Reinforcement detail drawing & Preparation of bar

bending schedule - Necessity for every builder

Reji Zachariah., B.Tech, M.B.A., M.S
Chief Executive
S&R Consultants, Kochi, Kerala, India, www.aadspro.com
(Mobile 0091 98460 26162, Email: rejizac2004@gmail.com)
INTRODUCTION
Preparation of highly detailed reinforcement drawing and bar bending schedule is
an essential requirement in the construction field, all over the world except in India!!
With this we can achieve a high level of quality control at site and will be advantageous
in various aspects of construction.
Unlike the practice of doing reinforcement cutting and bending in a separate
workshop, as in UK and USA, based on the bar bending schedule prepared by engineers
in the design office, the practice in India has been doing reinforcement cutting and
bending at the site only which is based on the bar bending schedule prepared at site by
site engineers or supervisors.
In the present construction industry, the preparation of the bar bending schedule
for the reinforcement work is by site engineers or the supervisors which is being done in
India is becoming a bad practice. Due to lack of quality supervisors and unskilled labours
in the site, our quality control in bar bending and laying is not up to the standard. Also
proper cutting of bars is not done which results in cutting wastage .The fact is that the
site engineers or the supervisors are not fully aware of all the design considerations that
was made for the project, regarding the anchoring, curtailment and lapping of
reinforcement bars and their positions, particularly in respect of ductile detailing for
earthquake-resistant structures. So these schedules are to be prepared by the engineers in
the design office only.
In the use of high grade concrete and steel, quality plays a major role. In order to
prepare the bar bending schedule, the design office can have the information from site
about the stock lists for bar diameters and their lengths available at the site. Fe 500 bars
cannot be bend acutely as we bend the Fe 415 bars. Also there are rebending
considerations to be followed. Proper scheduling, & bending with a mechanized system
ensures this required quality level.
Let us focus on the detailed drawing to be done for reinforcement detailing (rebar)
in reinforced cement concrete construction. Here rebars are drawn to 5mm accuracy as
per the detailing rules in IS or British codes. The cost of a rebar shop drawing production

can be in the range of Rs 3.5 to Rs 5 per square feet considering the quality standards
maintained, whereas the advantages can be Rs 80- Rs 100/- as shown below. Thus 1 lakh
square feet structure shop drawing preparation can save you about Rs 80 lakh. It is sad to
know that every builder is loosing this amount in most of his projects.
This accuracy gives us, what you see is what you get format (WYS WYG), or in
other words photolike drawings of the reinforcement layout. Every bar is marked with
different number, at the same time providing the same number for the same type of bars.
A schedule is prepared with all types of bars counted and sorted. So details of every bar
can be seen in the schedule. This is called bar bending schedule system (BBS).
This schedule can be used to cut and bend the bars to the required shape in a cut
and bend factory and also in a site. As the steel can be cut and can be brought to the site
in a ready made form, Author would like to call it ready mix steel as like our favorite
ready mix concrete.
Let us go through the different aspects of the preparation of BBS.
BAR BENDING AND SCHEDULING (BBS)
Part drawing of slab bottom reinforcement details is shown below. As more details are
put in the drawing it is ideal to show top and bottom bar separately in the drawings.
Every bar is also marked with a number called bar mark (Exambles-1, 2, 8 etc). This
bar mark is the identifier for the bar in the BBS. Shape code defines the shape of the bar.
For example shape code 20 and shape code 37 (As per British code) or as per the
equivalent IS code respectively is shown below. The shape code 20(As per British code)
or 3A (IS: 2502-1963) means that it is a straight bar.

Bar mark -1, 2, 8

SLAB BOTTOM BAR

Barmark-48, 50

`
SLAB TOP BAR

A
B

SHAPE CODE 38

BEAM LAYOUT

BEAM DETAILS

The only difference between the ordinary drawing and the detailed drawing with
bar bending schedule is that in the latter case all the bars will be tagged with bar mark as
per the legends.
For example: In the former case we only provide 2-#16 which gives only the details of
the number and diameter of the bar. In the latter case, 2-#16-312 represents all the details
including the bar mark (312). A typical bar bending schedule is shown below.
Bar
Mark
1
2
4
7
8
37
38
43
48
50
525
526
527
528
531

Type

Size

Mem No

T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T

8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
16
16
20
20
16

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Bar
No
26
11
33
25
15
22
16
12
17
20
2
6
6
6
2

Tot
Bars
26
11
33
25
15
22
16
12
17
20
2
6
6
6
2

Len(Bar)MM
3350
2000
6350
4200
5250
3150
1900
2150
1200
1000
3775
2300
4075
2450
2225

Shape
Code
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
38
37
37
20
38

A
3350
2000
6350
4200
5250
3150
1900
2150
1200
1000
3200
1800
4000
2450
1650

140
540
140

540

140

540

BAR BENDING SCHEDULE

Length of the bars is measured from the drawing and can be entered in a schedule. Thus
the number of the bars as per length given in the schedule can be counted and sorted from
the drawing. At a glance, the challenge that has been put forward is that detailers need to
show the minute details of the drawing as explained below.
For example: Bend length at the end of the reinforcement bar (beam) has to be calculated
based on how much development length is available in the column itself. If the width of
the column is high in the direction of the beam, the beam bar length may not be required
to be bend at all.
Let us go through the advantages with bar bending schedules.

ADVANTAGES WITH BAR BENDING SCHEDULES (BBS)

1.
2.

3.

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
rate.

Scheduling and proper bending is strongly recommended for Fe 500. Fe 500 saves
10% compared to Fe 415 steel used presently.
Cutting and bending in a cut and bend factory avoids the wastage completely
(5-7 %). With BBS, bars can be cut with planning to reduce the wastage in a site
with even the present setup.
There is a general tendency to group slabs and beams in the usual design methods.
In BBS, it is a must to detail every member separately to account finer geometry
and different forces coming on the structure in the modern design methods.
Instead of grouping members as all members are detailed separately gives
reduction in steel as every member is individually reinforced to resist what it has
to. Finer detailing saves about 5 to 15% steel.
Better quality control at site.
Better estimation of steel.
Real time estimation data, with the design.
Better control on stock of steel actually required.
Theft and pilferage of steel can be reduced.
Economical order quantity for better project management
Bench marking quantity and quality requirements.
Optimize your design based on the quantity of steel.
Steel bending and cutting can commence even before the form work is done.
Steel bending can be done at a separate site, marked and then can be assembled at
site, if there is space limitations.
Project time can be reduced as the bars can be cut and bend before form work is
done.
What you see in the drawing is what you get at the site.
With a quality data set, other management softwares (ERP systems) can work on
it.
A paper less office concept in the construction industry and associated
advantages.
Total length of bars calculated using Engineering formula, leaves nothing to
approximation.
Mechanization of bending and cutting is possible. (Cut and bend systems)
Reduces labour and time but increases the reliability.
As the works gets organized, smaller contractors can work on the project at lesser

COST ANALYSIS
Consider 1 lakh sqft building with 15 stories, with 5kg/sqft steel usage. Cost of
steel considered at Rs 40 per kg. With taxes and bar bending added, this can be
considered Rs 50 per Kg.
1. With BBS the bending quality of Fe500 can be ensured. So that one can ensure
10% saving with Fe 500 compared to Fe 415, cost saving is 0.5 kg steel results in
Rs 25 per sqft.
2. Reduce cutting wastage,
Considering 5% wastage reduction due to planning in cut and bend operations
5kg/sqft x 0.05 = 0.25 kg = Rs 12.5 per sqft
3. Better quality controls at site due to photolike drawings add Rs 2 per sqft.
4. Better Estimation of steel add Rs 2 per sqft, for an error margin of 2%
5. Detailing without grouping saves 5% reduction in steel.
5kg/sqft x 0.05 = 0.25 kg = Rs 12.5 per sqft
6. Project time can be reduced as the bars can be cut and bend even before the
formwork is done. Time savings due to automation considered is two days for
every floor which gives about one month total our 15 storied structure. Saving in
interest cost for one month can be calculated as follows.
Consider 1 month reduction in construction period of 12 months
Cost of building 1 lakh x Rs 2500 per sqft = 25 crores.
One month interest @10% per annum = 25 lakhs which is Rs 25 per sqft
7. Savings in labour in steel bending to the tune of Rs 2 per kg, which is Rs 10 per
sqft.
8. As the work gets organized, smaller contractors can work on the project at lesser
rate which is not considered here with similar advantages in other items also..
Adding the savings side together it is Rs 89 per sqft.

PROJCTS DONE WITH BBS

This method was partially followed in the following builders projects which
were found to be practical in our construction methods and sites.

Holy Faith , Ernakulam

Haritha , Thrissur
Skyline , Ernakulam
Spring Flower, Kakkanadu

CONCLUSION
As explained reinforcement detail drawing improves the total quality
control which is badly required.
It can help in redirecting the construction industry to an overall organized
system with higher efficiency and reduction in cost per square feet.
Many ERP packages are not working in the construction industry due to
absence of quality data like steel quantity which is very difficult to calculate
accurately in the manual methods. Preparing BBS is an answer to this issue.
In other parts of world, they are in a position to locate every bar with
manufactures identity, engineers and contractors identity. This is achieved as
BBS database is connected with quality control and suppliers details.
Lot of unnecessary workforce like, different levels of supervisory mason,
contractor and engineers time can be replaced with this system, thus enabling
smaller contractors to take bigger works.
Engineers time is actually getting shifted from site to the designers table
where all the decisions with respect to the reinforcement is taken. This reduces the
builders cost as a high level of drawing automation is possible now a days.
A good level of detailing requires that the design to be frozen after the
initial planning and designing to an accuracy of 5mm. It is practically very
difficult to change the drawings and bbs once it is completed, with the day to day
changes occurring from our style of managing projects.
As in this type of projects, it is a good practice to complete the entire
project drawings in one go so that structural cost of the project can be estimated to
a high degree of accuracy.
This method is a green technology and adds to carbon credit saved.