A new approach based on reliability-based analyses for allocation of fault between responsible parties in geotechnical failures

A new discipline called "Forensic Geotechnical Engineering" was created in 2005 by the ISSMGE TC40 technical committee to investigate the failure of engineering facilities or structures due to soil interaction. Forensic Geotechnical Engineering (FGE), when analyzing a geotechnical hazard/failure, must examine the issue not only from a technical but also from a legal perspective. In the Turkish judicial system, most of the disputes arising from geotechnical-related failures are settled in the courts. Turkish law generally requires a forensic geotechnical engineer to identify those responsible for the case and allocate fault between the parties. However, this requirement places an enormous burden on forensic geotechnical engineers, who are widely accepted for this purpose. The current system lacks acceptable approaches for determining the liability-fault rate relationship, resulting in unfair outcomes. For this purpose, the study proposes an acceptable approach for the allocation of fault between the responsible parties. In the proposed method, geotechnical analyses are performed with reliability-based methods to determine the design risk, and the faults of the responsible parties within the framework of their job descriptions in the laws are taken into consideration. A case study is given as an example for a better understanding of the proposed approach. In the case study, legal details about the fault are given and geotechnical analyses are performed with reliability-based approaches. As a result of the evaluations, an objective apportionment of fault was made. Thanks to the determined fault ratios, the judge was able to determine an equitable compensation.