Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a

factory or other manufacturing site, & transporting complete assemblies or

sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located
structure is to be located.

Concept of prefabrication
• Prefabrication is the method of construction which includes assembling
components of a structure in a manufacturing or production site,
transporting complete assemblies or partial assemblies

• to the site where the structure is to be located. It is combination of good

design with modern high performance components and quality controlled
manufacturing procedures. This work is carried out in two stages,
manufacturing of components in a place other than final location and their
erection in position.

Meaning :
 The assembly of buildings or their components at a location other than the
building site.

 The method controls construction costs by economizing on time, wages, &

materials.

 Prefabricated units may include doors, stairs, window, walls, wall panels,
floor panels, roof trusses, room-sized components &even entire buildings.

 The term is used to distinguish this process from the more conventional
construction practice of transporting the basic material to the construction
site where all assembly is carried out.

AIMS OF PREFABRICATION CONSTRUCTION

 Prefabrication is used to effect economy in cost.
  Components manufactured under controlled conditions.

 The speed of construction is increased since no curing period is necessary.

 Prefabrication helps in the use of locally available materials with required

characteristics like light-weight; easy workability, thermal insulation, non-
combustibility combustibility, etc.

ADVANTAGES OF PREFABRICATION
 High quality product

 Labor related savings

 Savings in time

 Overall efficiency is greatly increased

 Mass production is easier and quick

 Protected & controlled production environment

 Potential for lower production costs & other cost savings

 Independence of climatic conditions

 The disruption of traffic is avoided

 Ensures high degree of Safety

CHARACTERISTICS
 Easy availability

 Light weight for easy handling & transport, & to economies on sections &
sizes of foundations.

 Thermal insulation property.

 Easy workability;

 Durability in all weather conditions

 Non-combustibility

 Economy in cost

 Sound insulation

List the system for prefabrication.

 Large panel systems

 Frame systems

 Slab-column systems with walls

 Mixed systems

Methods for Manufacture of precast concrete elements (or)

types of prefabrication?
 Factory prefabrication

 Site prefabrication

What are the classifications of prefabrication?

 Small prefabrication

 Medium prefabrication

 Large prefabrication

 Cast in- site prefabrication

 Off-site (or) factory prefabrication

 Open system of prefabrication

 Closed system of prefabrication

 Partial prefabrication

 Total prefabrication
 What is the need for pre fabricates structures?
 Prefabricates structures are used for sites, which are not suitable for
normal construction method.

 PFS facilities can also be created at near a site as is done to make concrete
blocks used in plane of conventional brick.

 Structures which are used repeatedly & can be standardized.

What is the Production process?

 The production of concrete blocks consists of four basic process. They are:

 Mixing

 Mould

 Curbing

 Curing

MATERIALSTO BE USE PREFABRICATION

 Concrete

 Steel

 Treated wood

 Aluminum

 Cellular concrete

 Light weight concrete elements

 Ceramic product
COMPONENTS OF PREFAB COMPONENTS

 Flooring & Roofing Scheme

 Beams

 Columns

 Walls

 Staircase

 Lintels

 Sunshade/Chajja Projections

In Wall
 In the construction of walls, rammed earth, normal bricks, soil cement
blocks, hollow clay blocks, dense concrete blocks, small, medium and room
size panels etc of different sizes are used.

 However, bricks continue to be the backbone of the building industry. In

actual construction, the number of the bricks or blocks that are broken into
different sizes to fit into position at site is very large. which results in
wastage of material poor quality.

 Increasing the size of wall blocks will prove economical due to greater
speed & less mortar consumption, which can be achieved by producing low
density bigger size wall blocks using industrial wastes like blast furnace slag
& fly ash.

 Several prefabrication techniques have been developed and executed for

walls but these medium and large panel techniques have not proved
economical for low rise buildings as compared to traditional brick work.

Non erodable mud plaster:

 The plaster over mud walls gets eroded during rains, which
necessitates costly annual repairs. This can be made non erodable
 by the use of bitumen cutback emulsion containing mixture of hot
bitumen and kerosene oil.

 The mixture is pugged along with mud mortar & wheat/ rice
straw. This mortar is applied on mud wall surface in thickness of
12 mm.

 One or two coats of mud cow dung slurry with cutback are
applied after the plaster is dry.

 The maintenance cost is low due to enhanced durability of mud

walls.

Fly –Ash sand lime bricks

 By mixing of lime& fly ash in the presence of moisture, fly ash sand lime
bricks are made.

 Fly Ash reacts with lime at ordinary temperature and forms a compound
possessing cementitious properties.

 After reactions between lime &fly ash, calcium silicate hydrates are
produced which are responsible for the high strength of the compound.

 Bricks made by mixing lime & fly ash are therefore, chemically bonded
bricks.

 The bricks are manufactured with the help of hydraulic press & are dried in
the autoclave.

 These bricks have various advantages over the clay bricks, It possesses
adequate crushing strength, uniform shape, smooth finish & does not
require plastering & also are lighter in weight than ordinary clay bricks.

Solid concrete and stone blocks:

 This technique is suitable in areas where stones & aggregates for the blocks
are available locally at cheaper rates.

 Innovative techniques of solid blocks with both lean concrete and stones
have been developed for walls.
 The gang-mould is developed for semi-mechanized faster production of the
blocks.

 In the manual process, single block moulds are used wherein the concrete
is compacted with help of a plate vibrator.

 With the use of a portable power screw driven egg laying type machine,
solid concrete blocks are made with higher productivity at low cost.

 Six blocks of 30 x 20 x 5 cm size are cast in single operation with an output

of 120-150/hr.

In Floor and Roof

 Structural floors/roofs account for substantial cost of a building in normal
situation. Therefore, any savings achieved in floor/roof considerably reduce
the cost of building. Traditional Cast-in-situ concrete roof involve the use of
temporary Shuttering which adds to the cost of construction & time. Use of
standardized &optimized roofing components where shuttering is avoided
prove to be economical, fast and better in quality. Some of the
prefabricated roofing/flooring components found suitable in many low-cost
housing projects are:

i. Precast RC Planks.

ii. Prefabricated Brick Panels

iii. Precast RB Curved Panels.

iv. Precast RC Channel Roofing

v. Precast Hollow Slabs

vi. Precast Concrete Panels

vii. L Panel Roofing

viii. Trapezon Panel Roofing

ix. Un reinforced Pyramidal Brick Roof
Precast curved brick arch panel roofing
This roofing is same as RB panel roofing except that the panels do not have
any reinforcement. A panel while casting is given a rise in the centre and
 thus an arching action is created. An overall economy of 30% has been
achieved in single storeyed building and 20% in two or three storeyed
buildings .

Precast RC channel roofing

Precast channels are trough shaped with the outer sides
corrugated and grooved at the ends to provide shear key action
and to transfer moments between adjacent units. Nominal width
of units is 300 mm or 600 mm with overall depths of 130 mm to
200 mm . The lengths of the units are adjusted to suit the span.
The flange thickness is 30 mm to 35 mm. Where balcony is
provided, the units are projected out as cantilever by providing
necessary reinforcement for cantilever moment. A saving of 14%
has been achieved in actual implementation in various projects.
Precast hollow slabs roofing
Precast hollow slabs are panels in which voids are created by earthen
kulars. without decreasing the stiffness or strength. These hollow slabs are
lighter than solid slabs and thus save the cost of concrete, steel and the
cost of walling and foundations too due to less weight. The width of a panel
is 300 mm and depth may vary from 100 mm to 150 mm as per the span,
the length of the panel being adjusted to suit the span. The outer sides are
corrugated to provide transfer of shear between adjacent units.
The‟kulars„ are placed inverted so as to create a hollow during precasting
.Extra reinforcement is provided at top also to take care of handling
stresses during lifting and placement. There is saving of about 30% in cost
of concrete and an overall saving of about 23%.

L- Pan roofing
The pre cast full span RC L-panel is of section „L‟. The L- panels are
supported on parallel gable walls and are used for sloped roof of a building.
The RC units can be cast with simple timber/ steel moulds and are easy for
manual handling with simple lifting and hoisting gadgets. L-Panel roofing is
quite lighter in weight, economic in construction and sound in performance
and durability. In addition to roof, the L-panels can be used for making loft,
cooking platforms, parapets and many other minor elements of buildings
 and structures. The techniques has been used widely in many mass housing
programme in the country

Trapezonpan roofing flooring

Typical precast RC trapezonpanel has trapezium section in orthogonal
directions. The components are sound and can be manually handled with
ease. These components are placed in position to form roof/floor and
haunch filling is done with in-situ concrete to make a monolithic surface.
Trapezo-panels can be produced in stacks one above the other and have
advantage in production, stacking and supply. These units are used for
floors/ roofs with / without deck concrete.

Un-reinforced pyramidal brick roof

 Un-reinforced pyramidal brick roof construction system is suitable for low
cost houses in cyclone affected and other coastal areas. Corrosion of
reinforcement was found to be the major cause of failure of RCC structure
in coastal areas and a pyramidal roof with brick and cement concrete
without reinforcement was therefore developed. The roof is provided with
peripheral RCC Ring beam. The beam is supported on eight brick columns
or walls and is cast as integral part of the pyramidal roof using suitable
shuttering. The roof can be of different sizes and shapes.

(a) Thin precast RCC lintel

Normally lintels are designed on the assumption that the load from a
triangular portion of the masonry above, acts on the lintel. Bending
moment will be WL/8 where W is the load on the lintel and L is the span
assumed for the design purpose. By this method, a thickness of 15 cm is
required. Thin precast RCC lintels are designed taking into account the
composite action of the lintel with the brick work. Design chart prepared
for thin precast RCC lintels in the brick walls of normal residential building is
applicable only when the load on the lintel is uniformly distributed. The
brick work over the lintel is done in a mortar not leaner than 1:6. The
thickness of the lintel is kept equal to the thickness of brick itself having a
bearing of 230 mm on either supports. Use of precast lintels speeds up the
construction of walls besides eliminating shuttering and centering.
Adoption of thin lintels results in upto 50% saving in materials and overall
cost of lintels.
Doors and windows
Innumerable types and sizes of doors and windows used in single and
similar buildings. This involves the use of additional skilled labour on site
and off site and also wastage of expensive materials like timber, glass etc.
Economy can be achieved by: (i) Standardizing and optimizing dimensions;
(ii) Evolving restricted number of doors and window sizes; and (iii) Use of
precast door and window frames.
 What is meant by modular co-ordination?
Modular coordination is a concept for coordinating
dimension and space for which building &component are dimensionally it
used & positioned in basic units (or) modules. The standard specify that the
module basic M = 100 mm. As the basic unit be used in a square of M.

What are production techniques?

 The term production techniques describe a series of operation directly
concerned in the process of making or more apply of molding precast units.

 These techniques grouped into three basic methods of production.

 The stand system

 The conveyor belt or production line system

 The aggregate system



BACKGROUND
 Modular coordination was first explored as an aid to design shortly after
the introduction of prefabrication in the construction industry in the
industrialization. It was conceived as a further step in the development of
systematic design &construction of the building.

 This subject has been discussed & attempted in an actual building

experiment in practically every developed country.

 Modular coordination was first studied in Singapore in the early seventies.

The housing and development board implemented the concept in 1973 in
the new generation flats.
 Prefabrication & standard components were subsequently introduced.
Modular blocks and bricks were introduced in 1983. There are merits to
extend the use of modular coordination in other components as well.

AIMS OF MODULAR COORDINATION

 The principal object of modular coordination is to assist the building

 design, construction professional building industry and its associated

 manufacturing industries, by standardization in such a way that building

 components fit with each other, with other components and with building

 assembly on site, thereby improving the economics of building.

BASIC PRINCIPLE OF MODULAR COORDINATION

 The main purpose of Modular Coordination is to achieve the Dimensional
Compatibility between the Building Dimensions, Span or Spaces & the Size
of Components and Equipments by using related Modular Dimensions.

 Modular Coordination generally provides the easy grasped layout of the

positioning of the building components in relation to each other & to the
building & facilitates collaboration between planners, manufactures,
distributors & contractors.

STANDARD RULES IN MODULAR COORDINATION

 Modular Coordination is essentially based on the use of modules (basic
module and multi-modules)& reference system to define coordinating
spaces & zones for building elements & for the components which form
them.

 There are standard rules to abide by

– Rules for locating building elements within the reference system;

 – Rules for sizing building components in order to determine their work
sizes

– Rules for defining preferred sizes for building components & coordinating
dimensions for buildings.

– IS:7922-1987: Recommendations for Modular coordination in Building

Industry.

PURPOSE OF MODULAR COORDINATION

 To reduce the component size produced

 To allow the building designer of greater flexibility in the arrangement of

component.

ADVANTAGES OF MODULAR COORDINATION

 Standard size- building components different types of buildings

 Speed of construction

 Facilitate collaboration between building designers, manufactures,

distributors and contractors

 Minimize the wastage of materials, time & manpower in cutting and

trimming on site .

 Balance between Quality and Cost

DISADVANTAGES OF MODULAR COORDINATION

 Can lead to problems when modules are linked because link must
thoroughly test

 It is difficult to manufacture to produce components based on mm

tolerance.

BASIC MODULAR GRID

BASIC MODULAR GRID The fundamental modular grid, is that in which the
intervals between consecutive parallel lines is equal to the basic module,
smallest planning grid.
 MULTI – MODULAR PLANNING GRID
 MULTI – MODULAR PLANNING GRID : In addition to the basic modular grid,
multi-modular grids in which the intervals between consecutive lines are a
multi-modular may be used.

 TARTAN GRID – Interrupted modular planning grid

 Intervals or bands of interruption are regularly spaced in both directions.

 Pattern may be used in very regular plans like those with columns at
constant intervals throughout the floor.