Building Construction Terminologies: Know What Each Term Means

This article is a straightforward outline of building construction terminologies used by builders and consultants in the industry. It includes expanding and extending the knowledge of construction and options available to help owner-builders understand the project.

The listed terms are used from the foundation to the final finishing stage of building a house.

Setting Out

This is the first stage of work – the pre-construction phase. It involves mapping out the configuration of the foundation on the plot of land with the aid of measuring tapes, rails, pegs and strings.

Setting out is carried out by following the dimensions of design blueprints produced by an architect or purchased from stock plans retailers. It is done using a tripod-mounted telescope and a long measuring tape. The tripod allows a determined height to be transferred from a datum to pegs around the building site.

Sight rails or pegs are set into the ground and must be set at a minimum of one metre up above the final top of the ground slab. The nails on the sides of these peg profiles form a stringed line that stretches out where the brickwork face will be positioned.

The building’s shape can be seen at this stage, and with ‘setting out’ in place, the foundation works can commence.

Foundation

This is the structure’s concrete footing or base. It is below the ground level and transfers, holds and distributes the building’s weight.

In building construction terminologies, foundations are terms used to describe the concrete footing of the house and is the structure’s base. Most building foundations are constructed using substructure cavity masonry block work. This is the most common form of foundation work.

Other types of building foundation works include:

• Mass concrete trench-filled foundation.
• A reinforced concrete raft foundation is used where the soil has poor load-bearing qualities.

There are groundwork sub-contractors who do the digging, excavating, and concrete works required. They lay the necessary plumbing pipes and then build the ground floor concrete slab.

Floor Structure

The floor structure is the flat horizontal part of the building that we walk on, erect interior walls, and place major and minor objects on. It consists of the ground, first, and subsequent floor levels.

Ground floor: After the foundation comes the ground floor construction. They can be any of the following:

1. In situ concrete slab built on sand and hard-core materials (construction site waste – stones, gravel, crushed rocks, concrete rubble, colliery spoils, and broken bricks).
2. Suspended timber floors, built with a ventilation void underneath (to help prevent humidity build-up, timber rot, and insect attack).
3. Suspended concrete beam and blocks with some ventilated void beneath.

A damp-proof membrane (DPM) must be installed in the three ground-floor structures. DPM is a moisture barrier.

First floor: The composition of the first floor is constructed using any of the following systems:

1. Concrete beams and blocks. These reduce (considerably) noise transmission when the pre-cast concrete system is used to construct the first floor. Using blocks and concrete beams forms a better resistance to both fire and sound. And so, a better alternative to using timber joists.
2. Timber joists. They are easier to install and have sufficient void spaces for fitting in plumbing pipes and electrical wiring conduits. Timber-structured first floors give a level floor that allows for perfect installations of plasterboard ceilings on the ground floor. It also allows a smooth, flat surface to receive floorboards, plywood, chipboard, or hardwood floor finishes. With this option, insulation against noise and fire protection materials can be added to the timber structures of the first floor.

Due to weight penalties, concrete first floors are only constructed if the building will be built with load-bearing masonry. With timber frame homes, the floor carries only the weight of the timber joists.