A Methodological Approach for Assessing the Safety of Historic Buildings’ Façades

Giovanni Ruggiero, Rossella Marmo and Maurizio Nicolella
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Giovanni Ruggiero: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy
Rossella Marmo: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Maurizio Nicolella: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: Inefficiency in maintaining and managing architectural heritage threatens both heritage conservation and public safety. Damage related to collapsed building elements requires an investigation into the factors which cause these phenomena in order to prevent them and to mitigate their effects. This paper aims to define a methodological approach for assessing the risk to humans of falling bodies from historic buildings’ façades. The method is based on the identification of a group of parameters to assess façade’s hazards, vulnerability and public exposure. The results provide the identification of risk factors and related affecting parameters, proposing a synthetic indicator to quantify the risk. The proposal is original in the field of both maintenance planning and preventive maintenance, intending to preserve architectural heritage and public safety. The results lead to an easy tool, as a map, to prioritise risk mitigation interventions. Such a tool, if integrated into maintenance tenders, allows the evaluation, in the context of condition-based maintenance, of the need for interventions.

Keywords: maintenance management; condition assessment; degradation; public safety; risk assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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