Cracks appear on the walls of multiple households... "The larger the window, the better"? The load-bearing wall at the bottom of the residential building has been cut

Recently, a listener from Qingdao, Shandong reported to the China Voice News Hotline 400-800-0088 that during the renovation and construction of the street comprehensive elderly care service center downstairs, the load-bearing wall was cut off without authorization, resulting in cracks appearing in the upstairs home.

At present, longitudinal cracks have appeared in the homes of multiple residents in this 22 story residential building. Residents stated that wall cracking was discovered after the load-bearing wall was damaged, and the number of cracks and cracks on the wall continued to increase. Who will ensure the safety of residents when demolishing load-bearing walls privately?

The load-bearing wall at the bottom of the residential building has been cut

"Open the window, the bigger the better"

The two damaged load-bearing walls are located within the Yan'an Road Street Comprehensive Elderly Care Service Center in the North District of Qingdao City, Shandong Province. The third floor of Building 1 in Zone A1 of the 15th Street community is the business outlet of the elderly care service center. These days, the gate here has been tightly closed, and the key is in the hands of the residents.

Building 1, Area A1, Fifteenth Street Community, North District, Qingdao City

The residents opened the door to the reporter, and the reporter found that many walls in the house have been demolished, and multiple spaces have been opened up. At the corner of a wall on the third floor, two adjacent load-bearing walls were cut into two large holes, with a combined area exceeding 7 square meters. The thickness of both walls exceeds 60 centimeters, and the cross-section of the walls is relatively flat, with multiple rows of steel bars clearly visible.

△ Cut load-bearing wall

Mr. Yin, a resident, recalled that on the evening of August 17th, someone loudly shouted that the load-bearing wall had been cut off downstairs. After going downstairs, they found forklifts and trucks, and saw reinforced concrete on the trucks. "After entering, I found that two walls had been cut off. I called 110 at the time, but when the police arrived and stopped the demolition, I left the keys behind."

△ Reinforced concrete blocks

The reporter found that in addition to several demolished and cut walls, there are also four unmarked demolition marks on the second floor of the construction site, one of which reads "Open windows, bigger is better". Mr. Yin said that if the construction team were allowed to demolish it, the consequences would be unimaginable.

At present, construction has stopped. It is understood that Qingdao Jiuzhou Fulin Home Care Service Co., Ltd. is the operating unit of Yan'an Road Street Comprehensive Elderly Care Service Center. In a notice posted at the entrance of the construction site, the company claimed that during the renovation process, the construction party damaged the load-bearing wall, causing safety hazards. It has commissioned a local engineering quality inspection and appraisal center in Qingdao to conduct on-site investigation and professional appraisal.

Multiple households have cracks penetrating the walls of their homes

Who will ensure the safety of residents?

The residential building at the scene was built along a mountain, facing the main road of the city. The ground floor has three floors, and the damaged load-bearing wall is located on the third floor. There are also 19 floors of residential buildings above the ground floor, with a total of 287 households in 3 units.

Many walls in the third floor of the house have been demolished

Ms. Mao, the head of a residential building, said that since the incident of privately demolishing load-bearing walls, there have been reports of cracks and fissures on the walls of homes since August 24th. At present, feedback is concentrated on households 04 and 05, and the number of floors is gradually increasing. "Unit 3, Households 04 and 05 are located directly above the damaged load-bearing wall, and the broken wall happens to be on the side of Households 05. Neighbors have checked each other and found cracks on the back-to-back walls of Households 04 and 05 that are gradually moving upwards."

Residents of 105 households in the residential area stated that about a month ago, a construction team entered the ground floor for construction, and the noise and vibration had a significant impact on their homes. After the construction was suspended, there were more and more cracks and cracks on the walls of the house.

The reporter found that there were three cracks on the wall of the second bedroom in the resident's home, and one crack at the corner of the wall cracked from the floor to the roof. The reporter tested with paper and found that the crack could be inserted into one or two pieces of paper.

Cracked walls in residents' homes

Subsequently, the reporter discovered cracks running through the same location in households 205 and 605, and the crack veins on the same wall were roughly the same as those in households 105. 605 residents said that on the 24th, she inspected the entire house with a flashlight and did not find this crack, which appeared in the past week.

At present, relevant departments have taken temporary reinforcement measures for two damaged load-bearing walls, using 7 iron columns to support the cross-section. Ms. Mao still has doubts about this: "Looking at the height of the pillar not being enough, there are some things stuffed in. If there are really any problems, can we resist them? I'm very worried about our safety. Who will be responsible?"

Temporary reinforcement device

Experts suggest door-to-door testing and continuous dynamic monitoring

These days, residents want to obtain the structural diagram of this building from relevant departments, but the neighborhood committee has stated that they cannot provide an introduction letter. Mr. Yin, a resident, said that many things have exceeded the capacity of the neighborhood committee, but the street office has not arranged a dedicated person to be responsible for this matter.

△ Elderly care service center involved

The person in charge of the Urban Management Department of Yan'an Road Sub district Office stated in a phone call with Mr. Yin that the relevant appraisal results of the entrusted appraisal agency will be released soon, and residents are advised to wait patiently.

But Mr. Yin expressed his concern: the appraisal center did not inspect the situation door-to-door, and it has been a week since the last appraisal, and cracks and cracks in many residents' homes continue to increase. During this period, the appraisal center did not continue to monitor. Is the appraisal done a week ago still effective?

Regarding this, Li Jinjun, the chief engineer of the Institute of Architectural Design and Planning at Tianjin University, suggests that if conditions permit, conducting household inspections and obtaining dynamic and continuous monitoring data can make the report more reasonable and convincing.

"Once it is found that the load-bearing structure has been dismantled or modified without authorization, it should be rectified in a timely manner. Qualified professional institutions should be invited to conduct relevant assessments, and then qualified professional institutions should develop reasonable and feasible solutions. After everyone agrees, the next step of rectification work can be carried out."

In June of this year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development issued a notice on further strengthening the safety management of indoor decoration and renovation of urban houses, which strictly prohibits changes to the main body and load-bearing structure of buildings without the original design unit or design units with corresponding qualification levels proposing design plans.

Who instructed the construction party to "open the window, the bigger the better"? What is the current safety of this building after the load-bearing wall is cut? How do relevant departments respond to residents' concerns? Voice of China at the headquarters will continue to monitor.

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