Construction field practice

2. Contents
• Introduction
• Construction Planning and Storage of Materials
• Earthwork
• Foundations
• Masonry
• Plain and Reinforced Concrete
• Anti-termite Measures
• Doors and Windows (Wood and Metal)
• Steel Construction
• Floors and Floor Coverings
• Wall and Ceiling Finishes and Coverings and Walling

3. Cont..
• Roofs and Roofing
• Damp-Proofing and Waterproofing
• Joints in Buildings (Control of Cracks in Buildings)
• Whitewashing, Colour Washing and Painting of Masonry, Concrete and
• Plaster Surfaces (Calcareous Surfaces)
• Painting, Varnishing and Allied Finishes (Wood and Metals)
• Water Supply and Drainage
• Special Construction Procedures - Earthquake Effects, etc
• Demolition of Buildings

4. CHAPTER 1
CONSTRUCTION PLANNING
AND
STORAGE OF MATERIALS

5. CONSTRUCTION PLANNING
Construction planning is the process of
identifying the steps required to build a
structure. It involves defining what
actions need to be completed, creating an
ordered timeline of events, staffing the
project and determining the necessary
materials and equipment

7. Planning Techniques
Construction planning techniques have emerged in the
recent past abroad. These are being propagated in our
country over a decade or more. These are commonly
3
known as Network Techniques comprising of both
Programme Evaluation and Review Techniques
(PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM). Both are
modern techniques suitable for any organized activity;
the basic aim being to tie up all loose ends involved in
any project and put them in a proper sequence and time
frame. These techniques can also be applied to construction
industry.

10. Advantages
 Networking overcomes some of the lacunae in Bar
 Chart System. The advantages of it are as below.
 Results in a logical appreciation of the project
 from conception to completion.
 Enables project completion to be forecast more
 accurately.
 Identifies critical activities that have great
 bearing on the efficient progress of the construction
 Forecasts potential delays ahead of their actual
 occurrence.
 Provides a slack to permit rescheduling of
 resources for efficient deployment.
 Identifies interdependent activities to focus on
 importance of co-ordination.
 Provides an effective tool for management to
 locate slippages and plug them.
 Above all provides a basis for more dynamic
 and quick reporting system to take corrective
 action during different stages of construction

11. Before launching on preparing a schedule the
following basic questions have to be answered:
- What activity should precede the one that is
being considered?
- What activity can follow this activity immediately?
-’ What activities can proceed concurrently?

12. Some of the ground rules to answer these three
basic questions are:
 No event can occur until every activity preceding
it has been completed;
 Similarly no activity, succeeding an event, can
be started until that event has occurred;
 Each activity must terminate in an event;
 An event can occur twice; and
 Finally every activity must be completed to
reach the end objective.

14. STORAGE OF MATERIALS

15. Materials shall be so stored as to prevent deterioration
or intrusion of foreign matter and to ensure the
preservation of their quality and fitness for use in the
work. Materials shall also be stored to protect against
atmospheric agencies, fire and other hazards.
Materials like timber, coal, paints, etc, shall be
stored in such a way that there may not be any fire
hazards. Inflammable materials like kerosene, petrol,
etc, shall be stored in accordance ~with the relevant
rules and regulations in force prescribed by the
Authority, so as to ensure safety during storage (see
also IS 7969 : 1975).

16. Explosives like detonators shall be stored in accordance
with the rules and regulations in force.
Materials which are likely to be affected by subsidence
of soil, like precast elements, large size timber sections,
etc, shall be provided with unyielding supports.
In areas, likely to be affected by floods, the materials
shall be suitably stow cd to prevent their being washed

17. Materials shall be so stored as to prevent deterioration
or intrusion of foreign matter and to ensure the
preservation of their quality and fitness for use in the
work. Materials shall also be stored to protect against
atmospheric agencies, fire and other hazards.
Materials like timber, coal, paints, etc, shall be
stored in such a way that there may not be any fire
hazards. Inflammable materials like kerosene, petrol,
etc, shall be stored in accordance ~with the relevant
rules and regulations in force prescribed by the
Authority, so as to ensure safety during storage (see
also IS 7969 : 1975).

18. Materials shall be so stored as to prevent deterioration
or intrusion of foreign matter and to ensure the
preservation of their quality and fitness for use in the
work. Materials shall also be stored to protect against
atmospheric agencies, fire and other hazards.
Materials like timber, coal, paints, etc, shall be
stored in such a way that there may not be any fire
hazards. Inflammable materials like kerosene, petrol,
etc, shall be stored in accordance ~with the relevant
rules and regulations in force prescribed by the
Authority, so as to ensure safety during storage (see
also IS 7969 : 1975).

20. Cement shall be stored at the work site in a building or
shed which is dry, leakproof and as moisture proof as
possible. The building shall have minimum number of
windows and close fitting doors which shall be kept
closed as far as possible.
Cement stored in bags shall be stacked and shall be
kept free from the possibility of any dampness or
moisture coming in contact with the bags. Cement
bags shall be stored/stacked off the floor on wooden
planks in such a way as to be clear above the floor by
1 SO mm to 200 mm and a space of 450 mm minimum
alround between the bags and external walls.

22. BRICKS
Bricks shall not be dumped at site. They
should be stacked in regular tiers as and
when they are unloaded to minimize
breakage and defacement of bricks. In
case of bricks made -from clay
containing lime kanknrthe bricks in
stack should be thoroughly soaked in
water to prevent lime bursting.

23. AGGREGATE
Aggregate shall be stored at site on
a hard and dry level patch of ground.
If such a surface is not available, a
platform of planks or of corrugated
iron sheets, or a floor of dry bricks,
or a thin layer of lean concrete shall
be made so as to prevent the
admixture of clay, dust, vegetable
and other foreign matter.

25. TIMBER
Timber shall be stored in
stacks upon well treated and
even surfaced beams, sleepers
or brick pillars as to be above
the ground level by at least 150
mm. The various members
shall preferably be stored
separately in different lengths,
and material of equal lengths
shall be piled together in
layers with wooden battens,
called crossers, separating one
layer from another.

27. OIL PAINTS All containers of paints, thinners and
allied materials shall preferably be stored on floors
with sand cushions in a separate room which is well
ventilated and free from excessive heat, sparks of
flame and direct rays of the sun. The containers of
paint shall be kept covered or properly fitted with lid
and shall not be kept open except when in use.