CBM-CI International Workshop, Karachi, Pakistan

Dr. K. Mahmood

FACTORS AFFECTING REINFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION QUALITY IN PAKISTAN

Dr. Khalid Mahmood Project Coordinator/Director Professor, University of Engineering Science & Technology (UESTP) Higher Education Commission (HEC), Lahore PAKISTAN ABSTRACT: The absence of a national code of practice and specifications, environmental and infrastructural restraints, and climatic conditions are the main factors that affect the quality of reinforced concrete (RC) construction in Pakistan. The effect of these factors is discussed by considering the prevalent design and construction practices. The measures for improving construction quality are discussed by considering the relationship between design and construction, and the resposibilities of the client (user), consultant and contractor.

1.

INTRODUCTION

Reinforced concrete (RC) is extensively used in the construction of small and large buildings, houses, bridges, storage tanks, dams and numerous other types of structures in Pakistan. Most construction uses cast-in-place concrete and labor-intensive methods. RC Framed structures are designed and constructed for multi-storey buildings. However, for one or two storey buildings and houses, a mixture of systems including stone or brick masonry and RC beams and slabs is generally used.

1.1

Reinforced Concrete (RC) A Major Material in Construction

Reinforced concrete may be the only construction material used in many parts of Pakistan due to a number of factors. These factors may include the relatively lower cost of construction, non-availability of other materials, and the strength and protection RC structures are expected to provide against natural disasters and extreme weather conditions. Nevertheless, concrete and reinforced concrete are fabricated materials. Their properties are very dependent on the procedures adopted during design and construction. In other words, the desirable qualities in terms of strength, serviceability, and protection may not be achieved if appropriate measures were not adopted during design and construction. The quality of RC construction has been an active topic since the earthquake of 8 October 2005 during which gross loss of life and property occurred due to damage and collapse of many RC structures in Pakistan. Some people have even questioned the suitability of RC construction for earthquake-prone areas, forgetting the fact that RC is used for disaster areas all over the world. 371

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Dr. K. Mahmood

This paper discusses the quality of reinforced concrete construction in Pakistan. The factors that may affect RC quality are outlined and discussed. Measures have been suggested to improve the quality of RC construction by considering the relationship between design and construction and the responsibilities of the different parties involved in the design and construction process.

2.
2.1

QUALITY OF RC CONSTRUCTION
Definition and Measurement of Quality

The quality of reinforced concrete can be defined in terms of the quality of constituent materials, concrete and steel, and the performance of the constructed facility. The current American, European and international codes and standards are performance based, using strength, serviceability, and durability as the main criteria for defining and measuring the quality of construction in one form or another. By following the recommended design and construction procedures, it is ensured that a constructed facility will have an acceptable working life or useful life to function as per intended use without a high maintenance cost. Alternatively, the facility should have an acceptable probability against failure or any serviceability problem.

2.2

Philosophy of Current Codes

In Euro Code BS EN 1990, the intended working lives range from 10 years for temporary structures to 50 years for buildings and other common structures. For monumental buildings, bridges and other civil engineering structures, the intended working lives are recommended to be 100 years [1]. The quality of concrete is selected by considering the intended working life, the exposure class, and the nominal reinforcement cover used in the structural design. ACI Code 318-05 [2] does not consider the working life as a design parameter. It considers the probabilities of under strength, overload, and failure. The governing equation for design is: Design strength = required strength In applying the above governing equation, the code required values for strength reduction factors and overload factors (approximate probabilities of the order of 1/100 for under strength and of 1/1000 for overload are considered with a resulting probability on the order of 1/100,000 for structural failure) are used [3]. The provisions for proportioning concrete mixtures in the ACI Code are based on the philosophy that concrete should provide adequate strength and durability for the structure being designed by the ACI code. 372

CBM-CI International Workshop, Karachi, Pakistan

Dr. K. Mahmood

The current codes provide extensive provisions for concrete and reinforcing steel. Since it is a fabricated material, the codes give detailed procedures for checking the quality of the concrete during and after its placement in the construction. For construction during hot and cold weather, the codes provide requirements, and recommended guidelines and practices to be followed. The design provisions and factors in the foreign codes are primarily based on the statistical information, professional experience and construction practices in their regions of application. These codes are regularly revised and updated as and when more information becomes available regarding materials, design procedures, and construction practices. It is obvious that the safety, strength, and durability levels stipulated in a code can be achieved only if the recommended design and construction provisions of the codes and standards have been applied judiciously. Partial application of these provisions may not yield the intended quality in the constructed facility.

3.

MAJOR FACTORS

In a previous paper [4], the author identified the following three factors affecting the quality of concrete construction in Pakistan: Absence of a national code of practice and specifications, Environmental and infrastructural restraints, and Climatic conditions

These three factors remain the major ones influencing the quality of present day RC construction in Pakistan. In the absence of a Pakistani code of practice, the design and construction of most of RC structures are carried out using American and British codes. The use of Euro codes is not very common. The teaching of reinforced concrete courses in the universities is generally based on American codes, standards and practices. Environmental restraints include aggressive conditions affecting the properties of concrete and/or corrosion of reinforcement. Infrastructural restraints may include the shortage of suitable materials, limited equipment and transport facilities, and limited availability of a skilled workforce [4]. Pakistan has extreme climatic conditions in many regions. For RC construction under extreme climatic conditions, extra precautionary measures need to be taken. The effect of the abovementioned factors is discussed here by considering design, detailing and construction practices with typical examples that affect the quality of RC construction in Pakistan. 373

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Dr. K. Mahmood

3.1

Design and Detailing Practices

Due to the revolution in electronic print media all over the world, the latest versions of codes of practice and standards become readily available to design engineers in Pakistan. However, the necessary background technical material, short courses and seminars that form an essential part of the procedure for the induction of new documents in the profession are not available. The same is the case with computer software for the analysis and design of structures. The new codes and software are, therefore, sometimes applied without fully understanding the intended philosophy. In most cases, the design of structural members is correctly carried out by using the load factors and strength reduction factors in the foreign code. However, in many cases, the code requirements for materials and quality control are not explicitly stated on the drawings or in the construction specifications. Details about reinforcement, concrete cover, the minimum and maximum number of bars in a layer, development and splice lengths, transverse reinforcement, etc., are not correctly/adequately shown on the drawings. In the absence of this information, the contractor is bound to make mistakes at the construction site. Figure 3.1 shows part of a building damaged during the earthquake of 8 October 2005. The building had not been designed to resist earthquake loads. Nevertheless, the absence of transverse reinforcement in the columns (Figure 3.1) seems to have further aggravated the damage. A study of collapsed/damaged buildings shows that although most of them had not been designed to resist earthquake loads, appropriate measures regarding details of reinforcement at design and construction stages could have reduced the damage and loss of life. Figure 3.2 shows a residential building damaged in severe environmental conditions near the sea. The design details did not include any durability requirements, e.g., increased concrete cover for the steel reinforcement, concrete specifications, or other protective measures for the expected conditions. This resulted in a reduced working life for the building.

Figure 3.1

Transverse reinforcement is missing in the columns. 374

CBM-CI International Workshop, Karachi, Pakistan

Dr. K. Mahmood

Figure 3.2

Example of tie reinforcement missing in the columns.

3.2

Construction Practices

Formwork plays an important role in achieving the proper shape and finish for RC structures. Formwork also has a direct effect on the cost of RC construction. Therefore, on small works wooden planks and props are used, producing the typical formwork shown in Figure 3.3. This type of arrangement sometimes causes collapse of the formwork, leading to loss of life and property.

Figure 3.3

Wooden formwork and supporting elements.

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CBM-CI International Workshop, Karachi, Pakistan

Dr. K. Mahmood

A very important factor that affects the quality of RC construction in Pakistan is the provision of the recommended concrete cover for the steel reinforcement. Figure 3.4 shows a typical example of corrosion of slab reinforcement due to inadequate concrete cover. The figure shows that the bottom reinforcement, with unequal spacing, was placed directly on the forms, and in doing so even a bent-up bar with a change in orientation was used. The bottom side of the slab was plastered with cement-sand plaster, which peeled off when the reinforcement started to corrode.

Figure 3.4

Example of unequal spacing of slab reinforcement without the concrete cover.

Most of RC construction in Pakistan is in-situ with labor-intensive methods and small machinery. The provisions of the foreign codes regarding concrete mix proportions, production and placement, curing, and quality control are not specified in detail and, therefore, not followed at the construction site. Figure 3.5 shows a typical example of a curing procedure. As shown in the figure, only some of the recently cast columns are being subjected to curing. Even otherwise, this method of curing by covering with wet hessian and occasional water sprinkling may not be adequate for construction in hot weather with daytime temperatures nearing 450 C (1130 F).

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CBM-CI International Workshop, Karachi, Pakistan

Dr. K. Mahmood

Figure 3.5

Curing of recently cast reinforced concrete columns.

3.3

Measures for Quality Improvement

There are a number of factors that may affect the quality of RC construction and the working life of the constructed facility. However, almost all of these factors are inter-related. The measures for improving the quality of construction can thus bedescribed by considering the relationship between design and construction and the responsibilities of the different parties.

4.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

The design and construction of a structure are closely related. In the current practice, a facility (e.g., a building) is conceived (designed) in computer files and graphics by applying the provisions of codes and standards, and physically created (constructed) at the site using these files and graphics. A design is successful if it can be constructed for use at the site. The safety, strength, serviceability, and durability stipulated in a design can be achieved through good workmanship and quality control at a construction site. Good workmanship and quality control, on the other hand, are possible only if specifications are clearly defined, and member and connection (inter-connectivity) details are simple and executable at the site. Considering these factors, Figure 4.1 shows the relationship between design and construction.

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CBM-CI International Workshop, Karachi, Pakistan

Dr. K. Mahmood

Figure 4.1

Relationship between design and construction.

4.1

Responsibilities for Quality Construction

The client, design consultant, and contractor must work as a team to achieve the desired quality in RC construction. Figure 4.2 highlights the major tasks for the three parties in the relationship needed for the successful completion of a building project with the desired quality level.

Figure 4.2

Responsibilities of the client, consultant, and contractor.

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Dr. K. Mahmood

As the owner and end user of the facility to be constructed, the client must define clearly the requirements and other planning and design parameters. The consultant must prepare the integrated design considering all engineering disciplines, using the prescibed/agreedupon codes and standards, and also providing adequate construction details and specifications. The contractor must have an efficient and competent workforce to execute the job at the site. The contractor must have have a well-managed program with adequate sampling and testing facilities, since the responsibility for quality control rests with the contractor. Such a program must include tests on the steel reinforcing bars as well as the concrete constituent materials, fresh concrete and hardened concrete. The present codes provide a clear-cut basis and provisions for the testing and acceptance of the materials to be used. These provisions must be understood and followed by qualified field and laboratory workers. Inspection and supervision play an important part in maintaining and improving the quality of construction. The client and the consultant must have plans for these activities during construction. Independent of the contractors quality control measures, the client should conduct a program for supervision and quality assurance.

5.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

This paper presented the major factors affecting the quality of reinforced concrete construction in Pakistan. In the first part of the paper, the definition and means of measurement of the quality of construction have been discussed in light of the philosophy of some current foreign codes of practice. The major factors affecting the quality of construction in Pakistan are the absence of a national code of practice and specifications, environmental and infrastructural restraints, and climatic conditions. These factors have been discussed by considering design and construction practices and typical examples affecting RC construction quality. The measures for improving construction quality have been presented by considering the relationship between design and construction as well as the responsibilities of the client, the consultant, and the contractor. Quality control is an important aspect of the construction process that ensures that the materials with design properties are actually delivered and used at the site. The respective parties must develop programs for quality control, inspection and supervision to maintain and/or improve the quality of construction.

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Dr. K. Mahmood

REFERENCES
[1] [2] [3] [4] Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (318-05) and Commentary (318R-05), American Concrete Institute (ACI), Farmington Hills, MI. USA, 2002, 430 pp. Harrison, T, The new concrete standards getting started: An Introductory Guide to New Standards for Concrete BS EN 206-1 and BS 8500, The Concrete Society, Berkshire, UK, 2003, 16 pp. Nilson, A. H., Darwin, D. And Dolan, C. W., Design of Concrete Structures, 13th Edition, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., New York, 2003, pp. 779. Mahmood, K., Quality of Concrete Construction in Developing Countries", Quality for Building Users Throughout the World, XIth International Congress, International Council for Building Research Studies and Documentation (CIB 89), Paris, Vol. II, 1989, pp. 131-138.

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