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The construction site of our observations was the X-Mart building being built near the

Main Boulevard, DHA. It is a multi-storey building that consists of four storeys and one

basement. This construction of this building was started in March 2010. It is scheduled tobe finished by November of this year but the current rate of progress shows that the

building is nowhere near enough to make it to this time limit.

The initial cost of the project was Rs 35 million, which was later on increased to Rs 39million to meet the ever increasing prices of the raw materials. The project has already

seen the changes of two contractors. The second contractor Mr. Muhammad Ashraf took

charge in February 2011 when (according to him) the first contractor was unable to

deliver the job properly.

The master plan of the building by (Mr. Ashraf) told us was made by someone calledImtiaz Warraich who also happens to be the supervisor of the project.(Unfortunately we

were not able to meet Mr. Warraich to get his views on the project. But Mr. Ashraf told

us that he kept visiting the site from time to time to check on the progress being made).

Currently, the work has been halted due to the extreme cold but it is expected to be

reinitiated by the end of this month or, as Mr. Ashraf says, as soon as the cold wave

passes. But so far the progress made shows fine workmanship and the work done seemsto be of good quality.

So far only the basic structure (framework) of the building has been constructed, andeven that seems to be in the process of completion. Taking a tour of the rear end of the

building revealed a structure of bamboo scaffolding and some fresh concrete works that

seemed to have been done recently. The exterior of the building still show the brickwork

although the interior surfaces of the walls have been given a basic coat of plaster. Apartfrom that a lot still remains to be done.

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Pic 1 Pic 2

Pic 1 and Pic 2: The exterior front view of the building

Where a thorough four day observation revealed many well plannedintricacies of the building techniques employed there it also showed avariety of faults, not only in some of the construction procedures butalso in the handling of the construction materials.For instance the sand to be used for cushioning (to provide a levelsurface for flooring) was left uncovered in the open. Even though ithadnt rained the sand showed some moisture content (probably dueto the dew that falls in the morning). Nevertheless the moisture willcontribute the bulking of sand.

Secondly some of the cement bags were left outside as well exposedto the moisture and rains. Also we noticed the cement in those bagshad become rock hard. On asking the contractor hoe the cement inthose bags become hard he replied that during the laying down ofbricks some cement that was in excess used to be left behind at theend of the days work. Since there was no way to store such cementtherefore it was left behind to dry. When asked why didnt he take carein measuring how much cement was needed and make properarrangements to store the excess cement, he replied that it was thejob the laborers to take out the cement required for the days work.

Since the laborers werent accustomed to taking much care thereforethey took out more than was required. However the fact remains thatsuch irresponsible use of cement, not only from the laborers but alsodue to the irresponsibility of the contractor, would nevertheless putstrain on the projects budget.

Apart from such blunders there was no worthy fault found in theconstruction processes. The contractor on any basis seemed to have

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enough knowledge about the kind and quality of raw materials requirefor such a process. For instance the quality of sand and coarseaggregate (crushed stone) seemed to be of very good quality. Thecontractor claimed that the crush used was Margalla crush and thesand used was Ravi sand (though whether he knew that Ravi sand was

famous for containing a lot of impurities we never found out). But thesand from a quick glance seemed to have been thoroughly washed,since it didnt show any major impurity particles. Also the crushseemed to be of very fine quality as well. If I had to classify the crushId say it was uniformly graded aggregate.

Pic 3 Pic 4

Pic 3: The bricks and crush used in the construction of building

Pic 4: The steel pipes to be used in the construction

The interior plastered surfaces of the walls really were a fine example of superior and

exemplary workmanship. The smooth straight surfaces of the walls and their even texture

and color really spoke of the skills of the plasterer. Not only that but their soft hazy coloralso gave the wall a good aesthetic look. Fine straight edges and level surface gave the

wall a phenomenal look.

On asking the ratio of the raw materials used in the preparation of the mortar used in the

plastering of the walls was told be 1 part of sand mixed with 3 parts of cement. The

cement used in the mortar was Moderate Portland cement (which seemed to be ofparticularly fine quality given the plaster applied to the wall).

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Pic 5

Pic 5: The elevator shaft showing the straight edges and smooth surface of the walls

Apart from the plastering the constructors had also built an elevator shaft going from thebasement right to the top (as shown in the figure). The elevator shaft was a 5 ft X 5 ft

brick inlaid box made of 9- inch thick walls. The elevator shaft seemed to have been from

inside out (which seemed very strange to us given the condition of the rest of thebuilding). The contractor wouldnt give a straight answer when asked about this strange

anomaly.

The building also contains a spiral staircase going from top to bottom. The spiralstaircase has been built from PCC concrete like the rest of the building with each stair

ft high and 1 ft across.

Pic 6

Pic 6: The staircase built inside the building

Besides from human faults and errors the construction process of the building also seems

to have run into a number of technical difficulties. Talking to one of the laborer I found

out that the construction process was halted for a full two months first in 2010 and thenfor a whole month in 2011 due to the torrential rains during the monsoon period, which

was a major setback for the construction to be finished on time. When the contractor was

asked whether the supervisors had considered the monsoon rains as a factor in setting upa time limit he replied that the monsoon factor indeed had been considered, but the last

years rain was far more than their expectations which caused an undesirable delay in the

construction.

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Though the monsoons had passed the supervisors problems with rain does not seem to

be over yet. The survey of the basement revealed that the floor was completely covered

with last weeks rain water which hadnt been drained away due to the lack of drainagefacilities. On asking the contractor how he intended to get rid of the rainwater he replied

that since the building didnt have its own drainage sources therefore the only viable

option left was to call for a suction pump. When asked if such arrangements had beenmade he said that he had informed the supervisors about the problem and it was likely

that some arrangement would soon be made.

Furthermore where most buildings employ the use of machine s to carry out most of the

construction processes, many of the construction processes in this project had been

carried out manually. The transport of raw materials such as cement, bricks and concrete

had been carried out manually. The only mechanized process employed in theconstruction of this building was the preparation of concrete, which was done with the

help of a concrete mixer. But even so the building processes had been carried out to the

best of the abilities by the team of 12 laborers and the contractor.

Pic 7

Pic 7: The basement floor wet with rainwater

The bricks used in the construction of the building walls and the elevator shaft were allsecond class bricks judging by their color, texture and their uneven surfaces. Also

judging by the crack-free and smooth surfaces of the plastered walls it seems that the

bricks were well saturated with water before they were used. The contractor told us (on

asking) that the bricks had been placed were placed in the water for a full 24 hours ( 1day) before they were used for the construction purposes.

Also when asked what measures had he taken to protect the masonry and concretesurfaces from the severe cold and the chilly draughts, he replied that at the end of the

days work or before rain the exterior walls of the building are covered with polythene

sheets which not only protects the masonry surfaces from the cold but also prevents theseepage of water in the walls in case of rain.

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Pic 8 Pic 9

Pic 8 and Pic 9: The bricks used in the construction of the building. Also the bamboo

scaffolding can be seen in the background.

In general the construction process, on the whole, seems to be well planned and all thelimits well defined. The choice of the construction materials from the quality of bricks

(which were all second class from observation) to the choice of sand seemed to define to

the building requirements of the building and the construction processes well managed onthe whole.

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