What we learn on site, explained briefly.
Photo: Michael Bader / Unsplash
Case study · 5 min
The August 10, 2026 earthquake: what failed in Cali
The buildings that collapsed were not built to the NSR-10. Flexible frames, older codes and a soil that amplified the shaking.
Read the noteCase studies
What earthquakes and real projects leave behind: what failed, why, and what we learn.
Regulations: NSR-10 and Law 1796
The code explained for owners, builders and designers.
Interventoría in Colombia: what construction oversight is, what it covers and when it is required
The interventor represents the owner and controls quality, schedule and cost. Technical supervision is one part of that work, and it is the part the law requires.
Structural design in Colombia: what it includes and what the NSR-10 requires for the permit
Who signs it, what the drawings and the calculations must contain, and in what order it is done.
One- and two-story houses: what Title E of the NSR-10 requires
Foundations, confined walls, openings and tie columns: the minimums for building an earthquake-resistant house.
Technical supervision under Title I: what it checks and what records it leaves
The minimum scope of supervision, the log it must keep and the final certificate it signs.
Are there earthquakes in Barranquilla? What the NSR-10 requires on the coast
The seismic hazard is low, but the design must also deal with the soil, the wind and the salt air.
Independent design review and technical supervision: how they differ
One checks the paper before the permit; the other checks what is built during construction. Law 1796 requires both.
Certificado Técnico de Ocupación (CTO): what it is and how to obtain it
Who signs it, when it is needed and why it depends on supervising the works from the first concrete pour.
Law 1796: when technical supervision is mandatory
Area thresholds, who can supervise and what the curaduría asks for.
Earthquakes
Seismic hazard, design forces and how buildings behave in Colombia.
Seismic hazard on the Caribbean coast: city by city under the NSR-10
Barranquilla and Cartagena are in the low hazard zone; Santa Marta, Montería, Sincelejo and Riohacha, in the intermediate zone.
Occupancy groups: why a school or a clinic is designed stronger
The NSR-10 sorts buildings into four groups and raises the design forces by up to 50%.
Story drift: how much a building may move in an earthquake
The NSR-10 limits the displacement between floors to 1% of the story height in concrete and steel. Why it matters.
Nonstructural elements: walls, facades and building systems in the NSR-10
What does not hold the building up must also be designed for earthquakes. And on the coast there is an exemption.
Soils
Geotechnical studies and the soils of the coast.
Soil profile in the NSR-10: types A to F and how they change the design earthquake
In the same city, the same building may have to be designed for an acceleration three times higher depending on the soil. Table A.2.4-1, explained.
Geotechnical study: how many borings, and how deep, the NSR-10 requires
The building's category sets the minimum number of borings and their depth. Title H sets it out.
Expansive clays in southwest Barranquilla
Foundations for soils that swell in the rainy season and shrink in the dry season.
Durability
Concrete, steel and salt air: structures that last.
Concrete near the sea: what the NSR-10 requires against salt air
Exposure class C2, a water-cement ratio of 0.40, 35 MPa and concrete cover: the code's recipe for the coast.
Chlorides and reinforcement: the concrete cover that actually protects
Why the sea breeze corrodes concrete from the inside, and what to specify to prevent it.
On site
Materials, testing and quality control during construction.
Pathology
Cracks, damage and retrofit of existing structures.
Seismic vulnerability study: what it is, when the NSR-10 requires it and what it includes
Chapter A.10 compares the existing structure with a new one and expresses it in two indices: overstress and flexibility.
Existing buildings: when the NSR-10 requires an assessment and a retrofit
Changes of use, extensions, structural alterations and earthquake damage: what chapter A.10 requires.
When is a crack dangerous?
How to tell a cosmetic crack from one that needs an engineer: width, direction, where it appears and whether it grows.
Contact
Let's talk about your project
Tell us what stage you are at. An engineer replies with a proposal for scope and fees.
Our team works in Spanish. You can write to us in English and we will get back to you.
Photo: Julia Taubitz / Unsplash