We followed experts in the inspection of a building

If Martine Aubry refutes the term “psychosis” after the collapse which cost the life of a man, in mid-November, in Lille, it is clear that building expertise firms have been in greater demand since the tragedy. This Tuesday morning, 20 minutes followed an inspection mission of a building in Vieux-Lille with two experts from the company Socotec, commissioned by the owner.

Mathieu Delattre and Romain Raullet, two expert building engineers from Socotec, had the task of thoroughly inspecting a building located at 19, rue Royale, in Lille. The address is also well known to Lille residents, since the commercial ground floor is occupied by the Bier Buik, one of Florent Ladeyn’s establishments. “The building was completely refurbished in 2018, it’s just a question of whether everything is going well”, assures 20 minutes Anthony Aouizerat, boss of the Lille Immo agency which manages the building on behalf of the owner.

“It may seem so simple”

This agency, which provides the trustee for a thousand properties in Lille, did not wait for the collapse of rue Pierre-Mauroy to secure the services of Socotec. “We are also thinking about setting up a periodicity in the controls of the buildings managed by Lille Immo, a kind of technical control”, explains Romain Raullet. And that is precisely what it was all about, this Tuesday morning, rue Royale. “We make a visual diagnosis to identify any structural disorders that could be detrimental to the solidity of the building”, continues the expert.

Their first target: the facade. “We spotted a few cracks in the railings on the upper floors. It will be a question of ensuring that these cracks are not through”, insists Romain Raullet before rushing into the cellar of the building in the company of his colleague. There, by the light of their telephones, the experts inspect the vaulted ceiling. “It may seem simple like that, recognizes Mathieu Delattre, but our engineering training and our experience allow us to make the difference between what may seem serious and what is not. “In a few seconds, they come across a crack in the vault of the cellar, a “mistake” of the workers who drilled to pass cables. “It is to be watched without being alarming. What you shouldn’t do is accumulate a lot of these little mistakes, ”laments Romain Raullet.

A crack in the basement “to watch”

Upstairs, the experts note several cracks on the Placoplatre partitions, “nothing bad here, just people who can’t close doors without slamming them,” jokes Mathieu Delattre. Moreover, in the opinion of the specialists, no major disorder was observed, only the crack in the basement being “to be monitored”. All their observations will be recorded in a report which they will then submit to the client. “In it, we are going to define the disorders then characterize them according to their level of severity. It is a decision-making tool in the hands of the project manager, who will decide on the action to be taken”, specifies Mathieu Delattre.

The owner’s representative was not worried. “A tragedy like that of rue Pierre-Mauroy has no influence on real estate prices,” he says. The only thing that can happen is that investors demand a diagnosis like the one we have just made”.

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