2.5 DEFORMATION
The NCRB and Standards Australia Glossary of Building Terms, HB 50 describes ‘deformation’ as a change of shape of a structural member or structure, resulting from the applications of load(s). In addition to deflection, deformation includes any plastic, non-recoverable movement.
Often the change will not be noticeable, but may result in trivial defects and in some cases in defects of appreciable magnitude. The symptoms and causes outlined in the following examples are not intended to be all inclusive. However, they will give an indication of the more common characteristics which may be readily observed at the time of inspection.