Lecture-2

Architectural Basic Concepts

Prepared by:
Engr. Mudassir Abbas
Department of Civil Engineering
NFC IET Multan
Basic Concepts
ACRE: A size of land equal to 43560 sq. ft (4047 sq. m) or 9.68 Kanals in case of
Lahore District
And 35986.85 sq. ft (3345sq. m) or 8 Kanals in other districts of Punjab.
KANAL: Means a size of land equal to 20 marlas or 600 sq.yard/ 5400 square feet.
MARLA: Means the size of land equal to 270sqft for urban, 272.25sqft for rural
and 245sqft in case of new societies.
AMALGAMATION: Means the joining of two or more adjoining (side by side
and/or back to back) plots of the same land use into a single plot for building
purposes.
ANCILLARY BUILDING: Means a building subservient to the principal building
on the same plot e.g. servant quarters, garages and guardroom etc.
APARTMENT: means a residence unit located in a multi-storey building meant to
provide habitation.
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APARTMENT BUILDING: means a multi-storey building containing more
than two Apartments sharing a common staircase, lifts or access spaces.
ARCHITECTURAL PLAN: Means a plan showing the arrangements of
proposed building works, including floor plans, elevations and section.
ARCADE: means a covered walk-way or a verandah between the shops and
the street/footpath on which the shops adjoin.
BALCONY: means a stage or platform projecting from the wall of the
building surrounded by a railing or parapet wall.
BASE: (applied to a wall or pillar) means the under-side of the course
immediately above the plinth.
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BASEMENT: Means the lowest part of a building, partly or completely below
ground level, not allowed in case of 1kanal or less area plot as per MDA rules.
BAY-WINDOW: means a large window or a series of windows projecting from
outer wall of the building and forming a break within.
BUILDING HEIGHT: Means total height of the building measured from the
crown of the road to the roof top (finished floor level of roof) excluding structures
such as chimney stacks, wind catchers, air wells, lift heads, air conditioning units
and overhead water tank.
CLEAR STOREY HEIGHT: Means the clear height from finished floor to bottom
of roof slab.
BUILDER: means any person having the ownership/leasehold title, project
proponent, institution, company, firm, agency or government department,
autonomous and semi autonomous bodies who intends to undertake building works.
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BUILDING WORKS: mean site excavation, erection or re-erection of a
building or making additions and alterations to an existing building.
CARDINAL POINTS: means the directions of North, South, East and West
as marked on the block / building plan.
CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT: means the central business/commercial
area as prescribed in the relevant Master Plan.
CHAMFER: means the flat surface made by cutting of sharp edge or corner
of the plot to enhance the visibility at the turning point.
COMMERCIAL BUILDING: means a building having market, shops or
show rooms, warehouses, offices, hotels, restaurants, marriage halls, gas and
petrol filling stations,, public transport and cargo terminals etc. on any floor
and may also have apartments in it.
Basic Concepts
COMPLETION CERTIFICATE (CC): means the certificate issued
by the Competent Authority on the completion of building works.
COMPLETION PLAN: means a building plan submitted to the
Development Authority for the purpose of obtaining approval after
construction.
COMPOUNDABLE VIOLATIONS: means the violations where the
violator is relieved from charge by paying fine for the violations done
against the building bylaws.
CONTRACTOR: means a person hired by a builder for constructing
the building as per provision of sanctioned plan and other approvals.
Basic Concepts
CONSULTANT: means a person duly registered with respective
statutory professional body and hired by a builder for designing and
supervision of construction activities of the building(s) in accordance
with the sanctioned plan and other approvals.
CONVERTED PLOT: means a plot converted to commercial use
under the commercialization rules notified by the government from time
to time.
CORNER PLOT: means a plot facing two or more intersecting streets /
roads.
DAMP PROOF COURSE: means a layer of material impervious to
moisture.
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DEAD LOADS: mean the load due to the weight of all walls,
permanent partitions, floors, roofs and finishes including services, and
all other permanent construction.
DANGEROUS/ HAZARDOUS BUILDINGS: means a building or
structure or a part thereof which is declared as structurally unsafe and/or
which is hazardous.
DECLARED COMMERCIAL AREAS: These are the roads or areas
predominantly used for commercial purposes in the established built up
areas that have been declared as commercial area.
DEMOLITION: means the process of dismantling the building or part
thereof.
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DRAINAGE: Any system of natural and artificial removal of surface and
sub-surface water (liquid, sewage etc.) from any area.
EARTH QUAKE RESISTIVE STRUCTURE: Building designed to
prevent total collapse, preserve life, and minimize damage in case of an
earthquake or tremor, to ensure Earth quake resistant structures that absorb
and dissipate seismically induced motion through a combination of means:
damping decreases the amplitude of oscillations of a vibrating structure, while
ductile materials (e.g, steel) can withstand considerable inelastic deformation.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: Means a School, College, University,
Library, Madrassa, Research& Training Centre and Testing Laboratory etc.
FARM HOUSE: means a dwelling place attached to a farm on a plot not less
than 4 Kanal.
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ESTABLISHED BUILT UP AREAS: mean old unplanned areas where
the buildings have been in existence for a minimum period of 25 years.
FENCE: means a temporary barrier around a building or structure
under construction or repair.
FLOOR AREA: Means the horizontal area of floor in a building
covered with roof.
FLOOR AREA RATIO (FAR): means the aggregate covered area of a
building or buildings (excluding the area under covered parking) on a
plot divided by the total area of the plot.
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FLOOR HEIGHT: means the vertical distance from the top of the floor
finish to the top of the ceiling.
PLINTH: means the portion of the building between the ground level and the
level of the ground floor.
FOUNDATION: means a structure entirely below the level of the ground
which carries and distributes the load from pillars, beams or walls on to the
soil below.
FVP (FREQUENTLY VISITED PREMISES):It means that all the land
uses where commuters visited the premises very frequently such as display
center, branded stores, bakeries, food chain, and Banquet halls etc.
GALLERY: means an open or a covered walk way or a long passage.
Basic Concepts
GIRDER: A large iron or steel beam or compound structure used for
building bridges and the framework of large buildings.
JOIST: means the length of timber or steel supporting part of the
structure of a building, typically arranged in parallel series to support a
floor or ceiling.
GROUND COVERAGE: means the percentage of the plot area that
can be covered at the ground floor.
HOUSING / DWELLING UNIT: means a part or whole of a
residential building capable of being used independently for human
habitation.
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MULTI-STOREY BUILDING: Means a building having more than three
storey’s or more than 38 ft. height.
PARAPET WALL: means a wall, whether plain, perforated or paneled,
protecting the edge of a roof, balcony, verandah or terrace.
PERGOLA: means a structure with perforated roof consisting of cross bars
in the form of reinforced concrete, wood or steel etc. of which more than 50%
of roof is open to the sky.
RAMP: mean a drive way that has a running slope steeper than one unit
vertical in 20 units horizontal (5-percent slope).
SEPTIC TANK: means a tank in which sewage is collected and decomposed
before its discharge into a public sewer
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SETBACK: means an area to be surrendered for road widening as per
approved scheme/plan, under the relevant master plan of a city or provided
under any other rule.
SITE PLAN: means the plan of the proposed construction site showing the
position of the proposed building(s) and existing building(s), if any, the width
and level of the streets on which the plot abuts and the adjoining plot
numbers, if any, together with cardinal points.
STAGES OF CONSTRUCTION: Every building shall be visited during
construction as follows:
(i) Construction up to plinth level
(ii) Construction up to roof or complete gray structure
(iii)Complete building including fixture and finishing
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SKYLINE: The maximum prescribed height limit beyond which no
structure including machine room, parapet wall, mumty, HTML tower,
advertisement boards/hoardings etc are permitted.
SUN-SHADE: means an outside projection from a building over a
minimum Building Height of 7 ft (2.13 m) from the plinth level meant
to provide protection from weather.
WAREHOUSE: means a building where raw materials, intermediate
products or manufactured goods may be stored.