Common Structural Details and Deficiencies in Indonesian RC Buildings: Preliminary Report on Field Investigation in Padang City, West Sumatra

Abstract

Significant damage to reinforced concrete buildings by the 2009 Western Sumatera Earthquake revealed that deficiencies in design engineering and/or construction practice existed. This indicated that enforcement of building design codes was lacking. The Indonesian government has updated the building design codes which should have been applied in the construction of new buildings. However, enforcement of these codes on design engineering and/or construction practice in Padang city is not clear. In this study, a field investigation was performed to investigate common structural details and deficiencies in newly constructed multi-story reinforced concrete buildings. The investigation was conducted through visiting building construction sites in Padang city area. This study preliminary reports the investigation results on 39 private buildings and 8 government buildings. The common deficiencies found on the investigated buildings were low material quality, small structural dimensions with light longitudinal reinforcement, insufficient transverse reinforcement with poor details, improper location of lap splice of rebar, lack of hoops inside exterior and interior beam-column joints, and deficient anchorage of beam reinforcement to exterior beam-column joints. These investigation results clarify that enforcement of the latest buildings design codes in design engineering and/or construction practice is still lacking in the investigated area.