SITE VISIT REPORT

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

BACHELOR OF QUANTITY SURVEYING (HONOURS)

MODULES & LECTURERS:

NAME: LIM XIAO SHI

STUDENT I.D: 0324410

CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY I
[BLD 60104]
MS. AZRINA MD YAAKOB

BUILDING MATERIALS
[BLD 62003]
MS. MYZATUL AISHAH BINTI KAMARAZALY

MEASUREMENT I
[QSB 60104]
MS. ANG FUEY LIN

CONTENT PAGE

1. INTRODUCTION TO SITE. 1
2. OBJECTIVE.. 2
3. TECHNICAL OBSERVATION
A. SAFETY, TEMPORARY WORKS & SITE CONDITION
36
B. CONCRETE FRAMED BUILDING ...7 - 14
C. MACHINERIES..............
15
4. CONCLUSION..... 16

INTRODUCTION TO SITE

On the 23rd of November 2016, we Semester 1 students were given the privilege to be
brought for a site visit located in Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam. This site visit was conducted by our
lecturers, Ms. Ang, Ms, Azrina and Ms. Aishah and is located in Taman Impian Murni (Lot 3607),
Jalan Tanjung Balai (Lorong Haji Yusof) Seksyen 30, Shah Alam.
Around 9.00 a.m, we gathered along with our lecturers to meet the project manager whom is
also a civil engineer of this project, Mr. Lim. He briefed us on what to expect for today and brought
us around the site, explaining about our doubts on site.

INFORMATION OF SITE
Project: 42 Units of Double Storey Terrace & Three Storey Terrace Houses
Developer: Khas Perkasa Sdn. Bhd.
Architect: Tanck Architect
Civil engineer: VED Engineers Sdn. Bhd.
Contractor: Purcon Sdn. Bhd
Mechanical & Electrical Engineer: BSD Associates Sdn. Bhd.
Estimated completion year: October 2017
Contract value: App. RM 11 Million

-1-

OBJECTIVE

To cultivate knowledge and preparation to be an ethical quantity surveyor

To comprehend the basics of the construction processes
To observe and understand the usage of construction equipment and machineries on site
To explore various types of building materials and technology on site
To raise awareness of the importance of safety on site
To expose students to actual working environment on site including uncertainty
circumstances

-2-

TECHNICAL OBSERVATION
SAFETY, TEMPORARY WORKS & SITE CONDITION
At 9.00 a.m., we were briefed by the civil engineer, Mr. Lim about what to expect from this
visit. After a short brief, we were each distributed a safety helmet to ensure that ourselves, especially
our head are protected from any potential harm on site. Covered shoes are also a must before
entering the site. These are all basic standard protocol for everyone who enters a construction site.

FIGURE 1.2 Getting our safety helmets

before entering the construction site

FIGURE 1.1 Our lecturers discussing

with Mr. Lim before briefing us

Before entering the site, there is a safety signage put up to alert anyone entering this potential
dangerous site. The safety signs were clear and obvious as it was located before the entrance of site.
As safety comes first especially in sites, it is vital for a good site to have these warning signs put up.

FIGURE 1.3 & 1.4 Safety signage and

warning for danger put to read and be alerted
before entering site

-3-

Apart from those, vertical hoarding is also seen to be surrounding and fencing the site. This
hoarding acts as a barrier to prevent the site from being entered by any unauthorized person.

FIGURE 1.5 & 1.6 Vertical hoarding to

resist wind loads and acts as barrier

The emphasis of safety should not only be said but to be practised and implement in real
situations. The workers here are mostly seen well equipped with the basic safety gears such as safety
helmets, rubber gloves and boots. This is to protect one from potential harms like exposed nails or
any falling item as well as slippery roads.

FIGURE 1.7, 1.8 & 1.9 Safety helmets,

gloves & boots worn by workers on site
-4-

I noticed several machines moving front and back into this hole but I did not understand
why. Later, I figured out that the hole is actually called a walk through and is used to clean off soil
or sediments that stays on the tyre of the machines before leaving the site. This reduce the amount of
dirt carried to the road used by public.

FIGURE 1.10 & 1.11 Temporary walk through.

Used by machineries on site to prevent sediment
from being brought to public roads

Near to the entrance, a temporary place was prepared as a spot for the workers to stay and
rest before, during and after the construction processes.

FIGURE 1.12 Workers temporary

accommodation. A place to stay & rest
besides working site

-5-

Upon entering, I noticed the differences of construction stages. From the entrance, the
construction on the left side is a bit slower as the lower floor is almost complete whereas on the right
hand side it was almost complete as both floors have been constructed with the brick walls as well as
the roof. It can also be seen the designed roof for this residential project is a flat roof.

FIGURE 1.13 & 1.14 Differences in stages of construction

As it had been raining for the past few days before our visit, the soil condition of the sites
appears to be muddy, wet, soft and even slippery. Hence, it is vital to wear boots and proper covered
shoes to prevent slipping and other accidents that may arise.

FIGURE 1.15, 1.16 &1.17 Muddy,

slippery and soft soils

-6-

CONCRETE FRAMED BUILDING

Concrete framed building can be understood as the supporting structure of a building that is made
of concrete. Various structures can be seen on site that is made of concrete. The selected foundation
for this site is pile foundation. Unfortunately, the foundation of the site is already completed when
we arrived hence we did not get to see the real foundation underneath the soil. However, Mr. Lim did
explained to us about the foundation.
The structures were supported by pilings and a strip foundation is constructed along that acts as a
cap for pile caps as well as functioning as ground beams. He also mentioned that the soil after being
investigated is of soft soil and hence, a combination of pile and strip foundation is decided to be used
here.
Among many structures seen on site, I noticed some of them are carefully arranged and stacked.

FIGURE 2.1 Masonry cement

by Walcrete stacked properly

FIGURE 2.2 Portland cement, the most common

type of cement used for making concrete

FIGURE 2.3 & 2.4 Precast bricks and blocks stacked

in a proper manner, covered and tied correctly
-7-

Most columns on first floor has removed its formwork and are now supporting beams, slab
and other structures above. Some formwork for columns in second floor has not been removed yet. It
depends on the progress of construction in each area.

Formwork for
columns not
removed yet

Concrete columns

FIGURE 2.5 Columns on first & second floor

Columns constructed
with staircase on
ground floor

FIGURE 2.6 Columns on first floor

Vertical
reinforcement bars
(starter bars)

Bars are sticking out of

columns to join brick
wall to column to be
supported and prevent
from collapsing

Unremoved
formwork
Cement
concrete
FIGURE 2.7 & 2.8 Columns on the second floor. This
shows clearly that columns are constructed before beams

-8-

For measurement, we are often calculating ground beams and upper floor beams. In this site,
there are plenty of each. Attached beams of various depth and thickness can also be seen almost
everywhere.

Upper suspended
floor slab

Attached
beams

FIGURE 2.9 Beams. The intersection of

different depths of beams supporting slab
and connected to columns

Upstand beams are more special compared to the usual beams we see as they are of different
calculation than the usual ones. Its depth exceeds the slabs and appears to be higher. This kind of
beam is used in the toilet for this project. There is a drop that enables the flow of water to floor
traps.

Drop

FIGURE 2.10 Upstand beams

-9-

Two kind of slabs can be observed in this site, non-suspended slabs and suspended slabs.
Non-suspended floor slabs are laid directly on ground whereas suspended floor slabs are supported
via the beams.
On the site, ground floor slab are seen constructed on top of beams. For measurement, we
have been doing more of calculations that involves slab in between beams. To construct this,
concrete is not fully poured for beams first and there will be exposed reinforcement bars of beams on
top. Later, concrete for slabs will be poured and covered for the remaining beam as well. Mr. Lim
said that this method saves more cost for their engineering calculation.

Floor slab

Ground
beam

Reinforcement
bars

FIGURE 2.11 Non-suspended floor slab on top of ground beam

For non-suspended slabs, it is partially supported by ground, where part of the load is
distributed to the ground and another part to the beam. For upper suspended floor slabs, load is
distributed to the side beams that connects to columns, strip foundation and then the piling.

Suspended floor
slab

FIGURE 2.12 Suspended floor slab at second floor

-10-

Upper suspended
floor slab
Upper floor
beams
Columns

FIGURE 2.13 Columns, beams and floor slab

Most of the walls of this project uses cement sand brick which has an appearance of grey
colour. It is strong enough for the structures but it has lower fire resistance. Hence, for the walls
between neighbours, red brick was used instead. This is due to the rules and regulations set that states
that a minimum thickness of 150mm should be there in between two neighbour houses. Red bricks
are better for noise insulation as well as firefighting purpose.

FIGURE 2.14 & 2.15 Wall of grey cement sand bricks & red bricks

As I noticed, the brick bonds mostly used are of stretcher bonds. It is one of the simplest
brick bonds to construct.

Stretcher

FIGURE 2.16 Stretcher bond brick wall with mortar

-11-

Concrete staircase are also constructed to connect between floors.

FIGURE 2.17 & 2.18 Quarter turn concrete staircase

Lintol will be constructed on the top and sides of opening door frames. As mentioned by Mr.
Lim, if lintol is not present, when there is load acting on the door frames, it will bend. This applies to
window frames as well, as long as it has an opening.

Lintol

FIGURE 2.19 Lintol on top

& sides of door drames
-12-

A typical construction uses cast in-situ that is casting of concrete on the spot after installing
formwork. Nowadays, there is an IBS system which builds houses like lego, where they are either
premold or precasted and could be straight installed on site. However, for small projects like this, it
is not a feasible move to use this method.
Hence, traditional timber formwork is being used for this project. A good formwork practise is to
check that it was being constructed properly. If a formwork break loose, there will be a need to hack
to remove the concrete that flowed out. Issues like honey comb, loose structure and extra cost might
occur.

FIGURE 3.1 Formwork for columns

FIGURE 3.2 Falsework for support

On the second floor of some areas, formwork for beams can be seen being prepared to be build.
Falsework and other support structure are ready to support for the installation of formwork for beam.
For some areas, formwork for beams are already installed, preparing for pouring of concrete into it.

FIGURE 3.3 Formwork of beams

prepared to be build

-13-

FIGURE 3.4 Formwork of

beams already installed

Concrete cover, or tofu as referred on site are vital to be placed between the end of concrete
and reinforcement bars. It acts as a protective cover. Often, it is prefabricated piece by piece to be
used. A worker is seen levelling and removing excess thickness of the concrete covers.

FIGURE 3.5, 3.6 & 3.7 Worker levelling

excess tofu

Concrete are strong building materials in terms of its compression strength, however, it is brittle
and weak in tensile strength. To overcome such issues, reinforcement bars made of steel are used
with concrete.
Reinforcement bars or more commonly known as rebars on site acts as a skeleton and backbone
of concrete. It accepts the load and helps prevent cracking and breaking which are a serious problem
for concrete.
However, steel are much more expensive compared to concrete. So making an entire structure up
of steel will be very costly and not practical even though it might be very strong. Hence, as Mr. Lim
advised, to get a strong structure that is able to support the loads and due to cost issues, incorporating
the usage of both is one of the best and most common practise.

FIGURE 4.1 Mesh fabric

reinforcement in a stack

FIGURE 4.2 Reinforcement

bars tied and stacked together
after tied and arranged on a
support steel

-14-

FIGURE 4.3 Top and bottom

rebars tied with links or stirrups

MACHINERIES
On site, I noticed various machineries were used for their specific function. Below listed are
some that I had observed on site.

FIGURE 5.1 Spade used for digging and

loading concrete into concrete mixer

FIGURE 5.3 Hand fed concrete mixer. Smaller

concrete mixer can mix concrete on site, giving
workers enough time to work on before it
hardens

FIGURE 5.5 Crawler

excavator used for digging
and compacting the ground

FIGURE 5.2 Wheel barrow used for

carrying and moving items around

FIGURE 5.4 Concrete transit

mixer truck used to transport
and mix concrete loaded from
concrete batching plant to site

FIGURE 5.6 Crane (hook) with hopper. The hopper is seen

to be lifted by the crane and moved to the receiving end of
concrete mixer truck to be filled with concrete
-15-

CONCLUSION
This site visit had exposed us, the first timer to real site, its conditions and works done in the
construction site in a real up-close manner. Through the help of lecturers and the passionate civil
engineer and at the same time, the project manager, Mr. Lim, who explained every doubts of us in
detail, I had come to learn and understand the method and process of building materials and
technologies used there.
In this visit, personally, I realized that wearing helmets are really essential. It might not be so
comfortable but it is a must to do so. When I climbed up the stairs, right above my head was a piece
of timber and I was not aware of its presence. Luckily, my helmet protects my head from being
directly hit by that wood. It serves as an experience and reminder that safety on site should never be
neglected.
I also gained a better understanding on how spacer blocks are used and how reinforcement
bars looked like when combined and tied. Compare to visualizing it when I do my measurement,
now that I see it through my eyes, it helps me understand it better. Learning in classes from our
lecturers had provide us an understanding on the theories part but this site visit is an eye opener as it
helps provide a clearer picture of how it really looks like and how it works. This will definitely help
in the future as we can now imagine it better.
Mr. Lim mentioned that civil engineers start their calculation of load from the top to bottom
whereas quantity surveyors calculate from the bottom to top of a structure. The difference serves as a
note that different roles and profession are needed for a construction project.
In a nutshell, when I got to relate what I had learnt theoretically to real practices, I realized
that I still have a lot more to learn to be a better and more qualified quantity surveyor. I would like to
end in a thank you note for everyone that had helped me directly or indirectly through this site visit.
It indeed is a wonderful first visit for us.

-16-