TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS
Graphics Department
Manila
Building Construction
Methods
The process of preparing for and forming buildings and building
systems.
Construction starts with planning, design, and financing and continues
until the structure is ready for occupancy.
Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of
human multitasking. Normally, the job is managed by a project manager,
and supervised by a construction manager, design engineer, construction
engineer or project architect.
 For the successful execution of a project, effective planning is essential.
 Those involved with the design and execution of the infrastructure in
question must consider the environmental impact of the job, the
successful scheduling, budgeting, construction site safety, availability and
transportation of building materials, logistics, inconvenience to the public
caused by construction delays and bidding, etc.
Building Construction
Building construction is the process of adding structure to real
property or construction of buildings.
The vast majority of building construction jobs are small renovations,
such as addition of a room, or renovation of a bathroom.
Often, the owner of the property acts as laborer, paymaster, and
design team for the entire project. However, all building construction
projects include some elements in common – design, financial,
estimating and legal considerations.
Many projects of varying sizes reach undesirable end results, such as
structural collapse, cost overruns, and/or litigation. For this reason,
those with experience in the field make detailed plans and maintain
careful oversight during the project to ensure a positive outcome.
Building Construction
Commercial building construction is procured privately or publicly
utilizing various delivery methodologies, including cost estimating, hard
bid, negotiated price, traditional, management contracting, construction
management-at-risk, design & build and design-build bridging.
Residential construction practices, technologies, and resources must
conform to local building authority regulations and codes of practice.
Materials readily available in the area generally dictate the construction
materials used (e.g. brick versus stone, versus timber). Cost of
construction on a per square meter (or per square foot) basis for houses
can vary dramatically based on site conditions, local regulations,
economies of scale (custom designed homes are often more expensive to
build) and the availability of skilled tradespeople. As residential
construction (as well as all other types of construction) can generate a lot
of waste, careful planning again is needed here.
Types of Construction Projects
In general, there are nine types of construction:
Residential building construction
Light commercial construction
Multi-family construction
Health-Care construction
Environmental construction
Industrial construction
Commercial building construction
Institutional construction
Heavy civil construction
Each type of construction project requires a unique team to plan, design,
construct and maintain the project.
Preparation of Building Plans
& Documents
Briefly defined, construction plans consist of drawings, diagrams and notes, showing the
layout of floors and uses; the elevations or views, cross section; specified materials, other
relevant information about the structure. In general, building plans consists of the following:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Architectural Plans & Detail Drawings
Structural Design computations & Detail Drawings
Electrical Plans, Load Analysis, Computations and Riser Diagrams, Specifications
Plumbing Plans, Details of Septic Vault, Diagrams of Plumbing Lines, Specifications
Mechanical Plans and Specifications, where required
Others: Landscaping and Interior Designs, etc.
Documents forming part of the building plans such as:
a) Construction Specifications
b) Bill of Materials & Cost Estimates
c) Structural Design & Analysis
d) Application for construction permits & utilities
e) Other supporting papers or clearances required by local government rules & regulations
The plans & companion documents are signed and dry sealed by the architect and the
engineers who prepared them. The project owner must also sign them to signify his/her
approval.
Team Players in the Planning
&Construction of a Project
The principal players assuming lead roles in initiating a project & preparing their
plans & implementing them are the following:
Project owner or Proponent
Architects, Engineers & Consultants
Contractor, Builder, Construction Manager or Administrator
Also playing supporting parts are financiers, real estate brokers, government
regulatory agencies, manufacturers and distributors of construction materials and
the construction workers.
The owner conceives the idea of constructing a building to serve a specific need
or purpose. He also provides the fund to build it. The funding may come from the
owner alone, or through a real estate loan or from investors.
The initial step in transforming the project into the project into concrete reality is for
the owner to contract the services of licensed professionals –qualified by training
and experience-to prepare the plans and the related documents.
Discussing the Project Requirements
Before work on the plans is started, the owner & the architect
would first discuss the project program & requirements. The
owner would specify the purpose of the building & enumerate
the needs to be met & the objectives to be attained. He/She
gives suggestions & insights for the architect to take into
account in drawing the building plans.
In the project discussions, the owner lets the architect know
the amount of the budget & source of funding for the
construction & related works. The payment of fees & the
schedule of releases for the architectural- engineering and the
supervision and inspection services are agreed upon. These
are put in writing and signed by all concerned parties.
Engineers & Consultants required
in Preparing Building Plans
Aside from his regular staff consisting of draftspersons, architectural designers,
estimators, specifications writers & administrative employees, the architect must
also avail of the technical expertise of engineers & consultants to assist in
producing all drawings and accompanying documents for a given project.
Engineers/experts supplementing the regular work force of the architect’s office
are the following:
Professional Electrical Engineer or Master Electrician-prepares,
signs and dry- seals the electric plans; including the application for an electrical
permit to be issued by the concerned government office and the utility company
to supply electric power for the project.
Sanitary Engineer or Master Plumber-prepares, signs and dry-seals the
plumbing plans; including the application for the plumbing permit from the
concerned government unit.
Engineers & Consultants required
in Preparing Building Plans
Civil-Structural Engineer-designs & computes the correct sizes for structural
frames & other critical parts to achieve economy in the construction, strength,
stability & safety of the building; signs & dry seals his work.
Mechanical Engineer-prepares plans for mechanical installation; signs and
dry seals the plans and application for permit to place the equipment indicated in
the drawings.
Geodetic Engineer-draws the lot plan based from the data on the OCT or TCT
of the project site if not yet available; or surveys the land, computes boundaries
and locates or relocates concrete lot monuments, signs and seals his work.
Other experts, if required by the nature of the project or by the owner are:
Landscape
Architects,
Interior
Designers,
Environmental
Planners; Geo-technical Engineers, etc.
Lot Plan and Location Map of
the Project Site
The project owner-aside from giving the guidelines and requirements to be taken
into account in drawing the plans-should also provide the architect with the
information about the area, shape, boundaries and characteristics of the terrain
on which the building will be erected. The ideal source of the required
information is the lot prepared by a licensed geodetic engineer or land surveyor.
On this plan are plotted the land monuments (represented by circles) and the
bearings and distances of the boundaries based on the technical descriptions
appearing on the Original Certificate of Title (OCT) or Transfer Certificate of Title
(TCT) of the land.
The architect/project designer needs all the technical information about the
lot/project site to help him determine the ideal size, shape, orientation and
placement of the proposed structure when he prepares the site development
plan for the project.
Location/Vicinity Map of the
Project Site
The Lot Plan is prepared by the Geodetic Engineer on a prescribed drawing sheet.
Among other standard drawings to be shown thereon is the Location or Vicinity
Map where the exact position of the project site in a subdivision or community is
pinpointed. Details shown on the location map are the lots, blocks and the
network of roads in the area, etc.
The Site Development Plan
In the Site Development Plan, the position, shape and dimensions of the
proposed project are shown. The improvement proposed to be introduced on the
property are also indicated.
Inspection of the Project Site
To acquaint the architect with actual
conditions of the project site, the project
owner should invite and accompany him to
inspect it.
This will result in further exchange of views
on how best to achieve their common goal
before the plans are started.
 It will also enable the architect to evaluate
the negative and positive features of the land
and take them into consideration in
developing the design and plans.
Preparation of the Preliminary Studies
The development of the building designwell and plans generally comes in two stages.
In the first stage, the architect prepares presentation drawings reflecting his best concept of
the project. The plans he produced must conform to the reasonable wishes of the project
owners and the building laws and regulation; among other considerations.
The initial drawing produced-commonly called preliminary studies-are presented to the
owner for his study and approval. A rough estimate of the project cost, which may be
calculated based on the floor area of the proposed structure is also shown.
The drawings initially submitted to the owner usually consist of the perspective view of the
proposed building that shows how it will look like when finished, the floor plans, site
development plan, elevations or cross sections of the project.
The preliminary studies are rendered in black and white or in color, using manual drafting or
by computer. Needless to say, the architect or designer would strive to produce well-laid out
floor plans that will enable the building occupants to live in comfort within it, or perform
efficiently the activities or work in the building. He/she would strive for aesthetically pleasing
views of the building; and to make a convincing presentation of his/her ideas to elicit
favorable reaction from the project owner or proponent.
If the owner is not satisfied with the preliminary plans & requests for changes, the architect
will have to go back to the drawing board and make the desired revisions. He/She will present
the new drawings to the owner for study and approval.
Concrete and Reinforced Concrete
Concrete is a mixture of sand, gravel, crushed rock or
other aggregates held together in a rocklike mass with a
paste of cement and water. Sometimes one or more
admixtures are added to change certain characteristics of the
concrete such as its workability, durability and time of
hardening. As with most rock like substances, concrete has a
high compressive strength and a very low tensile strength.
Reinforce Concrete is a combination of concrete and
steel wherein the steel reinforcement provides the tensile
strength lacking in the concrete. Steel reinforcing is also
capable of resisting compression forces and is used in
columns as well as in other situations to be described later.
Advantages of Reinforced Concrete
as a Structural Material
1. It has considerable compressive strength as compared to most other materials.
2. Reinforce concrete has great resistance to the actions of fire & water and, in fact, is the
best structural material available for situations where water is present. During fires of
average intensity, members with a satisfactory cover of concrete over the reinforcing
bars suffer only surface damage without failure.
3. Reinforce concrete structures are very rigid.
4. It is a low-maintenance material.
5. As compared with other materials, it has a very long service life. Under proper
conditions reinforce concrete structures can be used indefinitely without reduction of
their load carrying abilities. This can be explained by the fact that the strength of
concrete does not decrease with time but actually increases over a very long period,
measured in years, due to the lengthy process of the solidification of the cement paste.
6. It is usually the only economical material available for footings, basement walls, piers
and similar applications.
7. A special feature of is its ability to be cast into an extraordinary variety of shapes from
simple slabs, beams and columns to great arches and shells.
8. In most areas concrete takes advantage of inexpensive local materials (sand, gravel,
and water) and requires relatively small amounts of cement and reinforcing steel.
9. A lower grade of skilled labor is required for erection as compared to other materials
such as structural steel.
Disadvantages of Reinforced Concrete
as a Structural Material
1. Concrete has a very low tensile strength, requiring the use of tensile reinforcing.
2. Forms are required to hold the concrete in place until it hardens sufficiently. In
addition, falsework or shoring may be necessary to keep the forms in place for
roofs, walls and similar structures until the concrete members gain sufficient
strength to support themselves. Formwork is very expensive. It costs run from
one-third to to two-thirds of the total cost of a reinforced concrete structure, with
average values of about 50%.
3. The low strength per unit of weight of concrete leads to heavy members. This
becomes an increasingly important matter for long-span structures where
concrete’s large dead weight has a great effect on bending moments.
4. Similarly, the low strength per unit of volume of concrete means members will be
relatively large, an important consideration for tall buildings and long-span
structures.
5. The properties of concrete vary widely due to variations in its proportioning and
mixing. Furthermore, the placing and curing of concrete is not as carefully
controlled as is the production of other materials such as structural steel and
laminated wood.
REINFORCING STEEL
The reinforcing used for concrete structures may be in the
form of bars or welded wire fabric. Reinforcing bars are
referred to as plain or deformed.
The deformed bars which have ribbed projections rolled
onto their surfaces (patterns differing with different
manufacturers) to provide better bonding between the
concrete and the steel, are used for almost all applications.
Instead of rolled-on deformations, deformed wire has
indentations pressed into it. Plain bars are not used very
often except for wrapping around longitudinal bars, primarily
in columns.
AGGREGATES
The aggregates used in concrete occupy about three-fourths of the concrete
volume. Since they are less expensive than the cement, it is desirable to use as
much of them as possible. Both fine aggregates (usually sand) and coarse
aggregates (usually gravel or crushed stone) are used. Any aggregate that passes
a no. 4 sieve ( which has wires spaced ¼ in. on centers in each direction) is said
to be a fine aggregate. Material of a larger size is coarse aggregate.
LOADS
Perhaps the most important and most difficult task faced by the structural designer
is the accurate estimation of the loads that may be applied to a structure during its
life. No loads that may reasonably be expected to occur may be overlooked. After
loads are estimated, the next problem is to decide the worst possible combination
of these loads that might occur at one time.
LIVE LOADS
Live Loads are loads that may change in position and magnitude. Simply stated,
all loads that are not dead load are live loads. Live loads that move under own
power are said to be moving loads, such as trucks, people and cranes, whereas
those loads that may be moved are movable loads such as furniture and
warehouse materials. Other live loads include those caused by construction
operations, wind, rain, earthquakes, blasts, soils, and temperature changes.
CONCRETE
For a concrete construction of any size, as concrete has a rather low tensile
strength, it is generally strengthened using steel rods or bars (known as rebars).
This strengthened concrete is then referred to as reinforced concrete. In order to
minimise any air bubbles, that would weaken the structure, a vibrator is used to
eliminate any air that has been entrained when the liquid concrete mix is poured
around the ironwork.
Concrete has been the predominant building material in the modern age due to
its longevity, formability, and ease of transport.
Recent advancements, such as insulating concrete forms, combine the
concrete forming and other construction steps (installation of insulation).
 All materials must be taken in required proportions as described in standards.
The Materials in Concrete
Concrete is a mixture of cement paste, fine and coarse aggregates.
The cement paste consists of cement and water which bind the fine
and coarse aggregates.
When the mixture has sufficiently set, it takes on the characteristics
of hard stone.
The fine aggregate in concrete should consist of natural sand or of
inert materials with similar characteristics, having clean, hard and
durable, grains, free from organic matters or loam.
The coarse aggregate should consist of crushed rocks of durable
and strong qualities, or clean and hard gravel. The size of the coarse
aggregate varies from 20mm to 38mm (3/4 in. to 1-1/2 in.) diameter.
Water to be used for mixing concrete should be clean and free from
injurious amount of oil, acids, alkalis, salt and other organic matters.
Portland & Pozzolan Cements
Two widely used cement blends employed in the preparation of concrete in
general construction :
Portland cement has been defined as a hydraulic cement produced by
pulverizing clinkers consisting essentially of hydraulic calcium silicates and
usually containing calcium sulphate as an interground addition. There are five
types of portland cement:
Type I – The most widely used portland cement for buildings and is also the
least costly. It reaches its full strength after 28 days.
Type II – A moderate heat portland cement used for large concrete concrete
pours where less heat is desired during the concrete set
Type III – This is a highly strength portland cement which gives more strength
before 28 days than Type I.
Type IV – Low heat portland cement like Type III that releases heat during the
concrete set.
Type V – A sulphate resisting portland cement. This is the most expensive
cement.
Portland & Pozzolan Cements
Pozzolan cement has been defined as a hydraulic cement consisting of a
mixture of portland cement and definite amounts of natural and artificial
pozzolanic materials like volcanic tuff, shales, clay, fly ash, blast furnace,
slag, burnt clay.
Type P – Pozzolan cement used in general construction where high in
initial strength of the concrete befre 28 days is not required. However,
after 28 days, it meets the compressive strength to which it is designed.
Type 1P – This type of pozzolan cement is an early strength cement and
is required for more critical concrete works.
Admixtures in Cement
Admixtures may be added during the preparation of the concrete. These
are substances mixed in concrete to impart certain desired qualities.
Among such qualities are: to improve the workability of the concrete; to
increase its waterproof characteristics; to harden its surface; to accelerate
its set; etc.
Proportions in Concrete
Varying the amount of cement, fine and coarse aggregates and water in a given
volume of concrete results in different strengths of the mixture. The quality of
concrete to be used in a given project is specified in different ways such as: by its
water-cement ratio; weight of a given volume; compressive strength after 28 days
and by the fixed proportion of cement, fine and coarse aggregates, by volume,
contained in the concrete mixture. Under the last method, the concrete mixtures
are identified by “classes” in which each “class” contains a given proportion of
cement, fine and coarse aggregates by volume, as shown below:
Class of concrete
Volume (cement,
sand & gravel)
Probable strength
after 28 days
Class AA
1: 1-1/2: 3
4000-3500 psi
Class A
1: 2: 4
3000-2500 psi
Class B
1: 2-1/2: 5
2000-1500 psi
Class C
1: 3: 6
1000-500 psi
Class D
1: 3 ½: 7
Less than 500 psi
Foundation Design
Foundation is the base of any structure. Without a firm foundation, the structure cannot stand. That is
the reason why we have to be very cautious with the design of foundations because our entire
structure rests on the foundation.
The strength of the foundation determines the life of the structure. As we discussed
in the earlier article, design of foundation depends on the type of soil, type of
structure and its load.
On that basis, the foundations are basically divided into Shallow Foundations and
Deep Foundations.
Reinforced Concrete Footings
Footing comprises of the lower end of a column, pillar or wall which is enlarged with projecting
courses so as to distribute load.
Footings shall be designed to sustain the applied loads, moments and forces and the induced
reactions and to ensure that any settlement which may occur shall be as uniform as possible and
the safe bearing capacity of soil is not exceeded.
In sloped or stepped footings, the effective cross-section in compression shall be limited by the
area above the neutral plane, and the angle of slope or depth and location of steps should be such
that the design requirements are satisfied at every section.
SKELETON PRESENTATION OF A TWO STOREY RESIDENCE