Introduction to National Building Code and Steps in a Construction project

1.Why are building codes or standards essential for the modeling/efficiency of drawings in Revit ?

Answer :-

• The National Building Code (NBC) is a standardised set of rules to be followed by authorities and construction firms, to provide a healthy and safe living experience for all residents.
• The NBC of India, a comprehensive building Code, a national instrument providing guidelines for regulating building construction activities across the country.
• It serves as a Model Code for adoption by all agencies involved in buiding construction works whether they are Public Works Departments(PWD) or other government construction departments, local bodies or private construction agencies.
• The Code mainly contains administrative regulations, development control rules, and general building requirements like fire safety requirements, stipulations regaring materials, structural design, and construction (including safety), building and plumbing services,
  approach to sustainability and asset and facility management.

Building codes or standards are essential for the modeling of drawing because of the following reasons :-

• Building codes provide minimum standards for safety, health and general welfare including Structural Integrity, Mechanical Integrity, Fire Prevention and Control and Energy Conservation.
• National Building Code is a document that provides guidelines for the construction of structures - Residential, Mercantile, Institutional, Educational, Comrnercial, Assembly, Storagespaces or even Hazardous buildings.
• It is important to follow these guidelines as they are meant to protect the overall health of the construction and ensure the health and and the residents.
• Building codes provide a set of standards that are uniform to all structures, hence it guides the modeling process.
• The building codes enable us to model a structure with utmost safety as it covers all the aspects that ensure the like fire and life safety, structural adequacy,iighting and natural ventiation,suceplanning, aesthetics, heating and mechanical ventilation, sound insulation and noise control and other utility service requirements.
• Building codes protect the overall health of construction as well as the public. The designers constantly refer to these building codes for modeling which enhances their knowledge in this field. It enables to combine the modern construction methods with standard
  conventional standards.
• These standards also help the government agencies to approve the plans as it becomes the law of particular jurisdiction when formally enacted by the appropriate government or authority.
• Building codes protect future home purchasers who deserve reasonable assurance that the home they buy will be safe.

2. From the National Building Code list the groups that will be essential to you when you begin modeling in Autodesk Revit.

Answer :-

The National Building Code contains the following groups which are essential while modelling.

Group 1 : For Development/ Building Planning and Related Aspects

1. Part O Integrated Approach Prerequisite for Applying Provisions of the Code
2. Part 1 Definitions
3. Part 2 Administration
4. Part 3 Development Control Rules and General Building Requirements
5. Part 4 Fire and Life Safety
6. Part 5 Building Materials
7. Part 10 Landscape Development, Signs And Outdoor Display Structures.

1. Section 1 Landscape Planning, Design and Development.
2. Section 2 Signs and Outdoor Display Structures.

h.Part 11 Approach to Sustainability.

Group 2 : For Structural Design and Related Aspect

1. Part O Integrated Approach Prerequisite for Applying Provisions of the Code
2. Part 6 Structural Design.

1. Section 1 Loads, Forces and Effects
2. Section 2 Soils and Foundations
3. Section 3 Timber and Bamboo 3A Timber 3B Bamboo
4. Section 4 Masonry
5. Section 5 Concrete 5A Plain and Reinforced Concrete 5B Prestressed Concrete
6. Section 6 Steel
7. Section 7 Prefabrication, Systems Building and Mixed/ Composite Construction 7A Prefabricated Concrete 7B Systems Building and Mixed/ Composite Construction
8. Section 8 Glass and Glazing

c.Part 11 Approach to Sustainability.

Group 3 : For Aspects Relating to Construction, and Asset/ Facility Management

1. Part O Integrated Approach Prerequisite for Applying Provisions of the Code
2. Part 7 Construction Management, Practices and Safety
3. Part 11 Approach to Sustainability
4. Part 12 Asset and Facility Management

Group 4 : For Aspects Relating to Building Services

1. Part O Integrated Approach Prerequisite for Applying Provisions of the Code
2. Part 8 Building Services.

1. Section 1 Lighting and Natural Ventilation
2. Section 2 Electrical and Allied Installations
3. Section 3 Air Conditioning, Heating and Mechanical Ventilation.
4. Section 4 Acoustics, Sound Insulation and Noise Control
5. Section 5 Installation of Lifts, Escalators and Moving Walks 5A Lifts 5B Escalators and Moving Walks Section 6 Information and Communication Enabled Installations

c.Part 11 Approach to Sustainability

Group 5 : For Aspects Relating to Plumbing Services and Solid Waste Management.

1. Part O Integrated Approach Prerequisite for Applying Provisions of the Code
2. Part 9 Plumbing Services (including Solid Waste Management)

1. Section 1 Water Supply Section 2 Drainage and Sanitation
2. Section 3 Solid Waste Management
3. Section 4 Gas Supply

c.Part 11 Approach to Sustainability.

3.List the five major steps that occur in project cycle . The steps should include from conceptualization of project to maintenance and final stage.

Answer :-

The five major steps that occur in project cycle are as follows:-

• Project Initiation
• Project Planning
• Project Execution
• Project Monitoring and Controlling
• Project Final Stage.

Each of above is explained below

• Project Initiation :-

We must create and evaluate the project in order to determine if it is feasible and if it should be undertaken, at the beginning of the project. Here the project objective or need is identified; this can be a business problem or opportunity. A suitable response to the need is documented in a business case with recommended solution options. A feasibility study is conducted to examine whether each option clearly identifies the project objective and a final recomrnended solution is determined. Many questions related to the issues of feasibility i.e. "can we do the project?" and justification like "should we do the project?" are mentioned and faced. When a solution is approved, a project is initiated to implement the approved solution. For this, a project manager is appointed. At this stage, the major deliverables and the participating work groups are identified. This is the time when the project team begins to take shape. Approval is then required by the project manager to move onto the detailed planning phase.

• Project Planning :-

The planning phase involves further development of the project in detail to meet the projects objective. The team identifies all of the work to be done. The projects tasks and resource requirements are identified, along with the strategy for producing them. In a broader sense identification of each activity as well as their resource allocation is also carried out. A project plan outlining the activities, tasks, dependencies, and timeframes is created. The project manager is the one who coordinates the preparation of a project budget by providing cost estimates for the labor, equipment, and materials costs. This is mainly carried out by project scheduling software like MS project or PRIMAVERA. This scheduling charts would help us to track the stages of our project as time passes. This is also referred to as "scope management." The budget of the project already estimated is used to monitor and control cost expenditures during project implementation. Finally, we require a document to show the quality plan, providing quality targets, assurance, and control measures, along with an acceptance plan, listing the criteria to be met to gain customer acceptance. At this point, the project would have been planned in detail and is ready to be executed.

• Project Execution :-

This is the implementation phase, where the project plan is put into motion and the work of the project is performed practically on site. It is essential to maintain control and communicate as needed during each implementation stages. Progress should be continuously monitored and appropriate adjustments are made and recorded as variances from the original plan. A project manager is the one who spends most of the time in this step. Throughout the project implementation, people carry out the tasks, and progress information is being reported through regular project team meetings. The project manager uses this information to preserve control over the direction of the project by comparing the progress reports with the project plan to measure the performance of the project activities. If any deviation is found from the already defined plan corrective measures are made. The first option of action should always be to bring the project back to the original plan. If that cannot happen, the team should record variations from the original plan and record and publish modifications to the plan. all through this step, project sponsors, and other key stakeholders are kept inforrned about the projects status as per the agreed rate and format of communication. The plan should be updated and available on a regular basis. Status reports should always highlight the probable end point in terms of cost, schedule, and quality of deliverables. Each project deliverable produced should be reviewed for quality and measured against the acceptance criteria. When
deliverables have been produced and the custorner has agreed on the final solution, the project is said to be ready for closure.

• Project Monitoring and Controlling :-

This stage is all related to the measurernent of progress and performance to make sure that items are tracking with the project rnanagernent scheduling. This phase regularly happens at the same time as the execution phase.

• Project Final Stage :-

During the final closure, the importance is on providing the final deliverables to the customer, that is:

• Handing over project documentation to the business
• Termination of supplier contracts
• Releasing project resources
• Communicate the closure of the project to all stakeholders.
• Last and final is to conduct lessons-learned studies to examine what went well and what didn't.

4) Give examples of different disciplines involved in construction of a project

Answer :-

Disciplines involved in construction project are as follows:-

1. Architect
2. Civil Engineer
3. Structural Engineer
4. Geotechnical Engineer
5. Earthquake Engineer
6. Electrical Engineer
7. Plumbing Engineer
8. Fire Protection Engineer
9. HVAC Engineer
10. Environmental Engineer
11. Town Planner
12. Urban Designer
13. Landscape Architect
14. Security System Specialist
15. Interior Designer
16. Quantity Surveyor
17. Project/ Construction Manager
18. Other Subject Specialist

Some of above are explained below,

Civil Engineering :- Civil engineering is concerned with developing and improving infrastructure and common utilities. This may include the design and supervision of: driveways, storm or waste water systems, drinking water supplies and bridges or roads (plus many other structures). As well as considering safety and cost, a Civil Engineer will work within relevant national and local council regulatory requirements, and also be concerned with the environmental impact and possibly even social impact.

Structural Engineering :- Structural engineering is primarily concerned with structures that are required to withstand vertical loads and environmental forces (including earthquake plus wind and snow). This typically includes designing the structural component of houses, buildings or bridges. Structural design involves ensuring that both the strength and stiffness of building elements are within government mandated standards. Structural Engineers often work very closely with Architects and also have an in-depth knowledge of regulations and building codes. A common approach for a Structural Engineer in todays economic environment is to utilise the least amount of materials in order to produce the most stable structure. Effective structural engineering not only avoids costly failures to the structure in the future, but can also provide immediate savings through innovative design.

Geotechnical Engineering :- The ground throughout New Zealand is dynamic and can change slowly over time, or even quite suddenly due to natural forces such as earthquakes and floods. Even in areas of relative stability, the clearing of vegetation for the development of agricultural land or urban development, can significantly alter the stability of the ground (especially on slopes). Without adequate ground investigation, the ground should be considered a hazard!" Geotechnical engineering is concerned with the physical and changing nature of rocks, minerals and other elements in the ground — the Earths geology. Geotechnical Engineers deal with investigating the soil and rock properties of the ground both at and surrounding the site, and also how natural materials and construction techniques affect each other. Where ground is steep or of low strength, building foundations are likely to be specifically designed. The parameters for such designs are provided by Geotechnical Engineers in their reports following on-site investigation and testing of the soils. The Geotechnical Engineer and the Structural Engineer should work collaboratively to ensure the most cost effective and appropriate foundation can be designed.

Earthquake Engineering :- Most of New Zealand is vulnerable to earthquakes to some degree. Covering certain aspects of geotechnical, civil and structural engineering, Earthquake engineering is extremely important to ensure the protection of valuable assets such as bridges, houses and commercial buildings. It is also critically important for the prevention of serious injury or loss of life to people in earthquake-prone areas. Significant earthquakes in the last decade have prompted government to change laws to increase the structural requirements for buildings. This can often require existing properties to undergo improvements to the structure. As well as the moral obligation to protect people that may occupy a building, the owner may have a legal requirement to make structural improvements. Earthquake engineering requires both geotechnical and structural input.

Environmental Engineering:- Environmental engineering is concerned with protecting or reducing the impact of development on the environment. In a practical sense, applications in New Zealand might include: integrating storm water systems with the natural landscape, developing effective ways to ensure the construction process has as small an impact on the surrounding land as is practically possible, or investigating potentially (or known) contaminated land and helping land owners mitigate both environmental damage and costs.

Fire Safety Engineering :-Fire safety engineering is concerned with building design and construction factors that can impact the safety of people in the event of a fire. It also deals with the protection of neighbouring properties from the spread of fire across
a boundary.This could involve the design of alarm systems, stairwells and exit routes, insulation, ventilation and the prevention of smoke or fire spreading throughout the building. Fire Safety Engineers may also be involved in investigating the causes of a fire
and analysing what could have prevented it.

5) How are buildings classified ? Place the following buildings under each category

a. Four unit apartments
b. School with capacity of 1000 students
c. A single unit shop.
d. Multi story Shopping complex
e. Steel machine factory

Answer :-

The classification of buildings :-

• Residential Buildings
• Educational Buildings
• Institutional Buildings
• Assembly Buildings
• Business Buildings
• Mercantile Buildings
• Industrial Buildings
• Storage Buildings
• Mixed Land use Buildings

Each of above is explained below

• Residential Buildings :- These are buildings which are used for normal residential purposes and should facilitate activities such as sleeping, living and cooking. The building must include one or more family residencies, apartrnents, flats and private garages.

• Educational Buildings :- These are buildings housing educational institutions such as schools or colleges which are affiliated and recognized by an appropriate board, university or any similar affiliation authority. The building should promote the aggregation of instructional, educational and recreational activities pertaining to educational purposes. Further, it is mandatory for the building to have proper residential facilities for essential staff who need to reside within the campus. Apart from this, the institution should also have a hostel exclusive to the institute either within its premises or outside.

• Institunal Buildings :- These types of buildings consist of buildings that are constructed by the government, semi-government organizations or registered trusts for specific purposes. Those specific purposes include medical treatment purposes such as treatment of physical or mental illness, childrerfs hospitals, old age homes, centers for the care of orphans or abandoned women, auditoriums or complexes meant to be used for cultural or allied activities, religious accommodation facilities such as dharamshalas, jails, correctional facilities, detention centres, juvenile reforrnatories, etc.

• Assembly Buildings :- These are defined as buildings or parts of them which houses public gatherings congregated with the intent of amusement, recreation, social, religious, patriotic, civil, travel or other similar purposes. Buildings such as movie houses, drama theatres, drive-in theatres, assembly halls, clubhouses, town halls, auditoriums, exhibition halls, museums, mangal karyalayas, gymnasiums, sports complexes, restaurants, boarding houses, dance clubs, gymkhanas, places of worship, bus stops, tax' stands, railway stations, airports, piers, etc. are categorized as assembly buildings.

• Business Buildings :- If a building or a part of it is primarily used for keeping records of business transactions, maintaining accounts, bookkeeping purposes or managing other types of records then it can be classified as a business building. Buildings under this category include offices, banks, courthouses and other professional establishments serving the aforernentioned purposes.

• Mercantile Buildings :- In these types of buildings, either the entire building or a part of it is used for housing shops, stores or showrooms where display and sale of wholesale goods, retail goods or merchandise is carried out. Such buildings should also accommodate office, storage and service facilities essential for the business which should be located in the same building.

• Industrial Buildings :- Buildings used to manufacture, assemble or process products or materials are termed as industrial buildings. They include manufacturing units, assembly plants, factories, mills, power plants, oil refineries, gas plants, dairy plants, laboratories, etc.

• Storage Buildings :-If a building or a part of it is used for the storage of commodities, goods, merchandise, etc. then it is categorised as a storage building.They comprise buildings such as warehouses, cold storages, grain storage units, barns, stables, freight depot, transit shed, hangars, truck terminals, public garages, etc.

• Mixed Land Use Buildings :- These are buildings which are used for both residential purposes as well as for carrying out non-residential activities.

• Four unit apartments - Residential Building
  School with capacity of 1000 students - Educational Building
  A single unit shop - Mercantile Building
  Multi story Shopping complex - Mercantile Building
  Steel machine factory - Industrial Building

6. Distinguish the roles of Design team and Management team.

Answer:-

Function of Design Team :-

• Formalization of design brief in consultation with the owner.
  
• Site survey and soil investigation.
  
• Preparation of alternative concept designs, highlighting both their positive and negative aspects.
  
• Selection of a concept in consultation with and with the consent of the owner
  
• Preparation of preliminary designs and drawings and obtaining the owners approval.
  
• Preparation of preliminary cost estimates for approval of owner.
  
• Preparation of work-breakdown structure and programme for pre-construction activities.
  
• Assisting client to obtain approvals of the Authority/authorities.
  
• Preparation of detailed specifications and construction working drawings with integration of engineering inputs of all concerned disciplines.
  
• Preparation of detailed design.

Function of Management Team :-

• Specify criteria for selection of constructors
  
• Specify quality control, quality audit system and safety system
  
• Short-list constructors
  
• Have pre-bid meetings with the intending constructors
  
• Receive and evaluate tenders
  
• Select constructors
  
• Execution and supervision
  
• Monitor for quality, time and cost control and for other project management functions
  
• Prepare/certify the completion (as-built) drawings
  
• Assist in getting statutory approvals at various stages
  
• Ensure availability of operation manuals for field use.

7) Refer to NBC, Identify the modeling requirements for the project (from week 4).

Answer:-

a. Height Limitations
b. Area Limitations
c. Room sizing
d. Wall height
e. Thickness based on fire life and safety
f. Passageway requirements

a.Height Limitations :-

• The height of all rooms for human habitation shall not be less than 2.75 m measured from the surface of the floor to the lowest point of the ceiling (bottom of slab). In the case of pitched roof, the average height of rooms shall not be less than 2.75 m.
  
• The height of a bathroom or water-closet measured from the surface of the floor to the lowest point in the ceiling (bottom of slab) shall not be less than 2.1 m.
  
• The height of a kitchen measured from the surface of the floor to the lowest point in the ceiling (bottom slab) shall not be less than 2.75 m, except for the portion to accommodate floor trap of the upper floor.
• The height of a store room shall be not less than 2.2 m.

b.Area Limitations :-

• According to NBC 2005, minimum plot size with ground coverage not exceeding 75%, shall not be less than 40m2 small and medium towns and not less than 30m2 in metropolitial cities.
  
• Plot size below 30m2 and not less than 15m2 may be permitted in case of cluster planning.

c.Room Sizing:-

• The area of habitable room shall not be less than 9.5 m2, where there is only one room with a minimum width of 2.4 m. Where there are two rooms, one of these shall not be less than 9.5 m2 and the other not less than 7.5 m2, with a minimum width of 2.1 m.

• The area of a bathroom shall not be less than 1.8 m2 with a minimum width of 1.2 m. The floor area of watercloset shall be 1.1 m2 with a minimum width of 0.9 m. If bath and water-closet are combined, its floor area shall not be less than 2.8 m2 with a minimum width of 1.2 m.

• The area of a kitchen where separate dining area is provided, shall be not less than 5.0 m2 with a minimum width of 1.8 m. Where there is a separate store, the area of the kitchen may be reduced to 4.5 m2. A kitchen, which is intended for use as a dining area also, shall have a floor area of not less than 7.5 m2 with a minimum width of 2.1 m
• The size of a store room, where provided in a residential building, shall be not less than 3 m2.

d.Wall Height :-

• The height of the Habitable room should not be less than 2.75m
  
• The height of the Kitchen should not be less than 2.6m
  
• The height of the Bath/WC should not be less than 2.2m
  
• The height of the Corridors should not be less than 2.1m
  

e.Thickness based on Fire Life and Safety:-

Passageway Requirements:-

• The approach to the buidings from Road/Street/ Internal means of access shall be through the paved pathway of a width not less than 1.5m, provided its length is not more than 30.
• In the case of special housing schemes for the low-income group and economically weaker section of society developed up to two storey row/cluster housing scheme, the pedestrian pathway width shall be 3m. The pedestrian pathway shall not serve more than 8 plots on each side of the pathway; the length of the pathway shall be not more than 50 m.
• The length of the main means of access shall be determined by the distance from the farthest plot (building) to the public.
• The length of the subsidiary accessway shall be measured from the point of its origin to the next wider road on which it meets.
• In existing built-up areas in the case of plots facing Street/ means of accessway less than 4.5 m in width, the plot boundary shall be shifted to be away by 2.25 m from the central line of the street/means of accessway to give rise to a new street/means of accessway of 45 m width.
  

8.We have identified requirements for modeling from question 7, use these numbers from code book and verify the numbers used in modeling the unit from week 2 to week 4. If the numbers are not reasonable, use the numbers obtained from the code book to create a revision of the mode.

This model resembles the actual modeling requirements for Project 1 of course work.

Answer :-

I have identified that my project are as per NBC Standards

a.Height Limitations :-

The height of the building model created in my project is around 9.7 m which is < 15 m and hence it is safe.

b.Area Limitations :-

The total area of the model in my project is 1651 SFT(153 m²) and 75 % of its area is 114.75 m²,which is greater than 40m² and hence it is safe.

c.Room Sizing:-

Area of toilet 1= 3 m²> 1.8 m², Hence ok.

Area of toilet 2 = 4 m> 1.8 m², Hence ok.

Area of kitchen 9 m²> 5 m², Hence ok.

BEDROOM SIZE = 26m², which is > 12.5 m², Hence ok.

LIVING ROOM SIZE= 73m²,>15.5 m²,Hence ok.

e.Thickness based on Fire Life and Safety:

f.Wall Height :-

Height of walls = 3.05 m

Wall height is as per guidelines.