ABSTRACT

We spend most of our lives in buildings and almost every building is unique. The purpose of this book is to explain what buildings are and to provide an integrated overview of how they are built and sustained.
The book does not presume any specialist knowledge of buildings, seeking instead to explain why the different groups involved in designing, constructing, managing and occupying them follow certain procedures. It is particularly concerned with the generation and circulation of information between these groups. In taking this view, the book considers the recommendations of Sir Michael Latham's 1994 report Constructing the Team which called for better cohesion and communication between specialists in the construction industry.

part |2 pages

PART ONE Our Built Environments

chapter 1|23 pages

The internal environment

chapter 2|20 pages

The external environment

chapter 3|20 pages

The building structure

chapter 4|16 pages

Improving our built environments

chapter 5|11 pages

Construction products

part |2 pages

PART TWO Design

chapter 6|13 pages

Project initiation

chapter 7|16 pages

Scheme design

chapter 8|12 pages

Design efficiency

chapter 9|22 pages

Detail design

chapter 10|15 pages

Communicating the design

part |2 pages

PART THREE Construction

chapter 11|10 pages

The total building process

chapter 12|14 pages

Managing projects

chapter 13|21 pages

Dimensional relations

chapter 14|8 pages

Products quantities

chapter 15|8 pages

Process durations

part |2 pages

PART FOUR The Business Environment

chapter 16|11 pages

Cost analysis and cost equivalents

chapter 17|10 pages

Contracts

chapter 18|15 pages

Estimating and tendering

chapter 19|11 pages

Pricing bills of quantities

chapter 20|17 pages

Managing cost and value