Outline

1.1 Introduction
1.2 Development of Building construction
1.3 Building Classification
1.4 Components of building
1.5 Design and Performance requirement
1.6 Participants in Building Construction
1.7 Steps in Building Construction
1.1 Introduction

A construction is a process of constructing something by man for

one purpose or another. It may be a road, bridge, a dam, a
dwelling place, an airport, a commercial building, etc.
A building can be generally considered as a structure consisting
of floors, walls and roofs erected to provide covered space for
different uses such as residence, business, entertainment,
workshop, etc.
• Buildings come in a wide amount of shapes and functions, and
have been adapted throughout history for a wide number of
factors:
building materials available weather conditions
land prices ground conditions
specific uses aesthetic reasons
 Introduction(contd.)
• Buildings serve several needs of society – primarily as shelter from
weather and as general living space, to provide privacy, to store
belongings and to comfortably live and work.
• The first shelter on Earth constructed by a relatively close ancestor
to humans is believed to be built 500,000 years ago by an early
ancestor of humans.
• The initial causes which forced man to look for shelter were:
•Fear of wild animals
•Seeking protection against the cold and the heat
•Seeking shelter against the rain and wind
•The desire for a place where everything belonging to the
family could be gathered
 Introduction(contd.)

Proper building design should ensure optimum utilization of built

up space to satisfy functional and architectural requirements of
people living or working in it.
A building construction must satisfy the following requirements:
1. A site on which to build the house
2. Permission from local authorities
3. Material for building the house
4. Finance
5. Skilled laborers for the erection of the house
6. Professionals such as architects and Engineers
Introduction(contd.)
• The main considerations in architectural design of buildings for
all purpose are:
•Climate and its effect
•People and their requirements
•Materials and method of construction
•Regulations and building codes
• Requirements which must be satisfied for the construction of a
modern house are:
• A plot of land
• Permission from local authorities
• Materials for building
• Skilled labourers for the erection
• Finance
• Professionals, such as architects and engineers
 1.2 The Development of a building construction
Man requires different type of buildings; such as Apartments,
schools, banks, offices, market centre...etc., for day to day activities.
These building activities are an important indicator of the countries
social progress.
Building consists not only the house but also of the site, road,
paths, the yard, the garden, the gate, fence, etc should be planed so
that the total results will be complete harmonious unit.
What initiates a man to build a house?
1. Fear for wild animals during the night and a day
2. Seeking protection against the cold at night and against the heat
during the day
3. Shelters against rain, wind ……
4. The desire for a place where everything belonging to the family;
cattle and equipment
5. Desire for better living condition( primary motive)
 1.3 Building Classification
Depending up on their occupancy of use or type of construction
building can be classified in deferent groups.
1.3.1 Classification based on occupancy of use
1. Residential: houses occupied by persons where living
accommodation are provided. Private dwellings, apartments,
dormitories, hotels, etc.
2. Educational: which are used for educational institution. School
and collage building
3. Assembly: any building or parts of building where group of people
gather for recreation, social or religious or other similar purposes.
E.g. Theaters, exhibition hall, place of work shops… etc.
4. Business occupancy: building or parts of building which are used
for any business transaction and for taking and giving any
professional services. e.g. Garage, barber shop, city halls…
Classification cont’d

5. Industrial: buildings in which products or materials of all kinds

and properties are fabricated, assembled, finished or processed.
6. Institutional: buildings which are used for medical or other
treatment center. e.g. Institutional building which provide
sleeping accommodation for the occupants . Include hospitals,
prisons etc.
7. Storage: buildings primarily used for storage or shelter of
goods, wares ,agricultural products, raw materials
 The classification given above is very general and each group is
again subdivided in to various subdivision.
e.g. Educational building can be sub divided as kindergarten,
elementary school, university…
 1.3.2 Classification based on type of construction
Under this category we have
1. Fire resisting construction: elements of a building are non
combustible. The building have a sufficient fire resistant
material.
2. Non combustible: with less fire resistance than required for fire
resisting construction
3. Heavy timber construction: exterior walls are out of masonry
or non combustible materials. Interior structural members are out
of timber either in solid or laminated form
4. Ordinary construction: exterior walls are out of masonry or non
combustible materials. Interior structural members could be
partially or wholly out of wood
5. Wood framed construction: this type of construction in which
practically the whole of the building is out of wood or other
combustible materials.
1.4 Components of a Building
A building has two basic parts:
•Sub-structure
•Super structure
• Sub-structure: is the lower portion of the building, usually
located below the ground level, which transmits the loads of the
superstructure to the supporting soil.
• Super-structure: is the part of the structure which is above the
ground level, and which serves the purpose of its intended use.
The basic component of a building include: Foundations, walls,
floor structures, roof structures building finishes, doors and
windows and other openings.
Simple pictorial illustration of building component
1.5 Design And Performance Requirements
A building structure should satisfy the following basic design and
performance requirements
A. The structure should have adequate margin of safety (factor of
safety) in addition to that necessary to support its normal loading.
B. It must have sufficient stiffness so that its distortion does not
offend the eye or reduce the efficiency of the structure for its normal
purpose.
C. The building should be planned to provide sufficient comfort and
convenience to the occupants of the building.
Design and Performance Requirements( contd.)
• To accommodate basic functional requirements, a building should
satisfy the following requirements in design and construction works:
1. Strength and stability
• Any structural component of a building should be strong enough to
carry or support all possible types of loads to which it is likely to be
subjected. The Loads in a building are commonly classified as: dead
loads, super imposed or live loads and wind loads.
•Dead loads: are static loads due to the weight of the respective
structural members, i.e. The wall partitions, roofs, slabs and all other
permanent fixtures in the building.
•Live loads: also called as super-imposed loads, consist of moving or
variable loads, due to people or occupants, their furniture, temporary
stores, machinery, etc.
•Wind loads: are loads, which can cause uplift on a building and
reduce the pressure on the foundation on the windward side and increase
pressure on the leeward side. The effect of wind pressure increases with
the height of the building.
Design and performance requirements(contd.)
2. Dimensional stability
• Refers to the resistance to dimensional changes in building
materials and structures caused due to:
• elastic and plastic deformations as a result of applied loads
• expansion and contraction due to changes in temperature and
moisture content.
3. Comfort and convenience
• Should be satisfied by proper planning of the buildings and its
units.
• Optimum utilization of space
• Lighting considerations
• Orientation
4. Resistance to moisture penetration
• The presence of moisture in any building structure deteriorates
the materials strength, reduces durability and could cause partial
or total failure of the structure.
Design and performance requirements(contd.)
5. Fire protection
• A building structure should not ignite easily
• A building should provide means of fire escape
• A building should be designed to reduce the spread of fire
6. Heat insulation
• The building should be designed in such a way to maintain fairly
constant temperature of the internal environment independently of the
varying climatic conditions externally.
7. Day light and ventilation
• Day lighting is essential to promote the activities carried out in the
building and to create pleasant inside environment.
• Ventilation is essential to prevent undue concentration of odours,
fumes, dust, etc and maintain suitable condition for the user of the
building.
8. Sound insulation
• The insulation of noise is a very important requirement for buildings
such as hospitals, educational institutions, offices and residential
building located in noisy areas.
Design and performance requirements(contd.)
9. Durability
• The durability of a building is defined as the time over which a
building remains serviceable and depends mainly on
• Type of building materials
• Environmental exposure
• Quality of workmanship
• Degree of maintenance, etc.
10. Security
• Due considerations should be given in designing and constructing
external walls and openings to protect a building against burglary or
theft
11. Economy
• The designer must exercise economy at every stage of planning,
design, construction, maintenance and operation.
1.6 Participants In Building Construction
• The practice of planning, designing, constructing, and operating
buildings is most usually a collective effort of different groups of
professionals and trades.
• Depending on the size, complexity, and purpose of a particular
building project, the project team may include:
• A client or an owner: Individuals, government, real estate
developers etc.
• financial institutions or other investors that provide the funding
• Local planning and code authorities
• Consultants or Licensed architects and engineers who provide
building design and prepare construction documents
• Contractors who provide construction services and install
building systems
• Marketing or leasing agents
• Facility managers who are responsible for operating the
building.
 1.7 Steps in building construction
 Building construction involves a number of steps in offices as well as in
building sites
The main stages are
Stage 1: Planning
Stage2: Design
Stage 3: Tendering
Stage 4: Construction Process
Stage 5: Handover
Stage 6: Evaluation
.
1.7 Steps in building construction (Contd)
Stage1: Planning Functional planning of the building is the pre
requisite of any type of building construction. In this aspect,
architectural design play a major role in satisfying human needs.
Appropriate site selection is very important in the functional
planning of a building
 Carry out studies to determine the feasibility of the Client’s
requirement.
 Provide information for report on cost implication.

 Identification of Client’s requirements and of possible

constraints on development.
1.7.1 Factor to be considered in planning
Aspect: peculiarity of the arrangement of doors and windows in
the external wall of a building. This allows the occupants to enjoy
the nature of gifts such as sunshine, breeze etc.
For kitchen, E-aspect, for bed rooms- S-W-aspect or W-aspect
and for reading rooms, class rooms, stairs N- aspect, living and
dinning room S or SE/SW aspect is preferred.
Prospect: is the impression of the house on a person who looks at
it from the out side.
Privacy: It requires consideration of two ways:
1. Privacy of one room from another
2. Privacy of all parts of the building from the neighboring,
publics streets, etc.
Grouping: is the disposition of various rooms in the layout in a
typical fashion so that all the rooms are placed in proper correlation
of their function and in due proximity with each other
(Contd)
Flexibility: is planning a room or rooms in such a way to meet a
specific purpose as original design.
Circulation: the movements of space provided on the same floor
either between the rooms or within the rooms for the case of
horizontal circulation, between different floors though the stair
or lift is a vertical circulation.
Passages, corridors, halls and lobbies service the purpose of
horizontal circulation
Staircase, ramps, lifts etc, serves a vertical circulation.
 Aesthetic merits: it is produced by elevation and general layout
of the plan.
 Economy: it highly affects the planning.
Steps in building construction (Contd)
Stage 2: Design
The design and the building drawings are to be completed in design office,
where as construction and supervisions are made in the construction site.
In civil engineering construction works, there are four major types of
design.
 Architectural design,

 structural design,
 electrical design and sanitary design

Stage 3: Tendering
 Prepare tender documents in sufficient detail to enable a Tender or
Tenders to be obtained for the construction of the Project.
 Quantity Surveyor provide Bill of Quantities.
Stage 4: Construction Process
 Prepare the Building Contract and arrange for it to be signed
 Appointing the Contractor
 Issuing of Production Information to the Contractor, and arranging
site
Stage 5: Handover
 Handover to the Contractor.

 Prepare site including

 Principal roads and drainage

 Excavate foundation
 Construct all the structures which is include on the contract
document.
Stage 6: Evaluation
 Review design information from Contractors or specialists.

 Certify valuations of work prepared by others and present

financial
 Give general advice on operation and maintenance of the building.

 Evaluate the complete process from initial design to completion

THANK YOU!