KIOT

Wollo University
Kombolcha Institute of Technology
Department of Civil Engineering

Building Construction
Ceng 3093)
(

Lecture –1
 PREPARED BY :ABDUSELAM H.
1. Introduction:
Construction: is some thing made by man for
one specific purpose or another.
 It may be a road or a path, a bridge, a dam,
a dwelling place, airport or building e.t.c.
A building: can be generally considered as a
structure consisting of floors, walls and
roofs erected to provide covered space for
different uses such as residence, business,
entertainment, workshop, etc.
Development of Building construction
 The primary motive for building house and still is the
desire for better living condition.
 The initial cause which compelled man to obtained a
dwelling or look for a shelter were:
 Fear for wild animals during the night & the day.
Seeking protection against the cold at night and
heat during the day.
The desire for a place where every thing
belonging to the family, such as cattle , equipment
should be gathered.
 Cont’d…
 For construction of a house, among other factors, the following

requirements must be satisfied:

1. A site on which to built the house.

2. Permission from local authorities to built.

3. Material for building the house.

4. skilled labors for the erection of the house.

5. Finance, and

6. Professionals, like Architect & Engineers

Design & Performance Requirements of a Building
 To perform these basic functional requirements, a
building should satisfy the following aspects in its
design and construction.
1. Strength and Stability:
 The strength of a material refers the capability of
the materials to withstand stresses either in
compression or tension.
 The stability of structure or structural elements
refers to its resistance to large overall
deformation, such as the over – turning of a wall
or the buckling of a columns.
2. Dimensional Stability
 This stability refers to the resistance to dimensional changes
in building materials and structures caused due to elastic and
plastic deformations as a result of applied load and
expansion & contraction due to change in temperature and
moisture content.
3. Comfort and Convenience
 To achieve this, one should plan the building, keeping in view
the various principles of planning, which include optimum
utilization of space in a building, lighting consideration
and orientation of the building as a whole.
 For instances, a building should provide enough daylight and
clear & easy vision without giving glare effects.
4. Resistance to moisture penetration
 One of the basic requirement a design is to keep the building
dry. The presence of moisture in any building structure
deteriorates the material’s strength, reduces durability and
could cause partial or total failure of the structure.

5. Fire Protection
 It is not possible to make buildings absolutely fireproof, as there is
no material which is absolutely fire proof at high temperature.
 Selection of appropriate construction materials and providing
adequate means of escape in design may reduce the effect of
fire.
6. Heat Insulation (thermal insulation)
 It is essential to exclude the outside heat from getting inside.

 The heat insulation requirement for different types of buildings

can be achieved in many ways, such as:

 The use of thicker exterior walls

 The use of cavity wall construction.

 The use of shading devices such as projection roofs,

verandahs, etc.
 Proper orientation of building in the design stage.
7. Day Lighting and Ventilation
 Good day lighting is not too much of light, but sufficient
light free from glare, and it should come from the right
direction.
 The number and size of windows can be adjusted to satisfy
the necessary day lighting in the building.
 Natural ventilation : is the supply of outside air in to the
building through windows or other openings. Ventilation is
essential to prevent undue concentration of odors,
fumes, dusts, carbon dioxide, moisture, etc and maintain
suitable conditions for the users.
8. Sound Insulation
 The insulation of noise is a very important requirement
for buildings such as hospitals, educational institutes,
offices and residential buildings located in city centers.
The problem of sound insulation can be solved through :
Appropriate construction methods, such as:
 use of cavity wall,
airtight windows,
floors with suspended ceilings
Sound proof floors.
9. Durability
 The durability of a building is defined as the time
over which a building remain serviceable and is mainly
influenced by the type of building materials,
environmental exposure, quality of
workmanship, detail in designing and the degree of
maintenance.
 Design for durability should, therefore, include
appropriate material choice based on the climatic
& environmental conditions, care in the design &
detailing of specific areas like joints, roofs,
connections and systematic maintenance scheme.
 10. Security
 Due consideration should be given in designing and
construction external walls and opening to protect a
building against burglary or other effects.
 External walls should have sufficient strength to
resist a burglar breaking into the house.
 Window openings should be protected with metal
grills or other device.
 Special provisions, like automatic alarm fittings, are
required in important buildings such as banks
and museums.
11. Protection against vermin’s & termites
 Once termites enter a building, the removal of them is
not an easy task as they get rich supplies of food in
the building such as wood, paper products, vegetables.
 It is, therefore, advisable to take due precautions in
pre-construction techniques of termite proofing
such as filling of floor joints, use of better
quality foundation materials, clearing building
site containing dead wood, old tree stumps,
etc.
12. Building Economics
 The consideration of economical aspects, keeping in
view the functional and durability requirement of a
building is very important.
 The designer must exercise economy at every stage
of planning, design, construction, maintenance and
operation of a building.
Building Classification
Types of Building
 Depending up on their occupancy,
buildings are classified as follows:-
1. Residential Building:
 Those building in which sleeping
accommodation is provided for
normal residential purposes with or
with out cooking or dinning or both
facilities.
 E.g. Dormitories, apartment
houses, hotels
Cont’d…
2. Educational Building:
These include any building
used for Academic
purpose like School,
College, or day care
purposes for more than 8
hours per day involving
assembly for instruction,
education or recreation.
Cont’d…
3. Institutional Building:
 These Includes any building or
part which is used for purposes
such as medical or other
treatment or care of persons
suffering from physical or mental
illness, disease, for penal or
correctional purposes.
 Institutional buildings ordinarily
provide sleeping accommodation
for the occupants.
e.g. Hospitals, penal institutions.
Cont’d…
4. Assemblies Building:
 These Includes any building or part
of building where group of people
congregate or gather for
recreation, social, religious,
patriotic, civil, travel and similar
purposes.
e.g. Theatres, dance halls, assembly
halls etc
Cont’d…
5. Business Buildings:
 These Includes buildings for the
transaction of business, for
taking or giving of professional
service and the keeping of
accounts & records for similar
purpose.
e.g. garage, barber shop, City
halls, court houses, libraries
Cont’d…
6. Mercantile Buildings
 These Includes any building or part of
building which is used as shops,
stores, markets, for display and sale
of merchandise, either whole sale or
retail.
Cont’d…
7. Industrial buildings:
 Any building or part of a building
or structure in which products or
materials of all kinds and
properties are fabricated,
assembled or processed.
 e.g. Assembly plants,
laboratories, power plant,
pumping stations refineries
Cont’d…
8. Storage Buildings:
 These used primarily for the storage
or sheltering of goods, wares,
merchandise
 e.g. Warehouses, cold storage, store
houses, freight deposit.
9. Hazardous Buildings:
 These used for storage, handling,
manufacturing or processing of
highly combustible or explosive
materials or products which are liable
to burnt with extreme rapidity and/ or
which produces poisonous fumes or
explosions.
 Classifications based on construction
 Under this category buildings are classified on the basis of
resistance to fire of the element of the building.
Type 1- Fire resistance construction:
 A type of construction in which elements of the building are
non-combustible.
 A building is sufficiently fire resistance that it withstands the
effect of fire & prevent its spread to other rooms.
Type 2) Non-combustible construction:
 This is a construction in which walls, partitions, structural
elements, etc are non-combustible with less fire.
Cont’d…
Type 3) Heavy timber construction:
 Exterior walls are out of masonry or other non-
combustible materials and interior structural members
are out of timber either solid or laminated forms.
Type 4) Ordinary construction:
 Exterior walls are out of masonry or other non-combustible
materials and interior structural members are partially or
wholly out of wood of relatively smaller section unlike
the Heavy timber construction.
Type 5) Wood Frame Construction
 This is a type of Construction in which Particularly the
whole of the building is out of wood or other
combustible material.
.