A damage event is a notable occurrence during the construction or existence phases of an object's lifespan, in which the object is significantly damaged. This does not include destruction, wrecking, or disassembly in its demolition phase except as an unexpected precipitator of the object's destruction.

Damage events can leave the building standing in a functional state, reduced to ruins, or completely destroyed. They include various sorts of accidental as well as willful occurrences. Causes may arise from nature, human activity, surrounding objects, flaws in the object itself, or from elsewhere.

The damage can range from a serious impairment of a functioning structure to an occurrence that precipitates its complete destruction. The exclusion concerns ordinary demolition activity, rather than every event with a destructive outcome.