Building Economics

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY
Page 1
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. J.Jeyakanthan for the opportunity to
explore the field of Building Construction Technology. His encouragement, guidance, and
support were invaluable in my work.and I would like thanks to my Assessor
Ms.SumuduHewage.My infinite thanks to Site Engineer for providing me the information
about the construction works. Finally, to those who are close to me, my friends, and my
colleagues who supported me unconditionally to pursue all my ambitious.
Thank You

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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Type of foundation in site ..........................................................................................................4
Factors in pile foundation in the site. .........................................................................................5
Alternative foundations..............................................................................................................6
The types of excavation selected site. ........................................................................................7
Temporary work.........................................................................................................................8
Form and false work ................................................................................................................11
Reinforcement arrangement.....................................................................................................13
Brick work................................................................................................................................15
Method statement of the construction of brick ........................................................................17
Various Method of floor finishes.............................................................................................18
Waterproofing ..........................................................................................................................20
Method of water proofing for the roof top garden...................................................................20
..................................................................................................................................................21
The timberwork required for building construction and their associated connection methods.
..................................................................................................................................................22
Site visited photos ....................................................................................................................28
Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................33
Reference .................................................................................................................................35

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Introduction
I have visited various sites in Colombo.I mention here Fair way sky garden, Budhgamuwa
road, Rajagiriya one of the site.this is 32 stories Apartment. Fairway Sky Gardens is the third
luxury apartment building undertaken by Architect AroshaPerera of Milroy PereraAssociates
and main contractor is MAGA Engineering, for the Fairway Group. Both projects won the
ICTAD Award for Construction Excellence.
I had to select ongoing building construction sites and identify the building elements and their
method of construction. This Assignment belongs to get a thorough knowledge of building
construction. I hope that this Assignment will be improving my knowledge.

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Type of foundation in site
I mentioned describe about deep foundation here. In particular, the pile foundation which was
ongoing at fairway sky garden in Rajagiriya when I visited this site. This is a main reason for
I select this foundation.
The foundation is very important for building’s strength. There is lot of classifications in
foundation. Some classifications are on base of shallow or depth. Some of these are classified
on base of spread footing. I indicate pile foundation and Raft foundation. Because of this, my
site visitation has included pile foundation.
Pile foundation
This type of foundations is connecting with lot of stories buildings. Piles are column like
structural element in a foundation. The function of piles is to transfer superimposed loads
through weak compressible strata on though water, onto soil of adequate bearing capacity or
onto rock strata. As the adequate bearing soil or rock strata is at an uneconomic depth, the
pile may carry the superimposed load by skin friction between the pile surface and the soil.
Moreover, piles are required to anchor structures against uplift load and assist structures in
resisting lateral and overturning forces from winds or waves
Figure 01-pile foundation

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The pile foundation very well more stories building .Pile foundation as series of columns
constructed or inserted into the ground to transmit the loads of a structure to a lower level of
subsoil. Also piles define as a long vertical load transferring element.
The pile foundation used in following situations;
 Water table level is high
 Natural bearing capacity of soil is very low.
 Highly compressible soil layer
 Subsoil movement
Strip, pad and raft foundation cannot carry heavy loads when pile foundation is most suitable in my
visited site.
Factors in pile foundation in the site.
The choice and design of foundations depends mainly the following factors should be considered.
1.Location
They considered about the location, the environment impact during and after the
construction of the building is should be free from noises and soil condition.This area soil
layer is clay and marsh. The 1st soil layer is clay. Other layers are marsh (statement of site
engineer). We know the marsh layer is not suitable to apply normal foundation.
2.Environment
Our is situated in monsoon climate.so we are getting rainfall in so many months.so that’speriod time
affect the construction work.
 Climate; when went to visited site Isow this problem .the engineer was sad in this
problem
 Noise; when they work timethe machineries out of the noise. So environment affect
this high noise.

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3.Economic factors
4.Political factors
 This is main factors at site. Because pile boring time affect the surrounding area properties.
5.Social
6.Technical
Alternative foundations
Raft foundation
A raft foundation is continuous in two directions, usually covering an area equal to or greater
than the base of a building or structure. Raft foundation are used for lightly loaded structures
on soils with poor bearing capacity or where variations in soil conditions necessitate a
considerable spread of the load, for heavier load in place of isolated foundation, where
differential settlements are significant and where mining subsidence is likely.
Figure 02-raft foundation

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The MAGA Construction has response this building. They have selected pile foundation to
this building (32 stories) the pile foundation works are on-going at that place when I was
visited.125 piles are here. Depth of The every holes are 35-45m diameter of holes is 1m.
There are lot of reinforcement column.
Some time we can use any type of foundation in somewhere. The foundations will change in
soil condition and building structure. There are some places we can apply alternative
foundations. Like this some places are there we can’t apply alternative foundations.
About the fair away sky garden tis is thirty two story building. Like that tis area soil condition
is not suitable to apply any other foundation; Pad or mat foundation.
When I was visit this site the construction works are on-going. In particular the foundations
work. This construction company (MAGA) has selected pile foundation to apply in this
building. One of the rivers is going surrounding area of this building and this area soil soft
and marsh. So the pile foundation is suitable to this building. If we apply raft or strip
foundations in this building the building will broke or affect any natural disaster in near the
future.
The types of excavation selected site.
Hole excavation is also known as making test holes. This is not good for total site analysis
but we can give a general idea of artefact distribution. In this kind of excavation we make
uniform test holes throughout your site. We need to make sure that the holes are equal in
depth, diameter and volume to give us an accurate distribution ratio. Also make sure that we
collect and document all the artefacts. It is just as important to know where an artefact came
from as it is to have it at all.
The hole excavation method is applied in this building. The pile foundation is decided to
make this building.
 Select the area for building
 Site clearing and preparation
 Select the hole point for building
 Auger and soil testing
 Hollow stem auger drilling

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 Disposal of soil from 200m
Temporary work
At the site:
 First of all they have cleaned the site. It makes them to precede the work easier.
 After thathole excavation was done. In this excavation ground was excavated up to
2m, with the use of backhoe.
Temporary supporting system
Figure03-shoring
There are three types of shoring. They are,
Cantilever shoring: - The cantilever method relies entirely on the passive resistance of the
soil below the excavation line to support the excavation active load and live loads. The
cantilever method is the simplest from a construction standpoint.
Box shoring: - The box system relies entirely on the internal bracing to resist the excavation
active and live load forces. This shoring system can often be designed to be very efficient
structurally.
Braced shoring: -The braced system uses internal bracing and the embedded pile to share the
support of the excavation active pressure and surcharge loads.

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After finishing the borehole test according to that at the site contractor used raft foundation.
Before placing the foundation they have to prepare the site and have to do some
arrangements.
Steps of Construction process
Plan
We should plan the building’s layout properly and decide on the specification for each major
item of work so that the cost of construction can be kept within the estimated value.
 Man power – skilled, semi skilled and unskilled
 Materials – cement, sand, metal, steel etc
 Construction shed – warehouse for materials, office and workers accommodation
 Utilities
 Wastages – what to do with excavated soil & other wastages
 Fore seeing – problems to be faced and possible sudden problems such as heavy
rain,accident, storm may arise
 Controlling man power and material with related to time, economy and efficiency
Site Clearing
 Surface cleaning such as grass, trees, hillock etc
 Obstructions cleaning above or below the ground such as old drainage, old
foundation, soak pit
Enclosing the site
Layout
Creating a boundary line by using robes and pegs
Soil Investigation - Borehole, soil test reports
Type of excavation can be found from the soil investigation report
Setting out
Foundation

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 Reinforcement arrange to holes. Diameter of the hole is 1m
 Put the reinforcement into the hole
 Apply the bent night in the hole to cover the hole from water and mud mixture
 After that concreting was following to finish the hole.
 Cut the pile cap
 Follow the concrete to up level.
Conclusion
The experiences have gotten big part of real life. I have got some experience from the site
investigation. This assignment wrote on base of experience of site investigation.
I have indicated factors and challenges in to selecting site tile finishing works. Like that third
part of this will speak about the alternative foundations. Are they suitable to particular
building and various building? Other parts are explain about the excavation method and
shoring in particular building
Before starting the foundation work we need the excavation . In this task various types of
excavation methods were classified.in this task briefly described about the method of
construction of the pile foundation.The information were taken from the site engineer.

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Form and false work
Form work is a temporary structure used as a mould to cot the member of the structure at site.
It is also known as shuttering. Form work is costly and proper design and careful handing can
reduce the cost.
Function of the form work
 Bearing green concrete
 Hydrostatic pressure of the green concrete
 Live loads due to working laborers
 Vibration transmitted to form work during pouring concrete
When I visit the site I observe lot of method in foundation, form work and superstructure. I
indicate how to they made form work.
 They got material (timber) cheaply from the timber factory in moratuwa.
 Measure the length and wide after that cut the temper accurately.
 And made the form work by temper boards: according to the column and slab.
 That form work is strong but removable
 They apply oil on surface of form work to smooth.
 They arranged supports (jugs) on with form work
 They fill the leaks and holes by sponge.

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Form work for column
Figure 04-formwork for column
A column form or box consists of a vertical which has to resist considerable horizontal
pressures in the early stages of casting. The column box should be located against a 75mm
high plinth which has been the monolithic with the base or floor. The thickness of side does
not generally provide sufficient bearing for the boxes and the cuts outs have a margin piece
fixed around the opening to provide extra bearing. The panels forming the column side can
be strengthened by using horizontal cleats or vertical studs. The form can be constructed to
the full story height of the column with cuts at the top to receive the incoming beam forms
At our side mostly used plywood. Plywood was used cover the column’s reinforcement.
Steel and timber were bolted together for supporting for 1 day curing. Than boxes were
removed
Formwork for slab
First of all ply woods were arranged on the ground after that was placed over the column.
And timber supporting was used in the column. In the visited site bamboos had used mostly
for the form working.

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In the visited site used GI pipes size is 50mm.
Ply wood size is 4’x8’
Timber sizes are 2”x4”x4’, 2”x4”x6’
Figure 05-form work slab
Reinforcement arrangement
I have given below reinforcement arrangement method of construction column and slab such
as,
Column is a vertical structural element. The major function of a column is to transfer safely its self-
load and, slab load to the foundation and provide resistance to the slabs.
For the architectural purpose the architect can decide which the shape (Rectangular, Circular, Squire)
of column can be provided to the buildings. Columns should start from the foundation. Normally its
feel high compressive force so it has steel reinforcement. Steel reinforcements will protect the
column form bending, cracking, collapsing etc.

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Normally column reinforcement arrangement has mainly vertical members and horizontal sheer links.
The steel bar type and number of bars are depend on the total load of the structure.
Figure 06- reinforcement arrangementfor column
• First setting out the columns position.
• The bars are cut according to the bar schedules for each arrangement of columns.
• Then that bars are assembled and tied by steel wires to each tie beam.
• Then cover blocks are pleased at required place.
• Fix the suitable size form work.
• Then G25 concrete mixture is put into the form work
Slab reinforcement
• Reinforced arrangement is a very important for the slab working. And in the
visited site was used 10mm, 12mm tor steel for the reinforcement.
• Steel length is 10mm, width is 12mm,
• Maintained lab length is 3feet; cover block size is 25mm,
• The steels were bound very strongly, and the labs were maintained by staggering
ways.

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Figure 07- reinforcement arrangement for slab
Reinforced concrete slaps are used in construction for bear the more loads. The loading condition will
depend upon individual circumstances and as a result the slab thickness and amount of reinforcement
required.
Brick work
Brick work is mainly used for construction of walls the building construction by the bedding
and jointing of bricks into established bonding arrangements. A wall is a continuous, usually
vertical structure of brick, stone, concrete, timber or metal, thin in proportion to its length and
height. It is encloses and protects the building or serves to divide buildings into rooms.
In my selected site they are using,
• External walls – English bond
• Partition walls – stretcher bond

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At the site
Figure08-brick work
 When brick work want to be done there are some procedure for that, those procedures
are given below.
 The place which is wanted to do brick work cleared, and then, the place is chopped.
 Then setting out was done after it is chopped a mortar layer was placed and leveled.
 Then at the each ends one brick was placed.
 Then the horizontal level was checked.
 The other bricks were placed in setting out area.
 Then after mortar layer was applied.
 Then likewise the procedure was continued.
 After 4/5 layer was finished vertical level was checked using plump up.
 Then using this same process the brick work was finished.

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Method statement of the construction of brick
Select the suitable bond type
 They needed a one brick thick wall
 English bond is strongest one brick thick wall
 It is somewhat easy to lay
 Because of above mentioned reason, we can finish the brick work quickly
Select the standard and good quality brick
 Brick should have the standard dimensions
 Bricks should have not any crack or defect
 Brick should have good strength
Site preparation for brick work
Before start the brick work we have to do some preparations for that. They are,
 Clear all sand particles and ruins on the foundations top
 Reserve place, for keep brick, mortar and for formwork
Preparation of mortar
 The mortar mix for laying bricks should be the vation of one part cement and five
parts soft builders sand [1:5]
 In every exposed situations, or for brick work below ground level, this mix should be
modified to 1:4
Setting the position, brick to be layer on the foundation.
This activity related with, mark the position of the brick to be layer.
 Every time try to lay the brick on the centre of the foundation
Thoroughly soaked the brick in clear water before use.
 This help to remove the dirt, dust and other soluble slats from bricks. Also helps to
reduce their tendency of suctions of water from wet mortar.
Put the mortar on the foundation
 Wet the foundation well, before put the mortar

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 Put the mortar for a thickness of 10mm
Lay the brick
 Lay the brick on the mortar with a 10mm gap
 File the gap with mortar
Align to wall
We should have to align the brick work, because; if the wall not aligned it increases the cost of
plastering. Some time we may have to demolish it and rebuilt it.
Fixing the doors and windows frame
This is one of major part in brick work.
 Normally we use hold fasts to fix the frame to wall
 make sure that frames are aligned and top of the whole frame in same level
 Give some external support to the frame till brick work get hardened.
All brick masonry finished kept wet at least 7 days
In all the cases bricks should be ensured that a proper bond is maintained throughout the work.
Various Method of floor finishes.
Types of Floors
 Stone floors
 Wood floors
 Tile floors
 Terrazzo floors
 Cement and Concrete floors
In the site they choose the tile floors.
I recommended Tilling for the floor finishing.
Because,
 we can choose the colour
 durability of tile is longer than others
 we can maintain it ourselves

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 we can manage the cost of tilling.
In tilling floors the following materials are used in our site:
 Tiles
 Cement mortar
 Water proof Tile Adhesive
 Tile grout
The steps of Tile finishing
 Bedding mortar for tile
 Mortar should mix in the ratio of 1:3 [cement: sand] or 1:4
 floated coat must be completed at least one week before
 Wetting out of the floated coat
 Make a vertical level
 make the cement grout [mixture of cement and water]
 Apply the cement grout to back of the tile
 Thoroughly soaked the tile in clear water before use.
 Fix the tile in appropriate place.
 Place the tile in 5mm gap. Because, tiles are made out according to ISO9001 standard, so
there may be a (+) or (-) 5mm dimensional various.
 Apply tile powders grout to the gap of the tile after a day from tile layer.
 mix powder with water
Figure 09-tile finishing

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Waterproofing
Several water proofing materials were used in our site; these materials were bought from the
Finco(Pvt) Ltd which is the expert company in water proofing.
Identify all building elements to be waterproofed. If the client wants to waterproof all the toilets in the
building, provide an effective solution with all the technical information from the point of an expert
Engineer in waterproofing.
Building elements to be waterproofed.
 Toilets and bathroom areas
 roof top garden
 Floor
 Swimming pool
 Slab
 Sump
 Water tanks
 Retaining wall
Method of water proofing for the roof top garden
I got this information from Finco(pvt) ltd.this company is one of the waterproofing company in
Srilanka.
Stepsof waterproofing
 Cleaning and remove all surface dirty and dust.
 Fulfill the minor repairs
 Wash the surface with high pressure water
 Prepare the mixture (water proof material )
 Wet the surface apply one coat on roof garden (pressure)
 Apply 2nd coat right angle to the 1st coat.
 Wet the surface

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Slab
 Before waterproofing slab areas should be cleaned and the surface which it going to be
applied should be finishes smooth and even.
 Wash the surface with pressure water yet.
 Prepare the mix.
 Than existing concrete surface will be chipped to be free from dust, cement laitance, and
grout deposits, etc.
 Wet the surface.
 Then a small thick rough plaster will be laid with 1: 5 cement sand mixture up to
required height on slab to have an even surface.
 After that waterproofing materials should be applied. Foxy potty (waterproofing
chemical) will be applied. Apply 2nd coat to right angle t 1st coat.
Figure 10-water proofing

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The timberwork required for building construction and their associated
connection methods.
Timber, used for structural purposes have to be dressed, planed, framed, and secured in position. All
timber construction which are subjected to stresses and strains due to loads coming upon them, come
under the term carpentry. The man who performs or constructs permanent timber works such as,
roofs, floors, doors and windows etc. and also temporary timber works like, centering, shoring
scaffolding etc.
Properties of timber
 Strength
 Workability
 Fire resistivity
 Durability
 Density
 Hardness
Timber works in construction
 form work
 roof members
 door and window frames
Roof members
A timber roof truss is a structural framework of timbers designed to bridge the space above a
room and to provide support for a roof. Trusses usually occur at regular intervals, linked by
longitudinal timbers such as purlins. The space between each truss is known as a bay.

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Figure 11-roof members connection
Door and windows frames
Wood is the most popular choice for construction of door and window frames. Wooden
frames give architectural beauty to the building and are easy to maintain. There are many
types of wood according to the quality. The type of wood is used according to the
requirement of the building and availability of budget.
Timber is sawn in the direction of grains. All members of frames are of same species of
timber and be straight without any warp. The frames are smooth, well planed surfaces except
the surface touching wall lintel sill etc. The rebate is done before members are joined into
frame.The thickness of rebate is 15 mm and the width is equal to the thickness of shutter.
 If wire gauze shutter is to be fixed, two numbers of rebate should be made.
 A door frame consisting of three wooden members i.e. two upright posts called jamb
posts, which are jointed with top piece called cross piece or head.
 Nominal size of door frame for single shutter is 75 MM X100 MM and for double
shutter 75 mm X 125 mm.
 The door frame is jointed with mortise and tendon joints as this joint is the strongest
one.
 The length of jammed post/vertical post should have extra length of 40 mm from door
opening for embedding it into the floor.
 The top corner of the frames is secured with G. I. sheet and iron screws.

Page 24
 The back portion of door frame which in contact with walls, lintels sill etc. is painted
with bitumen or any anti-termite chemical.
 Each prepared door frame is fitted with temporary stretcher at bottom to keep the
frame in position.
 The frame is in true to right angle.
 To protect door frame during construction priming coat is done before fixing.
Figure 12-door frame connection method
Windows
In this section we will discuss about window frames. Window is an opening into the wall for
providing daylight, ventilation and to view outside look. It has two parts: one is window
frame and the other is shutters. All other specifications of window frame are the same as for
door frames given above.

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Types of window
 Fixed Lights -
The term fixed light or dead light is used to describe the whole or part of a window in
which glass is fixed so that no part of the glazing can be opened. Typically
fixed lights are one sheet of glass or several sheets of glass in galvanizing bars or in
timber frame work.
 Opening light
An opening light is the whole or part of a window that can be opened by being
hinged or pivoted to the frame or which can slide open inside the frame. Windows
with opening lights may be classified according to the manner in which the
opening lights are arranged to open inside the frame.
Hinged
 Side Hung
 Top Hung
 Bottom Hung
Pivoted
 Horizontally pivoted
 Vertically pivoted
Sliding
 Vertically Sliding
 Horizontally sliding
Composite Action
 Side Hung projected
 Top Hung projected

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 Bottom Hung projected
Figure 13-types of windows
Fixing of Door and Window Frames
 Frames are fixed in opening abutting masonry or concrete with iron hold fast.
 Hold fasts are embedded in cement concrete block 1:3:6 ratios in the masonry walls.
 While fixing frames it should be in plumb, level and in straight line.
 Door and window frames can be fixed in masonry either at the time when work is in
progress or in the opening left in masonry for fixing frames.

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 Vertical members of door frames are embedded in the floor for full thickness of floor
finish.
Figure 14-timber doors Figure 15-types of wooden window frames

Page 28
Site visited photos

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Page 30
Bentonite

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Page 32

Page 33
Conclusion
Formwork is the most important part in the construction work. Regarding this task column
form work, beam form work, foundation slab form work and their supporting systems are

Page 34
explained Reinforcement is most important part in the construction works, in this task the
reinforcement arrangement is mentioned.
Most of the buildings are built by bricks. In Sir Lanka brick is the most usable construction
material. Brick is stronger than other wall materials.In that site the finishes are not done yet.
Inthis report it includes some common details about the floor finishing.
In our site the water proofing work is not done yet. But the concrete slab roof is already built.
So here some common details are included. These are taken from one of the leading water
proofing company in Sri Lanka. Timber is a most usable material used in construction site.
It’s used in doors, windows, staircase, excavation work, joining, carpentries and formworks.

Page 35
Reference
 Hore .A.V, G.kehoe.R.McMullan.J and Penton.M.R, (1997), London McMullan press
ltd.
 Chudly, R. (1987) Constructions Technology. Vol 1, 2nd ed., Longman
SingaporePublishers (pte) Ltd.
 Grundy, J, T. (1984) Constructions Technology. Vol 3, 2nd ed., Edward Arnold
publishers (pte) Ltd.
house information. (2014). Pad Foundation is commonly used for sustaining
concentrated loads from a single point load.. Available: http://www.ccpl.com.sg/house-
information-01-foundation. Last accessed 19th september 2014.

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