Semester– I

Lecture -6
Addis Collage
Argaw Asha (PhD)I
Jan 2023

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Constructability

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Definitions
 Constructability is used as a management tool, which
can save time, money and can also aid with a lot many
tangible and non-tangible benefits in a project, when
applied properly. Constructability is still not a very
popular concept amongst the parties and has not even
reached in the developing countries, as it should have
been. There is a need to understand the concept, its
practices, benefits and barriers, in order that for a
proper and timely implementation (Erman S.B., 2001)

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Definitions
 Constructability (or buildability) is a project
management technique to review construction
processes from start to finish during pre-construction
phase. It is to identify obstacles before a project is
actually built to reduce or prevent errors, delays, and
cost overruns.[1] CII defines constructability as “the
optimal use of construction knowledge and experience
in planning, design, procurement, and field operations
to achieve overall project objectives

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Definitions
 The term "constructability" defines the ease and
efficiency with which structures can be built. The
more constructible a structure is, the more economical
it will be.[3] Constructability is in part a reflection of
the quality of the design documents; that is, if the
design documents are difficult to understand and
interpret, the project will be difficult to build.[4]

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Definitions
 The constructability concept integrates knowledge and
experience of construction managers and design
engineers in order to eliminate the redesign and
rework in construction stage

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Constructability Concepts

Planning
Design and Procurement
Construction /Field operations

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Constructability Concepts During Conceptual Planning

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Constructability Concepts During Design and Procurement

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Constructability Concepts during Field Operations

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There are 12 principles of constructability which are
mapped on to the procurement process:]

 Integration
 Construction knowledge
 Team skills
 Corporate objectives
 Available resources
 External factors
 Programme
 Construction methodology
 Accessibility
 Specifications
 Construction innovation
 Feedback

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 Constructability
 A detail may work perfectly with respect to water leakage, air
leakage, thermal efficiency, expansion and contraction, and
every other functional requirement, but if it is troublesome or
unnecessarily expensive to make, it is not good detail.
 The owner of a building has a right to expect construction to
proceed smoothly, swiftly, and economically.
 The contractor and workers who construct the building have
a right to expect it to go together with no more than the
normal degree of difficulty.
 The designers’ point of view, smooth construction process
generally produces a building with fewer defects and fewer
disputes among the participants.
 Constructible details are essential to a smooth construction
process. 12
Constructability can be summarized in three general guidelines:

1. A detail should be easy to assemble

2. A detail should be forgiving of small
inaccuracies and minor mistakes
3. A detail should be based on efficient
use of construction facilities, tools, and
labor

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1. Constructability:
Ease of Assembly

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Constructability: Ease of Assembly
Ease of Assembly is important, because a detail that is a
struggle to build is likely to be expensive and will often
be executed poorly. A detail that goes together in an
easy, relaxed manner is economical with regard to labor
and will generally be done well. There are seven detail
patterns that concern ease of assembly.
1) Uncut Units
2) Minimum number of parts
3) Parts that are easy to handle
4) Repetitious assembly
5) Accessible connections
6) Installation clearance
7) Non conflicting systems 15
Uncut Units

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Uncut Units

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Uncut Units

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Uncut Units

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Uncut Units

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Minimum number of parts
 In an operation such as installing aluminum curtain wall
mullions, the installer may need one or more wrenches,
one or more screwdrivers, a rubber mallet, a tool for
inserting rubber gasketing, a level, a tape measure, and a
large variety parts: mullion sections, connecting angles,
shims, bolts, screws, and gasketing. The number of these
different parts and tools should be kept to a minimum. It
is especially important to avoid parts that differ so little
from one another that they can be confused easily, such as
1” long and 11/4” long screws of the same diameter and
head style.

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Minimum number of parts

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Minimum number of parts

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Parts that are easy to handle
 Cranes and hoists must be selected and located on the
site so that they are able to lift the required
components and to place them where they are wanted.
This is largely the business of the contractor, but the
detailer should be sure that all details that require
crane lifts lie within reach of likely crane locations. A
typical problem is that of lifting materials over a lower
portion of a building to reach a higher portion.
Overhead power and telephone lines can also inhibit
the work of a crane.

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Parts that are easy to handle

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Parts that are easy to handle..
 Two common types of tower cranes and a mobile
crane.
 The luffing-boom crane is useful in congested
situations where the wide arc of the
hammerhead boom crane could be limited by
constructions.
 Tower cranes can either be supported on their
own foundations, or, in the case of internal
cranes, they may also be supported by the frame
of the building. With very tall buildings, tower
cranes climb as the building rises by means of
self-contained hydraulic jacks.
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Parts that are easy to handle

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Repetitious assembly
 All other considerations being equal, details that
construction workers repeat again and again are more
economical and less error-prone than no repeating
details.

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Accessible Connections

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Installation clearance

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Non conflicting systems
 A building should be detailed so its various parts and
systems mesh smoothly in three dimensions

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2.Constructability:
Forgiving details

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Constructability: Forgiving details
 The ability to create forgiving details is
among the most rewarding skills of the
detailer. A forgiving detail is one that always
furnishes a way for a worker to deal easily
with inaccuracies or mistakes. Most
traditional details are very forgiving of
inaccuracies and mistakes, because they
evolved over a period of many years,
gradually incorporating features that made
them easier and more convenient for
workers.

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Constructability: Forgiving details
 A handful of patterns for designing forgiving details can
help the designer avoid these mistakes. They are as
follows:
1) Dimensional Tolerance
2) Sliding fit
3) Adjustable fit
4) Reveal
5) Butt joint
6) Clean Edge,
7) Progressive Finish, and
8) Forgiving surface
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Dimensional Tolerance
 A dimensional tolerance is a maximum amount by
which a dimension can be expected to vary from the
intended measurement because of normal
inaccuracies in manufacture and installation.

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Dimensional Tolerance

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Dimensional Tolerance

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Sliding fit
 The easiest, most forgiving dimensional relationship
between two components of a building is a sliding fit,
in which one component overlaps another and can be
positioned merely by sliding.

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Adjustable fit
 Because of the impossibility of maintain perfect
dimensional accuracy in construction, very building
component that must be positioned accurately should
be detailed so that its alignment can be adjusted
during and after assembly.

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Reveal
 A reveal is a recess or offset between two pieces of
material where they come together. Its function can be
to avoid having to make an exact alignment, to cast a
shadow line for compositional purposes, or to cast
shadow line that hides minor defects in workmanship.

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Butt joint
 A butt joint is the simplest way of assembling two
components. It is also the most desirable way of doing so
under most circumstances.
 Mitered corners are an attractive concept, but they are
present several problems. One is that they create knife
edge on each piece of material at the corner, and knife
edges are both fragile and potentially dangerous

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Butt joint
Wood shrinks a great deal perpendicular to its
grain and very little along its grain, a 450 cut a
cross a broad will no longer be 450 after the
board ha shrunk or expanded.

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Clean edge
 Where a material or a surface ends, it should do so neatly
and decisively
 Avoid sharp edges on concrete. Sharp edges in formwork
often do not fill properly with concrete during pouring and
re likely to be damaged when the formwork is tripped- an
operation that takes place while the concrete is still very
brittle.

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Clean edge
 Sharp angles on stonework and masonry able also
unforgiving of minor construction mishaps and are very
difficult to repair. Chamfered edges, rounded edges,
quirk miters, and reveals are clean, forgiving edge details
for sharp masonry corners.

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Progressive finish
 As a construction process
progresses, each stage of work
should be more finished than
the stages that preceded it, and
the installation of the finishes
should be delayed until as late
in the construction processes as
possible.

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Forgiving surface
 A sheet of solid-color plastic laminate that has a small flaw in
it may have to be discarded in the shop. A patterned laminate
will camouflage many small scratches, spots, and dents. This
is why solid-color laminates often cost more than patterns.

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3.Constructability:
Efficient use of
Construction resources

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Constructability: Efficient use of Construction resources

 Efficient use of construction resources

often follows directly from a building’s
details. A seemingly simple,
straightforward detail, if not thoroughly
considered from this point of view, can
conceal endless problems of materials
procurement, tool and machine
utilization, construction scheduling, and
even labor relations.
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Constructability: Efficient use of Construction resources
 The detail patterns associated with avoiding these
problems include the following:
1. Factory and site,
2. Rehearsing the construction sequence,
3. Off-the-shelf parts,
4. Local sills and customs,
5. All-weather construction,
6. pride of Craftsmanship,
7. Accepted Standards

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Factory and site
 In-factory work and on-site work each has its
associated set of advantages and disadvantages. An
important task of the detailer is to allocate the work
making a building judiciously between the two for
optimum construction speed, quality and cost.
 At the scale of custom-designed house, the optimum
mix of factory and site operation is well established.
 Foundations, framing, roofing, sliding and insulating
are done on the site, using simple factory-produced
components, such formwork panels, masonry blocks,
dimension lumber, wood panel products, shingles, and
insulation batts.

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Rehearsing the construction sequence

 The act of designing and drawing a detail should be

based on a mental process of rehearsing the sequence
in which the detail will be assembled on the building
site.

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Off-The shelf parts

 Materials and components that readily available make

everyone’s lives easier during construction.

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All-weather construction
 Details should be designed with consideration of the
weather sensitivities of the various construction
operations and the time of year when those operations
are likely to occur.

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The five forces that can move water through an
opening in the building enclosure

 gravity,
 momentum,
 surface tension,
 capillary action, and
 air pressure—

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Example Constructability
A residential non-landed
development with 2
basements and GFA ≥ 25,000
m2

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Thank you

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