Another important reason for the damages incurred by the RC buildings is workmanship defects. It is understood that granulometry of the handmade concretes was not in compliance with the standards since the aggregate utilized in them was not sieved. Also the compaction process was not properly implemented in general in the installment of concrete in RC buildings. This situation resulted in the concrete to exhibit an excessively porous structure. The most fundamental rules of thumb of construction, namely concrete cover, was not taken care of in formwork workmanship. Faults in the connections of stirrups to the longitudinal bars, unstaggered formation of stirrup hooks in beams and columns, the perpendicular angles of the hooks, inadequately anchorage lengths of the stirrup hooks and longitudinal bars, and the use of cold joints were the other frequently encountered workmanship defects (Figs. 19–22).
