The other day I was chatting with an inspector about his concrete observation on his reports. He explained it was his boilerplate comment for concrete flat work and then described to me the condition which actually existed. Needless to say, I was overcome.

What was observed was a separation of the concrete garage floor from the adjacent stem wall. This condition described was the shrinkage which occurs at  "cold joints". And I replied, "what does that have to do with settlement?

I always begin by defining the words used when describing an observation. Used for look up was http://www.merriam-webster.com/

• Normal, (adjective) : according with, constituting, or not deviating from a norm, rule, or principle.
• Settlement, (noun) :the act or process of settling, which is to settle intransitive verb 1 : to come to rest.

Is this a good statement (normal settlement) to use? Who has the authority to determine normal, an engineer? Very possible.  Is not settlement an ongoing process? What opinion should a client form? What additional advise should an inspector provide?

Lets analyze a common inspector's statement "typical cracks".

• Typical, (adjective): symbolic, combining or exhibiting the essential characteristics of a group (i.e. typical suburban houses).
• Crack , (Noun): a narrow break or opening.
  

Is this a good statement (typical cracks) to use? Are concrete cracks essential characteristics?

Where do most of the cracks come from, is it not from curing?

Concrete Curing definition excerpts from Wikipedia:

• Hydration and hardening of concrete during the first three days is critical. Abnormally fast drying and shrinkage due to factors such as evaporation from wind during placement may lead to increased tensile stresses at a time when it has not yet gained significant strength, resulting in greater shrinkage cracking.
• Properly curing concrete leads to increased strength and lower permeability, and avoids cracking where the surface dries out prematurely.

I believe I would use two different boilerplate statements for concrete flat work. One for shrinkage and one for settlement. They are:

• Concrete Curing cracks observed, monitor for changes.
• Concrete settlement observed, engineering evaluation recommended.