Functional Requirements of Foundation

 Previously we see what is foundation and Requirements of the good foundation, so more than it is the functional requirement of foundation which shown as below.

The functional requirements of the foundation and oversite concrete are:

• strength and stability 
• Resistance to ground moisture 
• Resistance to the passage of heat

            The requirements of the Building Regulations are, as regards ‘Loading’, that ‘The building shall be so constructed that the combined, dead, imposed and wind loads are sustained and transmitted to the ground safely and without causing such deflection or deformation of any part of the building, or such movement of the ground, as will impair the stability of any part of another building’ and as regards ‘ground movement’ that ‘The building shall be so constructed that movements of the subsoil caused by swelling, shrinkage or freezing will not impair the stability of any part of the building’.

         A foundation should be designed to transmit loads of the building to the ground so that there is, at most, only a limited settlement of the building into the ground. A building whose foundation is on the sound rock will suffer no measurable settlement whereas a building on the soil will suffer settlement into the ground by the compression of the soil under the foundation loads.

      Foundations should be designed so that settlement into the ground is limited and uniform under the whole of the building. Some settlement of a building on a soil foundation is inevitable as the increasing loads on the foundation, as the building is erected, compress the soil. This settlement should be limited to avoid damage to service pipes and drains connected to the building. Bearing capacities for various rocks and soils are assumed and these capacities should not be exceeded in the design of the foundation to limit settlement.

       In theory, if the foundation soil were uniform and foundation bearing pressure were limited, the building would settle into the ground uniformly as the building was erected, and to a limited extent, and there would be no possibility of damage to the building or its connected services or drains. In practice, there are various possible ground movements under the foundation of a building that may cause one part of the foundation to settle at a different rate and to a different extent than another part of the foundation.

Reference :

 ISBN 81-7671-001-6