Students’ Recommendations for the Guidelines for Failure Investigation

This is the first publication of a series of forum papers to be published by the Committee for Forensic Investigations CFI of the Technical Council on Forensic Engineering TCFE in the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities as part of the review and revision process of Guidelines for Failure Investigation published by ASCE’s Task Committee on Guidelines for Failure Investigations of the Technical Council on Forensic Engineering . The intent of this publication series is to keep a record of the review process and to encourage the practicing community—who may not be members of the committee—to provide feedback and comments. Consistent with the goal of any ASCE guideline, this publication is not intended to be a standard for engineering practices and is not intended for use as a reference in purchase specifications, contracts, regulations, statutes, or any other legal document. The purpose of the original Guidelines for Failure Investigation the guidelines is to provide an overview of the function and tasks for conducting a successful failure investigation. The guidelines covered aspects of the investigative process from the planning of an investigation, the development of a failure hypothesis, and the preparation of a concise report, to the engineer’s role as an expert witness. The guidelines not only provide an introduction to the investigative process for the initiate forensic engineer, but also supply the veteran investigator with references and guidance.