Common Mistakes on Construction Sites
Why “LOL” doesn’t mean “laughing out loud” in the construction industry.”
A completed house or structure doesn’t necessarily mean it will meet the expected structural and functional requirements as planned. Many a times we have witnessed structures collapse, others leak, peeling walls and some cracking because of some of the listed practices. For as long as we keep these common mistakes, we should expect same results. Usually the corrective measures come with costs. Am not pretending the list is complete but it highlights common practices we are guilty of.
- Copying and pasting house plans.
- Starting a journey without a road map. Starting construction without drawings and necessary contract documents.
- Calling everyone an engineer, be it a porter, welder!
- Ignoring the health and safety of workers on site.
- Using ordinary stones or broken bricks instead of hardcore in the foundation.
- Misinterpretation of concrete mix ratios (1:2:4 I bag of cement, 2 wheelbarrows of sand and 4 wheel barrows of aggregates).
- Omission of the DPM or DPC (black polythene bags)
- Inadequate compaction of the of ground surfaces.
- Inadequate time for concrete settlement (drying).
- Many people never cure cast concrete surfaces.
- Wrongful use of reinforcement bars.
- Mistakes in payment of workers.
- Many don’t inspect the materials purchased. For example do you look out for the right sizes of aggregates and bricks?
- Using wrong thicknesses for mortar or plaster.
- Ignoring insurance policies to control risks.
- Use of wrong tools and equipment’s.
