Translation: 30-Year Dangerous Building of Prefabricated Panel Houses
The claim that 'prefabricated panel houses become dangerous buildings after 30 years' is inaccurate. The state has not stipulated that prefabricated residential buildings should be scrapped or forcibly demolished after 30 years.
Difference between Design Service Life and Scrapping Life
According to the current national standard 'Unified Standard for Reliability Design of Building Structures' (GB50068 - 2018), the design service life of ordinary buildings and structures is 50 years, and prefabricated panel buildings also follow this regulation. The design service life refers to the expected safe service duration of a building under the conditions of normal construction, up-to-standard materials, and timely maintenance in the later stage. It is not a mandatory scrapping life. After the design service life, as long as the building passes the appraisal and can be repaired and reinforced, it can still be inhabited.
Origin of the '30-Year Lifespan' Claim
The claim of a '30-year lifespan' was not originally aimed at residential buildings. In the 1970s and 1980s, some temporary factory buildings and simple ancillary buildings referred to a 30-year inspection and maintenance cycle. Later, through word-of-mouth and misinterpretation in short videos, this reference period for simple buildings was wrongly applied to ordinary residential buildings.
Key Factors Determining the Safety of Old Buildings
The safety of old buildings is truly determined by the construction quality at the time, the surrounding environment, and later maintenance. Some buildings over 40 years old still have a solid main structure, while some buildings in their 20s are already full of hidden dangers. The peeling of wall plaster and fine cracks often reported online are mostly signs of surface aging, not signals of dangerous buildings. What should be truly vigilant about are situations such as 45-degree diagonal cracks in load-bearing walls, sagging floor slabs, and exposed rusty steel bars. In such cases, a safety appraisal should be carried out by a regular institution.
Building Safety Grades and Handling Methods
The state divides buildings into four grades from A to D. The vast majority of prefabricated panel buildings belong to Grade A. These buildings have a structural bearing capacity that can meet normal use requirements, with no dangerous points found, and their structural safety is ensured. They undergo renovation and maintenance rather than demolition. Only Grade D dangerous buildings, where the load-bearing structure can no longer meet normal use requirements and the entire building is in a dangerous condition, constituting a whole-building hazard, will be scheduled for demolition.
