Coping With Formwork
Specifications
Read carefully and ask questions early
rawings and specifica-
D
BY M. K. HURD
tions are the fundamen-
tal tools designers use to
communicate their in-
tentions to prospective builders.
Contractors need to carefully read
and clarify concrete specifications
before signing the contract, instead
of struggling with them afterward
when disputes arise. Profits can
shrink when disagreements esca-
late to the point of interfering with
job pro g re s s. For some jobs, the
most intense scrutiny of the speci-
fications comes in an effort to as-
sign blame for something that
went wrong.
Specifications frequently call for the architect-engineer to review and approve shoring
and reshoring operations in multistory buildings.
Importance of Formwork Specs
A rchitects and owners choose
c o n c rete as a pri m a ry building
material because it is economical
and dura b l e. Co n c rete is also a
unique product because it is the
only major structural material that
is manufactured in the field or de-
l i ve red to the jobsite in a plastic,
unfinished state. The ultimate
quality of hardened concrete is di-
rectly affected by how the concrete
is handled during all stages of the
building process. Since the form-
w o rk is typically the most costly
p a rt of this pro c e s s, form w o rk
specifications greatly affect the
overall economy and quality of the
finished work.
Fo rm w o rk consists of the total
system of support for freshly placed
c o n c re t e, including the mold or
sheathing that contacts the con-
crete and all supporting members,
hardware, and bracing. Falsework,
centering, ties, and other hardware,
p ro p s, braces, shores, and sills are
all part of the formwork.
Specifiers react to this complex
situation in several ways—ranging
from providing simple perfor-
mance-oriented requirements to
preparing highly detailed step-by-
step project specifications. Pro-
duction of good specifications is a
costly process, and once specifiers
find a satisfactory format and lan-
guage, they tend to stick with it
year after year in spite of advances
in forming materials and technolo-
gy. This is a basic problem contrac-
tors often face.
To avoid disagreements or mis-
understandings about form w o rk ,
contractors need to address the fol-
lowing construction concerns in
contract documents.
Need for Flexibility
In the American construction
tradition, contractors have the ulti-
mate responsibility for satisfactory
completion of the work. For con-
crete contractors, this includes lay-
out and design of the form w o rk .
This gives the builder the necessary
freedom to use knowledge and skill
to safely produce an economical
structure.
Howe ve r, it usually is necessary
to include some minimum specifi-
cations for forming practices to en-
sure that the structure will be satis-
factory. The extent of these
specifications depends on the
scope and complexity of the job
and on the competence and exper-
tise of the contractors. Keeping well
informed on advances in formwork
technology can help the specifier
create an effective specification that
contains only the essential details.
Many specifiers develop in-
house master specifications follow-
ing guide documents such as those
provided by the Construction Spec-
ifications Institute or the Corps of work will provide adequate support
Engineers. Reference documents both during concreting and until
are also cited by specifiers, but they the concrete has gained adequate
should be used judiciously. Both strength to permit form removal.
ACI 347 (Ref. 1) and Formwork for The following questions usually
C o n c re t e (Ref. 2) contain valuable need to be answered:
information on forming practices, • Who will design the formwork?
but they are not suitable for incor- • Who will inspect the formwork?
poration by reference, though they When will formwork be inspect-
are frequently misused in that way. ed and for what features?
Since reference documents are not • What approvals will be required
written in specification language, for formwork drawings, for
and contain many alternatives and forms before and during con-
suggested methods, the specifier creting, and for form removal
should use them only as re s o u rc e and reshoring? Who will give
material when preparing specifica- such approvals?
tions. A short specification for In evaluating these areas of au-
f o rm w o rk that is appropriate for thority and responsibility, both
incorporation by reference is found specifier and builder should review
in ACI 301 “Standard Specifications any local building regulations that
for St ru c t u ral Concrete” (Ref. 3). A may take precedence.
revised version of ACI 301 will be In most cases, the contractor will
available early in 1995. plan and design the formwork, fre-
quently with the assistance of a
General Considerations professional engineer. With the ex-
Important information needed ception of unusual or very complex
by the form builder (see box) structures,this practice is desirable
comes from contract drawings as since the builder is in the best po-
well as specifications. In addition sition to evaluate available workers,
to a full description of the struc- m a t e ri a l s, equipment, and sys-
ture, general minimum require- tems, and to develop a strong and
ments should be stated to assure efficient forming method.
the owner and designer that form- Although formwork safety is the
Typical forming for concrete slabs composite with steel frames uses hangers to
support all deck loads from the steel beams. The older-style frames (left) were
strong enough to carry the load without shoring. With the much lighter steel
cross section (right) common in many designs today, the contractor may have to
provide shoring and lateral bracing during construction.
fundamental responsibility of the
contractor, the architect-engineer
often provides in the contract doc-
uments for review and approval of
the formwork, including drawings
and calculations. This is necessary
for structures whose design is
based on a particular construction
method, and for structures such as
multistory buildings where form-
work and the partially completed
structure interact.
Stripping Time and
Reshoring Provisions
Minimum requirements for form
stripping time are usually specified
on major work because of possible
damage to the concrete and injury
to construction workers. When
forms are stripped, there must be
no evidence of excessive deflection,
cracking, or other damage to the
concrete due to the removal of sup-
port or the stripping operation. Lo-
cal codes may include restrictions
on stripping, and all such applica-
ble requirements should be care-
fully reviewed.
Supporting forms and shores
must not be removed from beams,
floors, and walls until these struc-
tural units are strong enough to
carry their own weight and any su-
perimposed load (unless provision
has been made through re s h o ri n g
or other means to allow for the an-
ticipated temporary construction
loads). Most forms for ve rt i c a l
members, such as walls and
columns, can be removed earlier—
sometimes after 12 hours of normal
curing—than those for beams and
slabs. Vertical forms support little
or no load after the concrete hard-
ens and lateral pressure is relieved.
The concrete strength re q u i re d
b e f o re form w o rk is stripped and
the time necessary to attain it vary
with job conditions. A rule of
thumb for strength requirements,
such as two-thirds of design
strength, is not always satisfactory.
Even when concrete is stro n g
enough to show no immediate dis-
tress or deflection under load, it is
still possible for corners and edges
to be damaged during stri p p i n g
INFORMATION NEEDED BY THE FORM BUILDER
Contractdrawingsandspecifica-
t i o n sw o r kt o g e t h e rt og i v eb u i l d e r s
a f u l ld e s c r i p t i o no ft h ed e s i re d
structure s ot h e yc a nd e v e l o pa ne f-
f i c i e n tp l a nf o rt h ef o rm w o r k .I fv i t a l
p i e c e so fi n f o rm a t i o na re lacking,
askforclarification.
In addition to obvious dimen-
sions and layout, look for the
items listed here when bidding or
planning a job. (Not all these
items will be found on every job.)
• Loads for which the structure is
designed, including dead load,
live load, and allowances for
partitions, mechanical equip-
ment, or special conditions.
Codes require this information
to be shown; for multistory
buildings it is particularly impor-
tant for planning of shoring and
reshoring.
• Tolerances for plumb, level,
area, thickness, and location,
as they apply to individual
members and the structure as
a whole.
• Is camber required for slab and
beam soffits?
• Are chamfers required or pro-
and for excessive creep deflections
to occur. Co n c e rn over cre e p
(long-term deflection under load)
leads some designers to specify
stripping times that seem unrea-
sonable to contractors. Howe ve r,
the architect-engineer who de-
signed the stru c t u re and under-
stands its behavior under load can
best determine what concre t e
s t rength is re q u i red before sup-
ports can be removed.
When specifiers set a strength re-
quirement for form removal, they
should also indicate how the
strength is to be determined. The
most common method is the com-
pressive strength test of field-cured,
6x12-inch cylinders. Howe ve r, the
ACI 318 Building Code now recog-
nizes other methods of strength
evaluation, subject to approval of
the building official. These meth-
ods, now standardized by ASTM,
hibited on beam soffits and col-
umn corners?
• The number, location, and de-
tails of all expansion and con-
traction joints. Are there any
restrictions on the location of
construction joints?
• Architectural concrete location
and details. When architectural
treatment is required for mem-
bers that also are structural, it
should be referenced on the
structural drawings to guide the
form builder.
• Clear definitionof s u rf a c e quali-
ty. There are limits ofacceptabil-
ity even for structural concrete.
• R e q u i re m e n t sf o ri n s e rt s ,w a t e r-
s t o p s ,h o l e s ,a n do p e n i n g s as
w e l la si n t e rf a c e sb e t w e e nf o rm-
w o r ka n dt h ew o r ko fo t h e rt r a d e s .
• Composite construction—what
intermediate supports, braces,
or shores are required under
stay-in-place forms or under
members that are designed for
composite action?
• Post-tensioned structures—how
w i l ll o a d transferduring post-ten-
sioning a ff e c t t h ef o rmwork?
include:
• Cast-in-place cylinders (slabs
only)
• Penetration resistance test
• Pullout resistance
• Maturity factor measurements
Form removal in multistory con-
struction presents special prob-
lems. With the rapid cycles neces-
sary for construction efficiency,
shoring that supports fresh or part-
ly mature concrete rests on lower
floors that may not yet have at-
tained full strength. Fu rt h e rm o re,
loads during construction often ex-
ceed the load for which the slabs
are designed. Thus the removal of
forms and shores must be part of a
planned procedure considering the
t e m p o ra ry support of the whole
s t ru c t u re as well as that of each
member. This procedure must be
worked out before construction,
usually by a structural engineer
working for the contractor. Specifi-
cations generally require that the
procedure be submitted for review
and approval by the engineer-ar-
chitect before construction begins.
Construction Tolerances
Tolerances are the permitted
variations from lines, grades, or di-
mensions given in the contract
drawings. These permissible va ri a-
tions must be considered in the
formwork design. An explicit state-
ment of tolerances in the contract
documents is pre f e ra b l e. Lacking
such guidance, the form designer
will rely on standard construction
tolerances such as those given in
ACI 117 (Ref. 4). For arc h i t e c t u ra l
concrete work, more exacting spec-
ifications are often necessary.
Current ACI standard recom-
mendations for building construc-
tion limit deviation from plumb to:
• 1 inch for heights of 100 feet or less
• 1⁄1000 of the height for heights more
than 100 feet, but never more
than 6 inches
For the outside corner of exposed
corner columns and control-joint
g ro oves in concrete, deviations are
limited to half of the above.
ACI 117 permits only a 3⁄4-inch de-
viation of formed surfaces from de-
sign elevation before removal of
s h o re s. The permitted deviation
from cross-section dimensions in
columns, beams, and walls is:
+3⁄8 inch, 1⁄4 inch where the di-
mension is 12 inches or less
+1⁄2 inch, 3⁄8 inch where the di-
mension is from 12 to 36 inches
+1 inch, 3⁄4 inch where the di-
mension is more than 36 inches
The form designer must set lim-
its on formwork construction to
meet these tolerances. For architec-
tural concrete, not specifically cov-
ered by ACI 117, another ACI rec-
ommendation (Ref. 5) limits design
deflection of most formwork com-
ponents to 1⁄400 times the span of the
formwork member. These ACI rec-
ommendations are likely to be cit-
ed as reasonable standards if the
designer has not set explicit toler-
ances in the contract documents.
Camber
Often it is necessary to set form-
work elevations before concreting
to compensate for one or more of
the following:
• Anticipated deflection of the
completed structure under load
from the time it begins to carry
its own weight. This can involve
both instantaneous and long-
term deflection.
• Optical sag, or the illusion of
sagging in long-span members
that are perfectly horizontal.
• Anticipated deflection or settle-
ment of the forms and their
supports.
The architect or engineer speci-
fies the camber (or slight upward
curvature of a structural member)
that may be required to compen-
sate for the anticipated deflection
of the finished structure or to over-
come the optical illusion of sag.
Traditionally, the builder is respon-
sible for compensating for deflec-
tion or settlement of the formwork,
which can be caused by a combina-
tion of factors such as closure of
form joints, settlement of mud sills,
lumber shrinkage, and deflection of
the forms.
If no camber is specified, the
builder can request guidance
rather than risk a sagging span of
concrete. Satisfactory performance
by the contractor is generally
judged on the basis of elevation af-
ter settlement or deflection of
f o rm w o rk and before forms and
supports (shores) are removed. The
contractor should not be held re-
sponsible for immediate or creep
deflection of the structure after
shoring has been removed.
Architectural Concrete
For architectural concrete, the
specifier often must give more than
p e rf o rmance specifications. Extra
attention to forming details are
needed, particularly for limiting
f o rm w o rk deflections and making
joints watertight. Minimum require-
ments to assure reasonable success
can be stated without specifying ac-
tual methods of construction.
Astute architects may choose to
incorporate tie holes and rustica-
tion grooves as part of the pattern
of the structure’s surface. Rustica-
tions can conceal construction and
contraction joints and minimize
jointing problems when textured
form liners are used. In these cas-
es, the specifications require the
contractor to submit shop draw-
ings of the formwork so the archi-
tect-engineer can verify that joint
and tie-hole patterns are compati-
ble with the effects desired.
Usually it is preferable to specify
the desired surface rather than all
the methods and materials for
achieving it. How can a specifica-
tion satisfactorily define an archi-
tectural concrete surface that will
be evaluated on the basis of a visu-
al inspection? ACI Committee 303
(Ref. 5) suggests using:
• Prebid conferences
• Design reference samples
• Preconstruction mock-ups
The preconstruction mock-up is
p re f e r red, where the budget per-
mits. It is a full-scale sample of ar-
chitectural concrete which the suc-
cessful bidder erects at the jobsite
using all the materials and con-
struction practices to be used on
the actual job. Joint forming details,
tie-hole treatment, and other fea-
tures of the formwork are thus test-
ed in advance and approved by the
specifying agency before the archi-
tectural concrete work begins.
Provision for the mock-up,
sometimes called a test bent, is
made in the specifications so it be-
comes part of the construction
contract and its cost is included in
the bid. The mock-up remains on
the jobsite as an ongoing reminder
to the contractor and designer of
the accepted standard.
Composite Construction
Structures designed so that con-
crete portions act compositely with
other materials or parts of the
s t ru c t u re present special forming
p ro b l e m s. Requirements for sup-
port during construction should be
clearly presented in the contract
documents. Older-style (pre-1980)
steel-frame buildings typically had
enough strength to support all the
loads from concrete deck forming
and pouring operations without
additional shoring and bracing. To-
day’s buildings, which are designed
with lighter, thinner steel frames,
often lack that strength and only
achieve adequate design strength
when deck concrete is in place and
fully cured. Frequently, the thinner
steel frames deflect enough during
construction to pose serious prob-
lems at the jobsite (see drawing).
Some designers carefully specify
the shoring and bracing re q u i re d
before and during construction,
but others assume the contractor
knows what is needed and will put
in the right amount. Reference 6
provides more details on building
concrete slabs composite with steel
frames.
tural Concrete (ACI 301-94),” Ameri-
can Concrete Institute (revised edition
available in early 1995).
4. “Standard Tolerances for Concrete
Construction (ACI 117-90),” American
Concrete Institute, 1990.
5. “Guide to Cast-in-Place Architec-
tural Concrete Practice (ACI 303R-
91),” American Concrete Institute,
1991.
6. Ramon J. Cook, “Building Concrete
Slabs Composite with Steel Frames,”
Concrete Construction, November
1989, page 938.
7. “Concrete Specifications: Read and
Write Them Carefully,” Concrete Tech-
nology Today, July 1994, Portland Ce-
ment Association, Skokie, Ill.
8. “Building Code Requirements for
Reinforced Concrete (ACI 318-89),”
American Concrete Institute, 1989.

References
1. “Guide to Formwork for Concrete
(ACI 347-94),” American Concrete In-
stitute, Detroit, 1994.
2. M. K. Hurd, Formwork for Concrete, PUBLICATION #C940870
SP-4, American Concrete Institute,
Copyright © 1994, The Aberdeen Group
fifth edition, 1989.
All rights reserved
3. “Standard Specifications for Struc-