Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction
Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction
Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction
Copyright © 2007
ISBN: 974-94873-5-4
Purpose of the Handbook
This Handbook is made to provide simple information to house
owners, house designers and builders, and building monitors to
teach principles of good design and good construction in a natural
hazard prone area. Thoroughly studied, they will also guide on
whether to repair or rebuild damaged houses. The descriptions are
followed by a code of minimum standards for construction of houses
in Aceh and Nias Islands.
Since many concepts are not easy to describe, the hand- book contains
pictures to facilitate understanding. The photographs have all been
taken of construction practices in the reconstruction of Aceh and
Nias since the great Tsunami and earthquake of 26 December 2004
and the second major earthquake of 28 March 2005. Aceh, Nias and
nearby islands, and other areas along the west coast of Sumatra, are
earthquake and tsunami prone, and are also subject to flooding
due to sudden downpours of rain. The principles of this book are
designed to minimize vulnerability to these natural hazards.
Let us develop a culture of safety in all our buildings, not just doing
the minimum and the cheapest, but building houses that will
safeguard families and assets in times of emergency.
iii
Forewords
Yiping Zhou
Director
Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, UNDP
Over the last fifty years, the frequency and severity of natural
hazards resulting in disasters has risen dramatically mainly due to
an increase in the size and vulnerability of exposed populations.
The international community has acknowledged in different fora
that disasters constitute one of the main threats to development in
Small Island Developing States and other vulnerable countries.
v
values, and as an expression of self identity. For most in Indonesian
society, the house serves as a venue through which livelihood activ-
ities are transacted. A well designed and constructed house will
protect the lives and livelihood of its residents from the threat
posed by natural hazards.
We hope that it will not only be useful in Indonesia but also in other
disaster vulnerable countries.
Yiping Zhou
Director
Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, UNDP
vi
Sálvano Briceño
Director
United Nations Secretariat of the International Strategy
for Disaster Reduction
vii
guide disaster-affected communities to build back better, safer and
resilient to disasters. At the community level, UN/ISDR is also actively
engaged in supporting partners, in the reconstruction process in
Pakistan earthquake-hit areas through partnerships with UNDP and
NGOs to ensure the integration of risk reduction into the rebuilding
of villagers’ houses and schools.
Sálvano Briceño
Director
United Nations Secretariat of the International Strategy
for Disaster Reduction
viii
Bo Asplund
UN Resident Coordinator
Indonesia
ix
UNDP is pleased to present this Handbook as an aid to assist local
communities to design and build stronger houses and to make
themselves safer against extreme climatic and seismic events. It is
written with the aim of making technical information available and
understandable to those who build so many of the homes: the
homeowners themselves. While it is being used primarily as a guide
in the reconstruction of houses in the recovery from the tsunami, we
hope that its longer-term impact will be to improve building culture
for the future.
Bo Asplund
UN Resident Coordinator
Indonesia
x
Kuntoro Mangkusubroto
Director
Bureau of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction NAD-Nias
Indonesia
xi
BRR initially published this Handbook in Bahasa, Indonesia for
distribution in Nias Islands. It is used to socialize and teach local
communities on how to better build a house within their environment.
Kuntoro Mangkusubroto
Director
Bureau of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction NAD-Nias
Indonesia
xii
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgement goes to Mr.Robin D Willison, Disaster Preparedness
Advisor of UNDP Indonesia and a civil engineer, who researched
and wrote the text, took the photographs for this Handbook and
developed it through experience in the recovery of Aceh and Nias.
Ms. Nurul Fitri Lubis and Ms. Maria Laia of the Bureau of
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation (BRR)-Nias, who produced the
diagrams; and Mr. William Sabandar, Head of BRR-Nias Islands, who
provided invaluable support to the production, testing and
implementation of this Handbook in the Nias Islands.
xiii
Contents
Purpose of the Handbook iii
Forewords v
• Yiping Zhou v
Director, Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, UNDP
• Salvano Briceno vii
Director, International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
• Bo Asplund ix
UN Resident Coordinator, Indonesia
• Kuntoro Mangkusubroto xi
Director, Bureau of Rehabilitation
and Reconstruction NAD-Nias, Indonesia
Acknowledgements xiii
Design Principles
Summary Description 17
1 Foundations 18
7 Drainage principles 48
8 House elevation 49
Construction and Materials Principles
Summary Description 53
1 Foundations 54
3 Mixing concrete 67
4 Making columns 68
5 Reinforcement 74
6 Roofing 77
2 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Example of bad foundations. The houses are being built
in a swampy, flood-prone area. Soon after they were built
the houses were flooded when there was heavy rain and
water entered the houses. These foundations in
permanently wet soil will also be weak when an
earthquake shakes the ground.
Design Principles 3
Liquefaction. Example of a well-built and well-structured
house that was not quite finished when a major hazard
struck. The house was good but the foundations were
poor. Due to a major earthquake the foundations
suffered from liquefaction of the ground, and due to the
weight of the house, it subsided unevenly into the
ground.
4 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
2 The Building needs a Coherent Structure
If the structure is coherent and strong, it protects
the whole house.
• A regular structure
Design Principles 5
This good, regularly-structured building, withstood
the tsunami when all buildings around it were totally
destroyed. Notice the structure of columns and floors
which are all joined to each other in a regular format.
Overhanging parts of the building are all well supported
by columns.
6 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
This illustrates good structural design principles for a
reinforced concrete structure and brick wall building. A
complete structural frame around the building is tied in
to the foundation, the walls and the roof structure. Doors
and windows have a beam over them to carry the weight
of the wall above and to strengthen the columns.The top
of the walls is also tied together with the columns, by a
second reinforced concrete ring beam, and end walls are
strengthened.
Design Principles 7
Good structure. This is a well-structured house that
follows all the above design principles. Notice the good
foundation, the good structure framing the building, and
the two ring beams connecting all the building elements
at the top of doors and windows and at the top of the
walls.
8 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
This is an example of bad practice. The columns are very
poor, made in many stages with gaps in concrete in
between so that the reinforcing will rust. The columns are
also too small because the bricks were laid first, the
columns were made to fit within the thickness of a brick,
and there was not enough room for properly covering the
column reinforcement. There is no ring beam over the
window, which has a wooden frame that has been placed
in the wall after most of the window opening was made,
making it very weak to a lateral force from a hazard impact.
If the wood of the window frame deteriorates, the wall will
begin to crack and may then collapse.
Design Principles 9
Another example of a poorly structured house, despite
having good columns and a ring beam at the top of walls.
In earthquakes, despite the fact that this is a new
building, the walls have already begun to crack diagonally
from all the corners of the windows. This is why the
building remains unfinished. This building is hard to
repair in its current situation.
10 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Not good structure. Another example of a reasonably
designed house which has too little attention given to
bracing the walls against lateral forces. No strengthening is
provided around openings in the walls, and they will be
subject to cracking when the forces of nature strike, as well
as to progressive deterioration which will be hard to repair.
Design Principles 11
Good practice. Reinforced concrete column inserted to
strengthen the triangular gable end wall so that it will
not fall when a lateral force strikes the building. The
reinforcing steel must be cast into the concrete ring
beam at the top of the walls. All end walls of this nature
need reinforcement to strengthen them, or they are
liable to fall when the building is subjected to a major
lateral force.
12 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Connection of wood frame building to concrete
frame/brick stub walls
Design Principles 13
3 Joining Walls to Roof Structure
Join walls and roof to strengthen each other.
14 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
An illustration of binding roof trusses to building
structure. Roof trusses should be constructed over
columns, and for a concrete column the reinforcement
should protrude at the top and be bent over roof trusses
to join the roof structure with the wall structure. Metal
straps can be used for this role, particularly where the
building structure is made of wood.
Design Principles 15
An example of column steel reinforcement bent over
roof truss to tie house structure to the roof structure.This
is an essential detail in areas subject to earthquake and
to winds, to maintain house integrity when a natural
hazard strikes the structure. The ring beam at the top of
the wall has not yet been constructed on this house.
16 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Example of bad practice. Roof trusses are not constructed
over columns or connected to the building structure.
Reinforcing steel from the column is bent down out of
the way instead of being bent over the roof structure to
tie it down and to tie the roof structure to the wall
structure for greater strength.
Design Principles 17
Example of incorrect practice. The roof structure is
good, but no connection is made between roof trusses
and the building structure. The roof is just standing on
the top of the house walls and is subject to moving with
high winds or other forces of nature.
18 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Poor practice. This strengthening of the triangular end
walls of a reinforced concrete structure and brick wall
building is insufficient. The steel reinforcement is not
long enough to brace the entire height of the wall and to
be wrapped around the apex of the roof truss. It also has
too few hoops for adequate strength. The reinforcing
steel of the gable end strengthening column must be
cast into the concrete ring beam at the top of the walls.
Design Principles 19
4 Tying Walls to Building Structure
Walls tied to columns protects them from falling.
20 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Good practice. An illustration for a wood frame building,
where metal ties are used to tie wall materials to the
main structure of the building. Steel wall ties are to be at
40cm spacing.
Design Principles 21
Good practice. An illustration of a reinforced concrete
frame and brick wall building, where metal ties are used
to tie walls to the main building structure. Steel wall ties
are to be at 40cm spacing and a minimum of 8mm
diameter, and bent at the end.They are for all openings in
the walls.
22 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
A good example of wall ties cast into columns to
connect the walls with the building structure. Ties are at
40cm spacing from bottom to top of the wall. However, in
this illustration they lack hooks at the ends at this point
in construction.
Design Principles 23
Result of no ties. This is an example of what happens
when walls are not tied to columns. The main part of this
building (two floors on the left) withstood the force of
the tsunami striking it, but the one floor extension
collapsed. The columns could not support the force of
the tsunami on the walls of this house extension because
of the lack of ties between the walls and the columns.The
one floor part also lacked a strong structure.
24 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Result of lack of ties. Another example of what happens
when the walls are not tied to the columns. The wall
panel on the left is moving away from the column
because it has not been tied into the column.
Design Principles 25
5 Roof Truss Ties
Flexible but strong roof trusses enhance safety.
26 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
This illustration shows the metal straps tying together
the different elements of the roof structure at this joint in
the roofing, so that they will be held together when
affected by extreme forces of nature.
Design Principles 27
This illustration shows a strap across the joint at the apex
of the roof structure.This is always good practice. Notice
also that for a wooden roof structure, wooden blocks
should be used for support, not a single nail and not nails
into the wood.
28 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
6 Cross Bracing of Walls and Roof
The walls and roof need bracing against lateral
movement.
Design Principles 29
Good practice. Traditional Nias houses, which have
stood through many earthquakes, are well supported
and well cross braced throughout. Notice a large amount
of supporting columns under the house and in the walls,
and a lot of solid cross bracing in all directions under the
house to prevent lateral movement.
30 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Example of a cross bracing system for the walls and also
for the columns under the house for a wooden house
structure. The cross bracing system provides strength
against lateral forces so that the building does not
collapse sideways but is held together. This is a system
used in traditional houses and needs to be continued in
modern houses.
Design Principles 31
7 Drainage Principles
Drainage plans are essential to good house design.
32 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
8 House Elevation
Safeguard house contents from flooding.
Design Principles 33
Good house elevation in an area vulnerable to
tsunamis. The houses are elevated on well-reinforced
concrete column structures, which are also designed to
withstand lateral forces by the reinforced angle cross
bracing at the top of the columns.
34 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Good house elevation. A larger building with a similar
good raised base. This building has a concrete raft
foundation to spread the load of the building over a
weak foundation soil.
Design Principles 35
A poor development because the new houses are built
on the ground, where subsidence and scouring due to
the earthquakes and tsunami have led to a lower ground
level than before. There is danger of flooding from the
river which runs round the site, as well as vulnerability to
the sea. These houses should be elevated on stilts in this
location.
36 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Construction and
Materials Principles
Summary Description
38 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction, Aceh and Nias Islands
1 Foundations
Make a strong base for the house.
Design Principles 39
A good foundation, well laid, cemented and joined
together, made of broken stone. But there is no column
steel fixed in the foundation. The building built on this
good foundation will not be anchored to it.
40 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction, Aceh and Nias Islands
Good material for foundations – broken rock. This
material is of a harder rock, of sufficiently large size and
rocks will not slip between each other. If it is properly laid
and properly cemented, it will make a good foundation.
42 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction, Aceh and Nias Islands
This foundation is weak, since it has too many rounded
stones that are not properly laid, and are not adequately
bonded together with cement.The result is often that the
floor and walls will crack as the foundations settle or
move unequally.
44 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
2 Sand and Gravel
Choice of materials affects the strength of the
building.
46 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Example of good quality sand. This sand is all of about
the same coarse texture and does not have stones in it or
a lot of dust. Sand can be tested by lifting up a handful
and letting it fall back to the ground. If a significant
portion of it blows away instead of falling straight down,
it has too much dust and needs to be sieved.
48 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Bad practice. Debris should not be allowed to be mixed
with any of the ingredients for making concrete. Such
debris seriously weakens the strength of concrete. This
sand will need to be cleaned before it is used for mixing
into concrete. All plastic, leaves, grass, and other debris
must be removed before using sand or gravel for making
concrete. Harmful debris particularly enters the concrete
when it is mixed by hand on the ground.
Design Principles 49
Gravel is best made of crushed rock, not of river
rounded stones
50 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Poorly-graded gravel, with many stones too large for
making good construction concrete, and also some fine
sand. For house building the gravel should not have
stones larger than 3/4 inch (20mm).
52 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
4 Making Columns
Strong columns provide strength to the structure.
54 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Poor concreting of column in a particularly important
area – the connection between the column and the ring
beam at the top of the walls. This may lead to failure of
this joint when a major lateral force is applied by nature.
It will gradually rust and deteriorate even when covered
over with mortar.
56 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Bad practice. There is only one reinforcing bar in the
centre of the structural columns at the corners of this
house which all collapsed. A round bar can pull through
the column concrete and provides little strength to it
when it is in the center of the column. Columns should
have at least 4 bars.
60 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Round bars
62 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Not good practice. Roof trusses are near but not over
the columns, and column steel is not long enough and
not bent over roof structure to connect between roof
structure and column structure. This is a weak building
method.
64 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Bad jointing practice. Roof structure joined near mid
span with a 45º joint. This is a weak joint, not properly
made, and it will gradually give way, leading to a sagging
roof. It will not support workers building or working on
the roof.
• Wall ties must be bent at the end to hook into the wall
material.
66 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
A good example of wall ties inserted into columns
before they were made, so that walls will be well tied in
to the structural columns.They lack hooks at their ends at
this point in the construction.
68 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
A good example of collecting roof water in tanks for
household use. This water is freely available and is
usually of good quality, if many leaves are not falling on
the roof. A screen at the entrance to the tank will filter out
unwanted debris.
* Reference can also be made to Pedoman Teknis, Rumah dan Bangunan Gedung Tahan
Gempa, Departemen Pekerjaan Umum, June 2006
3 Building materials
d Concrete:
• No vegetable matter is to be mixed into concrete,
no grass, wood, leaves, or roots.
• It must be well mixed. Use a minimum of water. It must
be stiff. If the mixture flows like water, it has too much
water.
• It must be vibrated or tamped with a round rod to
ensure proper filling of the form and proper cover to all
reinforcing.
72 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
4 Structural columns
5 Building structure
74 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
8 Roofing and roof truss joints
10 Drainage
Design Principles 75
b All drains must have a constant fall towards a common
drain.
76 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
House Building Checklist
1 Foundations
House built on o Sand o Rock o Clay
o Dry foundation o Wet foundation
2 House elevation
Adequate elevation o Yes o No
3 Building Materials
Sand and gravel:
Clean, coarse sand, without stones o Yes o No
Mixing concrete:
Well mixed, with limited water o Yes o Inferior
Making columns:
All columns well constructed, before walls
o Yes o No
Reinforcement:
o Round steel o Deformed o Twisted Deformed
Structural ring beam above doors and windows, and at top of walls
o Yes o No
9 Drainage principles
Proper drainage plan o Yes o No
78 Handbook On Good Building Design and Construction Aceh and Nias Islands
Our homes contain the people and things which are
closest to us. Let us ensure that our buildings are
constructed more safely, so that the people inside them,
and their property, will be better protected in the event
of a major hazard impact. Even in more minor hazard
events, the effects can be cumulative. Each one of the
principles in this Handbook will have an added effect in
reducing the vulnerability of the house to collapse when
the forces of nature impact it.