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Materials, Testing and

Construction Practices

(KCE 401)

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EVALUATION SCHEME
CT TA TOTAL End Semester TOTAL CREDITS
(SESSIONALS) (TE)
30 20 50 100 150 3

CT – Mid-semester exams +PUTs

TA – Assignments + Attendance

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BUILDING MATERIALS
INTRODUCTION

 Building material is any material that can be used for construction purposes. It commonly
includes wood, concrete, steel, cement, aggregates, bricks, clay, metal, and so much more.

 Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, and wood, even twigs and
leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many
man-made products are in use, some more and some less synthetic.

 In the olden times, people have been using pure bricks, or wood, or straw. But in this modern
age, engineers have learned to mix and match the right materials to come up with higher
quality structures.

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 All building materials can be used to create a quality structure. But that depends on how they
are used in construction. This is why project managers and field engineers need to carefully
analyze the material they need in their projects.

Importance of Selecting the Right Building Materials

 The right building materials have a big impact on the quality of the structure. No matter how
proficient a construction team is when the materials are cheap and substandard, the building
will still see many problems and won’t last long.

 Often, cost is the reason for choosing alternative materials that aren’t as good as the original
choice. But, the highest quality of construction can be achieved by using the most suitable
materials which also ensures the safety and durability of the building.

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SCOPE OF STUDY OF BUILDING MATERIALS

Building materials or construction materials are the major requirement in this modern age of technology. There
are many types of building materials used for different construction works.

 Properties of Building Materials

For a material to be considered as building material, it should have required engineering properties suitable for
construction works. These properties of building materials are responsible for its quality and capacity and helps
to decide applications of these material. Such properties of building materials are categorized as follows:

• Physical properties

• Mechanical properties

• Chemical properties

• Electrical properties

• Magnetic properties

• Thermal properties

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 Performance of Building Materials

• Building materials must serve their intended function not only when newly installed but
also for some acceptable length of time. This service life may last for the life of the
building or, as with paints, for only a few years before renewal.

• The durability of a material is measured as the length of time it will serve satisfactorily but
the useful life of a material is always related to the particular combination of
environmental factors to which it is subjected, so that durability, or service life, must
always be related to the particular conditions involved.

• Most building materials are complex in their chemical and physical nature, as there are
processes involved in response to environmental factors. These processes improve the
understanding of performance and provide a basis for predicting behaviour of materials.

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• Exact prediction of performance requires a complete understanding of material properties, the

processes involved in the interaction of the material with its environment, and the environmental
factors to which it will be subjected.

• The only complete test of performance is trial by use. Prediction will always be limited by lack of
complete knowledge; trial by use will be limited by time and inability to extrapolate to new
conditions.

• Test methods can be used to supplement knowledge and experience in predicting performance.
Some test methods depend on empirically derived relations between observed behaviour and
some easily measured physical property; others subject the material to environmental conditions
simulating those to be expected in practice.

• The development of better test methods and their proper application in practice can only come
about through better understanding of materials and their performance. Such understanding is
also prerequisite to the proper and necessary evaluation of past experience.

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Economics of the building materials

 Initial economic cost of building materials is the purchase price.

 This cost governs the decision making about what materials to use.

 Sometimes people take into consideration the energy savings or durability of the materials and
see the value of paying a higher initial cost in return for a lower lifetime cost. For example, an
asphalt shingle roof costs less than a metal roof to install, but the metal roof will last longer so
the lifetime cost is less per year.

 Some materials may require more care than others, maintaining costs specific to some
materials may also influence the final decision.

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 Risks when considering lifetime cost of a material is if the building is damaged such as by
fire or wind, or if the material is not as durable as claimed.

 The cost of materials should be taken into consideration to bear the risk to buy
combustive materials to enlarge the lifetime.

 It is said that, "if it must be done, it must be done well".

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