INTRODUCTION TO

BUIILDING SYSTEMS
CE151P BUILDING SYSTEMS ENGINEERING SCEGE
MAPUA UNIVERSITY
Building Systems
• A system can be defined as an assembly of interrelated or
interdependent parts forming a more complex and unified
whole and serving a common purpose.
• A building can be understood to be the physical
embodiment of a number of systems and subsystems that
must necessarily be related, coordinated, and integrated
with each other as well as with the three-dimensional form
and spatial organization of the building as a whole.
Occupancy of Structures
• Assembly
• Auditoriums, theaters, and stadiums
• Business
• Offices, laboratories, and higher education facilities
• Educational
• Child-care facilities and schools
• Factories
• Fabricating, assembling, or manufacturing facilities
• Hazardous uses
• Facilities handling a certain nature and quantity of
hazardous materials
Occupancy of Structures
• Institutional
• Facilities for supervised occupants, such as hospitals,
nursing homes, and reformatories
• Mercantile
• Stores for the display and sale of merchandise
• Residential
• Homes, apartment buildings, and hotels
• Storage
• Warehousing facilities
Functions of a Building
• Shelter
• Security
• Safety (and comfort)
Considerations in Building Construction
• Performance Requirements
• Aesthetic Qualities
• Regulatory Constraints
• Economic Considerations
• Environmental Impact
• Construction Practices
Performance Requirements
• Structural compatibility, integration, and safety
• Fire resistance, prevention, and safety
• Control of heat and air flow through building assemblies
• Noise reduction, sound isolation, and acoustical privacy
• Resistance to wear, corrosion, and weathering
Aesthetic Qualities
• Desired relationship of building to its site, adjacent
properties, and neighborhood
• Preferred qualities of form, massing, color, pattern, texture,
and detail
Regulatory Constraints
• Compliance with zoning ordinances and building codes
Economic Considerations
• Initial cost comprising material, transportation, equipment,
and labor costs
• Life-cycle costs, which include not only initial cost, but also
maintenance and operating costs, energy consumption,
useful lifetime, demolition and replacement costs, and
interest on invested money
Environmental Impact
• Conservation of energy and resources through siting and
building design
• Energy efficiency of mechanical systems
• Use of resource-efficient and nontoxic materials
Construction Practices
• Safety requirements
• Conformance to industry standards and assurance
• Construction equipment required
• Erection time required
• Provisions for inclement weather
Building Codes
• Building codes are adopted and enforced by local
government agencies to regulate the design, construction,
alteration, and repair of buildings in order to protect the
public safety, health, and welfare.
• The codes generally establish requirements based on the
type of occupancy and construction of a building, minimum
standards for materials and methods of construction, and
specifications for structural and fire safety.
Building Codes
• NBCP (National Building Code of the Philippines)
• IBC (International Building Code)
• NSCP (National Structural Code of the Philippines)
• American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Building Systems
• Civil and Structural System
• Architectural System
• Electrical System
• Plumbing System
• Mechanical System
• Sanitary System
Building Systems
Structural Systems
• The structural system of a building is designed and
constructed to support and transmit applied gravity and
lateral loads safely to the ground without exceeding the
allowable stresses in its members.
• The superstructure is the vertical extension of a building
above the foundation.
• Columns, beams, and loadbearing walls support floor and
roof structures.
• The substructure is the underlying structure forming the
foundation of a building.
Building Systems
Architectural Systems
• The architectural system is the shell or envelope of a
building, consisting of the roof, exterior walls, windows, and
doors.
• The roof and exterior walls shelter interior spaces from
inclement weather and control moisture, heat, and air flow
through the layering of construction assemblies.
• Exterior walls and roofs also dampen noise and provide
security and privacy for the occupants of a building.
• Doors provide physical access. Wndows provide access to
light, air, and views.
• Interior walls and partitions subdivide the interior of a
building into spatial units.
Building Systems
Mechanical/Electrical/ Plumbing/Sanitary Systems
• The MEPFS systems of a building provide essential services to a
building.
• The water supply system provides potable water for human
consumption and sanitation.
• The sewage disposal system removes fluid waste and organic
matter from a building.
• Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems condition the
interior spaces of a building for the environmental comfort of the
occupants.
• The electrical system controls, meters, and protects the electric
power supply to a building, and distributes it in a safe manner for
power, lighting, security, and communication systems.
• Fire-fighting systems detect and extinguish fires.
• Structures may also require waste disposal and recycling
systems.
Design/Bid/Build (EPC)
Design/Bid/Build
• The owner first hires a team of architects and engineers to
perform design services, leading to the creation of drawings and
technical specifications
• Next, construction firms are invited to bid on the project. Each
bidding firm reviews the construction documents and proposes a
cost to construct the facility.
• The owner evaluates the submitted proposals and awards the
construction contract to the bidder deemed most suitable. This
selection may be based on bid price alone, or other factors
related to bidders’ qualifications may also be considered.
• The construction documents then become part of the
construction contract, and the selected firm proceeds with the
work.
• During construction, the design team continues to provide
services to the owner, helping to ensure that the facility is built
according to the requirements of the documents as well as
answering questions related
Design/Build
Design/Bid/Build
• In design/build project delivery, one entity ultimately assumes responsibility
for both design and construction. A design/ build project begins with the
owner developing a conceptual design or program that describes the
functional or performance requirements of the proposed facility but does not
detail its form or how it is to be constructed.
• Next, using this conceptual information, a design/build organization is
selected to complete all remaining aspects of the project. Selection of the
designer/builder may be based on a competitive bid process similar to that
described above for design/bid/build projects, on negotiation and evaluation
of an organization’s qualifications for the proposed work, or on some
combination of both.
• Design/build organizations themselves can take a variety of forms: a single
firm encompassing both design and construction expertise, a construction
management firm that subcontracts with a separate design firm to provide
those services, or a joint venture between two firms, one specializing in
construction and the other in design.
Construction Management
• An owner may contract separately with a design team and a
construction manager. As in design/build construction, the
construction manager participates in the project prior to the
onset of construction, introducing construction expertise
during the design stage.
• Construction management project delivery can take a
variety of forms and is frequently associated with especially
large or complex projects.
Construction Management at Fee
Construction Management at Risk
Difference?
• In its traditional role, a construction manager (CM) at fee
provides project management services to the owner and
assists the owner in contracting directly for construction
services with one or more construction entities.
• A CM at fee is not directly responsible for the construction
work itself.
• A CM at risk acts more like a general contractor and takes
on greater responsibility for construction quality, schedule,
and costs. In either case, the A/E design team also
contracts separately with the owner.
Project Organization
Development Team
• Members of a client’s development team are an integral part
of the client’s business, and are appointed to issue advice
on technical, financial, legal, research and business
planning matters for projects.
Design Team
• This team comprises of consultants from a range of
backgrounds engaged by a client to specify and design
schemes suitable for the client’s needs.
• Any member of the design team may engage second
consultants with specialist skills to assist with their workload
and commitment to the client and project.
Construction Team
• the supply side of the industry, a term used to describe
those parties appointed to physically construct a project in
accordance with the design requirements.
• A main contractor (the builder)
• Subcontractors to carry out works for the main contractor
• Material suppliers (including manufacturers)
• Suppliers of plant equipment to assist with the construction
operations.
Construction Team
Main/General Contractor
• A main contractor constructs a project in accordance with a
binding agreement it has with a client.
• The main contractor does not normally carry out all of the
works itself and will subcontract most trade works often
without client involvement, thus giving the contractor the
main role in procuring, constructing and delivering a
scheme.
Roles of a General Contractor
• Site-management duties and providing site accommodation
comprising offices and amenities for personnel and
operatives engaged on the site
• Managing health and safety procedures
• Coordinating, planning and supervising construction works
• Reporting periodically to the client and coordinating with the
client’s team where necessary
• Ensuring budgets are maintained
• Implementing a method of quality control to ensure works
are achieved in
Subcontractors
• Subcontractors undertake work that a contractor cannot do
but for which the contractor is responsible.
• For example, a building contractor may hire a subcontractor
to complete the electrical wiring part of the contractor's
building job.
• The contractor is responsible to the client for the building
job including the part performed by the subcontractor.
Paying Construction Services?
• Lump-Sum
• Re-measured with Fixed Unit Rates
• Cost Plus
Lump Sum/Fixed Fee
• With fixed fee or lump sum compensation, the contractor or
other construction entity is paid a fixed amount to complete
the construction of a project regardless of that entity’s actual
costs. With this compensation method the owner begins
construction with a known, fixed construction cost and
assumes minimal risk for unanticipated increases in cost.
• Fixed fee compensation is most suitable to projects where
the scope of the construction work is well defined at the
time that the construction fee is set, as is the case, for
example, with conventional design/bid/build construction.
• On the other hand, the construction contractor assumes
most of the risk of unforeseen costs but also stands to gain
from potential savings.
Cost-Plus
• As an alternative, compensation may be set on a cost plus
a fee basis, where the owner agrees to pay the construction
entity for the actual costs of construction—whatever they
may turn out to be—plus an additional fee. In this case, the
construction contractor is shielded from most cost
uncertainty, and it is the owner who assumes most of the
risk of added costs and stands to gain the most from
potential savings.

• Cost plus a fee compensation is most often used with

projects where the scope of construction work is not fully
known at the time that compensation is established, a
circumstance most frequently associated with construction
management or design/ build contracts.
Remeasured with Fixed Unit Rates
• Another basis of payment is the remeasured quantities with
fixed unit rates, where the owner agrees to pay the
construction entity for the actual quantities of items but the
unit rate of items are fixed. In this case, it is the owner who
assumes most of the risk of added costs due to change in
quantities.

• This is most often used with projects where the scope of

construction work is fully known at the time that
compensation is established and the quantities of the works
may increase.
END OF LECTURE
THANK YOU!

Credits to Dr. Jhan Paul D. Acevedo

Course material source