An Overview About Low Cost Housing

Low cost housing is a new concept that deals with effective budget and
use of techniques which help in lowering the cost of construction through
the use of locally available materials and improved skills and technology
without sacrificing performance and life of the structure. There is big
misconception that low cost housing is suitable for only substandard works
and they are constructed by using cheap building materials of low quality.
The fact is that low cost housing is done by good managing the resources,
well.

Building Cost

In a low cost housing, building material cost is less as you can make use of
the locally available materials and also the labour cost can be reduced by
properly making the time schedule of our work. Cost of reduction is
achieved by selection of more efficient material or by an improved design.

Areas from where cost can be lowered are:-

1) Lower plinth area by using thinner wall concept.
2) Use locally available material in a new form like soil cement blocks
instead of burnt bricks.
3) Use energy efficiency materials which need less energy like concrete
block instead of burnt bricks.
4) Use eco-friendly materials which are substitute for conventional building
components like the R.C.C. Door and window frames instead of wooden
frames.
5) Pre plan every element of a house and logically sketch the design
procedure for lowering the size of the components.
6) Each component shall be checked whether if its necessary, and then
the component would be used.
Cost reduction through adhoc methods
Foundation

Usually, the foundation cost comes to about 10 to 15% of the total building
and the foundation depth of 3 to 4 ft. is adopted for single or double store
building and also the concrete bed of 6 is used for the foundation which
could be avoided.
It is recommended to adopt a foundation depth of 2 ft. for normal soil like
and use the uncoerced rubble masonry with the bond stones and good
packing.
It is further suggested adopt arch foundation in ordinary soil for effecting
reduction in construction cost up to 40%.This kind of foundation will help in
bridging the loose pockets of soil which occurs along the foundation.
In the case black cotton and other soft soils it is recommend to use under
ream pile foundation which saves about 20 to 25% in cost over the
conventional method of construction.

Plinth

It is advisable to adopt 1 ft. height above ground level for the plinth and
might be constructed with a cement mortar of 1:6. The normal plinth slab of
4 to 6 could be avoided and instead brick on edge could be used for
lowering the cost. By adopting this procedure the cost of plinth foundation
could be reduced by about 35 to 50%.

Walling

Wall thickness of 6 to 9 is suggested for adoption in the construction of

walls and 41/2 for inside walls. It is advisable to use burnt bricks, after
being immersed in water for 24 hours and then used for walls.
Rat trap bond wall

It is a cavity wall construction which has an advantage of thermal comfort

and lowers the quantity of bricks required for masonry work. By adopting
this method, it is possible to lower in the material cost of bricks by 25% and
about 10to 15% in the masonry cost.

Concrete block walling

Using concrete block masonry the wall thickness could be reduced from 20
cms to 15 Cms. Concrete block masonry saves consumption of mortar,
speedy construction of wall results in higher output of labour, plastering
could be avoided thereby an overall saving of 10 to 25% can be achieved.

Soil cement block technology

It is an alternative method of construction of walls using soil cement blocks

in place of burnt bricks masonry.

Doors and windows

It is suggested not to use wood and instead concrete or steel section

frames are suggested for saving in cost up to 30 to 40%.

Lintals and Chajjas

The traditional R.C.C. lintels are very costly and could be replaced by brick
arches for small spans and save construction cost up to 30 to 40% over the
traditional method of construction.

Roofing

Normally 5, thick R.C.C. slabs is used for roofing of residential buildings.

pleasing pattern ceilings and also dont need plaster.
Jack arch roof/floor
They are easily constructed, saves cement and steel, are more good in hot
climates.

Finishing Work

The finishing cost for sanitary, electricity, painting etc., varies depending
upon the kind and quality of products used in the building and its cost
reduction is left to individual choice.

Conclusion

The above list of suggestions for lowering construction cost is of general

nature and it varies depending upon the nature of the building to be
constructed, owners budget, geographical location of construction,
availability of the materials, etc.
But it is necessary that a good planning and design methods must be
adopted by utilizing the services of an experienced engineer or an architect
for supervising the work, to achieve overall cost effectiveness to the extent
of 25% in actual practice.
We conclude now. In the competition of many organizations CRB Tech
Solutions developed a good name in training civil engineering students.
It has earned a good name in providing the best training in Civil
engineering training program and conferring civil engineering training
certificate.

CRB Tech offers one of the professional training for civil engineers. As
Civil engineering jobs in Pune are increasing and to meet the current
demand of the proficient candidates, you should consider enhancing
yourself with our training program.

So if you are looking for good opportunities in civil engineering, come join
our Civil engineering training course which offers the best training
through our civil engineering training institute.