Abstract
Insufficient experience in the design of multi-layer brick walls as well as the lack of an adequate number of experimental studies can result in the disfunction of the normal operation of a building, such as the introduction of defects and damages represented by vertical cracks in a building. The investigation is concerned with an apartment building made up of eight 5-storeyed interlocked block sections of a broken shape. In exterior walls of the first floor, a layer of expanded clay concrete (layer thickness is 150 mm) is employed as a heat insulator between the main brickwork and the facing brick, the typical floor is made of mineral wool insulation of the PPG-200 brand. Experimental studies confirm that the combined action of a multilayer wall structure such as an internal main bearing wall made of silicate bricks (layer thickness is 380 mm), expanded clay insulation (layer thickness is 150 mm) and ceramic brick facing (layer thickness is 120 mm) is not provided. Thus, the fact of design error is established.