ᐅ Is the structural engineering for the garage sufficient?

Hello,

I am having a garage of about 6 x 6 meters (20 x 20 feet) built directly attached to my new house. The architect planned a wall thickness of 24 cm (9.5 inches) for the remaining three walls, excluding the door. According to the construction company, the walls will now be built with 11.5 cm (4.5 inches) of calcium silicate blocks plus about 12 cm (5 inches) of facing bricks. The 11.5 cm (4.5 inches) thickness seems very slim to me in terms of structural stability, and I am wondering whether the facing bricks also contribute to the structural strength or if the architect might have simply forgotten to include them in the calculations.

Does anyone have experience with this?

You should not ask yourself or a forum whether the builder has forgotten something.

Regards

!Warning: layman’s opinion, I am neither a structural engineer nor an architect!:

Structurally, this is probably quite harmless, but if 24cm (9.5 inches) masonry plus insulation was planned, one should consider what purpose this serves(d) and whether it is dispensable or not. What do the construction drawings (1:50 or 1:100 scale) show—24cm (9.5 inches) including insulation or 24cm (9.5 inches) plus insulation?

Best regards,
Dirk Grafe

There is a building permit application for the garage, along with structural calculations that must be available at the start of construction. For execution, there are working drawings from the structural engineer that include all necessary details regarding material quality and dimensions. Ask your architect for these. If this information is not available, construction must be halted. An 11.5 cm (4.5 inch) masonry wall as a structural support for a concrete ceiling is generally not sufficient. The facing brickwork cannot carry any structural load if it is purely decorative and not properly connected to the load-bearing masonry or adequately founded.