HOW TO PREPARE THE STRUCTURAL

LAYOUT/GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF BUILDINGS

1.0 INTRODUCTION
The general arrangement or structural layout is a document that clearly specifies the
disposition of the structural elements in a building such as the columns, beams, paneling of
the floor slabs etc, on which the design of the structure is based. By looking at the general
arrangement of a building, other engineers can identify the model of the building, the shape
and type of structural elements, and the possible assumptions made in the design.

Figure 1: A typical example of a building's general arrangement

In order to carry out a design properly, the design engineer should be able to adequately
idealize the structure in order to obtain the closest theoretical and practical behavior of the
structure under load. This interpretation is usually made from standard and well prepared
architectural drawing of the proposed building. The architectural drawings enable the

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engineer to prepare what is normally referred to as the ‘general arrangement’ of the building,
popularly called the ‘general arrangement’ or the 'Structural Layout'. The general
arrangement also contains the labeling of the axes and members, unique grid lines, building
structural levels, etc. After completing the general arrangement, the engineer makes
preliminary sizing of the structural elements which may be governed by past experience or by
deflection requirements based on the code of practice. After the sizing, the engineer is faced
with the challenge of loading the structure. But let us briefly review how we go about the
general-arrangement.

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 GENERAL IDEAS ON PREPARATION OF GENERAL ARRANGEMENT
(GENERAL ARRANGEMENT)
There are no prominent rules on how to select the appropriate general arrangement of a
structure. To me, adequate presentation of the general arrangement has more to with years of
design and construction experience.

However, I am going to highlight some important guidelines which are very necessary.

1. Respect the architect’s original disposition: In the preparation of a GA, try as far as
possible to respect the architect's design. Architectural drawings supersede structural
drawings for building projects. For instance, when arranging your columns, do not
place columns where the architect has meant to be a free space, and also, none of your
structural elements should interrupt the interaction of spaces. In addition to that, your
columns and beams should not project out where the architect has intended plain
walls or sections etc. Just make your arrangement consistent with the original form of
the structure.
2. Select a stable model: The model or general arrangement you are presenting should
be statically stable, and fully representative of the behavior of the structure. There
should be no stability or equilibrium problem at any joint or location in the building.
3. Build ability and construction consequences: The model you adopt should be
buildable. This starts from considering the technical capacities of the local contractors
who will execute the design from your model. For instance, in a region where
reinforcement bending machines and cranes are not readily available, you should not
provide models that will require the provision of high yield 32mm bars, or
recommend the use of precast or pre stressed elements. Every construction project has
a budget, and your designs should reflect that. For instance, I normally try my best not
go beyond 16mm bars for simple residential duplex design, unless I cannot help it. I
know I can achieve this only by moderating the span of my structural elements, since I
know the live load in residential buildings are not much.

4. Know the economic and structural consequences: Between more steel and more
concrete, which one is more economical in the region? For instance, let us consider an
external beam that should have been 8m long under simply supported assumptions. If
there are no openings at the wall panels under the mid span of the beam, you can
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 comfortably hide an intermediate column there, thereby having two spans 4m each.
The original 8m beam would have required more steel reinforcements, or deeper
sections, or both to satisfy ultimate and serviceability limit state requirements.
However, if you introduce a column at the mid-span, there will be redistribution of
stresses, with a hogging moment at the propped mid-span, and hence, generally lesser
reinforcements, concrete section, and deflection. However, you should note that you
are now going to construct a new column and new isolated base (requiring concrete,
reinforcement, and additional excavation cost). Between the two options, which one
gave you the most economical solution? Is the cost of constructing foundation in that
area cheap or expensive? These are all influencing factors, and like I said, years of
design experience counts.
3.0 Case Study
In this PDF pages, a small residential building on a 46.9 ft x 80 ft plot of land has been
presented for the purpose of preparing the structural arrangement. The ground and first floor
plans of the building are shown in the PDF 01 and 02 respectively. From the architectural
disposition, the building is a two family occupancy arrangement, with each family occupying
a floor level. The 1st floor of the building has a balcony at the kitchen, a cantilever sit-out,
and a little balcony by the staircase area. Apart from that, the general arrangement is fairly
the same show the columns and windows of each floor with the help of load bearing and
frame structure design.

PDF 1: Ground floor plan

PDF 2: First floor plan

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