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For example, not talking about hinges here but you design of concrete beams, column in general is based on force control. You can also do a strain control design, where you assume strain in reinforcement and work your way back.Again, these examples are just to give you high level idea and not related to hinges.

please consult geotech engineer for slope stability

The procedure which we normally follow here for testing is schmidt hammer testing for the concrete strength and hiliti use rebar scanner for steel reinfrocement checks. This gives good idea. in case of critical structures where more precise info is required we hire testing companies for rebar scanning and exact size, shape and spacing. They do X-Ray testing, wave testing etc to verify the reinforcement and give us the results. the next step is IL4 structures like hospitals etc there if we donot have good information on the as built we might go for some core testing and break the plaster on walls to see the actua size of reo and even cut steel reo (only in case the building was built prior to 1920). The location of the steel sample is based on structural system, and normally the secondary or tertiary elements are used for this type of testing.

I would agree with this, as here in New Zealand we do quiet abig number of builidng and bridge assessments on frequent basis. Number one goal in doing an assessment is to get the as built information along with all the records of structure and do detailed inspection of the structure along with several tests for concrete and reinforecment scans at critical locations. Once you are comfortable with all the information you had you can start it any way by hand or using a software. If in case some info is missing you can discuss with th client the assumptions you are considering for your analysis based on the codes and design methods of that era.