ABSTRACT
Many failures, when investigated, have been found to arise from a combination of causes. The traditional design sequence starts with the sizing of members. These are determined from the loading (permanent and variable actions) with reference to bending moments and, for beams, shear forces. The reinforcement is then calculated to cater for these forces. Much of the reinforcement is detailed only after completion of the contract documents. Later, if problems are found in ‡tting the required reinforcement into an element or joint, it is dif‡cult to change the size of section on which the architect and services engineers agreed. Many such problems could have been avoided by producing sketches early on to show how the joint details could work before sizes were ‡nalised.
