Introduction

The report aims to present the anatomy of the domestic building design in order to present the viability of the steel and timber and brick works. It contains a detailed and researched analysis of the various material usage, sustainable practices and the stakeholder involvement in the construction of a domestic building. Moreover, the report accounts of the various provisions also that has been made in the National Construction Code, Building Code of Australia and the other applicable standards. By doing so the report is meant to present an optimistic vision towards decision making of the company coping with its expansion. Thus, the report provides the detailed guidelines of the construction process, material use, project management involvement etc. in the anatomy of the domestic building.

Regulatory Requirements

The regulatory frameworks are the mandatory follow-ups that provide the minimum standards for the material usage and the combinations. Specifically, the regulatory provisions are the articulated control of the legislative bodies over the control, implementation and the direction of the infrastructures.

The National Construction code or NCC sets the minimum requirement for the specifications of the building construction, demolition and the expansion process throughout Australia. Together with the provision of the construction and the design consideration NCC also contains the drainage and the plumbing requirements. More specifically, the National construction code is divided into three volumes. The three-volume correspond to the following

• BCA Vol 1- mentions the provisions for the requirements for the class 2 to 9 buildings.
• BCA Vol 2- mentions the provision for the requirements for the class 1 to 10 a buildings
• PCA Vol 3- mentions the drainage and the plumbing requirements for all the classes of buildings.

However, the NCC accounts of the variances according to the climatic, geological and the geographic conditions. The various specifications and the provisions corresponding to the relevant sections are thoroughly discussed in the report.

Figure 1: Specifications of the National Construction Code

Planning, Building Permits and Building Control

The planning permit is required in the order to modify/ develop a piece of land. The planning permit is issued by the local council. However, the construction of the domestic building requires the building permit. The building permits can be obtained from the private building surveyors or the local council. The municipal building surveyors are regulated by the corresponding municipal council while the privately registered building surveyors are independent and self-governed. Additionally, the building permits that are issued by the private surveyors requires further compilation to the building commission. While, in the case of municipal surveyors, the building permits are automatically compiled against the Building Regulations 2006, The Building Regulations Act 1993, Building Code of Australia and the other Australian standards.

Project Stakeholders

The Stakeholders are the persons, groups or organizations that are either affected by the project or affect the project. Specifically, these effects account of the various activities, perceptions and the decisions that are taken either by the project or the stakeholders. The stakeholder involvement in a project is completely based on their own interest. It may correspond to the monetary benefit, etc (Board, 2015).  The Stakeholders are classified into two categories those correspond to the following:

• Primary Stakeholders
• Secondary Stakeholders

Primary Stakeholders

The primary stakeholders are classified as those organizations, groups or the individuals that may affect the project directly or can get affected by the project directly. For a construction project, the primary stakeholders correspond to the following:

• Owner- The owner can be an individual or a group that own the project
• Project Managers- The project managers are hired in order to manage the construction project
• Project Supervisors- The project supervisor supervises the men, machinery and material requirement at a construction site
• Site In charges- The site in charge take care of the onsite activities.
• Site Co-ordinators- The site coordinator is involved in coordinating the site responsibilities.
• Occupants- The occupants have their interest in occupying the building.
• Investors- The investors are interested in the financial gain.
• Sponsors- The sponsors show interest due to the monetary gain and benefits

Secondary Stakeholders

The secondary stakeholders are classified as those organization, group and the individuals that are affected either indirectly by the project or affect the project indirectly. The Secondary stakeholders correspond to the following in a construction project.

• Building practitioner- The building practitioners are interested in the provisional specifications of the design consideration
• Building Surveyor- The building surveyor have their interest in permitting the construction.
• External consultant- The external consultant have their interest in the consulting for the additional requirements
• Regulatory authorities- The regulatory authorities are interested in looking after the design and construction of buildings following the legislative provisions.
• Sub-contracting Companies- The sub-contracting companies are hired by the contractors or the Architect in the interest to fulfil the project requirements
• Architect- The Architects look after the overall design and the aesthetic consideration of the domestic buildings
• Structural Engineer- The structural engineers are responsible for following the design requirements.

The relationship among the Stakeholders

The relationship between the various stakeholders of the construction projects are as follows

Figure 2: Relationship among the Stakeholders

Design

Approval process

The design approval process corresponds to the various stages of the development of a domestic building. The various phase extends from the planning assessment to the handover phase in domestic buildings (Wen, Siong, and Noor, 2015). The various phase that is involved in between the mentioned extent involves the design or the planning phase, the development phase, the implementation or the constructional phase and the final handover phase.

Planning phase

The planning phase involves the architectural planning of the domestic building. In the planning phase, the various proposals are created in order to get approval. The plan consists of a key plan drawn to a scale of 1: 10000, floor plans were drawn to a scale of 1:100 to 1:500 and the sectional elevation plans drawn to a scale of 1: 200 to 1:500. The planning is sent further for approval (Dixon, et. al., 2017). Additionally, there are provisions for the electrical planning, plumbing plan etc. for domestic buildings.

Development Phase

Prior moving to the development phase, the building permits are needed. The development phase involves the planning and scheduling of the payments, insurance etc. Further, the development phase corresponds to the hiring of the project managers, surveyors etc. in the order to develop the planning for the implementation of the prepared planning. Moreover, the development phase is the most important phase in the domestic construction. The guidelines are properly set in the development phase according to the provisions made by the concerned authorities. The development phase involves the surveying and estimate preparation of the proposed construction.

Contracting

Before the implementation of the proposed development, there is a requirement of the preparation of the contracts between the owner/ Architect and the contracting companies/ contractors. The contracts are the legal documents that provide the security of payment to the contractors and the security of completion of work for the Owners/ Architects. Additionally, the contracting phase involves the exchange of the plans, elevations, structural design specifications and the cost estimation between the contractors and the clients.

Implementation or the Construction Stage

The implementation or the construction stage corresponds to the implementation of the planning on the ground. The erection of the domestic building as per the developed planning is done in this phase. The implementation or the construction phase’s tenure is generally the longest period. The construction phase involves the hiring of the workmen, site in charges, site supervisors etc. in the order to construct a domestic building. Moreover, the construction phase involves the finishing works also.

Hand over stage

After the construction and the finishing of the residential buildings, the building is handed to the owner of the project. The handover phase involves the final inspection of the domestic building. After the final inspection of the building, the building surveyor issues an occupancy certificate. Thus, after the issue of the occupancy certificate, the fully finalized building is handed over to the client to occupy the building premises.

Subsystems of Domestic Structure

Construction of the Footings

The substructure portion consists of the structural components that generally lies below the plinth level. The construction of the domestic building up to the ground floor level is considered in general. The construction up to the ground floor level involves the site levelling works to be done prior to any construction. The levelling involves in the excavation and the filling of the soil from the higher grades to the lower grades. After the levelling work is finished on the site, the layout or the setting out is carried which is a process of marking the ground floor plan on the ground. Further, it is required to prepare trenches to construct the footings and the foundations. The trenches are prepared with a certain clear cover so that it becomes easier to construct the footings. The construction of the footing, the reinforcement bars are tied in the shape of nets that acts as the base leaving the accurate spacing for the anchorage. Further, the anchorage length is used to complete the footing structure as desired cube shape again leaving the anchorage length. After creating the reinforcement framework for the construction of the footing, the concrete is filled. To remove any impurity, and the trapped air, the vibratos are used while pouring the concrete.

Footings

As per AS 2870-2011 and the NCC Vol 2 Part 3.2, the footing is the part of the substructural system of the residential buildings which functions are to transfer the overall dead load of a residential structure on the soil. There are many types of the footings that can be used in the residential buildings on the basis of the bearing ratio of the soil (Islam, Jollands and Setunge, 2015). The factors that are considered in choosing between the types of the footing lies on the various factors like the type of the building, dead load of the building, site classification. Moreover, the settlement in the soil is also considered while choosing the foundation type (Moon, et. al., 2016). The two types of the settlement that are considered while deciding the foundation type are a minute settlement and the consistent settlement.

Types of the footings

Generally, there are two types of footings that are being used in the domestic constructions. Both the footing lies in the shallow foundation's category. The footings that are used in the domestic construction correspond to the following:

• Spread footing: Generally, the spread footing is used to support the centric load of the domestic buildings. These footings are in the shape of the square that involves the pad footing. Timber piers are used in the case of the construction of dwellings to restrict the movement of the Pad.
• Continuous Footing: The footings is the continuous arrangement over which the dead load of the domestic buildings get distributed uniformly. The continuous footings can be in the form of the strips or the slabs that support the entire dead load of a domestic building.
• Stump and piers: Where the soil bearing ratio is found adequate to bear the dead load of the domestic buildings, the stumps or the piers are provided. This is common to the P class sites.
• Slabs: The slabs are generally the floors that the building consists of. Generally, in the dwellings, the slabs are the spaces that are laid over the strip and the pad footings. It is generally considered to be a part of the floor system as well as the foundations.
• Waffle raft slabs: the waffle raft slab are classified as the slabs that are made of the reinforcement arranged in a manner that acts as a grid. The concrete is used in between them. Moreover, there are also a lot of the void provisions in the waffle raft slabs.
• Raft slabs: The raft slabs are more or less the same as the waffle raft slabs. However, there is no provision of the voids in the Raft slabs.

Plumbing systems: The space in between the floor slab and the foundations are generally utilized in the plumbing services. The plumbing services correspond to the plumbing needs of the domestic buildings.

Construction of the Flooring sub-system

The regulatory requirements that provide the specifications for the flooring subsystems are mentioned under AS/NZS 1860.1:2002 for the domestic house and AS/NZS 2455 for the textile flooring installation. The construction of the flooring system consists of the attaching the bottom plate to the footing (Lawania and Biswas, 2018). Further, at desired places, the joist are fixed to join the nails and the bracings. After the fixation, the construction of the flooring system involves the placing of the noggins in between the joists. Further, there is a requirement to provide the adequate space for the ventilation so that the moisture can be avoided from the soil beneath the ground. After making the mentioned arrangements the boards are placed.

Components of the flooring sub-systems

• Joist- The joist is used throughout the flooring system to bear the live load and the dead load on the flooring subsystems. Generally, the nails and the steel brackets are used to join the joists. The joist is the longitudinal structural members
• Sill plate: The sill plate refers to the lowermost part of the flooring subsystems. The sill plate is used to join the footing and the flooring subsystem. Additionally, the dead load of the dwelling gets distributed uniformly because of the sill plate.
• Joist header: As Joist headers are the horizontal members that are used in the corners to resist the movement of the joist. Additionally, it is used to surpass the dead load over the sill plates.
• Nogging: The noggins are used to hold the joist at the desired positions. Additionally, it provides the resistance to the dead loads. Moreover, the Nogging transfers the load over the headers and the joists.
• Baseboards: The baseboards are used in the dwellings to stop the loss of the heat. The baseboards are the long lasting energy saving options for the dwellings due to their property of providing a hindrance to the heat dissipation.
• Boarded Floor: The boarded floor provide the flat surface over the noggin, headers and the Joist. Generally, the red oak wood, maple wood or the ash wood is used for the boarded floors in the dwellings.

Further, the other administrative services like the electrical, mechanical etc. are provided adequate spaces as per design requirements. The void space between the flooring subsystems and the ground and the boards are used for these administrative services.

Figure 3: Dwelling components

Source: Home.com

Construction of the Wall Framings

Under the AS 1684.1-1999- provision for the timber-framed construction, NCC 2016 BCA Vol 2 Part 3.4 for the framing regulation and AS 4256.1:2006 for the general requirement of wall claddings the wall framing is regulated. The timber wall frame construction consists of the development of the driver edges. In order to develop the driver edges, the top plate and the base plate it is mandatory to provide. The corner of the regular stud is used for the connection of the top plate and the bottom plate (Hasan, 2016). An equal opening is provided with the lintels, sill plates, trimmers and the jack studs. Afterwards, the noggins are used so that the adequate stability and restrictions for the movement. Further, the top plate is installed over the mentioned frameworks. Additionally, provisions are made for the insulation, cladding and the weatherboards. For finishing, final paint is applied.

Components of the wall framing

• Studs- The wall framing consists of the usage of the various studs that are the common studs, jack studs and the window studs. The studs are used as per their requirement as vertical members, in openings and over the framings
• Bracings- The bracing systems are used for restricting the movement of the common studs. The primary bracings are taken out however, the permanent braces continue to support as a diagonal
• Noggings- The noggins are also used to hold and restrict the movement of the common studs. Additionally, it helps in providing firmness to the common studs.
• Lintels- The lintels are used over the windows and the doors. These help in providing the appropriate distribution of the loads over them.
• Electrical services- The electrical services are laid in between the space that lies in between the wall frames. The electrical services consist of the electrical wiring provisions, switches, boards etc.
• Insulations- The insulations are the used to make the building safe from the fire. Additionally, the insulations provide efficiency to the building y restricting the heat loss of the buildings
• Plasterboards- The plasterboards are used as the components that cover-up the internal framing subsystem and its components.

Construction of the Roof framing Sub-System

The roof frames construction involves the fixation of the bottom chords over the top of the wall frame. Further, the nail plates are used to tie the bottom chord to the bottom tie (Zhou, et. al., 2015). The steel bracings, nails are used over the bottom chords to erect the web and the tie. Further, after the completion of the framework, the rafters are laid. The rafters are joined using the steel bracing and the nail plates to the web members and the studs. Finally, roof cladding is provided in order to protect the dwelling.

The regulatory requirements that are provided are as follows

• NCC Vol 2 Part 3.5.1- specifications for roof cladding
• AS 2049/50- Metal roofing
• AS/NZS 1562.3, AS/NZS 4256 Part 1, 2, 3 and 5- plastic roofing sheets
• AS 2049- Roof tiling and installation
• AS/NZS 3500 Section 3 & 5- performance requirement of components of roofing’s (Board, 2016).

Components of the roofing Sub-system

• Apex- The topmost point of the roof is called the Apex
• Seal cut- The cut that is present between the trusses that provide the provision for the placement of roof over the floor
• Tie beam- The tie beam is generally the bottommost corner of the trusses.
• Bearing- The components that are present over the top of the wall frame where the roof is connected
• Cantilever- The cantilever is the part or the portion of the roof that lies below
• Chord- The chord is the essential component of the roof that provides the border to face large axial forces for the trusses
• Clear span- the clear span is the distance between the supporting faces
• Nail plate- The cut portion of the galvanized sheet so that there remain provision for the connection to the timber members.
• Nominal span- the nominal distance between the corner of the support
• Overhang- The overhang is the additional length of the top chord of the roof frame over the support.
• Insulation- Insulation is provided for the energy efficiency and stop the heat dissipations.
• Ventilation- to provide adequate ventilation the ducts are provided in the order to maintain the air flow.

Overall Loads and the load paths

The overall loads that are applied to the domestic structures are as follows

• Dead load

The dead load is the weight of the structure and the mandatory or the fixed appliances or the furniture’s that are kept permanently in the dwellings. Generally eh dead load is calculated by the product of the volume and the unit weight for each component.

• Live load

The live load is the variable load that is applied over the structure. The live load consists of the things that can move. The weight so of the humans, the lightweight furniture are considered in the Live load.

• Seismic load

The seismic load is a parameter that is considered in those areas where it is probably an earthquake zone. The calculation of the seismic load in the design parameters is done to secure the house from the chances of the occurring of earthquakes. In other words, the consideration of the seismic load accounts of earthquake resistant designs

• Wind loads

The wind load is taken into account in the design consideration of a residential building when the flow velocity of the wind crosses a certain limit. In Australia, it is a major factor that is the biggest reason for the collapse of a building.

• Snow load

The snow load accounts of the designing of the roof and the structural system as per the required in the order to bear the snow loads. During snowfall, the snow generally gets trapped over the roof of a domestic structure which is a major load to the roof. Thus, the design specification should be provided according to the specifications necessary to resist the snow load.

Load Paths

Generally, all the loads that are driven by the gravity, thus the load paths are generally downwards. However, the wind blows horizontal but still, the structural failure is calculated to happen in the same direction due to the self-weight of the members (Kibert, 2016). If the structural system is stable enough to hold the structure on its position, the load is identified to be transferred from the roof to the wall, then to the floor and then finally to the ground.

Occupational Health & Safety

The Occupational health and safety are mandatory to follow because of the involved risk in site operations. Since there are a lot of the dangers involved in the case of the site works. There is a need for using the precautions on the site (Schmidt, 2018). To take the desired precautions, the problems that arise on the site need to be focused. The problems that arise on the site correspond to the following:

• Freefall from a height
• Cut and bleeding through materials
• Machine cut or hit
• Hit by falling objects
• Accidents from the vehicle
• Getting trapped under machinery

Thus, there is a need to protect our self and protect other also from such miseries. Taking precautions such as, wearing the safety helmet, safety suits, safety gloves can save ourselves and the others also that are involved in any kind of work on the site (Biswas, 2014). Thus, recommendations are made to take on the following during a site visit

• Safety helmet
• Safety Gloves
• Safety Suits

Moreover, for additional safety, there is a need to provide additional attention to the safety.

Site Suitability

The site suitability enquires the proposed construction site for the suitability of the construction practices that are proposed to be carried out. The various site suitability factors are as follows

Access

The access remains the most important factor for a site selection for the construction practices. It accounts for the reach and the connectivity to the site that is proposed for constructions. A better site is said when it is having three side connectivity.

Geographic

The geographic location of the site determines the value of the selected site. For a good geographic location, the site should be located near a residential community with a good city traffic.

Demographic

The demographic conditions also affect the site suitability. A construction site which is situated in an area where the population is middle-aged or younger and fascinated are considered to be a good site of the residential house construction.

Structural & Cladding Material

The usage of the cladding is to prevent the domestic dwelling from the various external and the natural agencies. Moreover, the cladding system provides additional beauty to the interior of the dwellings. Additionally, the cladding system works as an insulator in the case of any fire (Shou, ey. al., 2015). Generally, the materials that are used as structural and the cladding material are as follows

• Fibre cement

The fibre cement is considered to be providing high sustainability in the households. Generally, the fibre cement is prepared in the factories. They can be easily found in the market in the form of the thin sheets, weatherboards and the plank boards.

• Timber

The timber is generally used in the building due to availability and the low prices factors. Additionally, the timber is the natural materials that are also considered to be providing adequate resistance from the weather conditions.

• Weatherboards

The weatherboards are the used in the wall framing systems. The weatherboards provide adequate fire resistance and heat insulations as structural and the cladding systems

• Bricks

The bricks are the most preferred structural and the cladding material that is used in the domestic constructions. The resistance provided by the bricks is measured to be very high on the heat dissipation and the fire resistant but they are also liable for the seismic failure.

• Aluminium

The use of the aluminium as the cladding material offers very exciting workability due to the flexibility. The usage of the aluminium panels can be widely seen as the boards

• Plywood

The plywood is the next most common materials that are used in the structural system. Due to the hardness and the easy availability the plywood also offers a great durability while used as a cladding and structural material.

Design & Aesthetics

The design remains an important factor for the residential house as it includes the design of takes care of the orientation of the building to the forces and the distances of eth rivets and the clamps being installed. A well designed residential house is responsible for the long service life of a residential structure.

Cost efficiencies

The cost efficiency remains one of the basic factors that should be focused on the design consideration. The cost efficiency is not liable of the cost reduction at each place, but the cost efficiency is a measure to get the maximum profit of the available resources (Pacheco-Torgal, et. al., 2014). The cost efficiency can be certainly kept to be at an unvaried proportion by properly managing a project. Moreover, the architects, structural engineers and the project managers already remain aware of the term but still, there is the additional provision of the savings in each project. Thus, the cost efficiency should be considered for the aesthetic design of the buildings

Current trend and the materials

As a current practice, it is observed that the timber wall framing is currently on the trends. However, the innovation and the creativity in the design and the aesthetic consideration has been enquired to arouse at a different level. In the context of the architects, there are no materials that they cannot use as a structural system (Sandanayake, et.al. 2016). But, in the context of the structural engineers, the usage of the materials that are being used already is the best material for the structural components. Generally, it is observed that the steel is focused as the structural component while the other components can be used for the other considerations (Weir, 2017). Additionally, the domestic construction has come to a stage where the material available in the consideration of the variety is abundant. The designers and the structural engineers just need to find the appropriate and the suitable use of the materials. Thus, the innovation in the next years can see the usage of the innovative materials as the structural members in the domestic constructions

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