Site Workers Can Become Site Hackers If You Keep Your Eyes Off --Engr. Osaz' Enobakhare

Managing construction activities comes with some burden. There is the burden of trust. First, the project owner relies on qualification, experience and trust to engage a contractor. Next, the contractor wants to work with a team and/or a group of workers that can be trusted to deliver to instructions and specifications. 

There is often likelihood that trust can be breached at some point; either between the Project Owner and the Contractor or between the Contractor and his team and that’s why there must be a frantic effort at ensuring that trust and positive co-operation is strengthened throughout the duration of the project and there are only a few ways to do that. 

In practice it has been observed that while a breach of trust, usually financial or technical in nature between a project owner and the contractor often lead to a project being abandoned, if the same occurs between the contractor and his work team at any level, the project can suffer severe injuries that may not be obvious until after some time. Hence, the later can be said to be more dangerous.

Let me paint a clearer picture. Consistent site visitation is part of my research activity and over time, I get to see a couple of dirty activities that play out on the field. 

Although it is quite easy to put the bulk of blame on the desk of the contractor, rightly so, it is also good to point out that site workers can be up to a lot as soon as you take your eyes off –they can practically hack a site! 

Truly, it may be sort of impossible for a contractor to be on the site every second, hence he has to rely on his site manager(s) or supervisor(s) to be his eye on the sub-contractors and site workers as the project progresses. However, if the site manager is naive or corrupt, negative collaborations may be engendered and the project bears the brunt. Sometimes they plot to manipulate mix ratios so they can save some materials to sell later to make unscrupulous gains. Surprisingly this left overs can amount to unbelievable metric tons!  Other times they negatively influence the supplier to bring in cheap, sub-standard substitutes that can easily be used up so that they can enrich themselves with the extra change and jointly cover up their hideous deeds.

 

The use of technology has helped reduce such activities as contractors as well as project owners can follow the progress of work on their site from virtually anywhere. For large sites, installing self-powered IP CCTVs that is connected to your mobile device via the internet at various strategic points on the site can be helpful. However for small sites, some contractors or project owners rely on what is commonly referred to as ‘snap and send’ – the use of instant messengers to convey site pictures and vital info to the receiver at any time. 

However the latter is still subject to manipulations. Notwithstanding, the use of technology cannot be over-emphasized as the ‘trust’ element itself is subjective -it can fail at some point but technology rarely does.

Understanding the psychology of members of a work team is one key aspect that should be taken into consideration. 

 

Typically, site workers are journeymen from various backgrounds; hence they cannot all behave in the same way at every given time. 

Most people met for the first time on a construction site and do not necessarily feel oblige or accountable to each other. It therefore important for site managers and foremen to always engage the right people –people that are not only good on the job but that they can have a sufficient control over. You don’t expect to change anyone over-night. It’s a site not a Correction Centre! Some people just don’t fit in. 

Disengage any worker(s) trying to be a bad influence on others but that is only after you must have paid them off. Do not starve workers of their pay as at when due, hence you give room for all manner of after-thoughts and most importantly don’t allow moth to stick to your own eye too.                  

                

On Foundations: It is Safer to Pad the Strip - Engr. Osaz’ ENOBAKHARE

Foundations are very important components of buildings and other earth-supported structures because they perform what is often described as the most herculean tasks of support, transmissions and distribution –they support the load of the structure built on them and extensively transmit and distribute same to the underlying earth. 

There is always a set of suitable foundation types for most structures but these options are often subjected to cost consideration, time of completion and available technology. 

Generally for small residential bungalows on fairly stable earth, the use of traditional strip foundation is common place but technically it is safer and wiser to also pad the strip.





Here is why? Padding a strip foundation makes it stronger and more stable. 







It provides additional support against deflection. If properly constructed, it also gives the foundation a form of flexibility to take on additional load in the future which may be in form of an additional floor. Similarly, it enables ease of lateral extension. What this means in ordinary terms is that the pad in the strip will make it a lot safer to extend the foundation where the building’s horizontal span(s) is to be increased. 

The combination of strip and pad foundation is logical to the extent that the bulk of the load of the building will be supported by the pad set-up, hence the strip only serve to sustain and distribute the load from the walls over the longitudinal bearing throughout its length. This is quite different from the norm where reinforcement is simply introduced at joints in foundation strip and concreted together. 

When applying this method, the required number of isolated or combined pad footings or base are first constructed over a layer of blinding and are then connected to the strip which could be made either of reinforced concrete or sandcrete blocks or composite materials. Subsequently, the starter columns are built into the pad which will then be extended to the roof beams. This way the load from the roof is almost exclusively supported by the pad.

It works in such a way that the roof load is supported by the pad while the load from the wall and part of the ground floor is supported by the strip. This is generally safer and particularly useful in grounds with fairly-stable soil characteristics.    

Dry Construction: Good For Social Housing - Engr. Osaz’ ENOBAKHARE

Social housing has been identified as a topical way of solving the housing deficiency issues plaguing the country today. However a means to achieve true social housing has been a subject of continuing debate and research. 

For instance, it is difficult to come to term with the branding of a 2-bedroom bungalow that is selling for a whopping 10 Million Naira as ‘low cost’ but that is still common place. 

Dry construction is one sure way to work that figure down. Dry Construction utilizes the combination of cheap, ‘dry’ and ready-to-assemble components to create living, storage, leisure, learning and working spaces that can stand the test of time and use. 

It may have been developed based on the observation that the ‘wet’ block-and-concrete construction processes normally slows down delivery time and comes with attendant high cost. 

Although the technology is not new, advancement in the technology is what could be said to have boosted its advantage over other similar green technologies. For instance, until lately, most dry construction concepts utilize old metal container to build livable units which many people find aesthetically-repulsive while some others attempts to use paneling materials for walling which are of low acoustic quality and thermal resistance, making the use of the technology unpopular. 

Using latest dry construction technology to overcome wall and framing challenges in a more decent way is really a big plus and the introduction of highly stable dry floors gives a perfect blend to the entire set-up. Roofing and ceiling often come in naturally dry solutions and thus can easily be worked into a dry construction module.

Typical dry construction systems consist of frame and paneled walls/frames and floors made from a combination of steel, PVC and recycled materials as well as special fire-resistant boards to form internal and external walls. 

The entire set-up is so built to allow for adequate functional requirements of strength, firm stability, extended durability, resistance to passage of moisture and heat, anti-rust, good noise reduction co-efficient and so on.  

In order to provide additional resistance to sound and external weather conditions, dry walls usually come imbedded with insulating fibre. To resist excessive wind and vibrations due to internal or external forces or effects, the set-up is designed to be attached firm at ends and joints; making the building ‘rock solid’.

Unlike the conventional method of constructing suspended floors, reinforcement in dry floors are often welded to the receiving panels and plates and then covered with adequately-sized unbreakable polymerized floor units. 

This welding process creates additional stiffness required to safely resist impact and torsion. Depending on design requirements, dry floors can take the same thickness as conventional wet concrete floors and are observed to be generally more stable.  

Since the dry floor material comes finished, it therefore almost completely erases the additional cost of installing floor finishes. However depending on the owner’s requirements, dry floors can still be ultra-finished. But the use of dry floor variants in place of concrete for ground or basement floors is largely unacceptable.

The growing appreciation of dry construction is anchored on the observation that once completed it is pretty difficult to spot the difference between buildings where the technology was employed and the regular ones. 

Using dry construction, it would cost only about 3 Million Naira to build a livable 3-bedroom unit within 30 days but the regular block-concrete type will cost some 5 Million Naira on the average and may take up to 3 months to complete. 

Beyond mass housing, dry construction is being utilized in the construction of halls, open plan offices, multi-storey warehouses and for massive industrial facilities. 

So for social housing enthusiast and the rest of us, dry construction isn’t a bad idea!  

Owner-Contractor Syndrome Can Kill Your Project -Engr. Osaz’ ENOBAKHARE

Far from it! It’s not health-related but it can kill a project irrespective of size. When a project owner, unqualified professionally to manage construction processes on site assumes the role of a construction manager, the fellow is said to be suffering from Owner-Contractor Syndrome (OCS). 

When the Owner of a project also doubles as a ‘Contractor’, there must be a problem somewhere, especially if the owner is not technically sound. OCS is a real threat to sustainable building development in any country and indigenous researchers are studying a link between OCS and the upsurge of sick buildings. The OCS mostly affects small and medium-scale project owners in developing countries. 

Although there have been a huge success in self-enlightenment on construction activities by project owners in the last few years provoked by the incessant rate of building collapse and its attendant woos; poor earnings and high cost of construction due to an all-time economic low has again begin to fuel the spread of OCS and its very many consequences.

There is absolutely nothing wrong in keeping an eye on activities on your site from time to time at least to serve as a form of incentive to the men at work or perhaps to add some spark to the delivery process but taking on the technical role of construction management may eventually harm your project. 

Owner-Contractor Syndrome is synonymous with Self-medication and it affects victims in about the same manner. Like the saying goes ‘what you don’t know can kill you’. For lovers or fanatics of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) construction approaches, there is a temptation to believe they are sort of knowledgeable enough to assume professional roles which they are not qualified for but there is always an extent to what you can do and it is therefore important to avoid such regrettable pitfalls by allowing those with the technical know-how do their job.  

Some project owners suffering from OCS have claimed that their ‘over-zealous’ involvement in the delivery of their project helped save cost and promote ‘desired’ quality, especially in small residential projects. 

No doubt there is an element of truth in this assertion but it has also been observed that most of such building or infrastructure often become terribly sick; suffering from another ailment know as Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and requiring a more deeper pocket to correct.

Generally, where construction cost are to be kept low, Project owners are advised to prune down their project budget by at best getting directly involved in materials supply and logistics. 

They request for a material schedule from their contractor, source and purchase the required construction materials directly from manufacturers or merchants, and ensure that such purchases are backed up with prompt delivery to the point of usage. 

Other cost-saving approaches includes engaging a single (trusted, competent and low-cost oriented) point of responsibility as well as using cheaper construction methods. 

Testing positive to OCS is certainly not in the best interest of your project.

Faster, Cheaper and Efficient: Constructing Concrete Lintels and Archs With ‘Exo-Reinforcement’ -Engr. Osaz’ ENOBAKHARE

Lintel beams provides structural support to the portion of the structure directly above them, (usually a wall) as well as aid the reduction of impact and stresses emanating from the use of the underlying member or components which are often doors and windows. 

Some archs also serve the same purposes while others are designed as ‘stand alone’.  The word ‘Exo-reinforcement‘ coined from the words ‘Exoskeleton’ and ‘Reinforcement’ is used here to describe the concept of introducing reinforcement to the external part of a concrete member instead of placing the reinforcing material internally. 

This is probably the first time this word is being used in public research space but the idea has spanned through ages. Essentially, exo-reinforced concrete saves construction time, money and also meets currently acceptable functional requirements for such member.

Mr Bode Araba (EPDM, Nigeria)

Mr. Bode Araba, Chief Executive at EPDM Nigeria, a research, training and project management firm based in Lagos has been visible in the corridor of promoting advancement in new or existing alternative methods of time-effective construction, which includes the use of variants of pre-cast exo-reinforced concrete building elements on a couple of successfully delivered projects that were directly under his watch. The method hasn’t gained prominence perhaps because most indigenous professionals are not receptive to changes or are simply skeptical about trying out new things.

Exo-reinforced concrete lintel beams like the regular types can come in precast or cast in-situ forms but it’s benefits are maximized when built pre-cast. Exo-reinforced archs are often cast in-situ because of their size and relative density but on sites where hoists and cranes are present, it’s okay for them to come pre-cast. 

To construct a pre-cast exo-reinforced concrete lintel beam, a sheet of anti-rust metal of about 6mm thickness and good strength is folded into a form of cuboid initially opened at both ends that fits perfectly into the provided space and level (taking the required span with adequate projections on both sides). 

This process can be done at the point of purchase of the metal or on site. A stopper (e.g. Polythene material) is then introduced at both open ends to stop any flow out. 

Concrete of adequate mix is poured into the fold and allowed to set for some hours. The stoppers are then removed to allow air into the concrete while the top leaves of the fold are welded together to hold firm. 

Once the exo-reinforced concrete lintel has gained sufficient strength, it is lifted and mounted to fit into the space provided. The same process applies to the construction of exo-reinforced archs except that the folding is done meticulously to take the required arch shape. 

On small sites, the lifting process can be done manually by means of thick ropes or by simply getting two laborers to lift it from both ends. These processes altogether can be completed for several numbers of lintel beams in a matter of hours saving the constructor the cost and time of installing and detaching timber or steel formworks and other associated works. 

After placement, a layer of mortar is introduced to the top of the member to receive the blockwall to be constructed over it. In the end, the member can be rendered (or plastered) along with the blockwall.

The same principle that works for regular reinforced concrete also applies to the exo-reinforced type, tension is resisted by the folded metal along its length while compression is resisted by the concrete within. 

Although from the structural engineering point of view, the way and manner at which the member provide resistance to stresses (in terms of shear force and the attendant bending moments) acting on it are slightly different. However it is still very safe to use exo-reinforced concrete for archs and beams provided you know what you are doing!          

Cutting Cost and Cutting Corners: The Point Where Cutting Goes Wrong - Engr. Osaz’ ENOBAKHARE

Cutting action is a normal part of the construction process. You’ve got to cut something at some point before a project gets to completion stage. From the design stages, you cut lines and shape in drawings to fit. At the costing stage, attempts are often made to cut down rates. On site, if you are not cutting a hot-rolled steel bar with a hack saw to achieve the required length, then you would be cutting timber (i.e. wood) to size with a hand saw. 

If formwork is off the program of work for the day, then you may have to cut blocks into three-quarter or half-size with a trowel to fit into walls or cut concrete with a diamond cutter to create some allowances. 

Other times, you may have to cut a covering or finishing material and so on. In fact the cutting action is so relevant that if it is not properly done, it can cause poor condition of work leading to avoidable delay, wastage and rework.  

But there are other forms of cutting that may not involve the use of typical construction tools; these are the acts of cutting corners and cutting costs. It is important to stress here that either of the two or a combination of both in a very ill-manner has been largely established as part of the factors responsible for the prevalent rate of building collapse across the country and elsewhere.    

Cutting Cost: Care must be taken in reducing

estimated cost of construction

It’s too early to raise your eyebrow. It’s cool to cut cost but you must do it in a manner that does not jeopardize the quality of materials and workmanship. 

You don’t expect a good work when a contract is underpriced. I haven’t seen a ‘not-for-profit’ building contractor in a long while or perhaps, never at anytime. I think it is safe to say nearly all contractors are in the construction business to make profit. 

If this is true, there is therefore a high tendency that handling a project without getting the desired or appropriate profit scale may promote temptation for project handlers to cut corners. In-house research has shown clearly that the act of cutting cost has a bearing on the tendency to cut corner and vice versa. 

But there are some contractors that cut corners even when the project is grossly over-priced and this is rather unfortunate. Here is something you can easily relate with; as the project owner tries to cut cost of construction so do the contractor also try to cut cost of implementation and when two greedy cutters meet, something gets badly cut. That 'thing' is often the physical project.     

As an advocate for reduced cost of construction to ensure that the largely excluded low-income class live and work in decent spaces or environments, I equally do not agree that low cost of construction should mean poor quality of work. There must be an excellent balance and that’s where project owners and construction professionals need to be fair enough at least for the sake of the project and future users. 

For instance, as it is today, it is impracticable to expect a decent 4-bedroom bungalow (all room en-suite) to be completed with 2 Million Naira using Sandcrete blocks as the parent wall material. But if an open bid is done right away for the said project type with such an amount as the contract sum, some con-artists parading themselves as contractors would jump at it –promising sky and skylines. But mind you two weeks into the project, the successful bidder is likely to top your ‘list of wanted persons’; absconding with project funds and sometimes construction materials as has been established in known cases and reports.

Cutting corners during construction is not only professional wrong; it is also a criminal offence punishable by law in several climes. Any contractor or professional or project owner caught doing such should be reported to the appropriate authorities for sanctioning.

There is really nothing wrong in minimizing or cutting cost of construction but ‘over-cutting cost’ may breed the act of cutting corner and then regrets. It’s a caveat to both parties!

You Don't Have To Live in a Smart City To Live Smart -Engr. Osaz’ ENOBAKHARE

Since signing an agreement with the City of Dubai by the Lagos State Government in June, 2016 on the development of the Lagos Smart City, many people have been wondering what a smart city would look like. 

Ironically Lagos itself is believed to be one heck of a smart city where only the ‘smart ones’ survive –you have to be smart to get on a bus and even when you are on a BRT queue as we have it today, you could still be outsmarted by a crafty lone ranger in a split of a second; On top of that you have to be pretty smart to earn a decent living in this ever-buzzing city; Other times you have to turn your gear to smart if you must beat the crazy traffic in the shortest possible time, else you spend long hours ‘snailing’ down the road with puckered brow and lest you forget, you have to be extremely smart to find your way around without getting lost. But Smart homes/cities are not restricted to Lagos alone. So what then makes a smart city in an already ‘smart’ city an interesting concept?

Here is why. The smart city concept is one that thrives on intelligence, sophistication and automation. It’s not the typical hustle and bustle kind of ‘smart’ some of us are already used to. It’s smartness with ease, flexibility and simplicity. 

With the magic of a small device on your hand, your building is almost entirely under your control even when you are nowhere near. Perhaps the only thing you still may not be able to do is to physically move the house to your friend’s place. 

Simply put, Smart City consists of Smart buildings and Smart infrastructure. Smart homes/offices used to be the exclusive privilege of those in the top echelon of the society but as it is now, there is something for the low and middle class.

Technology is for the benefit of everyone, irrespective of class, gender and race. In fact technology may be threatened with extinction if it is only restricted to a set of people. By building smart cities, the options are opened to people of all status to have a stake, even if it’s just as little. 

A square-Metre of space in a smart home/city is generally safer and comfortable to live in than 1001 square-Metre of space in a dull or boorish home/city.

 Are you pondering what I am pondering? Apart from the automation side of smart homes, they are often very elegant, exquisitely finished and customized to suit individual preferences of taste and lifestyle.

Never mind, I perceive you are thinking about power issues. In a country where public power supply continues to make a false of people’s high hopes, I very well understand your fears. But come to think of it, you would be surprised that for smart home concepts, even power respects technology. 

Smart home devices are often designed as low-power consumers and can be powered by off-grid solutions. Most of these devices can power themselves by relying on simple solar radiations.

In a typical smart home, with a press of a set of buttons or clicks on wi-fi enabled hand-held or virtual remotes respectively, you control all windows and doors within the building, including opening and closing of the gate and skylights in the roof from virtually any location. 

Users can also monitor and control activities within the house on their mobile devices; making it easier for working class parent to keep tab on their kids at home while they are away. Smart homes can be customized to recognize the occupiers of a building and their pets and automatically allow them gain access at any time while denying access to strangers and even blowing an alarm when there is an intruder. 

Smart building can welcome you in with your favorite song playing in background mood and bid you goodbye by responding with a go-come tune. The heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system can be automatically adjusted to suit your desired temperatures and humidity levels using the same simple device. It can help control taps, switches and security alarm system; you can turn the entire space to night mode at night and even switch off all devices when you are away.  

So don’t wait till the Smart City is fully built. Go smart already.