Chapter Nine

Advanced construction details

Outline

General
The importance of supervision
The project environment
The skills of inspection and role of inspector
Defects in construction
Introduction
 Construction Inspection/supervision: the process of
ensuring targets (cost, time and quality) which has been set
at the planning stage.
 Inspection is one of the means of ensuring compliance of
design and specifications.
 The primary objective of inspection is to ensure safety of
lives and durability of structure.
 The inspector has professional as well as ethical
responsibility to ensure that the structure is built correctly.
 Therefore, the inspector has the responsibility of ensuring
that the structure being built confirms to the acceptable
standards and good workmanship and quality materials.
Conti…….
 Most of the buildings and other infrastructure fails due to lack
of proper and professional supervision.
 Proper inspection becomes a critical aspect of a work in
order to ensure that the works to be accomplished are done
as intended, confirming to the technical documents
requirement.
 The relationship between the inspector and the contractor
should be partnership rather than advisory and regulatory.
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Conti ……
It is common that inspectors takes side and may
think that anything he/she can do to slow down,
impede or control the work is to the advantage of
the employer.
The inspector is responsible to control quality of
work but if he/she impede the progress, the
employer will incur additional costs.

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 Importance of Supervision
 Supervision is important to ensure that the structures or
works being executed are constructed according to Design,
Specification, code requirements as well as accepted
practice.
 Therefore, supervision can be defined as the process of
ensuring compliance with technical requirements, government
regulations and accepted levels of workmanship
 If the work is executed with faulty supervision, it may result in
 Change in the intention of the designer
Unsafe and/ or unacceptable structure
Additional costs to the employer
Un necessary delay
Poor quality of work, …etc
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 The Project Environment
The influence of various elements which the
inspector exercise his/her duties is called Project
environment.
Factor affecting the project environment:
Contractor attitude,
Inspector attitude,
Contractor abilities,
Trade atmosphere,
Field team ability,
Completeness of drawings,
Field conditions, …etc
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 The Skills of Inspection
 The inspector is excepted to have the following skills:
Observation skills
Technical skills or competence: Familiar with current
technology and method of executing construction works
Interpersonal skills: the way information is transmitted can
affect the way it is understood.
Communication skills: Exchange of information
The sender is responsible for making the information clear,
unambiguous, and complete so that the receiver can receive
it correctly
o Written and oral, Listening and speaking
o Internal and external
o Formal and Informal
o Vertical and Horizontal
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 Skills of Inspection
Negotiating:
Negotiation might be about the following things
Scope, cost or schedule objective
Contract terms and conditions
Resource assignments, etc
Problem solving skills
o Problem definition and decision making.
o Decision making, “ the right decision at the right time”
Analytical skills : Analyzing the situation and weighing
alternatives to arrive at a good decision.
o Looking at the big picture while at the same time separately
understanding critical elements.
 The role of Inspector
An inspector may work for the Employer, the
Contractor or the Consultant, in any case however, his
responsibilities are the same.
Most of the time the inspector works on the side of
the consultant.
The main role of supervisor in general is to follow up
the execution of a project with the design,
specification and appropriate legal and social
practice.
The inspector must have a keen eye, be observant and
able to see critically. 10
 The role of Inspector
In most cases the inspector assumes role of advisory,
however his/her main duties are limited to the
following
oInspect
oGuide
oAssist
oFacilitate
oControl quality but not to hinder work.
The controlling aspect of the inspection should
only came in the event that the contractor fails to
execute the works according to standards and
accepted practice.
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Conti…….
 The detailed knowledge of the plans and specifications for
the particular work is very important for execution of his
duties.
 He/ she should be familiar with any revisions or
amendments done to the original documents and also the
reason for such changes and their incorporation to the
works.
 He/she must also be able to follow the progress of the
work, record accurately and follow up the day-to-day
progress.
 He/ she must record and advice rectifications of errors
observed during inspection of works. 12
 Conti…….
The inspector needs to exercise professional integrity
and high ethical standards.
The inspector shall not stop the work unless
otherwise it will leads to death.
He/ she must always understand the problem of the
contactor and find a solution to assist him in resolving
the issues without waiving any of the specific
requirements of the specification.
In summary the inspector must have the following:
o Knowledge
o Integrity
o Ability
o Good judgment
o Good attitude
o Practice 13
Conti…..
His/her specific duties are summarized below:
Ensuring compliance by the contractor with drawings,
specifications and contractual provision of the
project.
Monitoring project progress according to the schedule
Coordinating and monitoring different tests
Inspecting contract drawings and specifications
Rejection of works which is not within the contractual
quality
Stopping of works when safety concern override
basic contractual commitment.
Approval or rejection of shop drawings, materials and
samples
In other hand the inspector has no authority to
revoke, alter, enlarge, relax, or release any of the
requirements of the contract provisions.
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 Necessary Equipments
Make sure that you have the following equipments
at hand whenever inspecting a site:
Tape meter
Level
Straight edge
Note book, diary
Safety helmet
Suitable site shoes
Appropriate clothing

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 Defects in Construction
Defects in construction may appear due to either
of the following reasons
Inadequate strength or stiffness
Structural instability
Settling of foundations
Distressed structural members as evidenced by cracking,
movement and excessive deflection
Weather and moisture intrusion caused by failure of
roofing, exterior wall, floors and openings
Premature depreciation such as abnormal wear, decay,
corrosion
Poor Workmanship
Un-adequate Supervision
Usage of poor quality material
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 Conti………
 Some of this defects will result in buildings or parts of buildings that are
unsuitable or unusable. Others will result in excessive operating and
maintenance costs, premature replacement costs, or depreciated or
unacceptable appearance and sometimes property damage, personal injury or
death.
 Defects in structure can occur during the construction period or during times
of use.
 The inspector is required to analyze the situation and arrive at a technically
sound explanation as well as possible practical recommendations.
 The inspector is therefore expected to answer the following key questions for
analyzing the defect and forward the possible recommendations
 What is the phenomenon?
 How can it be described and explained?
 What is the exact cause?
 How it can be rectified?
o By removal or replacement?....
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Conti…
o By repair?
o By coating?
o By strengthening?
o By premature replacement?
o By acceptance of defects and monetary adjustments?
o By some equivalent to the originally specified product or
procedure?
o By some creative or innovative procedure?
 The inspector should also understand the costs of
remedial measures.
o Costs of analysis and recommendation.
o Costs of Redesign works
o Costs of inspection and testing
o Costs of labor, material, equipment coordination
o Costs of consequential damages
o Costs due to loss of use of building
o Costs due to damage of personal injuries.
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 Identifying the source of responsibilities
 Who is responsible for the failure
 Design problem?
o Was the construction project properly design?
• The architect and the engineers are primarily responsible for the
design problems. Who is responsible for Temporarily structures?
 Construction problem?
o Was the project built in accordance with contract requirement?
Was it properly constructed? Does the contractor provide right
materials as per the specifications.
Who is responsible?
 Maintenance or usage problem?
o Was the project and all its systems been properly cared for? Has the
project been abused or damaged by its user? has the project been
used improperly?
• Who is responsible?
 Unforeseen circumstance [natural disaster, war, …etc]
• Who is responsible?
 Faulty supervision
• Who is responsible?
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THANK YOU!