SYNOPSIS

1) Name of College

: Government College of Engineering, Karad.

2) Name of Course

: M. E.II Civil (Construction and Management)

3) Name of the Student

: Mr. Kamble Shshikant Gopal

[PRN NO.1312445322]

4) Date of Registration

: July 2013.

5) Name of Guide

: Prof. M. B. Kumthekar,
Professor & Head of Civil Engineering, Department,
Government College of Engineering, Karad.
: SU/PG/Affi./Recog/8230.Dated 17th Sept. 1999

6) Registration No

(Copy attached)
7) Name of Dissertation

: Comparative Study of Alternative Plumbing Materials for

Effective Plumbing Maintenance.

8) Introduction:
Plumbing is the system of pipes, drains fittings, valves, valve assemblies, and devices
installed in a building for the distribution of water for drinking, heating and washing, and the
removal of waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and
plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping
systems, plumbing fixtures and equipment such as water heaters and back flow preventers.
Thus, plumbing usually deals with laying of pipe lines which provide a means of
transportation for fluids.
The durability of a plumbing system is dependent on the quality of its component
parts and the assembly skills of those who install it. No plumbing system, however well
designed, can be expected to operate safely or hygienically if the products or materials used
are unsatisfactory. The inverse is also true if the best quality products or materials are used
but are installed incorrectly, the system will be a failure.
Most industrialized countries have national standards or codes that set out the
minimum requirements for the material specifications, design and use of specific plumbing
products. However, plumbing codes of practice vary considerably according to the extent to
which they specify the detailed standards for plumbing products and other matters. Some
countries take the view that the level of detail should be minimized, whereas others are very
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prescriptive. However, even prescriptive codes should allow for the introduction and
innovative use of promising new products, materials and installation practices without undue
delay.
9) Relevance:
The construction industry residential and commercial sectors plays a significant role.
Real estate development can be considered as the yardstick for major development of a city.
Real estate development is taking place at an alarming rate in and around metros such as
Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad as they are coming up as service, educational,
automobile, engineering division and I.T hubs. So many people are attracted towards these
metros due to high job potential. And increasing demand on the present residential facility, so
to meet these increasing demands many residential and commercial projects are coming up in
an around these metros. Due to increasing demand the rates of real estate are rising in
geometric proportion and common person cannot afford these costly residential facilities. To
meet this situation many builders and developers started developing low cost housing projects
so as to reduce cost of the project. But the labor cost cannot be reduced so the only option left
is of material. And other construction material such as steel, cement and sand should be used
of standard quality so only the plumbing and sanitation material is the only option, and also
plumbing and sanitation material is concealed, so many builders preferred low quality
material of plumbing and sanitation.
Even the architects and engineers do not pay much attention to these building
services, which has direct and indirect impact on recurring cost of building maintenance.
Architects and engineers are reluctant to use new plumbing and sanitation materials and
techniques besides they still use old techniques and materials, which cause maintenance
problems, they are not only time consuming but also money. They are also tangible and
intangible losses.
In the initial period these services work satisfactory but at a later stage it needs
frequent maintenance so as to keep building in serviceable condition. Due to this fact
maintenance has become a common feature in many apartments in these metros. Another fact
about the plumbing and sanitation services is that proper planning and designing are rarely
done in the residential apartments. Many times installation of these services are done by nontechnical persons and they carry out the job with their experience based on limited knowledge
domain, such as plumbers.

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In the metros there is another class of people who is ready to pay more if they are
provided with good facilities and services, and have minimum maintenance. Presently the
regular maintenance is not carried out, so it causes a major problem, which damage the
components, stability of the structure, health of the occupants and structure, it also increases
the maintenance cost hence there is need to frame proper plumbing and sanitation
maintenance management to increase the life span of the structure.
From the field data it is observe d that 20% of total building cost is spend on
plumbing and sanitation services, this percentage may depend upon the quality of plumbing
material, user behavior, installation and proper design. This can be further reduced and more
cost effective by selecting appropriate material, technique and by proper installation.
Considering the facts mentioned above it is need of time to go for proper planning of
plumbing and sanitation service so as to reduce the maintenance cost and health of occupants.
10) Literature review:
Work carried out by researchers is as follows:
Al-Khatam [4] has explained the concept of maintenance costs. He has further
explained different factors affecting the maintenance cost and how to control the maintenance
cost. He has given relationship between design and building maintenance cost. From an
initial stage to the final stage designer should be involved in all decisions. He has also
identified the factors affecting building maintenance cost, such as design complexity, faulty
design, low concern, life cycle cost techniques, poor quality control and unskilled labor. So
some concern should be made to reduce the building maintenance cost such as:
1. The material and its specification in construction are very important.
2. The necessity of a builder, customer, budget and running cost should be given due
consideration during the design phase.
3. The design phase is an important phase of the project. So extra care should be
taken since it indirectly affects the maintenance cost of the building.
4. Construction defects should be repaired immediately because it may cause
deterioration.
Hunter [5] has describe a method of estimating the demand and sewage loads for
which provision should be made in designing plumbing systems in order that the service may
be satisfactory. The characteristics of flow through a plumbing system and of the operation of
supply valves and plumbing fixtures are described, and their influence on the method of
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estimating the load to be expected is discussed. An estimate curve developed by means of the
probability function is given, and its use in conjunction with the table of fixture units is
illustrated by this author.
Gahlot [3] has given various issues related to repair and upkeep of the building.
Various topics such as the importance of building repair and maintenance, principles of
maintenance management, maintenance problems and root causes, material for repair and
maintenance and protection, preventive maintenance, remedial measures for building defects
with the description of material and techniques of repair and illustrative application in
specific situations.
The author has provided the information about the methods and procedures, techniques
and tools used for carrying out investigations for making assessments of deterioration in
buildings and systematic planning for their repair and maintenance.
Mantri [7] has suggest maintenance management is important aspect of building
service, it actual starts after possession of the building, Maintenance after possession is very
essential as it is associated with maintenance cost of the building. Despite the precaution
during execution of the building maintenance is required. A common may not realize the
exact problem in case of leakages, plumbing faults. Procedure adopted for maintenance

is

as follows
1. Day to day maintenance of society.
2. Reporting system of the maintenance department.
3. Complaints analysis report.
4. Monthly report about maintenance service.
Azlan shah Ali [2] has signifies about the maintenance cost after construction of the
building. In project life cycle of a building, initial cost, operating cost and maintenance cost
are major factors, and maintenance cost and operating cost is always greater than initial cost,
out total cost maintenance cost is about 12% so it is important to control these so as to reduce
maintenance cost. There are various factors that affect the maintenance cost such as
1. Tenants expectations
2. Improper use of property by tenants
3. Vandalism causes the defects on building compounds
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4. Delay and failure in reporting problems

11) Proposed work:
In the services of plumbing and sanitation many components are involved, failure of
one or other component may occur. So for their better performance and to increase service
life, regular maintenance should be carried out. Hence maintenance plays an important role in
increasing life span of a structure. The plumbing and sanitation materials cover almost 60%
of the total cost, so quality and proper selection of materials is very important. The use of
inferior quality materials may cause various problems which increases tangible and intangible
cost.
a) Scope :
The major share of the construction industry is in the residential and commercial
sectors. The building service plays an important role in the any structure, for health, safety
and durability of the structure. So to create healthy environment in and around the structure,
the research will be an attempt to reduce maintenance cost and also to minimize the tangible
and intangible cost. Considering the above points, the work will be studied in depth by doing
physical case study. To create awareness among common people who presently do not know
its importance for better health and hygiene around them and to reduce the tangible and
intangible cost.
The objectives of proposed work:
1.

To study the importance of plumbing and sanitation in residential buildings.

2.

To study conventional method of plumbing and designing.

3.

To study conventional building material used for plumbing and sanitation and their
impact on operating and maintenance cost.

4.

To study existing management system followed in the apartment.

5.

To study new plumbing materials available in the market, along with its operating and
maintenance cost.

6.

All above mention points will be studied on a live case study.

b) Methodology :
The methodology will be adopted such as collecting the data from literature reviews,

case studies, questionnaires, interviews and site visits. Through the literature review the
information about recent trends in plumbing and sanitation will be collected. And studying

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the traditional and new materials with advance technique available in the market. The
methodology also includes following points:
1. By conducting a physical review of Builders, Developer, Occupant and
Architect, and interacting with different stakeholders related to the building.
2. Basically preparing a questionnaire and circulating it amongst Builders,
Developer, Occupant and Architect.
c) Expected outcome:
From this project, it can be suggested that the plumbing and sanitation, services are
governed by non-technical people, those who run the business based on their experience that
may not always count in the new technology because they are not exposed to this type of
techniques. Hence it is dire need that the architect and builder who are supposed to design,
execute the work of the plumbing and sanitation, put more effort by linking the requirement
of owner or user cost effectiveness or cost crunch of the builder and also appropriate material
so that maintenance will be minimum and the builder, and the costumer will have the
satisfaction, so as to create win-win situation.
This dissertation work is mainly associated with planning, maintenance management
of the building. We have to select the proper design, methodology and material associated
with the plumbing and sanitation so that it should be headache free or problem free situation
for owner, builder and customer.
12) Facilities available:
1. College Central Library for reference journals and books.
2. Various websites and online journals through internet for collection of required
literature.
13) Expected date of completion: May 2015.
14) Expected expenditure of the work: Rs.20000/15) REFERENCES:
[1] Antonio

Curado, Armando Silva-Afonso & Jose Ferreira da Silvae, New

Materials and Technologies in Building Water Piping Systems, Indian plumbing

today January 2012.
[2] Azlan shah Ali, Factors Affecting Cost in Malaysia Maintenance, July 2010.

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[3] P. S. Gahlot, Sanjay Sharm, Building Repair and Maintenance Management,

first edition 2006.
[4] Jalal A. Al-Khatam Buildings Maintenance Cost, Master of Engineering Report
published in, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, June 2003.
[5] Roy B. Hunter, Methods of Estimating Loads in Plumbing Systems, United
States Government Printing Office Washington, 1940.
[6] S. G. Deolalikar, Plumbing Design and Practice,

McGraw

Hill

Education(India), 21st reprint 2013,New Delhi.

[7] Sandeep Mantri, Practical building construction and its management, satya
prakashan publishers pvt ltd, New Delhi, 2007.
[8] S. M. Patil, Building services, published by S.M Patil and Mrs Kavita S. Patil,
Mumbai, 2004.
[9] www.internationalconference.com.my
[10] http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/

Mr. Kamble Shashikant Gopal

M.E. (Civil - Construction and Management)
Govt. College of Engineering, Karad.
(STUDENT)

16) Undertaking of Guide:

Information given by the student is correct and the said facilities are
available with the college.

Date:
Place: Karad.

Prof. M. B. Kumthekar
Professor & Head of Civil Engineering, Department,
Govt. College of Engineering, Karad.
(GUIDE)
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