A break in the municipal water supply or drainage network can cause a significant change in ground conditions. Because water may have been leaking for an unknown period, it increases the effective stresses in the ground, which causes consolidation of the fill layer on which the foundations rest -if there are any- and the resulting differential settlement of the footings, especially those closest to where the leak was found.
In fact, if a trial pit is dug to inspect the foundations of the homes, you will see the large amount of moisture in the ground on which the foundations rest (it is like mud).
Basically, what has happened is due to a combination of two of the causes that most often lead to foundation failures:
First, the ground on which the foundations rest consists of loose man-made fill (e.g. clay soils), but it had remained stable for decades. And second, the foundations designed and built for the homes were not suitable for that type of ground.
And the water ingress from the break in a supply pipe located in the street has caused very significant changes in the geotechnical properties and the bearing capacity of the ground on which the homes stand, causing the effect known as “washing out of fines”, whose stresses the structure has been unable to withstand, resulting in cracking and hairline cracking, especially in the façade walls.
In these cases, the liable party may be the public authority or the water concession company for the malfunctioning of its public service, or the developer or the designer for failing to study the ground properly and provide foundations suitable for it. Or it may even be a combination of both causes. Dpcon S.L., with its architects and lawyers, studies each specific case, examining the cause of the damage, in order to claim against those responsible. Consult us.
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