1. Assessing building damage 189
This workshop will look at how to quantify the impacts of different hazards upon housing and infrastructure
Algeria, 2003
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2. Workshop objectives !
The key learning objectives of this workshop are to form an
understanding of and share experience on :
Presentation: phases of assessment
Workshop: differences in building damage
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3. Handover from SAR teams
Search And Rescue teams use standard marking systems:
A – name of team, date, time of visit/work
B – types of risks encountered
W water
Gas gas leakage
Chem chemical products
EXPL explosive materials
F fuels or other inflammable materials
electricity
risk of collapse
radioactivity
C – number of dead
D – number of people unaccounted for
E – number of people saved C A B E D
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4. Macro assessment of entire affected area
Handbook for Estimating the Socio-Economic and Environmental Effects of Disasters
(ECLAC and the World Bank, 2003)
Damages must be assessed at a national level in order to inform:
1. strategic, programme and project planning
2. appeals processes
3. understandings of impacts upon the national and regional economy and environment
Governments may agree an approach to macro assessment: following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004, a Tsunami Recovery Impact Assessment and Monitoring System (TRIAMS) was discussed and endorsed by the Global Consortium for Tsunami-Affected Countries
IFIs have their own approaches to damage and loss measurement: the World Bank has used the methodology for disaster damage and loss assessment developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC), common in that region since 1972
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5. Housing damages categories
The categories of damage presented below have been used following conflicts to describe damage to housing, supported by
1-page rapid village and rapid housing assessment forms.
Similar categories may be agreed following conflicts and disasters.
Different categories may be developed for different building types.
Category 0
Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Category 4
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No damage
Minor
damage, assistance required
Partial damage,
can be repaired
Severe damage,
can be repaired
Destroyed,
cannot be repaired

6. Factors influencing levels of damage
The type and scale of damage to buildings depend upon a number
of factors:
1. hazard: different damage from different hazard
2. intensity: different damage from different intensity
3. vulnerability: different damage from vulnerability
4. buildings: different damage from different buildings
5. zones: different damage from different zones
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7. Workshop groups Each group will be allocated one of
Discussion
in groups
Each group will be allocated one of
the factors and will discuss how
the damage levels change with:
Group 1: different hazards
Group 2: different intensities
Group 3: different vulnerabilities
Group 4: different buildings
Group 5: different zones
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Each group agrees a key point
Key point

8. Key point Group 1 key point: different hazards Question:
How does the damage level change with different hazards?
Key point
Cyclone: tying roof to ring beam, tying beam to structure
Landslides: little you can do
Fire: use non flammable material, tile roof
Volcano: little you can do
Snow/Ice: increase pitch to shed snow, reduce load
Group 1 shares one key point with the other groups

9. Different damage from different hazards
Each different hazard has its own different patterns:
Conflicts:
low-intensity conflicts and civil disturbances
high-intensity conflicts
Earthquakes may have 3 different directions of
motion:
vertical motion
horizontal motion
vertical and horizontal motion simultaneously
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Floods may be:
fast-onset
slow-onset

10. Key point Group 2 key point: different intensity Question:
How does the damage level change with different intensity?
Key point
Minor storm or flood - damage is localized, lower-complexity assistance required
Major storm/flood - likely knock out infrastructure, which impedes aid/reconstruction (roads, food, electrical, health, etc.)
Group 2 shares one key point with the other groups

11. Different damage from intensities
Disasters have different intensities, measured with scales, such as:
earthquakes: (the Richter scale, 1-10, is now almost obsolete)
Modified Mercalli intensity scale, 1-12, quantifies effects on the Earth's surface, humans, objects of nature, and structures, eg
Intensity 11, ‘Very Disastrous’: few, if any masonry structures remain standing; bridges destroyed; rails bent greatly
tornadoes: Fujita scale or Fujita-Pearson scale, 0-5 (6 levels) is based on damage to structures and vegetation, eg:
Intensity 4, ‘Devastating Damage’: 333–418 km/h; well-constructed houses levelled; structures with weak foundations blown away some distance; cars thrown and large missiles generated. The Enhanced Fujita Scale, which has been introduced in the USA, adds new construction methods
hurricanes: Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, 1-5, is used for most Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms, eg
Intensity 4: 210–249 km/h winds; 4.0–5.5 metres storm surge
Scale is important to grading: use damage rather than empirical scientific measurements

12. Key point Group 3 key point: different vulnerabilities Question:
How does the damage level change with different vulnerability?
Key point
Detailing in construction, local cultural building tendencies, seasons, risk consciousness all affect damage level
Conspicuous consumption: bungas (COUNTRY) are round masonry with straw roofs, gave way to more dangerous rich building typologies
Group 3 shares one key point with the other groups

13. Different damage from vulnerabilities
The population will be affected differently depending on their
social and economic status.
The more vulnerable groups are:
populations living in high-risk locations
populations living in poor-quality buildings
These vulnerable groups are most likely to be or become:
displaced populations
marginal groups
low-income populations
urban populations
Higher-income groups may be at greater risk if they adopt
new building technologies that do not incorporate traditional
hazard resistant design.
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14. Key point Group 4 key point: different buildings Question:
How does the damage level change for different buildings?
Key point
Construction materials have a profound effect both on susceptibility to damage and human impact of damage
Group 4 shares one key point with the other groups

15. Different damage for different buildings
Different types of buildings will be damaged differently by the same
disaster:
poorly-built apartments blocks may be more vulnerable to earthquakes than houses with traditional seismically resistant design
schools may be less damaged than housing if they are built to higher-standards by government contractors following enforced building codes
older building may be damaged differently from newer building due to different construction, materials and techniques
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16. Key point Group 5 key point: different zones Question:
How does the damage level change with different zones?
Key point
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Group 5 shares one key point with the other groups

17. Different damage from different zones
Transitional settlement and reconstruction after natural disasters
(United Nations, 2008)
Within a disaster affected area, there will be different levels of
damage which may be categorised into different zones, with an
epicentre where the damage is greatest:
the zones of damage will describe the vulnerability of the location and the vulnerability of the buildings
zones may be highly-localised, for example in a flood where one street is damaged while the next street is not, because it is on high-ground
zones of damage approximate to a hazard map, which may be used for future disaster risk reduction and preparedness
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18. Bibliography
Handbook for Estimating the Socio-Economic and Environmental Effects of Disasters (UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the World Bank, 2003)
Transitional settlement and reconstruction after natural disasters (United Nations, 2008)
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