# Serviceability (structure) > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Serviceability_(structure) > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Serviceability_(structure).md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serviceability_(structure) > Source revision: 1321312874 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Conditions under which a building is still considered useful For other uses, see [Serviceability (disambiguation)](/source/Serviceability_(disambiguation)). This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Serviceability" structure – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (January 2025) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must follow the LLM translation guideline, revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,956 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Gebrauchstauglichkeit (Bauwesen)]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|de|Gebrauchstauglichkeit (Bauwesen)}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. (Learn how and when to remove this message) In [civil engineering](/source/Civil_engineering) and [structural engineering](/source/Structural_engineering), **serviceability** refers to the conditions under which a building or [road surface](/source/Road_surface) is still considered useful or acceptable.[1][2][3] Should these [limit states](/source/Limit_state_design) be exceeded, a structure that may still be structurally sound would nevertheless be considered unfit. For buildings, it refers to conditions other than the building strength that render them unusable. Serviceability limit state design of structures includes factors such as durability, overall stability, fire resistance, deflection, cracking and excessive vibration. For example, a [skyscraper](/source/Skyscraper) could sway severely and cause the occupants to be sick (much like [sea-sickness](/source/Sea-sickness)), yet be perfectly sound structurally. This building is in no danger of collapsing, yet since it is obviously no longer fit for human occupation, it is considered to have exceeded its [serviceability limit](/source/Serviceability_limit) state. ## Serviceability limit A serviceability limit defines the performance criterion for serviceability and corresponds to a conditions beyond which specified service requirements resulting from the planned use are no longer met. In [limit state design](/source/Limit_state_design), a structure fails its serviceability if the criteria of the serviceability limit state are not met during the specified service life and with the required reliability. Hence, the serviceability limit state identifies a civil engineering structure which fails to meet technical requirements for use even though it may be strong enough to remain standing. A structure that fails serviceability has exceeded a defined limit for one of the following properties: - Excessive [deflection](/source/Deflection_(engineering)) - Vibration - Local deformation (engineering) Serviceability limits are not always defined by building code developer, government or regulatory agency. Building codes tend to be restricted to ultimate limits related to public and occupant safety. Global geopolitical variations are likely to exist. ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Zong, Chao; Zhai, Jiajun; Sun, Xiaoluan; Liu, Xingxing; Cheng, Xiaowu; Wang, Shenshan (23 August 2024). ["Analysis of Seismic Responses and Vibration Serviceability in a High-Rise Timber–Concrete Hybrid Building"](https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fbuildings14092614). *Buildings*. **14** (9) 2614. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.3390/buildings14092614](https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fbuildings14092614). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Brockenbrough, Roger L.; Boedecker, Kenneth J. Jr. (2003). *Highway Engineering Handbook* (2nd ed.). McGraw Hill. pp. 3.1.3. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780071400800](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780071400800). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Delatte, Norbert (2008). [*Concrete Pavement Design, Construction, and Performance*](https://archive.org/details/Concrete_Pavement_Design_Construction_and_Performance/page/n77/mode/2up?q=%22concept+of+serviceability%22+%22civil+engineering%22). London and New York: Taylor & Francis. p. 62. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-415-40970-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-40970-4). --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Serviceability (structure)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serviceability_(structure)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serviceability_(structure)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.