AVOIDINGTOLERANCETRAPS

WardR.Malisch
TechnicalDirector
 What is a tolerance?
Whatisatolerance?
Permittedvariationfromaspecified
Permitted variation from a specified
dimensionorlocation

No
No building is ever plumb, level, straight,
and true to dimension that is, not exactly.
JohnR.Nichols,1940
 The best is the enemy of the good
Thebestistheenemyofthegood
Best
Perfecction

Good

Effortandcost
In the beginning
Inthebeginning
Nichol spaperwasthe
Nichols paper was the
firstattempttoprovide
p p
tolerancevaluesfor
reinforcedconcrete
construction.
Injudginganyproposed
In judging any proposed
tolerance, however, he
tolerance,however,he
suggestedthattwo
gg
q
questionsmustbeasked
 First question
Firstquestion
Isitnecessaryandsufficienttobuild
Is it necessary and sufficient to build
withinthetolerancesothestructure

Hasasuitableappearance?
Satisfiesthepurposeforwhichitwaserected?
Isstructurallysafe?
y
Accommodatestiling,plaster,orotherfinishes?
 Second question
Secondquestion

Canthetolerancesbe
achievedreasonably;that
hi d bl th t
is without unjustified cost?
is,withoutunjustifiedcost?
Nicholsthensuggestedtolerancevaluesfor
propertiessuchas:

Memberdimensions..minus1/4,plus1/2in.
Plumbness1/4in.inanystory
Reinforcingbarplacement1/4in.vertical
g p /
Coveroverreinforcement
(under 1 ft member thickness) 1/4 in
(under1ft.memberthickness)..1/4in.
(over1ft.memberthickness).1/2in.
Butheaddedthatdiscussionofhistolerances
wouldbeneededbeforetheywereadopted
asanACIstandard
InthediscussionoftheNichols
In the discussion of the Nichols
paper,wefindthefirstinstanceof
intelligentdesignbeingdebated
in a scientific meeting The debate
inascientificmeeting.Thedebate
wasrelatedtothe1/4in.
/
tolerancesonpositioningof
reinforcement.
i f t
1st engineer:Doesthat
engineer: Does that in.bar
in bar
placementtoleranceapplicable
beforeoraftertheconcreteis
placed? Because the bars move a
placed?Becausethebarsmovea
bitwhenworkerswalkonthem.

Nichols:Thefinalpositionofthe
Nichols: The final position of the
barisallthatmatters.
2nd engineer:Idontseewhythe
workerscantkeepbarsintheir
orkers cant keep bars in their
theoreticalpositions.Wedont
p
haveanytroublekeepingthebars
exactlywheretheywereplaced.
tl h th l d
Contractor:Doyougodowntothe
bottomofthecolumnwithyour
ruler to see if the bars have 1 in
rulertoseeifthebarshave1in.
ofcover?Youhavetotakewhat
yougetandtrusttoGodthatitis
all ri ht
allright.
2nd engineer:Thatdoesnotplace
ourengineersonaverysound
i d
basis.TrustingtoGodisnotgood
g g
engineeringpractice.
 AnaptquotefromDanielCuoco
Generally
Generallyspeaking,perfectionindesignor
speaking perfection in design or
constructionisrare.Norisitthestandardofcarein
our industry Any construction site can be converted
ourindustry.Anyconstructionsitecanbeconverted
intoascienceprojectinwhicheverythingis
inspected under a magnifying glass and parts of the
inspectedunderamagnifyingglassandpartsofthe
structurearephysicallydemolished,resultingina
certainty that instances of imperfect construction
certaintythatinstancesofimperfectconstruction
willbediscovered.
L tt t th dit
Lettertotheeditor
CivilEngineering
July2009
Nichols goalwasthat:
Nichols goal was that:
eventually,afterdiscussion,a
setofsomesuchtolerancesbe
adopted as standard by the
adoptedasstandardbythe
AmericanConcreteInstitute.
 Fast forward to 1963
Fastforwardto1963
ACI34763,
ACI 347 63 Recommended
RecommendedPractice
Practice
forFormworkwasthefirstACI
documenttostatesometolerances.

Thecommittee,insomecases,
agreedoneventightertolerances
than those suggested by Nichols
thanthosesuggestedbyNichols.
Butallwasnotwellin
B t ll t ll i
t l
toleranceland.In1971,
l d I 1971
Birkeland and Westhoff
BirkelandandWesthoff
published a paper that
publishedapaperthat
illustrated some
illustratedsome
problems.
problems
 Some of their conclusions
Someoftheirconclusions
Tolerancesobtainedinconstructionare
much largerthancommonlyexpected.
Mosttoleranceproblemsarisefrom
Most tolerance problems arise from
unrealizedexpectations.
Nobodyknowswhattolerancesare
N b d k h tt l
realisticallyobtainable,orwhattolerances
areactuallyrequiredtoobtaina
y g
satisfactorybuilding.
Fast forward again to August 1980
FastforwardagaintoAugust1980

ProposedACIStandard:Tolerances
forConcreteConstructionand
Materials appears in Concrete
MaterialsappearsinConcrete
International forpublicdiscussion.
StatementintheIntroduction

Thestatedtolerancesinthis
Th t t dt l i thi
documentwere,inmanycases,
, y ,
derivedbyconsensusopiniondue
tothelackofdefinitivedata;and
h l k f d fi i i d d
should be used with judgment asa
shouldbeusedwithjudgment as a
rangeofacceptabilityandnota
limitforrejection.
AndinOctober1980,MaryHurd,
d Octobe 980, a y u d,
editorofConcreteConstruction
magazine,gaveherreadersalook
i h d l k
at the proposed tolerances so they
attheproposedtolerancessothey
couldsendcommentstoACI.
 The result:
Theresult:

8 pages
ofdiscussionand1pageofclosure
of discussion and 1 page of closure
publishedintheFebruary1981
issueofConcreteInternational
 A sampling of the responses
Asamplingoftheresponses
The
Thetolerancesaregenerallyattainableand,
tolerances are generally attainable and
ifusedwithjudgmentandnotasalimit
for rejection would in most cases serve their
forrejectionwouldinmostcasesservetheir
purpose.Thisidealism,althoughadmirable,
would probably be ignored
wouldprobablybeignored.
Thereistoomuchcontroversyover
tolerance magnitudes and too few field
tolerancemagnitudes,andtoofewfield
measurementsofactualconstruction
achievement to justify the tolerances
achievementtojustifythetolerances.
 DocumentshouldbepublishedasanACIreport
ofrecommendedpracticeratherthanasa
standard.
Experienceonnuclearpowerplantconstruction
hasshownthatthesetolerancesaretootight
andverydifficulttomeet.
Hasanyonecheckedthelistedtolerancesfor
Has anyone checked the listed tolerances for
theirpracticalmeaningandapplication?
Havethosewhoestablishedtheseunrealistic
Have those who established these unrealistic
limitseverhadtoerecta10fthighcolumnthat
conformed to the 1/4 in plumb tolerance?
conformedtothe1/4in.plumbtolerance?
 Summary

CommendableeffortbyACI117
Commendable effort by ACI 117
Shouldnotbeastandard
Should not be a standard
Sometolerancesnotclearlystated
Sometolerancestootight
Littledatatosupportthetolerances
 Committee closure
Committeeclosure
EngineersspecifyingACI11781should
accept the specific tolerance values but
acceptthespecifictolerancevaluesbut
realizetheneedforengineeringjudgment.
Anindepthreviewofeachtolerancewill
i d h i f h l ill
beginfollowingpublicationofACI11781.
Subcommitteeshavebeensetuptoreview
eachsectionoftheproposeddocumentand
commentsrelatingtochangingatolerance.
ACI117canrequestbackupdatatosupport
q p pp
proposedchanges.
 TolerancesinACI11710
forwhichnodataarecited
Verticalalignmentcontrol
Elevationcontrol
Crosssectionaldimension
C i l di i
control
Relativealignmentcontrol
Relative alignment control
 OtherToleranceProblems
Specifiedvaluesbasedon
expectationsratherthanreality
Toleranceincompatibilityfor
T l i tibilit f
adjoining building systems
adjoiningbuildingsystems
Contractorresponsibilityfordesign
Specificationswrittensotheycould
b
bemisunderstood
i d d
Thefirsttolerancetrap
p
Tolerancesnotbasedon
Tolerances not based on
as built data (experience)
asbuiltdata(experience)
may not be reasonably
maynotbereasonably
achievable.
achievable
 SometolerancesinACI11706
forwhichnoasbuiltdataarecited
Controlsfor:
Crosssectionaldimensions
Verticalalignment
V i l li
Elevation
Elevation
Relativealignment
Relative alignment
Crosssectionaldimensions
forslabsonground

ACI11710Tolerances
Section 4.5.4 Thickness of slabsonground
Section4.5.4Thicknessofslabs on ground
Averageofallsamples...... 3/8in.
Individualsample.............3/4in.
 What it means
Whatitmeans
For
Foraspecified6
a specified 6in
in.floorthickness,the
floor thickness the
averagelength ofallcoresmustbe55/8in.
Foraspecified6in.floorthickness,the
For a specified 6 in floor thickness the
length ofanyindividualcore mustbenoless
than 5 1/4 in
than51/4in.
NoteSection4.5.4.1:Minimumnumberofcore
samplesisfourper5,000sqftoffloor
l i f 5 000 f f fl
surface,andcorelengthisdeterminedper
ASTM C174
ASTMC174.
Isthisareasonablerequirement?

Let slookatasbuilt
Lets look at asbuilt
data to see if itss
datatoseeifit
achievable.
achievable
 Conclusion:
Theaverageslabthickness
The average slab thickness
toleranceisattainable
Theminimumslabthickness
(corelength)toleranceisnot.
Wehavelotsofasbuiltslabs
on ground with thin spots
ongroundwiththinspots.
 ACI11710statesthisinR4.5.4
oftheCommentary
Specifiers shouldanticipate
l li d
localizedoccurrencesofreduced
f d d
thickness for slabsonground.
thicknessforslabs on ground.
Ifweknowthethinsectionsarepresent,
p ,
whydomostfloorsperformsatisfactorily?
CConservativekvaluesinsoilsreports
i k l i il
Conservativeconcreteflexuralstrength
g
assumptions
Somedesignchartsareconservative
Some design charts are conservative
Safetyfactorof2usedtoaccountfor
fatigueeffects
 But designers must be cautious
Butdesignersmustbecautious
FEM
FEMdesignmethodsmaybelessconservative
design methods may be less conservative
Usinglowersafetyfactors(e.g.1.2)permits
morecompetitiveslabalternatives,butatthe
titi l b lt ti b t t th
expenseofpossiblypoorperformance.
Actual slabthicknessvaluesshouldbeassumed
indesigniflowersafetyfactorsareused.
Dont specifyminimumthicknessunlessyou
wantaslabmuchthickerthanthedesignvalue,
andcanpayforit.
 Anotherachievabilitytrap
y p
Beamshavetoconnectto
columns,butcolumnplumb
tolerancesandbeamlocation
t l
tolerancesinACI11710are
i ACI 117 10
mismatched.
mismatched
 Horizontal alignment
Horizontalalignment
ACI11710horizontalalignmenttolerances
4.2.1Horizontaldeviationfromlocation
Otherelements.........................1in.
Theotherelementscanbe:
Beamsorgirdersthatframeintocolumns,walls,
Beams or girders that frame into columns walls
orotherverticalelements
Beamsandjoiststhatframeintootherbeamsor
B dj i h f i h b
girders
Slabedgesatthebuildingperimeter
ACI117verticalalignmentenvelope
Theproblemwithbeamsframinginto
p g
columnsorwalls:

Section4.1.2allowsanoutofplumb
p
toleranceupto 6in.forcolumns

ButSection4.2.1allowsatolerance
But Section 4.2.1 allows a tolerance
ofonly 1in.fortheverticaledgeof
abeam.
Howsthatworkingoutforyou?
Beamscan
Beams canttconnectto
connect to
columns within tolerance
columnswithintolerance
if column plumb and
ifcolumnplumband
beam location tolerances
beamlocationtolerances
are mismatched.
aremismatched.
 The simple solution
Thesimplesolution
Thehorizontalalignmentenvelopemustbein
sync with the vertical alignment envelope if the
syncwiththeverticalalignmentenvelopeifthe
beamsaretoconnecttothecolumns.

Suggestedspecificationlanguage:
Horizontalalignment
Formedconcretesurfacesshallnotfall
outsidethelimitssetbythevertical
alignmentenvelope
g p
[Beamsmustconnecttocolumns]
Yetanotherachievabilitytrap
Fora20fthighcolumn,plumb
For a 20ft high column plumb
toleranceis in.(0.3%ofht.)
Butfortheoutsidecorner ofan
exposed20fthighcornercolumn
d 20 ft hi h l
exposed to view the plumb
exposedtoviewtheplumb
toleranceis in.(0.2%ofht.)
[ h
[BothrequirementsinSection4.1.1]]
Howdowecheck
How do we check
plumb for a
plumbfora
column?
l ?
Modifiedcarpenterslevel
Plumbing forms
Plumbingforms
Withtypicalformsandcolumnclamps
With typical forms and column clamps
inplace,howcantheoutsidecorner
beheldtoadifferenttolerancethan
the rest of the column corners and
therestofthecolumncornersand
fourfaces?
 The Solution
TheSolution
Eliminateseparateplumbrequirement
p p q
(0.2%vs0.3%xheight)fortheoutside
cornerofcornercolumns
f l
Specifier todefineandselecttolerances
to define and select tolerances
forimportantconspicuouslines
A hightech
Ahigh techsolution
solution

Embedded permanent plumb

position Indicator.
 Asecondtolerancetrap
p
Toleranceincompatibility
p y
Applyingthe 1in.horizontal
toleranceforedgesofslabsoften
results in construction disputes
resultsinconstructiondisputes
betweentheconcretecontractorand
thebuildingenvelopecontractor.
Heres one illustration
Heresoneillustration.
 Concreteframe
Concrete frame
Post tensioned slabs
Posttensionedslabs
Masonry infill walls
Masonryinfillwalls
S
Stuccofinish
fi i h
ASTMC926,StandardSpecification
for Application of Portland Cement
forApplicationofPortlandCement
BasedPlaster,requirestheconcrete
surfacetobestraightandtruewithin
1/4 in in 10 ft But edge of slab can
1/4in.in10ft.Butedgeofslabcan
beoutoflocationbyplusorminus1
in.perACI11710.
Three-course stucco
Nominal thickness 7/8 in.
Two-course (one coat) stucco combines the
scratch and brown coats plus the finish coat
Nominal thickness:
1/2 in. for masonry base
3/8 in. for concrete base
Thus its less expensive.
Scratch coat

Brown coat

Finish coat
 The solution
Thesolution
Check
Checkforconflictingtolerancesthatappear
for conflicting tolerances that appear
indifferentpartsofthespecifications:
Division3vs.cladding,curtainwalls
Division 3 vs cladding curtain walls
Division3vs.floorfinishes
Division3vs.doorsandwindows
Division 3 vs doors and windows
Division3vs.ceilingsandpartitions
EEnsurethatdifferentsubcontractorsare
h diff b
awareoftoleranceconflicts
 Athirdtolerancetrap
p

Contractorsaresometimes
heldaccountablefor
meetingtoleranceson
performancerelatedto
designdecisions.
 Elevation envelope
Elevationenvelope
ComponentsofACI11710elevationtolerances
4.4.1Deviationfromelevationfortopsurface
f l f f
offormedsuspendedslabs,beforeremoval
ofshores..
f h in.
i
4.4.2Deviationfromelevationforformed
surfacesbeforeremovalofshores...... in.
4.8.5Flatness/levelnessrequirementsto
/ q
controlelevationchangesoftopsurface
p
withinthe in.envelope.
 Thetrap
Interiorpartitionsinamultistory
building donttfit.
buildingdon fit.
Elevationmeasurementsofslabtop
andbottomsurfacesaremadewhen
the fit problem is first noticed.
thefitproblemisfirstnoticed.
Themeasurementsareoutsidethe
elevationtoleranceenvelope.
Thecontractorisrequiredtopatchthe
The contractor is required to patch the
floor(s)sopartitionswillfit.
 This may not be a contractor issue
Thismaynotbeacontractorissue
Elevationmeasurementsforcompliancewith
p
tolerancesmustbetakenbeforeshoreremoval.
Partitionsareusuallyinstalledaftershore
Partitions are usually installed after shore
removal.
Themeasuredelevationsreflectinitialelevation
The measured elevations reflect initial elevation
butalsodeflectionaftershoreremoval.
Deflectionisnotthecontractorsresponsibility
fl h bl
unlessthestructurewasloadedwithconstruction
materialsbeforeslabswerereshored.
i l b f l b h d
 Sorting out responsibility
Sortingoutresponsibility
Contractorcantakeelevationreadingsonthe
slabs while the shoring is still in place
slabswhiletheshoringisstillinplace.
Deflectionmeasurementscanthenberelatedto
theasbuiltinitialslabelevationnottothe
h b il i i i l l b l i h
designelevation.
Ifnomeasurementsoftheinitialslabelevation
weremade(mostlikely),elevationreadingsof
theslabsurfaceatthecolumnsshouldbetaken
asthebaselineforadditionalslabsurface
measurements.
A fourth tolerance trap
Afourthtolerancetrap

Thedefinitionofanopening
The definition of an opening
can be misunderstood.
canbemisunderstood.
9 ft 0 in. 8 ft 6 in.

A B
Is the space
p between the beam soffit Is the space
p between the beam
and floor surface (A) an opening? soffit and curb (B) an opening?
 C D
Is the space between the floor and Is the space between the curb and
the top of the doorway an opening? th top
the t off the
th doorway
d an opening?
i ?
 E
Is this an opening?
 Why an opening definition matters
Whyanopeningdefinitionmatters
In
InA,thetoleranceonboththebeamsoffitand
A the tolerance on both the beam soffit and
floorelevationis in.Thusthedistance
between the soffit and floor surface can vary
betweenthesoffitandfloorsurfacecanvary
from8ft10in.to9ft1in.
ButifAisanopening,theSection4.6.1tolerance
But if A is an opening the Section 4 6 1 tolerance
ofminusin.andplus1in.applies.Thus,the
distance between the soffit and floor surface can
distancebetweenthesoffitandfloorsurfacecan
onlyvaryfrom8ft11in.to9ft1in.The
tolerance is cut in half
toleranceiscutinhalf.
 Someclues
SectionR4.2.2ofACI11710.
Th t l
Thetoleranceforverticaldeviationwouldalso
f ti l d i ti ld l
applytoitemssuchasthehorizontaledgesof
openin s in walls,beams,orcolumns.
openingsin alls beams or col mns
SoneitherAnorBrepresentsanopeninginawall.
Section4.6Deviationfromformed opening
widthorheight
InCandD,onlythetopandsidesofthedoor
openingareformedsurfaces.Sotheyrenot
p g y
openings.
OnlythewallshowninsketchEhas
an opening to which the minus in.
anopeningtowhichtheminusin.
andplus1in.toleranceapplies.

Asanaddednote,theminusin.
As an added note the minus in
andplus1in.toleranceseemstobe
inlinewithasbuiltdatawecollected.
A useful hint for designers
Ausefulhintfordesigners
Whenusingacurbcastlaterto
When using a curb cast later to
ensureagoodfitwithdoors,
windows,andelementsinstalled
by others donttspecifythecurb
byothers,don specify the curb
height.Placeconcretetoan
elevation consistentwiththe
tolerance for the element
tolerancefortheelement.
Internaltoleranceproblems

Clear cover at top of Z-bar = 1 in.

Cast first
 ZZbar
barlength
length

36 in.

Bar fabrication tolerance 2 = 1 in.

 Herestheproblem
ThebarfabricatorcanfabricateaZbarwitha
toleranceof 1in.
Theironworkerhasapositiontoleranceof in.
oneachtailoftheZbar.
Fabricatingthebareither1in.shortorlongforces
p p y y
theironworkertoplacethebarperfectlybyusing g
the+in.toleranceatoneendofthebarandthe
in.toleranceattheotherendofthebar.
in tolerance at the other end of the bar
Theironworkeralsohasaclearcovertoleranceof
in.IftheZbarisfabricated1in.toolong,the
f h b f b d l h
ironworkermustplacethebarexactlyoneachface.
 In summary
Insummary
Many
Manyofourcurrenttolerancesareunachievable.
of our current tolerances are unachievable
Someofourtolerancesarenotunderstandable.
Someoftheconcretetolerancesareincompatible
S f h l i ibl
withtolerancesforinterfacingmaterials.
Moreasbuiltdataareneededtouseasabasis
forrealistictolerances.
Toomuchtimeandmoneyiswastedinfighting
claimsthattherearedireconsequencesofnot
q
meetingcurrenttolerances.
The E
T End
Questions?