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Brickwork General Topics SHEET 21

MATERIAL QUANTITIES

Student Key Skill

Brickwork Calculations Application of Number

The bricklayer will need to understand how to calculate quantities of materials required to
carry out an activity. This is an essential skill that is required for basic tasks, ranging from
determining the number of bricks to stack out for a particular wall to calculating the total
quantities of materials for a whole job (e.g. masonry work to a house extension).

This will involve the bricklayer, in the first instance, in calculating basic dimensions, areas
and volumes.

Quantities of materials
The buyer will generally have the responsibility of ‘taking off’ and scheduling materials from
the bills of quantities or, on smaller jobs, the working drawings.

When the site supervisor is given this role, he/she must be careful to ensure that correct
quantities and details of quality of materials are extracted from the drawings and
specifications.

Allowances should be made for materials wastage (usually 5%–10%).

Taking off materials measurements from drawings should be carried out with care to
ensure correct dimensions are selected and used in subsequent calculations. The rule in
construction measurement is to measure (calculate) the ‘NET’ quantity from dimensions
drawings, and only add a percentage for waste at the ordering stage.

Need for accuracy

NOTE:
It is equally important to avoid ‘under measuring’ as it is to avoid ‘over measuring;’
both practices may result in a loss to the contractor, either due to an inadequate price
being charged or perhaps the loss of a contract due to an over-expensive estimate.
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Types of calculations
Calculations in construction can be associated with different units of measurement:
• Enumerated – one-off items such as chimney pots etc.
• Linear – lengths of materials such as copings etc.
• Superficial – areas of brick/block walls and floors etc.
• Cubic – volume of excavations, concrete etc.

Enumerated
Many building materials are measured by the number. Chimney pots are counted, as are air
bricks, doors and windows.

Linear
Many building materials are measured by the length. Brick-on-edge is measured by length,
e.g. Brick-on-edge on 3 metres length of wall, 215mm wide.
Coping of brick-on-edge measured in linear metres
Height

Length of brickwork

Superficial
This is also known as square measurement, because the length and width (or height),
are multiplied to achieve the superficial area of the material required. Examples are brick
and blockwork.

The length of the wall is multiplied by the height to give the square area of brickwork
required.

Example: 20m of brickwork 2.5m high = 50m²

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Student Key Skill

Application of Number
Cubic

Cubic measurements are taken when there are three dimensions; length, width and height.
Examples are found in excavating trenches where the volume of concrete is needed
for foundations.

Volume = length x width x height

Calculating brick quantities
The figure below shows nominal sizes of a brick.

These are the net sizes of the average brick and it is necessary to add 10mm to the length,
width and height to produce the actual dimensions when installed in the wall.
Therefore: length: 215 + 10 = 225mm
height: 65 + 10 = 75mm
width: 102.5 + 10 = 112.5mm

Bricks are generally laid to a gauge of four courses to 300mm.

Four
courses
to 300mm
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Student Key Skill

Calculating Brick Quantities Application of Number

To calculate the number of bricks required per square metre in stretcher bond, it is
necessary to calculate the face area of one brick including joints, and then divide that
quantity into one square metre.

Face area of one brick = 0.225m x 0.075m = 0.01688m² per brick.

Number of bricks per square metre = 1.000 = 59.17 bricks.
0.0169

For the purposes of calculating brick quantities, this figure is rounded up to 60 bricks per
square metre.

The total area of brickwork is measured from the drawing, and then the number of bricks
per square metre is applied.

Regardless of the bond used, the number of bricks will remain the same, although the
quantity of facings and common bricks may change if the wall is not faced on both sides.
The numbers of bricks required are multiples of 60 per m² for each half-brick thickness in
the wall i.e.
• Half brick wall = 60 bricks/m².
• One brick thick wall = 120 bricks/m².
• One and a half brick thick wall = 180 bricks/m².
• Two brick thick wall = 240 bricks/m².

The following examples of brick calculations may help you understand the basic principles
of calculating brick quantities.

Brick quantities
Example 1: A one brick wall built in English bond is 6.00 metres long and 1.50 metres
high. Calculate the number of bricks required.

Answer: 6.00 x 1.50 = 9.00m² 9.00m² x 120 = 1,080 bricks required (net)
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Example 2:
A wall 7.50 metres long by 2.10 metres high is to be one and a half bricks
thick in Flemish bond. Calculate the number of bricks required to build the wall.

Answer:
7.50 x 2.10 = 15.75m² 15.75m² x 180 = 2,835 bricks required (net)

Example 3:
A half brick wall built in Stretcher bond is 8.00 metres long x 1.20 metres
high, with a opening 0.9 x 0.6 metres.
Calculate the number of bricks required.

Answer:
Overall area: 8.00 x 1.20 = 9.6m²
Opening area: 0.9 x 0.6 = 0.54m²

Wall area with area of opening deducted = 9.6 – 0.54 = 9.06m²

9.06m² x 60 = 543.6 bricks = 544 bricks required (net)

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Student Key Skill

Application of Number
Calculation of Block Quantities

The dimensions of a block = 440mm long x 215mm high x 100mm wide.

These are net dimensions, and the thickness of the joint is added to obtain
the following dimensions: 450mm x 225mm x 100mm.

Laid blocks are equal to three courses of bricks in height = 225mm.

The calculations for blocks are very similar to brick calculations.

First calculate the area of one block, this will include the joints, then divide that quantity into
one square metre.

The face area of one block = 0.45m x 0.225m = 0.10125m² per block

Number of blocks per square metre = 1.000 = 9.87 blocks

0.10125

For the purposes of calculating block quantities, this figure is rounded up to 10 blocks per
square metre.

Therefore, for every future calculation of blockwork, use 10 blocks per square metre.
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Student Key Skill

Application of Number
Example 1:
Calculate the number of blocks required to construct a block wall 2.690m long and
0.675m high.

Answer:
2.690 x 0.675 = 1.815 m² of walling
1.815 x 10 = 18.15 blocks required (net)

Rounding of quantities
Since it is impractical to order parts of bricks or blocks, the total required is always rounded
up to the next brick or block.

Round up the net answer to the previous example:

Answer:
Net answer = 18.15 blocks. Rounded up = 19 blocks required

Example 2:
Calculate the number of blocks required to construct a block wall which is 2.690m long and
0.675m high which contains a window opening of 0.9m x 0.45m.

Answer:
Total area of wall = 2.690 x 0.675 = 1.815m²
Area of opening = 0.9 x 0.45 = 0.405m²
Actual wall area = 1.815 – 0.405 = 1.41m²

Total number of blocks required = 1.41m² x 10 = 14.1 blocks. Rounded up = 15 blocks.

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Student Key Skill

Application of Number
Percentage Waste Calculations

After calculating the net quantity of materials for inclusion into a bill of quantities or possibly
a materials schedule, the next step is to determine the actual amount of material to be
ordered for the job.

Due to the inevitable losses through breakages and cutting etc, a percentage addition is
made to the net amount to cover these possibilities.

This is called percentage waste, and the percentage can vary but generally it ranges from
5% to 10%.

To calculate quantities of materials plus percentage waste, a two-stage calculation

is required:
1. Calculate the percentage waste of the net amount.
2. Add the calculated amount to the original ‘net’ amount to produce the ‘gross’ figure
which will include waste.

Example 1:
The number of blocks required for a wall is calculated to be 340 blocks (net).
Calculate the number of blocks to be ordered including 5% waste.

Answer:
1. Percentage waste = 340 x 5 = 1700 = 17 additional blocks for waste
100% 100
2. Add the additional amount to the net amount:
340 + 17 = 357 blocks required (gross – to order)
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MATERIAL QUANTITIES

Student Key Skill

Application of Number

Calculating Other Material That a Bricklayer May Need

Concrete
Concrete is calculated as volume or metres cubed (m³). This involves multiplying three
dimensions, i.e. the length, the width and the thickness of the space into which the
concrete is to be poured.

The most common construction situations in which concrete is used are in foundations,
floors, beams and columns.

The following examples relate to two of those situations.

Example 1: Foundations
Calculate the amount of concrete required for a foundation if the foundation trench is 39.00
metres long and 0.60 metres wide if the concrete is required to be 0.225 metres thick.

Answer: 39.00m x 0.60m x 0.225m = 5.265 m³ of concrete required

Example 2: Floors
Calculate the amount of concrete required to lay a floor measuring 15m long x 10m wide if
the floor is required to be 0.150 thick.

Answer: 15.00m x 10.00m x 0.150m = 22.5m³ of concrete required

Drainage pipes
Drainage pipes are sold in various lengths. The number of pipes can be calculated by
dividing the length of the drainage trench by the length of the individual pipes.

Example 1:
Calculate the number of drainage pipes required for a trench 36.00 metres long if the length
of each individual pipe is 0.90 metres in length.

Answer: 36.00m ÷ 0.90m = 40 pipes required

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During the course of your work it may be necessary to calculate the area of various shapes
to determine the quantity of required materials.

Some of the shapes will include:

• Triangles.
• Quadrilaterals.
• Circles.

All of these shapes are covered in detail in Section 2, Technical Drawing Skills.
Refer to Module 5: Angles and Module 6: Regular Figures.
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MATERIAL QUANTITIES

Student Key Skill

Application of Number
Perimeters and Centre Line Calculations

When calculating quantities of concrete foundations and brickwork, it is common practice

to initially ‘take off’ the dimensions from the drawing and then calculate the external
perimeter of the building.

The perimeters are then adjusted to produce what is termed the ‘Centre Line Measurement’.
The reason for doing this is to avoid over-measurement of quantities due to measuring at
corners twice.

The diagram below illustrates the inaccurate effect of measuring to the full extent of the
foundation or wall length.

By measuring the dimensions to the corners as Y, the shaded area is effectively measured
twice resulting in over-measurement.

The dimension X must be deducted twice at every corner to produce an accurate length of the
foundation or wall, based on the centre line dimension.
The centre line dimension method is usually used to calculate the volume excavation
of trenches. It can be used to calculate concrete volume, brickwork areas and DPC calculations.

A simple rule to adopt when calculating using the centre line measurement is to
deduct four times the width of the foundation.
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Centre line calculations

Calculate the length of the centre line of the building shown in plan below.

Answer:
1. Perimeter: (2 x 14m) + (2 x 7m) = 42m.
2. Perimeter minus 4 x width of foundation: 42m – (4 x 750mm) = 39m.

The length of the centre line of the trench is 39 metres.

The centre line represents the total length of the trench as if laid out in one length, and can
be used for subsequent calculations.

For example, the area of the base of the foundation is 39.00 m x 750mm.

Therefore, to calculate the volume of 225mm thick concrete foundations required in the
trench (area x depth): 39.00 x 0.750 x 0.225 = 6.58m³ of concrete

The bricks required to build a one-brick wall 3.00m high centred on these foundations:
39.00 x 3.00 x 120 = 14,040 bricks are required

NOTE:
Walls are measured overall, and openings deducted from the total wall area to
produce the actual area of brickwork.
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MATERIAL QUANTITIES

Mortar

The amount of mortar required to lay bricks will depend upon the type of brick being used,
e.g. wire cuts or bricks with deep frogs, gauge and the thickness of the wall.

We work on the assumption that approximately 1m³ to 1.5m³ will be required for
2500 bricks.

Therefore for a wall of 6,000 bricks (assuming it requires 1m³ of mortar per 2,500 bricks),
the volume of mortar required will be:

6000 = 2.40m³ of mortar required

2500

Since substantial shrinkage always takes place when mixing the materials, a rule of thumb
method often used is to take the calculated volume of mortar as being the sand required
and add the required proportion of cement.

Therefore in the previous example assuming a 4:1 sand/cement mix

Volume of sand to add to the mix = 2.40m³
Volume of cement to add = 2.40m3 = 0.60m³ of cement
4
The density of cement may be taken as 1440kg/m³

Therefore the weight of cement required to make 2.4m³ would be equal to:
0.60m³ (Cement) x 1440kg/m³ = 864kg

Therefore to calculate the number of 25kgs bags of cement required, the calculation would
be: 864 = 34.56 bags (rounded to 35 bags of cement) to make 2.4m³
25

NOTE:
This method is only suitable for the small quantities that a bricklayer might have
to calculate.