Vibrationdamage.com

Getting vibration monitoring data

Vibration monitoring in construction jobs is, by no means, universal, even though it is often required by contract or Federal regulation. The best data we have at vibrationdamage.com suggests that a minimum of about 20% of jobs are monitored for vibration, based on the observations of homeowners. It is critical that you get all available vibration monitoring data, since such data will be used against you, usually highly selectively, to "prove" that no damaging vibrations occurred. Basic information on monitoring can be found on our site at https://vibrationdamage.com/vibration_monitoring.htm

Your attorney can demand copies in lawsuit discovery, but I've seen several cases, in both my own and consulting, in which the contractor said he didn't have such data at all. Some of it was then produced when faced with very unfavorable data produced by the property owner from his own measurements. It's also common for vibration monitoring data to be produced, then later to find from document productions that the monitoring data production is massively and selectively incomplete.

It's often found in a careful analysis of vibration data that unfavorable data are not mentioned in reports to the contractor, as shown when the raw digital data are produced. Thus, such contractor reports on vibration monitoring are not good indicators of what the vibrations really were. All of this simply says that you must be persistent and meticulous when you request vibration monitoring data from a contractor. You must get the original raw data, not just reports to the contractor, which are may be incomplete and biased.

Engineering and standards

Because ground vibration standards are ultimately subject to, and based on, statistical variation, none of them take into account directly the specific structure and engineering of any single nearby home. Standards consider only groups of structures which share fundamental elements. Although most of the standards recognize differences in engineering and construction method, separating engineered and non-engineered structures into different classes with different acceptable ground vibration velocities, it should be kept in mind that most homes in the U.S. are of non-engineered, wood-frame construction. They are built based on good construction practices and building codes which are shared around the country, but not identical.

Thus, the specific structure of a home experiencing vibration damage around a construction site is not accounted for in any way in any vibration mitigation process or plan. After damage is reported, engineers are often hired by contractors and insurance companies to attribute the damage to engineering or other claimed "flaws", with little or no knowledge of whether good practices and local building codes were followed.

Engineers are used as "experts" in vibration damage litigation or when claims are reported. While engineering expertise can be valuable in specific damage situations, VERY few engineers are actually truly experts in ground vibration and its effects. Most are poorly informed scientifically on it. That may explain why at least 700 engineers worldwide have gotten known copies of my CVDG in the free version or purchased the much more comprehensive Professional Edition.

You may need an engineer in your vibration damage case, but you and your attorney should work hard to find out if he really knows the field. You hire an expert based on what he knows, NOT claimed "experience" or training, none of which may be helpful to you. One clear indicator of lack of knowledge is if the engineer is aware of and cites only blasting related vibration studies, which are largely irrelevant to construction-caused damage. Blasting vibration limits are considered the "least appropriate" ones for construction vibration. To be valuable to you, an engineer MUST know about vibration effects, not just structural engineering.

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Every minute counts

When you discover damage to your home or building which you believe was caused by nearby construction vibration, you will have a lot do in the minutes and hours immediately following the discovery. The ultimate outcome of your claim will depend to a great extent upon what you do the first day after you become convinced that you have damage.

First, you must document the damage as quickly as possible. Because even a few minutes can be important if construction with heavy equipment is still ongoing, do an initial quick survey for damage instances, photographing or videotaping as you go. You can return a few hours later for a more complete and exhaustive survey. Because more damage will likely appears in the weeks and months subsequent to your discovery of the first damage, you should resurvey the damage occasionally to record the newly appearing examples.

Then, you MUST start documenting on video and/or photos the construction itself, especially those operations like vibratory compaction, pile driving, blasting and heavy equipment movement, which are known to be capable of causing damage in many circumstances. You should continue to document the construction until it finishes in your immediate neighborhood.

Once you have started all these processes, you must immediately inform the contractor and the project sponsor of the damage. That will trigger a nearly immediate set of damage inspections by the contractor's representatives and numerous others. If you have extensive damage, you will probably want to contact an attorney to help you with interactions with all the people who will want to view the damage. It is wise to retain a vibration damage expert as early as possible to help you and your attorney.

This post portrays a tiny part of the work that you will do to forward a legitimate vibration damage claim, but it is the most critical. For more see https://vibrationdamage.com/pursuing_a_claim.htm and the links to other pages there for the details of documenting and pursuing your claim.

Making A Vibration Damage Claim What's involved in making a vibration damage claim