UGANDA MILTARY ENGINEERING COLLEGE

(UMEC)

Po box 310, LUGAZI (U)

A REAL LIFE PROJECT REPORT FOR AN AS BUILT ADMINISTRATION BLOCK OF

KAMPAL POLYTECHNIC MENGO INSTITUTE IN MENGO-KAMAPALA

DEPARTMENT: ARCHITECTURE

NAME: MBABAZI PRISCILLA

REG NO: UBT/195/2021/T/D/M/1270

YEAR OF STUDY: TWO

SEMESTER: ONE

COLLEGE SUPERVISOR: MR. KISOMBA BENON

A REAL LIFE PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO UGANDA BUSINESS AND

TECHNICAL EXAMINATION BOARD IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN ARCHITECTURE

AUGUST-NOVEMBER 2022
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this project report is of my own making and no other person has ever
submitted it before as a requirement for a similar award of National Diploma in architecture
throughout the years.

MBABAZI PRISCILLA

….……………………….

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APPROVAL
I hereby approve that MBABAZI PRISCILLA carried out her project under my supervision and
that this report is original and purely has a record of activities that she carried out during this real
life project work of as built administration block of Kampala Polytechnic Mengo.

Sign………………………

Date……………………….

Mr. KISOMBA BENON.

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DEDICATION
I dedicate this real life project to my beloved late sister Kobusinge Winnie who always believed
in me and my dreams of being an architect. May your soul Rest in Peace. You will always live in
our hearts.

I dedicate this real life project to my beloved parents Mr. and Mrs. Irumba Rhodens and my
siblings for their continued support and motivation throughout this project and my entire course
of study.

I continue to dedicate this project to my supervisor Mr. Kisomba Benon for his close supervision
which helped a lot during this real life project.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I thank the almighty God for the gift of life, knowledge and understanding for without his grace
nothing would have been possible.

I would to extend my appreciation to my supervisor Mr. Kisomba Benon for their relentless
guidance throughout this project.

I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to my mother and siblings for their financial
support throughout this real life project till it ended.

I would also like to appreciate the efforts of Kituno Mark the group consultant for his assistance
on the model making.

To my mentor and half-brother Migadde Kenneth for his financial support enabling the smooth
completion of this project.

I also commend the services rendered to us by the community of Kampala Polytechnic Mengo.
Thanks for welcoming us with open arms and treating us as fellows.

I cannot forget to thank the management of Kampala Polytechnic Mengo for welcoming me with
open arms and allowing me to gain architectural skills and I promise to make you proud. May the
almighty God bless you abundantly.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Table of Contents
DECLARATION......................................................................................................................................i
APPROVAL............................................................................................................................................ii
DEDICATION........................................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT......................................................................................................................iv
LIST OF ACRONYMS.........................................................................................................................vii
CHAPTER ONE......................................................................................................................................1
BACKGROUND.................................................................................................................................1
SITE LOCATION...............................................................................................................................1
PROBLEM STATEMENT..................................................................................................................1
MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THE REAL LIFE PROJECT........................................................................1
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT....................................................................................1
CHAPTER TWO.....................................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER THREE.................................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER FOUR...................................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER FIVE...................................................................................................................................11
CALCULATING THE BILLS OF QUANTITIES............................................................................11
MODEL DESIGNING......................................................................................................................12
CHAPTER SIX.....................................................................................................................................12
6.2 RECOMMENDATION...............................................................................................................13
ABSTRACT..........................................................................................................................................13

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Ground plan...................................................................................................................................5

Figure 2 1st Floor plan.................................................................................................................................6
Figure 3 site Layout.....................................................................................................................................7
Figure 4 Site Location..................................................................................................................................7
Figure 5 Site Elevation.................................................................................................................................8
Figure 6 Cross Section................................................................................................................................10

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LIST OF ACRONYMS
UBTEB Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board

UMEC Uganda Military Engineering College

CAD Computer Aided Design

B.O.Q Bills of Quantities

2D Two Dimensions

3D Three Dimensions

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CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND
The institute was recently shifted to its current location due to limited space at the previous
place. And the buildings were residential but since the area where they were located was not
a residential area, the owner decided to sell to the management of Kampala polytechnic
which was also in need.

SITE LOCATION
The site was located in Mengo along Kabaka anjagala road opposite Best buy supermarket in
Kampala district.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Since the institute has just been shifted, records of the structures were misplaced by the
previous owner hence rise for the need of architectural drawings.

MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THE REAL LIFE PROJECT.

To produce as built architectural drawings of the administration block of Kampala
polytechnic mengo institute in order to keep records

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT.

To expose students to knowledge of using CAD software programs like AutoCAD and Arch
CAD.
To enable a student learn the skill of designing an as built building in the architectural world.
To gain the skill of producing architectural drawings with blue prints.
To enable students to know the procedures for approval of drawings at local Authority levels.
To understand different building by-laws that governs approval of architectural drawings at
Local Authority level.
To enable students get skills in the taking measurements using a tape measure and reading it.
To fulfill the requirement of UBTEB in partial fulfillment of the award of diploma in
architecture.

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1.1 SCOPE OF WORK.
 Site survey
 Sketching the plans and Dimensioning.
 Producing of the drawings using AutoCAD.
 Presentation of the drawings to the supervisor for approval.
 Tracing and blue printing.
 Calculating of the B.O.Q
 Designing of the model.

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CHAPTER TWO
2.1 SITE SURVEY.

The institute was surveyed first by getting permission from the head of the institute and
collecting relevant information from the principal about the institute.

During the survey note books were used to collect data about the administration block.

Phones were also used to take pictures of the block which also helped in data collection.

This survey was carried out for various reasons namely;

 To know the background of the building.

 To determine the sketches of the building and prepare them for dimensioning and scaling.

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CHAPTER THREE

3.1 SKETCHING

Here sketches of both the ground and upper floors were drafted in our note books using pencils
and pens for the entire administration block and were ready for dimensioning.

3.2 DIMENSIONING.

A tape measure was used to take measurements within the spaces of different rooms and the
measurements in millimeters were allocated to the drafted sketches in notebooks using a pencil.

Materials used in this chapter

Tape measures

Note books

Pens and pencils

Ruler

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CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 PRODUCING OF ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING USING ARCH CAD
Here actual drawings of the as built administration block were drafted using Arch
CAD software. These drawings were scaled and they included the ground plan, 1 st
floor plan, location plan, site layout plan, elevations and door and window schedules.

4.1.1 GROUND FLOOR AND 1ST FLOOR PLANS

These floor plans show the spaces of the as built drawings with their scaled
dimensions as seen from above. These plans indicate a staircase of 3m from the
ground floor to the 1st floor that connects the two plans.

Figure 1 Ground plan

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Figure 2 1st Floor plan

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 4.1.2 SITE LAYOUT AND LOCATION
Here the site layout shows the aerial view of the site showing the orientation of the
building, packing space, compound access road to the site and access point to the site.
The site location plan also shows the location of the site as seen from above with the
main buildings along the access road and main road.

Figure 3 site Layout

Figure 4 Site Location

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 4.1.3 ELEVATIONS
Here four elevations were designed according to the plans drafted and these included
the front elevation, rear/back elevation, East and West elevations (side elevations).

Figure 5 Site Elevation

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 4.1.4 CROSS SECTIONS.
These show the inside part of the building and a cross section is obtained by cutting
through a certain point along the entire full length of a building showing foundation
and roof details, ceiling notes, staircase details, size of beam, and head room.

Figure 6 Cross Section

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4.2 PRESENTATION TO THE SUPERVISOR

The produced as built drawings were presented to the supervisor Mr. Kisomba Benon who
helped to guide us through and made some corrections on the drawings before tracing them out.

4.3 TRACING AND PRINTING OUT BLUE PRINTS

Under this, tracing papers of size A1 and drawing pens of different lid size were used to trace out
the architectural drawings that were then printed out as blue prints with scales of 1: 100, 1:200

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CHAPTER FIVE

CALCULATING THE BILLS OF QUANTITIES

MODEL DESIGNING
There are different types of models.ie 2Dand 3D models, for this case we designed a 3D model
in groups of 5 students. This was a well scaled and designed model of the real life project.
Here we used quite a number of materials. i.e. plywood which acted as the base for the model,
empty boxes which acted as walls and roof, manila papers as wall finishes, glue which helped to
bond the everything together to the plywood. A cutter was also used to cut the boxes and manila
paper to required shape.

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CHAPTER SIX
6:1 CHALLENGES

 Working on the computer for longer hours which caused backache problems and eye
sight problems and body fatigue.
 Some offices were inaccessible so taking their measurements there was a bit difficult.
 Difficulty in using computer Aided Design software because it was taught in this very
semester making it difficult for most of the student to produce drawings in time.
 Lack of enough materials and equipment to use during the designing of the model.

6.2 RECOMMENDATION.
 The administrators of the institute should choose a favorable date for learners to access
their offices for such a project.
 The institute should make efforts on how students could be helped out on the use of these
soft wares by increasing the number of lectures concerning computer aided design taught
in a week.
 The management of UBTEB should adjust and try to bring the CAD course unit the
previous semester so that learners do such projects well vats with the software.

6.3 CONCLUSION.

I greatly take this opportunity to thank UBTEB together with UMEC for this program and I urge
other institutions that are not participating in such a program to join in because it has personally
helped me to relate my theoretical work into practical.

This real life project has equipped me with a variety of skills and knowledge on how to prepare
as built drawings, designing of models and working with a team.

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ABSTRACT
A number of activities commenced for this as built administration block real life project. The
site was first survey and sketches of the floor plans were developed in notebooks using
pencils and with the help of a tape measure, dimensions were taken in millimeters of the
spaces on to the sketches. With the help AutoCAD and Arch CAD, floor plans, elevations,
site layout, site location plan cross sections and door and window schedules were drafted
using those soft wares which were then presented to the college supervisor who help to
rectify some mistake and were corrected and thereafter the drawings were traced on A1
tracing papers with drawing pens of different lid sizes. Blue prints were then printed out
ready for approval by the local Authority.
The building was quantified and bills of quantities were developed. The project’s model was
also designed together with its surroundings.

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