Performing Measurement and Calculation in

water work Construction.

content
Unit one: plan and prepare work requirements

Unit two: perform measurements.

Unit tree: perform calculation

Unit four: perform quantity estimation

 Unit one: plan and prepare work requirements
• Introduction to planning
Planning is the process of developing a strategy to complete a task or reach a goal.

• There are usually limits to the amount of time, money and resources you have available, and planning

allows you to get the most out of what you have.

• When you plan, you consider all the elements of a situation or project and select the best way to achieve a

safe and efficient result.

• Planning allows you to identify your goals, control how you achieve these goals and successfully influence

the outcome of your efforts.

 Cont.….
•Planning in construction
•Construction projects are expensive and labor intensive and it’s essential that they’re completed
on time and within an agreed budget.

•Workers are often paid according to the amount of work that is completed in a set time, so good
planning can have a direct effect on how much they earn.

•It’s essential that workers have the tools, materials and safety equipment they need each day to
make sure no time is wasted and their work can be completed safely and to high standard.

•Planning also allows you to track your progress through a task or project. You’re able to assess
your current position at any stage and identify how close you are to achieving your goal.
 Types of plans

• The most common types of plans used in building and construction are listed here.

• Strategic Plan

• Long term plan

• Short term plan

• On a construction site, tradespeople will be concerned primarily with operational,

specific and contingency plans in their day-to-day employment.

• Strategic, long-term and short-term planning are usually done by senior management.
Standing plans apply to everyone within an organization.
Good planning improves: Good planning reduces:

• control • risk
• efficiency • duplication of effort
• decision making • cost
• communication • uncertainty
• safety • mistakes
• troubleshooting. • waste.
 Tools for planning

• Different activities require different types of plans and the more complicated the task or
project, the more you need to organize or plan.

• There are many tools that can help you in the planning process, including
Diaries and calendars
Lists and checklists
Mind maps
Flowcharts
Spreadsheets
Gantt charts
Forms
Software
 Making a plan

Once you know exactly what you have to do, you can begin to plan the details of how
to do it. including

 Breaking down the task,

Prioritizing,

Sequencing,

Scheduling,

 Deadlines and milestones

.
 Factors to consider

• Introduction
• There are several common factors that affect every task in all sectors of the
construction industry and These must be considered in the planning process.

• All workers, including employers, project managers and tradespeople have

responsibilities relating to safety, quality requirements and the environment.

• These are legal obligations that must be addressed in your planning

 Cont.….
the most common factors in construction task planning are listed below:-

a) Legislation, Regulations and codes of practice

b) Ethiopian standards

c) Manufacturers’ specifications

d) Quality requirements

e) Workplace policies and procedures

f) Safety (OHS)

g) Protecting the environment

 Organizing construction tasks

• Introduction
It takes a lot of organization to make sure that everything runs smoothly on a construction site
and that everybody is working safely and efficiently.
• In this section, you’ll find information about some of the areas that must be organized before
you begin a task or project, as well as while you’re completing the work. These include:

 Housekeeping

 Required materials

 Tools and equipment

 Required workers

 Communications

records and documentation.

Unit two:- Perform measurements
• Measurement is the act or process of determining the extent, quantity, degree, capacity,
dimension, volume, and so forth, of a substance by comparing it with some fixed standard,
which is usually fixed by law.

Among the many kinds of measures are the following:

 Linear measurement = distance measurement

 Square measurements = Area measurement

 cubic measurement = volume measurement

 Linear measurement
 Measuring with standards units
Introduction
• Linear measurement are measurement of lines or distance between two points.
• They the most commonly used type of measurements in the construction industry particularly
on construction designs, plans, sketches etc.
• The common linear measurement include:- length, width, diameters, heights, etc.
• The tools we usually use to measure standard units of length are a ruler, a tape measure or a
trundle wheel. These tools are marked with standard units.
• The dimension to be measured is aligned with the graduations of the ruler o tape.
• They help us to measure accurately.
 Measuring with non-standard units

• Non-standard units are not exact. We often use parts of our bodies as units for measuring
length. We can use our hands, fingers, arms and paces to measure the length of things.
Most adults have measurements about the same as these:
 Square Measurement ( Area)

•Area: Is the measure of a bounded region of a two-dimensional shape expressed in square

units such as cm2 m2 or inch2 ft2
•Two dimensions are required to calculate the area in square meters (m 2). Items measured in
area include such things as carpet, tiles, glass, painting, brick walls, roof tiles etc.
 Cubic Measure (Volume)

• The volume of an object is the amount of three-dimensional space that the object occupies.
• The unit for volume is cubic meters (m3) or liter (L) as its basic unit in the metric system.
• The types of material measured by volume include, concrete, topsoil and excavations.
•There are several ways to calculate the volume of an object, and we will see them below
 Unit three:- Perform calculations
• We looked at linear measurements of the above lessons in unit two and we know linear
measurements are taken as they are or they can be used to calculate area, volume, ratio etc.

• In this unit we will learn some basic construction related calculations such as

Perimeter

 area

 volume

 mass

density
Exercise of perimeter
• A. Surface area of Prisms.
1) Mixing ratios
Mixing ratios: is the respective ingredient proportions which are cement, sand and aggregate
Grade of concrete
• Grade of concrete is the minimum strength of concrete after 28 days of construction with proper quality control.
• Concrete grades are denoted by M5, M10, M15, M20, M25, M30, etc. According to their compressive strength
• M denotes design of concrete followed by the compressive strength number in N/mm 2
• E.g. M25 means that the concrete has 25N/mm2 compressive strength at 28 days
 3:- Quantity Estimation
• introduction
• Quantity estimation: is the art of estimating quantities for construction activities in terms of
price and duration of construction closer to a reasonable one, usually before starting to work
in order to monitor the amount of money expected to be expend.

• Estimation is a process of calculating quantities and costs of various items required in

connection with a work.

• It is prepared by calculating the quantities from the dimensions on the drawing for various
items required to complete the project and multiplied by unit cost of the item concerned

• Quantity estimation is generally prepared as an approximated estimates or detailed estimates.

• Purpose of estimation
 To assess the volume of work involved in the project.

 To arrange and organize material, manpower, equipment and tools-and-plant necessary for the
project.

To fix the project completion period.

To ascertain the fund required for completing the purpose to work.

To justify the investment from cost benefit ratio.

To invite tenders and preparation of bill of quantities.

To obtain necessary administrative approval, necessary technical sanction and arrangement and
allocation of funds required for the project.

For valuation of an existing property.

 Approximate Estimate
• Approximate Estimate is made to find out an approximate cost in a short time and thus enable
the administrative authorities to evaluate the financial aspects of various schemes and
subsequently allows them to sanction them.

• The approximate estimate is prepared from the practical knowledge and the cost of a similar
construction already completed in the nearby area, executed by the department.

• Generally this approximate method estimates the construction as a whole on the basis of the
m3 or m2 quantity of the construction.
 Detail estimate
• The preparation of detailed estimate consists of working out quantities of various items of
work and then working out the cost by multiplying the quantities by their respective rates.

• The unit quantity method is followed to prepare a detailed estimate where, the rates per unit
work of one item including profit are estimated first and the total cost for the item is found,
by multiplying the cost per unit of rate by the quantity of items.

• This type needs to be done by contractors before bidding and Contracting for important
projects.
 Cont.….
• Factors Affecting the Cost of a Project

 Quantity of materials.
Availability of materials.

 Transportation of materials.

Location of Site.

Labor charges.
• Building Estimate:
• The quantities like earth work, foundation concrete, brickwork in plinth and super structure
etc., can be workout by any of following three methods:

• a. Long wall - short wall method

• b. Centre line method.

• c. Partly center line and partly cross wall method

• Example on long wall - short wall method

• Estimate the quantities of following items of a two roomed building given in Fig .

a. Earthwork in excavation in foundation trench

b. masonry in foundation

c. brick work quantity in superstructure walls

The dimensions of doors, windows and shelves are
• Door D = 1.20 m × 2.10 m.
• Windows W = 1.00 m × 1.50 m
Ite Description Unit No. L B H Quantity Rate Amount
m
No.
1 Earthwork excavation in ` Cost/m
foundation

Long wall 2 11.10 0.50 0.70 7.77 m3 100birr

Short wall 3 5.80 0.50 0.70 6.09 m3 100 birr 1110 birr
Total = 13.86 m3 580
2 Masonry in foundation cum Cost/m3 1690 birr
Long wall 2 11.10 0.50 1.10 12.21m3
200 birr 2442 birr
Short wall 3 5.80 0.50 1.10 9.57 m3 200 birr 1914 birr
Total = 21.78 m3 4356 birr
3 brick work quantity in superstructure cum
walls
Long Walls 2 10.60 0.20 3 12.72 m3
Short wall 3 6.00 0.20 3 10.8 m3
Deduct for door opening (-) 2 1.20 0.20 2 (-) 0.96
Deduct for windows opening (-) 4 1.00 0.20 1.50 (-) 1.20
• Example 2

• Prepare a detailed estimate of a part of a wall of a building from the given plan and section.
Calculate,

 Earthwork excavation in foundation

 masonry work in foundation

Brickwork in superstructure.
Center Line Method
Centre length of walls = 5.3 + 4.3 + 5.3 + 4.3 = 19.20 m.
Contents No. Length Breadth Height Quantity

1. Earthwork excavation on foundation 1 19.2 0.9 0.9 15.55 m3

(0.3+0.3+0.3)

2. masonry in foundation 1 19.2 0.9 0.3 5.18 m3

3. Brickwork in Super structure 1 19.2 0.3 3.5 20.16 m3