Never risk structures to sub-standard fixings.
What is a Safety-critical application? European Technical guidelines defines as “Applications in which the failure of an anchor could result in collapse or partial collapse of a structure, cause risk to human life, or lead to a significant economic loss”. Given the importance of the reliability and stability of anchors in protecting the safety, health and welfare of people and property, each anchor used in a structural capacity should always have a European Technical Assessment(ETA) approval.
There have been a number of tragic fatal failures due to defective anchor usage.
Fatal Big Dig Anchor Failure – The Big Dig ceiling collapse in 2006, when a concrete ceiling panel of 24 tons fell in Boston’s Fort Point Channel Tunnel. The panel fell on a car killing a passenger and injuring the driver. This also caused the tunnel to be closed for almost a full year, causing chronic traffic backups.
Tunnel ceiling collapse kills in Japan – More than 300 ceiling panels, weighing about 1,200kg each, collapsed in a section of tunnel crushing three vehicles and their occupants and damaging several other vehicles. Suspected cause of the collapse is failure of the anchor bolts
Therefore, it is imperative to ensure that the fixing selected should satisfy the load and factor of safety requirements.
Ask to see the ETA approval certification. The approval will tell you all about the anchor and the methodology for fixing, loading and failure.
Check out the EXPANDET Anchor page for more information.