23rd
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2011
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There’s always construction going on in virtually every part of the world, though in certain areas the level of activity is more intense than in others. Dubai in the Middle East, is one excellent example of a construction hotspot with hotels and other buildings constantly being created. The UK is another large construction hive, especially London, where the 2012 Olympics are going to be held. But even places where there no such high-profile events are going to take place in the near future hold much promise for those who want to ply their trade in the commercial or residential building industry overseas.
There are virtually thousands of construction positions for which a foreign worker can apply. Here are just a few of them:
- Carpenters
- Bricklayers
- Ceiling fixers
- Joiners
- Welders
- Concrete form work specialists
- Plasterers
- Project foremen
- Steel fixers
- Materials managers
Construction-related job vacancies in other countries encompass all levels of expertise and experience. Sometimes you can find a construction job that requires nothing more than being physically fit and a display of willingness to learn the tricks of the trade. However, your chances of being hired by a large employer for a project that can bring you a higher salary will increase if you possess the right skills and educational and work history. For example, if you’re aiming for a managerial position or perhaps a job that involves multiple responsibilities then you would probably need to have considerable managerial experience in addition to the right educational background in order for your application to be considered. On the other hand, you don’t need a master’s degree to find a job as a bricklayer or a plasterer, but previous experience in those capacities will increase the odds of your landing those kinds of construction jobs.
There are many reasons why construction workers and contractors look forward to working in a foreign country. First, the wages and benefits package can be attractive, with health insurance and overtime pay in a number of cases. There’s the chance of getting to use high-tech building materials and tools, especially when it comes to large-scale construction projects. And of course, the prospect of working with new people plus the experience of living in a different culture are powerful influences on one’s decision to build homes and other buildings in another country.
23rd
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2011
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For homeowners, there is nothing quite as exciting as new home construction. From choosing the ideal house on plans and walking through model homes, to selecting design and decor options, new home builds can create an entirely new living environment because they are custom-made to buyer specifications.
While the notion of “new” should equate with “problem-free”, it is never that simple in the construction industry, and certainly doesn’t exempt your home from future improvement or repair, especially if your builder adheres to quantity over quality. So before you sign off on your pre-delivery inspection (PDI), make sure you know what you are agreeing to and that your home has been built according to both the builder’s site plans and your specifications.
A smart homeowner is a prepared homeowner; do your homework. Your pre-delivery inspection is your first opportunity to see your new home in its final stage before taking occupancy. You should consider:
- Main operating systems: heating, ventilation and plumbing. You will want to understand how these systems work, if they are functioning properly, have any defects, damage, incomplete or missing parts.
- All upgrades are accounted for, functioning properly and not damaged, missing or incomplete.
- If you question your judgment or think the process may be too overwhelming for you alone, hire an outside home inspector to represent you. Your builder will have their own inspector on-hand the day of your pre-delivery inspection, and while they are an objective third party, they are there to represent the builder, not you.
- Limit the inspection to yourself, spouse, partner or a family member but avoid bringing extended family and children along. This inspection is your opportunity to ensure your home has been built according to your specifications. Your undivided attention is necessary in order to properly inspect and understand all aspects of the house.
- Dress accordingly. Remember you will be at a construction site so flat, comfortable shoes are recommended especially if you will be climbing stairs, inspecting attics, basements and the home’s exterior, which may not be graded or grassed.
22nd
02 -
2011
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We are increasingly seeing the effects of building collapse due to earthquakes in regions such as Haiti and collapse due to poor workmanship such as the recent building collapses in Kiambu. With rapid urbanization, more high-rise buildings are coming up in major towns creating perfect recipes for disaster as people get trapped underneath tons and tons of concrete in case the building unfortunately collapses -either due to an earthquake or poor workmanship. There are solutions to avoid this kind of disaster by having flexible steel grid supported buildings with light-weight sandwich panel wall infill.
Several major towns in Kenya such as Nakuru sit right in the middle of the Rift Valley which is a seismically unstable region and earthquakes are not known to give notice before they strike.
Measures should be taken to ensure that there are mechanisms in place to give early warning to avoid disasters. Countries that are prone to earthquakes such as Japan have an average of 40% of new high-rise buildings coming up in Steel structural frames-one of the world’s highest-this is partly dues to steel’s ability to resist the impact of severe earthquakes. Past earthquakes in USA [San Francisco-1906, Long Beach-1933, and Japan [Kanto -1923] during the first part of this century gave engineers confidence in steel as a reliable material for earthquake resistant design. During these events, there were typically fewer problems observed in steel structures as compared with concrete and masonry buildings of similar size and scale.
PEB system of construction is based on the U.S.A Building code. PEB system originated from U.S.A which produces over 1 million PEB Structures per year.
In Kenya, we mainly rely on the British Building code and standards for construction. The British Standard is mainly Reinforced -Concrete based as in most structures such as columns and beams are designed to be concrete-based with twisted steel reinforcement of between 8 mm to 20mm thickness in the inside. This is the type of building construction that you will see every day in Kenya and East Africa in general.
The PEB system replaces the concrete columns and beams with I Section steel beams and columns. With the rapidly increasing price of cement for making the concrete, this design is certainly more cost-effective. The floor surface can be made of concrete or steel.
International Casino Car Park, Chiromo road roundabout.
A good example of this in Kenya is the Car Pak at the International Casino hotel next to the Chiromo road roundabout near Westlands.
This car park has a concrete surface suspended and supported by steel I beams and columns as shown below.
The car park is very strong-it has supported the weight of cars for very man years and it has not a slight sign of failure.
This means that if used to support a building where the loading is mainly human and furniture e.g. offices and residential buildings, the PEB system will work excellently since if it can support the heavy load of cars, then it can support the light load of humans and furniture.
Earthquake Loading design.
The structural design of the PEB will depend on the Live loads, Earthquake, collateral and wind loads that are specified by the consultant structural engineer in conjunction with the relevant Local Authority Building approval department.
PEB subsystems
The main building structure comprises of 2 subsystems:-[1]a rigid steel frame including columns, rafters, beams and purlins and [2] wall and roof panels.
The roof and walls are made of Sandwich panels. Sandwich panels comprise of an exterior metal skin, a polyurethane interior core and an interior flat skin made of metal. The core thickness is available in 35, 50, 75 and 100mm.The density of the polyurethane is 35-40Kg/m3.
Design Code.
The design code used is in accordance with the Steel Construction Manual published by the American Institute of Steel Construction [AISC].
All welding is done in accordance with the Structural Welding Code-Steel D1.1 of the American Welding Society[AWS].
PEBs are designed using guidelines published by Metal Building Manufacturers Association of U.S.A which is a world-recognized authority on pre-engineered steel buildings and its guidelines are accepted as standard practice in his industry.
The Universally recognized code is the International Building Code published by the International Code Council of U.S.A.
In Kenya, recently, a commission was formed under he Ministry of Hosing to review the country’s Building Code which was published in 1963 and is out-dated. This code is based on the British Building code and hence effectively discourages other cost-effective methods of construction such as PEB in Kenya. Once the new Building Code is published, we hope that it will include other innovative building construction methods found all over the world especially now that we have seen a few buildings collapsing around Kenya.
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