SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE,BUILDING AND DESIGN

BACHELOR OF QUANTITY SURVEYING (HONS)

SITE VISIT REPORT

INTEGRATED ASSIGNMENT:
MEASUREMENT 1 (QSB 60104)
CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY 1(BLD 60104)
BUILDING MATERIALS (BLD 62003)

STUDENT NAME: LOH WEI TING

STUDENT ID: 0328314

Table of Content

NO

Title

Pages

Cover page

Table of Content

Introduction

3-6

Content/Technical Observation

7-23

Photos and description

24-28

Learning outcome /Conclusion

29

This is a report on a

Figure 1:A view of the construction site.

construction site

site visit to a
incorporating the

objectives of site visit, the introduction of the site and technical observations made on
site including the proposed learning outcome of the site visit.The report consist of the
combination of 3 subjects which are Measurement 1,Construction Technology 1 and
Building Materials.The site visit event was organized by Mrs.Ang Fuey Lin,Mrs
Azrina bt Mhd Yaakob and Mrs Aishah Kamarazaly.held on 23rd November 2016 at
IMPIAN MURNI construction site,which is located at Shah Alam,Selangor.
The development name of the construction we visited is Taman Impian Murni.It is a
project of developing 42 units of double storey terrace house and three storey terrace
house. The construction of this housing development was started from March 2016
and is expected to be completed by October 2017.The contract value of this Taman
Impian Murni construction is approximately RM 11 million.

Figure2: Houses still in construction process.

Figure3: Look of the final finishing houses.

Figure4: Illustration of houses design in Taman Impian Murni.

Companies cooperating with this project are:

Developer

KHAS PERKASA SDN.BHD. (Subsidiary of

Architect

PUCRON SDN.BHD.)
Tanck Architect

Civil&

VED ENGINEERS SDN.BHD.

StructuralEngineer
Mechanical & Electrical

BSD ASSOCIATES SDN.BHD.

Engineer
Contractor

PEMBINAAN PURCON SDN.BHD.

Figure5: Plan of the construction site.

Figure6: Floor plan of 2&3 storey terrace house.

Objective
The following are the purposed objective of the assignment.
1.Understand the basics of the construction process and witness the usage of
construction equipments on site including mechanical plants.
2.Explore and identify various types of building materials and technology on site.

3.Awareness of the importance of safety on site and understanding of safety problems

and site conditions.
4.Exposure to actual working environment on site including uncertainty
circumstances e.g. weather
5.Asking questions from supervisors and people working at construction site to gain
more information and learn from their experiences.
6.To visualize a clearer picture of the building,machine and material that used in
construction site.

Technical Obesrvations
We went to the site by car or carpooled and all of us gathered at the site at
9.00am that day.The project manager of this construction,Mr Lim,gave us a briefing
on some site safety procedure at first.Before entering the site,safety helmets were

provided by the contractor for each.We were divided into two groups in order to have
a visit to particular corners of the site under the guidance of contractor.
The facilities available around the site are shopping
mall,supermarket,schools,hospital and others,like restaurants,banks.

Figure7: Information board has

shown at the entry of the
construction site.

Figure9: The soil at the site was

very sticky,it may have a high
content of clay,which makes it
possess good bearing capacity.
Figure8: Safety warning board
near the entry of the site.

Figure10: Safety helmet

provided by the contractor.

Figure11: Wearing safety helmet

before entering the site.

As we were entering the site,we saw a few temporary works installed at the
site.The first thing we saw was the construction site accommodation near the entrance
of the site, which means to provide workers accommodation during the construction
period.Besides,the whole construction area is fenced by vertical hoarding.The closeboarded fence is to prevent unauthorized person access to the site,and it also provides
resistance to wind loads.As we walked along,we can see bricks and blocks which
majorly used in construction of brickwall of the house being stacked in stable piles on
a level,as well as covered with the polythene sheets.Bricks were stacked close to the
site of work so that less effort was required to unload and transport the bricks again by
loading on pallets or in barrows.Scaffolding is also an important element during the
construction to provide workers accessibility to place of work.

Figure12: Temporary works-Accommodation for workers.

Figure16: Material storage-Packs of cement being stacked on

wooden pallets.

Figure13&14: Security--Vertical hoarding around the

site.

Figure17: Material storage--Bricks

were covered with polythene sheets
and placed on the wooden pallets at the
Figure15:
site.
Scaffolding-- a
temporary structure
which provides
working platform on
the outside of a
building, made
usually of wooden
planks and metal
poles.
Figure18: Material storage--Cement
sand blocks were stored under good
conditions at the site.

Figure19: Falseworka
temporary framework structure
used to support a building during
its construction,for
example,supporting the column
formwork so that the formwork
does not fall.

10
Mr Lim explained to us that an architect is someone who plans,designs and
reviews the construction of buildings.They usually design the building from ground to
the top,whereas the civil engineers usually done the other way around,which
calculates the load transferred to the piles from top to bottom,but the construction is
always start from the ground to the above as well.

Foundations
Types of foundation used in this project are piling and is covered by strip
footing.
Pile foundations are deep foundations. They are typically used for large structures,
and in situations where soil is not suitable to prevent excessive settlement.Pile
foundations are formed by long cylinders typically made from steel or reinforced
concrete, or sometimes timber,pushed into the ground to act as a steady support for
structures built on top of it. There are two types of pile foundations--end bearing piles
and friction piles.End bearing piles allow the load of the building being transferred
through the pile onto the strong layer,for example a layer of strong soil or rock.On the
other hand,friction piles transfer the load of the building to the soil across the full
height of the pile by friction. Each of which works in its own way.

Figure21: End bearing pile and Friction pile.

Figure20: Pile foundation covered by strip footing.Strip footing will

act as a cap for the pile,and it also act as beam(ground beam)at the

Cast in situ constructing method 11

same time.

The project is using cast in situ method,which is the most typical and conventional
construction method,where all the concrete will be casted on the spot after
constructing the formwork and falsework at the building site.This method provides
flexibility compared to pre-cast concrete when there is geometric shapes,and the
structure will be more monolithic.There is another trending construction method
today,which is called Industrialised Building System(IBS System),where the houses
are being built like legos,as all the components are prefabricated and manufactured
either at site or off site before placing and assembling into construction
works.However,one of the challenges of using IBS System will be the requirement of
economies of skill.It requires the ability of building a lot of quantities at once,depends
on the materials and the type of IBS system used.Therefore,typical cast in situ
construction method will be more recommended for small project like this.

12

Concrete work
Figure22: The process of making concrete to be used at site.

Before pouring the concrete

1. Slump test is required to be carried out to measure the consistency of fresh concrete
,thus to ensure that the concrete is suitable for that particular reason.
2. Make sure that the concrete cover has been placed inside the formwork
Concrete cover is the least distance between the surface of embedded reinforcement
and the outer surface of the concrete.It is required to be placed in column and beam
to:

protect the reinforcement bars from corrosion

provide thermal insulation, which protects the reinforcement bars from fire

give reinforcement bars sufficient embedding to enable them to be stressed

without slipping

3.

13

Figure23: Mr Lim
was explaining to
us the reason why
concrete cover
need to be
embedded in
column and beam.

the

Figure24: A concrete cover

sample.Concrete cover is being
called toufu at the site because
of its look and its shape.

are
beams or the columns correctly

Check theFigure25:
structuralConcrete cover
added in column.

drawings whether

reinforcement bars
placed inside the

4. Make sure all the falsework (supportive members to formwork) being placed
correctly and carefully

**What happen if the formwork become break loose?

Concrete will flow out if the formwork become loose.Or even worst,if the
concrete is already harden,another contractor team will be needed to remove the
slab constructed previously.
Other problems may occur,for example,honeycombing of concrete.Honeycombing
is caused by leakage of grout or mortar from the concrete at the formwork
joints.Besides,it will be very costly to use carbon fibre reinforcement to repair the
old structural element which experienced shear and flexure failure.

Reinforcement

14

Reinforcement bar
Concrete is a material that is very strong in compression and it is very hard,however,it
is vey brittle and virtually without strength in tension,which means it possess weak
tensile strength.
To strengthen the concrete structure,steel bar is used widely to act as reinforcement to
concrete.Steel is a material which strong in both compressive strength and tensile
strength,therefore steel rebar is commonly used as a tensioning devise to reinforce
concrete to help hold the concrete in a compressed state,and to help concrete
withstand tension forces.Or else,the concrete without reinforcement bars will be
cracking and breaking a lot due to the loads applied.

Figure26&27&28: Traditionally,bending of
reinforcement bars has been done using manually
powered benders with long handles to give the
required leverage. It is advantageous to modify or
fabricate it on site to suit specific needs although
most builders will prefer to have all their
reinforcing steel delivered to site pre-bent and
ready for tying into cages.

Stirrup and Link

Stirrup is usually a piece of steel with small diameter(e.g 6mm diameter) that is bent
into rectangular shape,which act as a reinforcement to resist shear and diagonal

15

tension stresses in a concrete beam. The stirrup typically wraps around the bottom and
top bars of the beams.
Link has the similar function with stirrup,it is used to hold the longitudinal bars in
columns in position,preventing them from buckling outward by bursting the thin
concrete cover.

Figure29 :Stirrups in beam.

Figure30: Link in column.

Fabric reinforcement (Mesh fabric)

16

Fabric reinforcement is generally used in concrete floor slabs, suspended floor

slabs, concrete retaining walls.It is factory-made,by welding high tensile steel
bars together to form a mat.

Figure31: Fabric reinforcement is a mat-like

reinforcement.It is a prefabricated
reinforcement and can be supplied by sheets
or rolls.

17

Beam
A beam is a structural member which spans horizontally between supports and carries
loads which act at right angles to the length of the beam.It transfer its loadings to
columns.When erecting the beam, the piers must be already cast in the ground.

Figure32: Ground beam

resting directly upon the
ground.

Figure33: Suspended beams attached to the first floor

slab.They are supported at both ends by columns.

18

Column
Column is a vertical structural element that transmits the weight of the structure
above to other structural elements below through compression.It is used to support
beams or arches on which the upper parts of walls or ceilings rest A Column transmits
the load from ceiling or roof slab and beam, including its own weight to the
foundation.

Figure35: First floor columns

constructed on first floor slabs.

Figure34: Ground floor column.

Figure36: Starter bars in
columns.

Figure37: First floor columns with the

formworks supported by falsework.

19

Concrete slab
Non-suspended slab
Non-suspended slab,or ground floor slab,sits directly on the ground,it is supported by
the ground and ground beam.
Three types of construction method of ground floor slab that we have learned so far:

Concrete slab
DPC

Hardcore

Non-suspended type--Construct
the ground beams first,means that
concrete the full depth of
beams,then the concrete slab will
go in between the ground beams

Ground beams

Suspended typeConstructing
concrete slab together with
ground beams

20

According to Mr Lim,this project is

using third type of method to
construct the ground floor
slab.Expose the reinforcement bars
in ground beams,then,concrete only
about of the ground beam.Next,tie
the mesh fabric reinforcement of the
slab together with the exposed
reinforcement bars of the gound
beam,then concreting the slab.
In terms of civil engineering,ground
floor loads are distributed to the
ground level,so there will be less
reinforcement required and the sizes
of mesh fabric reinforcement might
be reduced,thus allows cost saving
compared to the suspended floor
slabs.

Figure38: Fabric reinforcement in the groun floor slab are exposed.

21

Bricks (Masonry)
Clay bricks are used in the wall between the houses,while cement sand bricks are used
within the houses itself .According to Malaysia bined law,fire fighting will need 2

hours.The thickness of clay bricks used in the wall between houses,which is the wall
shared between neighbours will be minimum 150mm thick,as generally clay bricks
which possess thickness of 150mm will give 120 minutes(2 hours)of fire
resistance.Cement sand bricks are less costly than clay bricks,however,they are not
suitable to use in wall between houses as the noise insulation and fire resistance of it
are not as good as clay bricks.

Figure40: Clay bricksused in wall

between
houses;
Figure39:We were being briefed
about
the
construction of brickwall by
Mr Lim.
Cement
sand bricksused in walls
within the house

Figure41: Clay bricks bedded in mortar

used in construction of wall between
houses.

Figure42: Walls within the houses

constructed with cement sand bricks.

Double brick cavity wall

22

According to Mr Lim,the houses are constructed by double brick cavity wall. Double
brick cavity wall consists of two layers of brick with a cavity in between separating

the two panels of masonry bricks. Sometimes, concrete blocks are used instead of
bricks and the two panels are tied together with metal ties.The cavity may fill with
insulating material.
Double brick cavity wall reduces thermal transmission and prevents moisture being
transferred directly from the outside wall face to the interior of the building,so the
house will be warmer or cooler in the various seasons. It is also a heavier building
alternative which will require properly engineered designed foundations or concrete
slabs.

Figure43: Illustration of double

brick cavity wall using bricks for Figure44: Illustration of double brick
both external and internal leaves. cavity wall using concrete block and
brick for inner wall and outer wall
respectively.

23

Appendix

Figure: Concrete mixera

device that combines cement,
aggregate such as sand or gravel,
and water to form concrete.It
uses a revolving drum to mix the
components.

Figure: Special concrete transport

truckused to transport and mix
concrete up to the construction
site.The concrete mixing
transport truck maintains the
material's liquid state through
agitation, or turning of the drum,
until delivery.

Figure: Crane is mainly used for

lifting heavy things and
transporting them to other places.

24

25

Figure: Excavator used in

digging of trenches,
holes,foundations

Figure: Concrete quarter

turn stair

Figure: The exposed

bars are used to join the
brickwall to the
particular column.They
act as supportive
members,or else the
brickwall might fall if it
stand alone itself

Figure45&46: A

lintel is a horizontal
member which
placed across the
openings like doors
and windows.It
takes the load
coming from the
structure above it
and gives support.

Figure47&48:Subframe acts as a template for

the bricklayer.Besides,it also acts as a simple
fixing system for the finished glazed window

Figur50e: Metal trunking

It is used to provide
enclosure for the
26
protection of
cables.Trunking is
normally square or
rectangular
cross- beam
Figure51: in
Upstand
section,
having
When there isone
a drop,it will
Figure49:
Timber
removable
side. the water
help to move
formwork of column
from one side to the floor
27
track.

Finishes

Figure53
Figure52

Figure54

Figure55

ConclusionFigure56

28
Figure57

I was excited about this site visit event since when we were informed by the
lecturers during the beginning of the semester.After visiting the construction site,there
are many valuable information and knowledge gained by me.First of all,I have a
chance to experience the life and the working environments being a Quantity

Surveyor.I realized that working at a construction site is much more difficult than I
thought,a lot of risks involved and the weather is hot usually,thus a series of
precautions must be taken to work in this type of working condition.

Besides,I also have a chance to see how several machines look like,and how do
they work.The process impressed me as I have never had the chance to see it that
close.There are different type of materials and tools available at the site too.I had
learned the construction methods used at site by the explanation of Mr Lim.This is a
totally different experience for me from just look at the relevant pictures online and
makes me to understand more about the things in the construction industry.

The site visit is amazing to me and I am thankful to have an opportunity to visit

there in the first semester I have been in Taylors.I wish that I could have more
chances like this in the future later.

29