Surveying is the art of making measurements of objects on, above or beneath the ground to show their relative positions on paper. The relative position required is either horizontal, or vertical, or both. Less precisely the term Surveying is used to the measurement of objects in their horizontal positions. Measurements to determine their relative vertical […]

Large per cent of the population of India is residing in temporary houses of mud, bamboo, thatched or erected from waste products in a very crude form. The temporary houses (Jhuggi) are not only unsafe but unhygenic to live in. Government of India and all state governments in India are aware of this massive problem

Dampness in a building is the presence of moisture in various parts of building like floor, wall, roof etc. The continuous dampness of building give rise to unhygenic condition, hence care should be taken to prevent such situation. In this chapter causes and effects of dampness are presented. Ideal materials required for prevention of dampness

Stairs give access from floor to floor. The space/room housing stairs is called staircase. Stairs consists of a number of steps arranged in a single flight or more number of flights. Types of Stairs The stairs may be built with wood, concrete masonry or with cast iron. Wooden stairs are not safe, because of the

Windows are provided to give light and ventilation. They are located at a height of 0.75 m to 0.90 m from the floor level. In hot and humid regions, the window area should be 15 to 20 per cent of the floor area. It is preferable to have at least two openings in two different

The function of a door is to give access to building and to different parts of the building and to deny the access whenever necessary. Number of doors should be minimum possible. The size of the door should be of such dimension as will facilitate the movement of the largest object likely to use the

Roof is the upper most portion of the building which protects the building from rain, wind and sun. Various types of roofs used may be divided broadly into three types: Flat roofs Pitched roofs Shells and folded plates. Flat roofs are used in plains where rainfall is less and climate is moderate. Pitched roofs are

Purpose of flooring is to get a good hard, level and beautiful surface for living. The floors directly resting on the ground are known as ground floors while the floors of each storey are known as upper floors. Ground Floor: Apart from giving good finished surface, these floors should have good damp resistance. The ground

Stone Masonry Masonry means construction of buildings using building blocks like stone, bricks, concrete blocks etc. Masonry is used for the construction of foundation, plinth, walls and columns. Mortar is the binding material for the building blocks. In this article different types of stone masonry used are explained and points to be observed while supervising