Auscultation of fire-damaged buildings guide for the expert witness: Elaboration of an adapted method (French text)

This masters thesis introduces an adapted method for the auscultation of fire-damaged building in order to establish the state of damage of the building. There are four steps to that method: (a) gathering of all possible information on the fire damaged building; (b) examining the building in order to characterize the fire; (c) comparing the observations obtained in the building regarding the behavior and type of degradation of construction materials exposed to the heat; (d) analyzing the results of the auscultation and concluding on the fire damaged building.; These steps allow us to determine the effects of the fire on the building and related damages.; Three case studies of fire-damaged buildings are presented to illustrate the proposed, method: (a) one made of steel; (b) one made of wood; (c) one made with incombustible materials, which was attacked by an exterior fire.; The steel structure was heavily damaged and this is clearly shown by the pictures included. The deep carbonization of the parts in the wood structure was severe and the damage was much bigger than first estimated by preliminary observations. The fire outside the incombustible building did not affect it and the presence of temperature monitors located near the fire facilitated the characterization of the fire.; The aim of the present study is to elaborate a method of auscultation for fire damaged buildings. It is documented with publications and a four-year personal experience of the author through hundreds of examinations of fire damaged buildings. Many pictures taken on actual fire scene are included throughout the text.