THE ROLE OF STRUCTURAL CONSULTANTS IN SITE SUPERVISION

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The supervision of work at the site is a full-time job for the entire period of construction. It comprises the following:
  1. To check that the materials used viz. cement, steel, fine and coarse aggregates, etc. are as per the contract specifications and Indian standards.
  2. To check that the formwork and temporary falsework are properly provided with true plumb.
  3. To check concrete mix design with adequate cement content, water-cement ratio and admixtures if added.
  4. To check the correct placement of reinforcement with the necessary cover as per the reinforcement detail drawings.
  5. To check the correct placing of concrete with construction joints if required.
  6. To check joint surface preparation where construction joints are provided.
  7. To check proper and adequate curing of exposed concrete surfaces as per the contract specifications.
  8. To check the removal of forms and temporary falsework as per the contract specifications.
  9. To check if any crack has developed on the concrete surfaces or large deflection/displacement/settlement have taken place, and inform the Structural Consultant about it.

I hope that the above list covers all aspects of major construction activities at a site. I have not covered items like measurement of works, quantity survey, bill payment, etc. which do not come under the supervision of work. As can be seen, the above supervision of work can be done easily by experienced civil engineers at a site who are degree or diploma holders and non-structural engineers without having design experience. The visit of structural consultants to a site is necessary during construction only if there is any problem in constructability or in the sequence of construction. I believe in projects where an owner is different from the property developer or contractor, owner and staff comprising civil engineers at site or Project Management Consultants (PMC) are employed to do the site supervision. Hence, supervision of work at the site is normally done by experienced civil engineers, and services of structural consultants are not required for this work.
Courtesy: Er. N. Prabhakar from SEFI Post

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