BUILDING DESIGN 1

1 st semester
s.l.univ. Ruxandra ERBASU

CHAPTER 1
Introductive notions
1. Peculiarities of constructions as products
and of activities related to them
2. Functional classification of constructions
3. Importance categories and classes
4. Technical regulations in constructions
5. System concept in buildings
6. Performance concept in buildings
7. European directive 89/106/1991 and
Romanian Law 10/1995 reviewed in 2015
concerning quality in construction

1. Peculiarities of constructions as products and of activities related to them

Constructions as products are special, and are individualized through
what peculiarities hold on to the process of conception, design,execution
and exploitation:
considerable increased life time: no other product of human
activity is designed with a duration of life in operation so great as
buildings( 70-100) years. The conception, the design, the execution and
maintenance of a construction must assure its physical and functional
durability. Constructions seen as products will be used-up of many
generations, therefore their performances conceived to a historic moment,
must be able to adjust to those of future generations.
the absence of the zero series: for any industrial product the
verification of the design solution is compulsory thus resulting the prototype
on which tests are performed.In constructions, there is no posibility to test
prototypes to the natural scale, in the real regime ofexploitation and with the
introduction of the factor of time. The design of a construction cannot be
continuously improved prior to its execution and its reliableness depends on
an innumerability of factors, some corresponding to the moment of the
construction, others unknown in time.

 dependency of their performances on the location: the

performances of the constructions are related to the features of its location.
Mechanical safety and stability depends on the ground caracteristics, the
soil structure interaction being of primary importance in the process of
design. In the same time, the location influences through its climatic
peculiarities: wind pressure, snow quantity, physico-chemical component of
the air, etc..
the impact upon the surroundings: the constructions are artificial
products,motionless and of considerable life time, whose presence esentially
modifiy the surroundings,damaging their equilibrium and harmony. The
durable development concept of the society was introduced in the attempt
of satisfying the needs of the current generation without compromising the
chance of the future generations to satisfy their own requirements
preserving the resources and the equilibrium of the surroundings
the execution process is in progress mainly outdoor:keeping the
high standards of the execution quality becomes very difficult when this is in
progress in the open space, influenced directly by the climatic exterior
factors.The tehnical and mechanical resources require space of storage,
therefore the operations of supply and production becomes more complex

2.Functional classification of constructions

Each construction must have a well specified functional destination,
known by the designers, constructors and users. The functionality
criteria is the most important , function of which constructions are
divided in:
civil
buildings industrial
(def)
agro-zootehnical
Constructions
engineering constructions
Civil buildings may be:
- residential
- social-cultural
- administrative. commercial and for public alimentation
- buildings used for transport purposes
- religious buildings

3.Categories and classes of building importance

Specific regulations issued in Romania a few years ago stipulate
designers obligations to establish the category of importance
assigned to any building as a prerequisite of the design process.
Accordingly, the following categories are defined:
category A: buildings of exceptional importance;
category B: buildings of special importance;
category C: buildings of normal importance;
category D: buildings of minor importance.
The practical procedure to assign a certain category of importance to
a building is based upon a number of factors ,namely:
qualification for vital importance;
social-economical or cultural importance;
environmental implications;
period of utilisation;
adaptability to site and environmental conditions;
amount of required resources (materials, energy, labour).

category A (exceptional importance):buildings whose damage could

bring about catastrophic consequences, as well as buildings whose
uninterrupted function is considered vital to society;
category B (special importance): buildings whose survival in case of
disastrous events is necessary in order to remove the consequences of
these events. Here should be also included buildings having special
cultural and historical value;

category C (normal importance): the majority of buildings, which do not

belong to other categories of importance;

category D (minor importance): building whose damage entails minor

consequences to peoples life and health.

The category classification is a global one, regarding the construction

as a whole, without referring precisely to certain exigencies.

 more specific, and referring to the seismic behavior exigency, the

Constructions are divided in classes of importance as follows:
Class I includes buildings of vital importance to society, whose function
during and immediately after an earthquake must be guaranteed.
Examples:
hospitals, emergency (ambulance) stations, fire stations;
building for national and regional authorities with assigned duties in
organising post-earthquake emergency activities;
buildings for national and regional communication systems;
electrical power plants with essential role for the national system;
museums of national importance.

Class II includes buildings of special importance, whose damage

must be restricted, accounting for their potential consequences.
Examples:
other buildings (than those specified for Class I) concerning health
protection;
schools, nurseries, kinder-gardens, hostels for children, disabled and old
people; buildings with people agglomeration, churches, auditoriums, show
halls, sports halls, large stores and supermarkets;
buildings that shelter special artistic, historical and scientific valuable
assets;
industrial building and facilities with high risk of fire or emanation of toxic
matters;
industrial buildings that shelter special machinery and/or equipment,
economically very valuable;
buildings that store products of strict necessity for people in case of
emergencies.

Class III includes buildings of normal risk (others than those

belonging to classes I, II, IV), such as:
residential buildings, hotels, hostels (except those included in Class
II);
current-type industrial and agro-zootechnical buildings.
Class IV includes building of minor importance, such as:
low importance agro-zootechnical buildings (e.g. greenhouses, onestorey buildings and facilities for domestic animals);
one or two-storey individual residential buildings;
other buildings that shelter low-value items and where a restricted
personnel carries out activities.
Presently, according to the in force regulations, both importance
categories and classes must be specified on any project written and
draw part.

4. Tehnical regulations in buildings

The widespread and complex activities performed in connection with
building construction had to be necessarily governed by comprehensive
compulsory rules, aiming and guaranteeing in the first place public
health, safety and welfare.
Technical regulations form an important part of this ensemble of
compulsory rules for constructions and are intended to achieve:
high - performance, correct, safe and sound, as well as economical design;
high quality production of materials, components, elements and
subensembles;
high quality execution of site works, through correct application of
technologies and procedures.
Due to their compulsory character, technical regulations bring an essential
contribution to the unification of criteria for analysis and selection of
solutions for various technical and economical problems in building
construction. On the other hand, due to the same compulsory character,
technical regulations obviously exert constraints upon and impose limits to
various parameters in the design, manufacturing of products and execution
of constructions.

 Harmonised standards are being produced in three main

categories,namely:
category A standards: standards of design, codes of practice, etc. for the
whole construction works (e.g. structural Eurocodes);
category B standards: specifications for materials and products;
category Bh standards, which may apply across a wide range of products,
being related to testing methods and procedures, standards for
measurement, etc.
The Construction Products Directive, together with the Public Works and
Service Directives, form the legal basis for the development of technical
standards and harmonisation. A special technical committee is producing a
series of nine basic codes - Eurocodes that set out design rules and
standards, covering design criteria for most types of construction works
and the structural materials used. The codes are first published in the form
of pre standards (ENVs), that intended to be used for the design in order
to provide feedback information for modifications and improvement, where
necessary, to be incorporated into the final European Standards (ENs).
These latter will be transposed to replace gradually the existing national
standards of the EU member states.

In the last decades a system of new technical regulations has been

developed in Romania. They are organised on several hierarchic
levels, interconnected to each other, and are being subjected
to periodical revision and updating, in according with national and
international scientific and technological progress.
Lately, new editions of Romanian technical regulations are being
orientated towards gradual harmonisation with those issued within the
framework of the European Union.

The standards are technical regulations that establish characteristics

for construction materials, elements, subensembles, equipment etc, as
well as basic concepts, principles and data for design, execution and
acceptance of buildings. Some typical categories of such standards
are:
standards for materials (e.g. steel reinforcement bars, laminated profiles
and others steel products; natural and artificial aggregates, cement, lime, water,
additives for concrete; concrete - normal or with special characteristics - mortars;
bricks and ceramic blocks; timber and other wooden products; thermal-insulating,
acoustical-insulating and waterproofing materials, finishing materials etc);

standards for elements and equipment (e.g. plain, reinforced or

prestressed prefabricated elements; partitioning elements; doors and
windows; equipment for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, water
supply and drainage, waste disposal, electrical supply,
telecommunication, mechanical transportation, and so on);
standards for design (e.g. actions on buildings; soil mechanics and
foundations ; design of plain, reinforced and prestressed concrete,
steel, masonry and timber structures,; thermotechnics, acoustics and
illumination of buildings; performances; modular co-ordination and
tolerances; drawings etc).

The codes are more specific, are technical regulations that apply basic
concepts, principles and data established by standards to various
categories or types of buildings, as well as to specific or complementary
problems related to their design, execution and acceptance. Some
representative kinds of present Romanian codes for building construction
(many of them labelled with the old term norms) are listed below, in
relation with:

functional design (e.g. buildings destined to various functions,

such as dwellings, hotels, schools, hospitals, theatres, sports halls,
offices et al);
fire safety;
protection against deterioration due to natural and artificial
agents;
structural design and computation analysis (e.g. earthquakeresistance design, reinforced concrete structures of various types
with frames or shear walls, cast-in-place or prefabricated -,
masonry, steel and timber structures etc);
geotechnics and foundations (e.g. shallow and deep foundations
of various types, foundations on soil with special properties,
strengthening of weak soils etc);
reinforced concrete design and construction specific cases
(e.g. lightweight concrete, cold-formed wire-mesh reinforcement,
welded joints of reinforcement, formworks, concrete curing et al);
masonry and walls (e.g. stone, brick, lightweight concrete and
cellular concrete blocks masonry, partition walls of various types,
watertightness of exterior walls joints etc);

 steel design and construction specific cases (e.g.

cold-formed profile elements, high-strength bolt joints et al);
design and execution of roofing, insulation,
waterproofing, finishes etc);
design and execution of systems and equipment for
heating, ventilation and air conditioning, water supply an
drainage, electrical supply, gas supply, telecommunications,
mechanical transportation, etc);
maintenance and repair works.
Other technical regulations, focused on limited and specific
matters include:
technical instructions, technical specifications,
technological cards and procedures, as well as
catalogues with unified or typified details.