Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) property owners are being urged to check that their designer, architect and contractor have followed the new 2014 TCI Building Code and, if they are concerned about the strength of an existing property, to have it checked by a structural engineer.
This advice from the TCI Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies (DDME) follows the discovery of significant levels of substandard workmanship on the properties on the TCI capital Grand Turk that were damaged by Hurricane Ike.
Engineers overseeing the repairs to homes on Grand Turk are concerned by what they are finding when they open up the cracks left by Hurricanes Hanna and Ike.
Dr Virginia Clerveaux, Director of Disaster Management, expressed her concern at this news: “We know that the buildings worst hit by Hurricanes Hanna and Ike were residential – almost 90% of all the homes on Grand Turk, South Caicos and Salt Cay suffered damage, with many of those completely destroyed.
“What we have seen through the process of repairing homes for the EU Project is that it was the more recent block built homes that suffered the most structural damage. We now know that this was because of previous poor building practices. It is vitally important that the public realise that following the TCI Building Code and using the correct materials will help them stay safe and protect their families and belongings in the event of any future hurricane.”
“It is easy to see why these homes suffered the damage that they did,” said Joe Jardine of engineering firm CSE Limited.
“When the homes were built, the builders used beach sand and limestone aggregate in the concrete mix, and sometimes they have used too little cement which makes the concrete light coloured and crumbly. Two things happen in this situation, first the salt in the beach sand and limestone makes the steel in the wall rust away completely and this weakens the whole structure, second, when too little cement is used, the concrete isn’t actually holding the wall together and the concrete crumbles away when it is exposed by time or weather.
“What is particularly worrying is that we have seen these practices continuing today in new homes too. Many new built homes have been built with the contractors trying to cut corners by using beach sand, limestone aggregate and too little cement. Sometimes people think that they can avoid the problems of using beach sand by adding more cement but this produces a whole lot of other issues and doesn’t stop the rebar from rusting. Sometimes the house has been so badly built that it can’t be repaired cost effectively.”
