01.

Centering and shuttering / Formwork:

First check the quality of shuttering plates. Avoid using plates with uneven surface and
damaged edges. They must be of regular size.

If plywood is used, it should be of BWP grade and durable under alternate wetting and
drying conditions.

Take approval for shuttering from Engineer-in-charge or supervisor before tying

reinforcement.

Engineer-in-charge or supervisor must check the slope, level of slabs and beams before
placing reinforcement in position. Preliminary inspection should be done even before
commencing tying of reinforcement.

 Shuttering should be hard enough to withstand the load of concrete and impact of placing
of concrete and vibrations.
 Oil or mould release agent should be applied on shuttering plates so that shuttering can be
easily removed after concrete gets initial strength.
 12 mm diameter PVC pipe nipples should be provided before casting of sloping roof. These
nipples will be useful for cement grout after slab is concreted. The grouting is needed as
however great precautions you may take while concreting sloping roof, the slab is liable to
leakage. The grouting will reduce the leakage.
 Mark one level on every column as per beam depth.
 Position and level of beam bottom supports should be with respect to the depth of the beam.

 Bottom plank of the beam should be straight. It should not be bent.

 Joints of beam bottom should be properly propped so that formwork doesn’t bulge during
concreting.
 Before providing beam sides, level of the beam bottom should be checked.
 After levelling of beam bottom bracing should be provided.
 The plumb of beam sides at each end should be checked with the help of line dori.
Shuttering of beam column junction should be in plumb and watertight.
 Formwork joints in beam sides should be taken at the end of beam.
 Before casting a slab, all shuttering gaps must be properly closed giving particular attention
to column cap, beam junctions, beam side to slab bottom junction and beam side to beam
bottom junction as well as jointing between two plates.
 Adjustable plates (gabadi plate or gap plate) should be used to avoid gabadi in particular
bay. Contractors are ignorant about repairing the small This affects the strength of concrete.

 In such cases, contractors use scrap material where it is not possible to place shuttering
plates and bottom of slab is not in same level. It affects the thickness of plaster.
 The slab thickness should be marked on the side of slab as per the thickness of slab.
 Wooden props should be avoided as far as possible. Wooden props, if used, check for
soundness, proper sizes, plumb and see that they are not butt spliced.
 Props must be braced in both directions by tubes and fixed couplers.
 Wooden plates are not recommended as due to surface deformations they give uneven
surface resulting in increasing the thickness of ceiling plaster.
 All the props must be in proper alignment, plumb and not jointed more than 20%. Props
must not get staggered.

 All the props must be kept vertical by providing wedges and cross bracings. Do
not use bricks or blocks below props to adjust height. Contractors fix the props
in a slant position to avoid cutting of props or to utilize short prop they give more
packing below the prop. They are dangerous and may slip while concreting and
invite failure of cantilever formwork.
 Individual prop must be braced both ways with continuous runners and prop
system braced laterally.
 Minimum spacing between props should be 0.60m (2.0′) center to center in case
of wooden props and M.S. props.
 Extra care need to be taken when cantilever slab (for Balcony) has to cast at
first floor. In this case let’s say plinth height is 0.9 meter & floor height is 3 meter
then total height of the props would be 3.9 meter. In this case, sometimes it may
happen that the props are placed on freshly filled up soil. At that moment
temporary C.C. should be done before placing those props for cantilever slab on
filled up soil. The filled up soil should also be properly compacted / watered.
 The reason for temporary PCC is that freshly filled up soil may settle and
cantilever slab may sink.
 Proper camber should be provided as per drawing particularly in large span
beam at the center and in case of cantilever beam at the end.
 When span of the beam is more than 6 to 9 meter then camber should be
provided in centre of the beam. It is possible that when span to depth ratio is not
maintained the chances of deflection at center may arise. To check the
deflections of large beam follow this site experiment.
 To check whenever deflection is taking place during concreting or not
(particularly in case of long span between) adopt the match box technique. Take
a single prop and place it in the centre of the beam with empty matchbox placed
on top of prop (leave a space between beam shuttering and prop). Once casting
has been carried out, if the empty matchbox gets crushed it can be clearly said
that the deflection has occurred.
 If it deflects and if deflection is more than permissible limits, it is serious and
immediately consults your structural engineer to arrive at right engineering
solutions.
 Providing camber can minimise the risk of deflection particularly in long span of
beam. This also happens after hardening of concrete.
 M.S. props must used when height of the staging is more than 3.6m (12′).
 Remove all the debris e.g. dust, paper, leaves, chippings of woods, nails,
reinforcement wastage, soil particles etc…
 Before placing the concrete, sprinkle some water over the shuttering of slab.
 02. Reinforcement:
 The reinforcement steel should be free of any loose scale, rust, mud, or oil.
 Cutting of reinforcement should be done beam wise and for the total number of the
beams, required for slab. Extra length of cutting bars at the ends leads to improper end
cover.
 Make sure that cover blocks used for casting of slab and beam have the same grade as of
concrete. They are not broken and properly positioned and should not get disturbed
during concreting operations.
 Proper cover to reinforcement should be provided to slab bottom, beam bottom and
sidewalls.

 Before placing the concrete, Check the reinforcement details with bar bending schedule
and get an approval from structural consultant.
 The reinforcement of slab must be in proper alignment and the slab bends must be lifted up
to give a bend up of height 12.5 mm less than slab thickness without cover.
 Make sure that size and spacing of reinforcement are as per drawing, particularly for main
reinforcement of slab or beam.
 Full bearing of beam bars should be given on column.
 Beam bars should be passing through column reinforcement fully.
 Provide M.S. chairs in cantilever slab reinforcement as well as for lifted bent up bars.
 Check the laps of beam or slab with detailed drawing. Never keeps lap in middle of beam
or slab if they have long span. Keep the lap in alternate pattern and it should be in staggered
manner.
 Check the joints beam-column joint details as per detailed drawing- flexible or rigid.
 Bent up bars must be as per detailed drawing. It should not be in middle height.
 See that whenever the reinforcement of cantilever beam are at top and also ensure that the
counter balance in cantilever beam is adequately provided e. top bars are adequately taken
into the main beams or slabs (Minimums double the cantilever length).
 Oil should not come in contact with surface of reinforcement. It will reduce the bond.
 Stirrups must be provided at junction of beams and columns which is generally avoided.
 Dowels (if any) Should be provided for elevational features / future extentions/ upper storey
column.
 Parapet (Pardi) bars shall be left for balconies/staircase

Do’s:
01. Do hire an experienced Concrete contractor for successful concreting
operation.

02. Also, see that the main/general contractor hire good skilled sub/labour
contractor for concreting.

03. See that concreting is done under skilled supervision. Never leave it to
labour on site.

04. Always wear suitable PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)before casting

concrete.

05. Start placement of concrete with adequate manpower, proper equipment

and tools.

06. Always choose right cement for the particular job. If you have confusion,
ask the technical person.

07. Always pour the concrete when the weather conditions are favourable.

08. Suitable mix design should be used for particular specifications (i.e. M25,
M30 etc.).

09. Choose right concrete mix as per specifications.

10. First mix the dry concrete uniformly i.e. cement, coarse aggregates, fine
aggregates (either manually or in transit mixture) as per predetermined
quantity (i.e. batching of concrete materials). A good concrete contractor will
always mix the dry concrete first.

11. Add water as per predetermined quantity only.Always measure the water
with measuring container before adding in concrete.

12. Mix the wet concrete thoroughly for around 2 minutes to get the consistent
concrete.
13. Do slump test before placing the concrete.

14. Concrete must be placed within 15 to 20 minutes of pouring water. If

delayed add fresh cement or concern the consultant.

15. Do the proper compaction to the concrete with a vibrator or wooden tamp
to remove air from the concrete. If compaction is not well, it will create
voids/honeycomb in concrete resulting in leakages from the concrete
structure, thereby causing corrosion and also reducing the strength. This also
affects the life of the structure.

16. Pour the concrete throughout in an even thickness.

17. Always keep on checking the stability of props/ supports of formwork

below.

18. See that the covers insert doesn’t get displaced.

19. Finish the surface and edges of concrete after placing of concrete using
with trowels or wooden floats or metal floats. Ensure that the concrete is
finished in the same direction when trowelling.

20. Do proper finishing at joints during concrete construction.

21. Give attention towards the bleeding in concrete. Water should not
evaporate rapidly.

22. Calculate the number of cement bags concreted per hour. If more than 25
to 30 bags are used per hour, then mixing time allowed is less and it should
not be permitted (For 1 bag mixture machine).

23. See that no one walks on the concrete surface till the concrete gets
hardened.

24. Do proper curing when the concrete has hardened initially. We have
already discussed different types of curing methods. Start curing after 6 to 10
hours.

Must Read: Things to Keep in Mind before Concreting Footing

Don’ts:
01. Don’t use damaged formwork. It affects the concrete resulting in the
honeycomb.

02. Don’t use unwashed aggregates in concrete; it may result in a weak

concrete and substantial cost of maintenance.

03. Don’t start concreting before casting of a concrete cube. The Strength of
the concrete should be as per predetermined mix design.

04. Don’t go for volumetric batching. Never allow the use of gamellas.

05. Don’t use high concrete slump, excessively high air content, or excessive
fines.

06. Don’t run concrete mixer more than two minutes resulting in segregation
of concrete constituents.

07. Don’t add more water for ease of placement during the making of
concrete.

08. Don’t use semi-dry concrete in pouring. There will be chances of

honeycomb inside the concrete.

09. Don’t drop concrete form greater height as this will cause segregation.
10. Don’t allow heaping of concrete at one place during pouring.

11. Don’t vibrate the concrete after the initial setting has taken place. (i.e. after
30 minutes)

12. Don’t finish the concrete while bleeding is present on the surface of the
concrete.

13. Unless must and unavoidable, never do concreting at night. The lighting
arrangements are never adequate at all work places and hence some errors
can always happen somewhere.

14. Don’t remove formwork until the concrete has gained sufficient strength.

15. When finishing of the concrete is carried out, never throw or sprinkle the
water on to the concrete surface.

16. Don’t try to finish the dried concrete.

17. Don’t do concreting if it is raining heavily

18. Never allow child labour on site. You will land in jail for violence of law.