Construction Technology Flashcards
What are the benefits of off-site construction over in-situ?
- Safety – Hazards such as falls from heights,
- Sustainability – reduction in waste produced
- Efficiency and quality – Construction takes place in a controlled environment
- Speed – Overlapping of activities, construction can start in the factory while on site they are preparing the slab
Who reviews the design and construction phase for compliance with building regulations?
• The building control officer or approved inspector
What are British Standards?
- Publication issued by the British standard institution
- The give recommended minimum standard of materials, component , design and construction practices.
- technical specifications or practices that can be used as guidance for the production of a product, carrying out a process or providing a service.
What type of vegetation can cause issues for construction project?
• Japanese knotweed
What are foundations?
• Provide support for structures , transferring their load to the ground to avoid excessive settlement
What are different types of fire extinguishers and their typical uses?
- Water – Wood, carboard , textiles etc
- Foam
- Dry powder
- Carbon dioxide
- Wet chemical
How do you do an excavation?
- GPR, permits, permit to sig, rams
- floor saw, breaker that breaks the asphalt/concrete, then you reach soil level
- you cannot excavate with a digger (mechanical ) within 500mm of a live service
- excavated material gets recycled and we use our own type 1 to prove that is up to specification
What is the composition of a flexible road?
- Surface Course 40mm
- Binder course 60mm
- Base course - granular base - Type 1 - 245
- subbase - type 1 00-250mm
- subgrade - clay
What is reinforced concrete?
• It is when mesh, steel bars or roads are embedded in concrete increasing the structural strength of a structure
What is buildability?
• The extend of design of a building or any other construction project facilitates how easy it is to construct it
What is glulam beam?
- Glue-laminated timber
- Made with multiple layers of solid wood bonded together with high strength type of glue to form a single structural unit
Can you briefly explain what O&M manual is?
- Operation and maintenance manuals
- They are issued to the client /building owner
- Include info relating to how the building has been constructed and maintained
- Includes built drawings and specifications
What are the key factors the contractor should consider when excavating?
- Nature of the soil and moisture content of the ground.
- Method of excavation.
- Is trench support required?
- Depth of the excavation
- Proximity of existing buildings
- Underground services and drainage
What are different types of roofs?
- Gable roof – upper horizontal edges reach meet to form its ridge
- Flat roof – it’s a roof that is level
- Hipped roof – where all sides of the roof slope downwards towards the walls
What are the key advantages and disadvantages of driven piles?
Advantages
• Can be precast to specific qualifications
• Piles of any size,length and shape can be made in advance.
• Fast neat and clen istalation
• Less health and safety risks
Disadvantages
• Requires heavy equipment for handling and elivery
• Can be costly if they are short
• Increased noise and vibrations generated by driving the piles
What are secant piles walls?
- A wall formed by installing interlocking piles which create a solid barrier free of gaps
- Typically used to form a retaining wall
When might a pile foundation be suitable?
- Poor soil conditions
- High water table
- When load distribution of the structure is not uniform
What is the difference between dead loads and live loads on a structure?
- Dead loads are relatively forces that are constant and don’t change like the weight of the wall, plasterboard, roof
- Live loads refer to the dynamic forces from occupancy and intended use such as weight of buildings, furniture, appliances (washing machine)
What is a trial hole?
• It is a form of excavation in order to determine the condition of the ground before beginning constructions works
What is stage 6 of RIBA stage?
- Handover
- Building is handed over , Aftercare initiated and building contract concluded.
- 12 month defect period
- Feedback sessions (project performance) to share lessons learned
- Aftercare – undertake survey after commissioning to see how the building is performing
What are temporary works?
- They are part of construction project that are needed to enable the permanent works to be built
- For example: scaffolding, formwork, propping scaffolding, excavation support, access and task lighting
How many UK standard size blocks are required per m2
• 10blocks per m2
What is formwork?
• Temporary structure usually made of wood that is used to contain concrete and therefore mould it in the desired way. They are removed after that.
What are the key considerations when designing external walls?
- Weather protection
- Fire resistance
- Acoustic requirements
- Thermal performance
- Structural performance
- Aesthetics
- Expected lifespan
- Future maintenance
What are the approved documents?
The Approved Documents provide guidance on ways to meet the building regulations.
- Part A - Structure
- Part B - Fire Safety
- Part C - Site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture
- Part D - Toxic Substances
- Part E - Resistance to the passage of sound
- Part F - Ventilation
- Part G - Sanitation, hot water safety and water efficiency
- Part H - Drainage and Waste Disposal
- Part J - Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems
- Part K - Protection from falling, collision and impact
- Part L - Conservation of fuel and power
- Part M - Access to and use of buildings
- Part N - Glazing Safety (Withdrawn)
- Part P - Electrical Safety
- Part Q - Security
- Part R - Physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks.
- Regulation 7 - Materials and workmanship
What is a movement joint and why are they used?
- It is a dynamic component designed to safely absorb the expansion and contraction of construction materials
- Movement joints can also allow for movement associated with ground settlement of seismic activity
What is a substructure?
- Substructure is the lower portion of the building (in the ground) which supports the superstructure
- Transmits the loads of the building to the ground
- Includes foundations , basements and retaining walls
What is jump forming?
• When concrete is poured to vertical formwork. When the concrete has gained structural strength, the formwork is moved upwards where more concrete is poured and slowly forming the structure
What is a Cat B fit out?
- Space that ready to move into which includes floor finishes, café, tea points and kitchen areas
- Furniture
- Branded material and décor
Differences between flexible and rigid pavement?
- Design
- Life
- Maintenance
- Initial cost
- More time for curing for rigid
What is party wall act 1996 is?
- It provides a framework for preventing and resolving disputes in relation to party walls, boundary walls and excavations near neighbouring buildings
- Act is separate from obtaining planning permission or building regulations approval
What is a retaining wall?
• It is a wall that hold back the soil behind it. It resists the lateral pressure of the soil where there is a change in ground elevation.
What key factors should be considered when designing internal partitions?
- Fire ratings and acoustic requirements
- Thermal
- Requirement for doors and internal windows
- Strength and structural requirements including fixing details
- Robustness
- Height of partition
What would you consider for selecting a foundation?
- The total load of the building
- Near by buildings
- Ground/soil capacity
- Cost
What are hoists?
• Design for the vertical transportation of materials and or people
What is life cycle costing?
- Method of measuring and managing the lifetime costs of any project
- life cycle costs are those associated directly with constructing and operating the building until its end of life
What is the composition of a rigid road?
- Surface Course 40mm
- Binder course 60mm
- reinforced concrete
- Base course - granular base - Type 1
- subbase -existing soil - optional
- subgrade - clay
What is a raft foundation?
- It is a continuous slab that extends over the entire footprint of the building.
- The raft spreads the load of the building over a larger area than the other foundations, the stress acting the ground below is reduced.
What are strip foundations?
- Used for ground where the subsoil is of good bearing capacity
- Consists of a continues strip of concrete formed centrally under load bearing walls.
What is intumescent paint?
- Intumescent paint is a passive fire protection system.
* Rapidly expands to protect the surface that it is applied to delaying the spread of the fire
What are building regulations?
• They ensure that new buildings, conversions, renovations and extensions (domestic or external) are going to be safe, healthy and high performing.
What is the difference between flexible and rigid roads?
• Rigid is design to withstand more loads than flexible and as a result rigid includes a
Benefits
• Longer span
• More durable
• Low repairing and maintenance costs
Drawbacks
• Costly
• Take time to cure
What is shoring?
• Form of temporary support given to existing buildings and excavations. The purpose is to prevent collapse or excessive movement.
Can you name some materials that have been banned from construction use?
- Asbestos
- High alumina cement in structural elements
- Urea formaldehyde
What is the purpose of a parapet?
- Vertical extension of wall that go over a above the level of the roof
- Used for aesthetic reasons, for example hiding plat roof, and enable maintenance to take place.
What safety provisions you might have in a new building?
- Maximum occupy numbers
- Fire evacuation plan
- Fire extinguishers
- Fire alarms
- Sprinklers
- Smoke control systems
- Fire barriers in floor, wall and ceiling cavities
What are key advantages/disadvantages of timber frames?
Advantages • Faster construction • Relatively lightweight • Aesthetically pleasing • Sustainability (when harvest responsibly Disadvantages • Skilled workmanship is required to achieve a high quality finish • Potential for wet rot, dry rot etc • Fire protection might be required
How does Equality Act impact construction?
- It requires reasonable adjustments to be made when providing access to goods, facilities and services
- Building regulations part M
What temporary works are you aware of for excavations?
Steel sheet piling and steel trench shitting (with walling) (Trench shitting is a lightweight version of sheet piling)
Hydraulic support such as GRP trench boxes (Glass-reinforced plastic) .
