Which term refers to the available facts indicating truth of a claim?

• A. Disaster
• B. Evidence
• C. Deck
• D. Buckling

Answer: (B)

Understanding what counts as evidence is key. Evidence means the available facts, data, and observations that support whether a claim is true. It's what investigators gather to show that something happened or to prove a point, and it lets you compare claims against actual information. In a structural or disaster investigation, evidence can be design documents, material test results, lab reports, measurements, photos, and eyewitness accounts—anything that helps establish the truth of what occurred. The other terms describe things that aren’t about supporting factual truth: a disaster is an event, a deck is a surface, buckling describes a failure mode rather than the facts used to prove a claim. So, the best fit for “available facts indicating truth of a claim” is evidence.