Technology Profile

Material and labour

requirement for Materials Unit Quantity
construction of plank
Ce me nt Ba g s 7
and joist roof of
size 14’ x 10’ S a nd m3 0.5

Number of Planks: 30 Ag g re g a te 6 mm m3 0.5

3
Ag g re g a te 10 mm m 0.5
Number of Joists: 2
Ag g re g a te 20 mm m3 0.15
6 mm MS ba r Kg 62
8 mm MS ba r Kg 8

Labour
Plank and
Ma s on Ma n da ys 5 Joist Roof
Labour Ma n da ys 12
Ba r be nde rs Ma n da ys 2

a p p li ca ti on
EWS housing (left) at Narela
(National Capital Region Delhi) and
Low-cost rural housing
at Bathinda, Punjab
Photographs courtesy:
EWS Housing – Building Materials and Technology
Promotion Council, New Delhi
Jointly published by:
TARA Nirman Kendra
Village Ghittorni
Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road
New Delhi-110030
India
Phone: 91-11-26801521, 26800398
TARA
Nirman
Kendra
Development Alternatives
World Headquarters:
B-32, TARA Crescent
Qutub Institutional Area
New Delhi-110016
India
Web: www.devalt.org
Phone: 91-11-24638096, 24638097, 24636759
Development
Alternatives
Building Materials & Technology
Promotion Council
Ministry of Urban Affairs & Employment
Govt. of India
Core 5-A, First Floor, India Habitat Centre
Lodi Road, New Delhi-110003
India
Plank and joist roof is a building system in which precast reinforced cement
concrete planks – rectangular slab elements – are placed on precast RCC joists.
The roof gets completed with in-situ concrete poured over the haunches in planks
and over the partially precast joists, thus ensuring monolithic action of individual
precast elements.
Pre-cast RCC Planks
These are pre-cast concrete slabs, typically 30 cm wide x 1.5 m long, although the length can vary from
1.2-1.8 m (4 to 6 feet) depending on size of room. The planks are made partly 3 cm thick and partly
6 cm thick (as shown in the figure overleaf) with a 10 cm wide tapered concrete filling provided for
strengthening the haunch portion for shear during handling and erection. The plank uses nominal MS
reinforcement, typically 6 mm bar and concrete of grade not less than M-20.
Pre-cast Joists
This is a beam which is part of the T-beam formed together with the joist and planks on both sides.
The width of the precast joist is equal to the required width of web of the T-beam (as per IS 13994) and
depth equal to the required overall depth of T-beam less the thickness of flange i.e 60 mm. Typically for
medium spans upto 4 metres, a 15 cm x 15 cm section can be chosen for the joist with stirrups
projecting out, so that the overall depth of the joist with in-situ concrete becomes 21 cm. The length of
the beam will depend upon the functional and structural requirement of structure.
Concrete Filling
Planks are placed on joists and in-situ concrete is poured over the haunches provided in the planks
and the gaps between the planks over the joists. Monolithic action of the slab elements is ensured by
leaving hooks projecting out of joists and providing reinforcement across the joists over haunch
portion of planks, tying them together and pouring in-situ concrete over it.
 Pre-casting of roof leads to substantial reduction in construction time
150 mm
15 to 20% saving in cost possible because of no shuttering and reduction in steel quantity
Creates employment as the roof components can be locally produced and delivered through
150 mm
a micro level enterprise
300 mm
Haunch of plank – Much better quality control can be maintained during pre-fabrication
900 mm long and
30 mm thick Tried, tested and validated by BMTPC as a technique for cost-effective construction
100 mm Moderate size of components which can easily be handled manually without mechanical handling
300 mm Length and erection equipment
30 mm thick upto 4 m
Simple technology which can easily be adapted by semi-skilled labour
Stirrups@
130 mm c/c,
minimum
300 mm distance
1.5 m from edge of
joist 50 mm Reinforced Size : Length not more than 1.5 m, Width 30 cm ± 50 mm,
Concrete Plank Thickness partly 30 mm and partly 60mm (see diagram)
Concrete Mix : M 15
Reinforcement : Nominal MS reinforcement 6 mm dia - 3 Nos. for main
reinforcement and @200 mm c/c in transverse direction
Pre-cast Reinforced Partially Pre-cast Reinforced Weight : 50 kg
Concrete Plank Concrete Joist
Size : Length not more than 4 m, cross section 150 mm x 150 mm
Reinforced Joist
For spans larger than 4 m, joist depth can be increased or
it can be designed as a doubly reinforced beam as per
IS: 456-1978
Brick Wall
6 mm dia MS Bars, Reinforcement : 6 mm dia, triangular MS stirrups @ 200 mm c/c
Floor finish 30 thk 2 Nos. per plank
Longitudinal 3 Nos. 8 mm dia MS bar as per length of joist
Base Floor
40 70 40 Raw materials : OPC 43 grade cement, sand of fineness modulus
20 In-situ concrete mix : M 15 with 12 mm and down graded coarse aggregate
40
Plank and
60 210 mm Overall depth of in-situ : 210 mm over joist
overall
Joist Roof concrete
Precast RC plank 6 mm dia MS Stirrups
as per design 150 depth
In-situ concrete M15 of T-beam Bedding for joist : 300 x 120 x 75 mm block of cement concrete 1:3:6
50 Partially precast Design Load : As per BIS: 875
Less than 1500 150 2
joist Load carrying capacity of Plank and Joist Roof is 250 kg/m

Installation of RCC Plank and Joist 650 MJ /sq.m as compared to 750 MJ/sq.m for a 4” thick RCC roof
Embodied MJ – Mega Joules
Energy