What is structural load?

After reading the article in the Star on the press conference given by the Jaya Project Consultants, I am intrigued further by the causes of the Jaya collapse. Coffee shop pundits have been bouncing around the idea that structural failure was somehow involved. Well, it is better to speak from an informed standpoint than to be an 'armchair expert', so for all you kopi tiam experts, here is a brief explanation of structural load:

Structural loads are forces applied to a component of a structure or to the structure as a unit.
In structural design, assumed loads are specified in national and local design codes for types of structures, geographic locations, and usage. In addition to the load magnitude, its frequency of occurrence, distribution, and nature (static or dynamic) are important factors in design. Loads cause stresses, deformation and displacements in structures. Assessment of their effects is carried out by the methods of structural analysis. Excess load or overloading may cause structural failure, and hence such possibility should be either considered in the design or strictly controlled.
In the Eurocodes, the term actions has a similar meaning to loads, but encompasses applied deformations as well as forces.
The following lists the common loading types primarily for civil infrastructure and land machinery. Structures for aerospace (e.g. aircraft, satellites, rockets, space stations, etc...) and marine environments (e.g. boats, submarines, etc.) have their own particular design loads and consideratio includes dead loads but also includes forces set up by irreversible changes in a structure's constraints - for example, loads due to settlement, the secondary effects of prestress or due to shrinkage and creep in concrete.