and 6-9 (partial).

Work activities and loading conditions on all floors


Floor

Observed live loading (psf)


Approximate

Operations

Roof Floor

3-Nos. 1000L water tanks, 10.0m


(Approx.) Telecommunication tower with
BTS, overhead reservoir on staircase roof
(Approx. capacity: 18600L), open to sky

295.0
(On Panel of Slab)

th

Floor

Storage section

35.0

th

Floor

Sewing section

30.0

rd

Floor

Sewing section

30.0

nd

Floor

Connect Fashions Ltd.: Finishing


section (Approx. 50% of floor area)
Bank (Mutual Trust Bank Ltd.): Banking
Section (Approx. 50% of floor area)

30.0

st

Floor

Bank (Mutual Trust Bank Ltd.): Banking


Section

30.0

Parking area, generator room

>50.0

5
4
3
2

Ground Floor

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Report No.: TUV-SUD/2015/P1/SSA-313

Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Description of Structural Systems


The factory building is a 6-Storey RCC building with 2-way beam column framing at all the
floor levels. The rooftop of the building contains a 10.0m tower on a tower frame structure
with an adjacent BTS room. There are also 3 nos. 1000L temporary tanks and 1 no.
reservoir on the staircase roof with capacity approx. 18,600L. The generator room is located
at the ground floor of the building. A number of inconsistencies have been found between
the as-built construction and the structural design documentation: The constructed slab has
cantilevers at all elevations of the building which is absent in the structural design; the asbuilt column grid mismatches with the designed column layout plan, and the constructed
rebar layouts in the columns mismatch with the designed column schedule, which has been
found from rebar scanning. Columns were checked for stress and specific central, edge and
corner columns at the bottom tier of the building were found highly stressed.

Review of structural drawings

2m Pole

BTS Room
10m Tower
structure

2 nos. 1000L
tanks

Factory roof layout Plan

18,600L reservoir

1 no. 1000L
tank

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Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Floor Area at 2nd floor


occupied by Connect
fashions Ltd.
16-0

Columns calculated
for FoS

Rebar no. in column schedule = 12 nos.


As Built Rebar nos. = 6 nos.

Rebar no. in column schedule = 12 nos.


As Built Rebar nos. = 8 nos.

Column Layout Plan

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Report No.: TUV-SUD/2015/P1/SSA-313

Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Structural Measurements
Floor to ceiling heights (typical
and ground floor if different)

Floor

Height

Ground

9.70 ft

Typical

10.00 ft

Floor finishes depth

1.5 inch

Slab thickness

5.0 inch

Typical down stand beam


dimensions

12 X 10

No. of Structural grid

8X5

State which column(s) were


checked for stress and why

Central Column at grid B5 was checked due to large


tributary area.
Edge Column at grid A5 was checked due to cantilever
span along edge.
Edge Column at grid D3 was checked due to cantilever
span along edge.
Corner Column at grid A2 was checked due to cantilever
spans along edges and large bending effect.

Column type

Central

Edge

Edge

Corner

Column grid

B5

A5

D3

A2

18.75 X
17.40

18.75 X
13.40

13.88 X
17.75

17.25 X
13.40

15 X 15

15 X 15

15 X 15

15 X 15

Tributary dimension
Column size (excluding
plaster)

Aggregate type

Brick
Aggregate
was visible
opening
plaster by
chipping.

Brick
Aggregate
was visible
opening
plaster by
chipping.

Brick
Aggregate
was visible
opening
plaster by
chipping.

Brick
Aggregate
was visible
opening
plaster by
chipping.

Reinforcement (state how this


was identified)

8 nos. rebar
observed
through Ferro
scanning. Bar
size
considered
20mm as per
structural
drawing.

6 nos. rebar
observed
through Ferro
scanning. Bar
size
considered
20mm as per
structural
drawing.

6 nos. rebar
observed
through Ferro
scanning. Bar
size
considered
20mm as per
structural
drawing.

8 nos. rebar
observed
through Ferro
scanning. Bar
size
observed 20
mm as per
structural
drawing.

Results of column stress check

Stress in
column was
found very
high
(AMBER).

Stress in
column was
found very
high
(AMBER).

Stress in
column was
found very
high
(AMBER).

Stress in
column was
found very
high
(AMBER).

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Report No.: TUV-SUD/2015/P1/SSA-313

Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Detailed Observations of Non-conformities


OBSERVATION 1 : Highly stressed columns
Description

Specific central, edge and corner columns were found highly stressed.
High stress in columns is due to deviated column construction from
designed column sections (designed sections contain 12 nos. re-bars,
while as-built columns contain 6-8 nos. re-bars), use of low strength
aggregates (Brick chips) and overloading from cantilever spans. This
problem can become more severe if not addressed adequately.

Location

Bottom tier columns at grids A2, A5, B5 and D3.

Highly stressed Columns (Color Coded)

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Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

OBSERVATION 2 : Cracks on wall


Description

Cracks observed on ground floor wall and cantilever walls. Crack on


ground floor walls might occur due to unequal settlement, while the
reason of cracks on cantilever walls might be due to deflection of
cantilever slabs. This problem may deteriorate if not addressed
adequately.

Location

Ground Floor wall, walls on cantilever slab at assessed floor levels.

Crack (1) pattern on cantilever walls on


rd
3 floor wall

Crack (1) enlarged

Crack (2) pattern on cantilever walls on


th
4 floor wall

Crack (2) enlarged

Crack on ground floor

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Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Summary of Recommendations
Item
No.

Observation

Recommended Action Plan

Recommended
Timeline

1.1

Highly Stressed Column

Factory Management to remove any storage


loading from column supporting floors of the
Building and maintain maximum live load not
greater than 25.0 psf on the working floors.

Immediately

1.2

Highly Stressed Column

Factory Engineer to review design, loads and


columns stresses of the total building.

Immediately

1.3

Highly Stressed Column

Verify in-situ concrete stresses by 100mm dia.


cores for A2, A5, B5 and D3 columns of the
Building.

Immediately

1.4

Highly Stressed Column

A Detail Engineering Assessment of Factory to


be commenced, see attached Scope.

Immediately

1.5

Highly Stressed Column

Produce and actively manage a loading plan


for all floor plates of the Building, giving
consideration to floor capacity and column
capacity.

6 weeks

1.6

Highly Stressed Column

Detail Engineering
completed.

6 weeks

1.7

Highly Stressed Column

Continue to implement load plan for Building.

6 months

Cracks on wall

Sections of plaster finish to be removed to


investigate if cracks penetrate the wall and
carry out any remedial actions as directed by
the Building Engineer for cracks on walls.

6 months

2.1

Assessment

to

be

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Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Detailed Engineering Assessment


This Schedule develops a minimum level of information, Analysis and testing expected as
part of a Detail Engineering Assessment. The Building(s) have been visually assessed and it
is deemed necessary that a detailed engineering assessment be carried out by a competent
Engineering Team employed by the factory Owner.
This Request should be read in conjunction with the BUET developed Tripartite Guideline
document for Assessment of Structural Integrity of Existing RMG Factory Buildings in
Bangladesh (Tripartite Document), the latest version of this document should be referenced.
This document also gives guidance on required competency of Engineering Team.
We expect that the following will be carried out:
1. Development of Full Engineering As-Built Drawings showing Structure, loading, elements,
dimensions , levels, foundations and framing on Plan, Section and Elevation drawings .
2. The Engineering team is to carry out supporting calculations with a model based design
check to assess the safety and serviceability of the building against loading as set out in
BNBC-2006, Lower rate provisions can be applied in accordance with the Tripartite
Guidelines following international engineering practice, and justification for these lower rate
provisions must be made.
3. A geotechnical Report describing ground conditions and commenting on foundation
systems used/proposed.
4. A report on Engineering tests carried out to justify material strengths and reinforcement
content in all key elements studied.
5. Detailed load plans shall be prepared for each level showing current and potential future
loading with all key equipment items shown with associated loads.
6. The Engineering team will prepare an assessment report that covers the following:
As-Built drawings including
Plans at each level calling up and dimensioning all structural components
Cross sectional drawings showing structural beams, slabs, floor to floor heights, roof
build-ups and Basic design information of the structure
Highlight any variation between As-built compared to the designed structure
Results of testing for strength and materials
Results of geotechnical assessment and testing/investigation
Details of loading, inputs and results of computer modeling
Commentary on adequacy/inadequacy of elements of the structure
Schedule of any required retrofitting required for safety or performance of Structure

Any proposals for Retrofitting to follow guidance developed in the Tripartite Document. DEA
must be approved by the DIFE Task Force prior to commencement of any retrofitting work.

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Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

DIFE Summary
Name of the Factory

: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Address of the Factory

: Ka-11/5, Jagannathpur, Progati Sarani,


Bashundhara, Baridhara, Dhaka

Present Status of the Factory

: Operational

Structural Assessment Conducted by

: TV SD Bangladesh (Pvt.) Ltd.

Date of Structural Inspection

: 5th July, 2015

Basic Information
I.

Building Usage type

: Garment factory

II.

Structural System

: Beam Column Frame

III.

Floor system

: Beam Slab

IV.

Floor area

: Plinth area of building = 4,500 sft.


Total working area of building = 15,750 sft

V.

No. of Storey

: Ground floor + 5-Storey

VI.

Construction year

: 2002

VII.

Foundation type

: Spread Foundation (As per as-built drawing)

VIII.

Design Drawings

: Available (29th of July, 2001 from RAJUK,


Dhaka)

IX.

Soil investigation report

: Available.

X.

Construction materials

: Brick Aggregated.

XI.

Generator

: Ground floor of building.

Recommendations for corrective actions


Specific columns of the building were found in highly stressed condition due to inadequate
column sections which may pose risk to operations in the factory. Immediate, mid-term and
long term corrective actions are recommended for this non-conformity. Other nonconformities have been found in the building for which immediate, mid-term and long term
corrective actions are recommended.
Immediate (now):
1. Factory Management to remove any storage loading from column supporting floors of
the Building and maintain maximum live load not greater than 25.0 psf on the working
floors.
2. Factory Engineer to review design, loads and columns stresses of the total building.
3. Verify in-situ concrete stresses by 100mm dia. cores for A2, A5, B5 and D3 columns
of the Building.
4. A Detail Engineering Assessment of Factory to be commenced, see attached Scope.
Short-Term (6 weeks):
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Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

1. Produce and actively manage a loading plan for all floor plates of the Building,
giving consideration to floor capacity and column capacity.
2. Detail Engineering Assessment to be completed.
Long Term (Within 6 Months):
1. Sections of plaster finish to be removed to investigate if cracks penetrate the wall
and carry out any remedial actions as directed by the Building Engineer for cracks
on walls.

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Structural Safety Assessment Report: Connect Fashions Ltd.

Disclaimer
This report is intended to serve the Company in helping to understand the current safety
conditions under the prevailing system and proposed changes that will help improve the
safety and reliability of the systems installed at the Companys facility. At the time of the
audit/ survey, all the systems were working as intended, as produced by the Company to the
auditors. The above result reflects TV SDs findings at the time and place of inspection.
This report does not release the Company or any other entity dealing with it from their
contractual responsibilities nor does it prejudice any ones right of claim for compensation for
any apparent and/ or hidden defects not detected during inspection or occurring anytime
thereafter. This report indicates the measures advised to be installed at the facility to
improve safety performance, provided that the compliance to the national standards and all
legal and statutory requirements are adhered to by the Company. TV SD doesnt hold the
accountability or responsibility, directly or indirectly of any mishap/disaster happening in the
facility audited as it doesnt have any control over the Companys process and practices.
This report is made solely to the management of the Company for which this report is
produced, as a body, in accordance with agreed scope of work and for no other purpose.
TV SD does not assume any responsibility to any other person or body for the content of
this report.
TV SD makes no representation or warrantee, either expresses or implied, with respect
to this audit/ survey report, its quality, accuracy, or fitness for any specific application.
Therefore TV SD shall have no liability to the company for which this report is produced,
or any other person or entity with respect to any loss, liability or damage caused or alleged
to have been caused directly or indirectly by the report. This includes, but not limited to,
interruption of services, operations, losses of anticipatory profits or consequential damages
from use of this report.
In so far as audit reports are prepared in the course of processing the order and which are
subject to the protection of copyright, TV SD shall grant the Company a simple, nontransferable right to use the audit report, , insofar as this is necessary and in accordance
with the contractually presupposed purpose. Other rights shall not be transferred; in
particular, the Company shall not be entitled to modify (edit) audit/ survey reports or to make
use of such reports outside of its business premises.
TV SD, its staff and any experts that may be called in shall not disclose and use trade
and business matters of the Company about which they have gained knowledge of during
the performance of their work, without proper authorization.

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