Estimating the Ratios of Masonry Wall and Wall Finishing Work to the Building Area, Considering Only the Area within the Building’s Boundaries: A Case Study of a Two-story Reinforced Concrete House

Abstract

This research aims to study the ratios of the quantity of masonry wall and wall finishing per unit of a major factor that can be easily calculated: the building area, considering only the area that falls within the building's boundaries. A two-story reinforced concrete residential house is used as a case study. Building area calculation and detailed quantity takeoff of masonry wall and wall finishing are implemented for the house designs of 56 samples. Pearson’s correlation coefficient determines the relationship between the major factor and the quantity of work studied to identify a major factor's practicality. The ratios of the quantities of work studied to the major factor are examined using mean statistics and the distribution range according to the Empirical Rule with a 95% coverage probability. The results indicate that the size of the floor area within the building's boundaries is suitable as a major factor for a rough estimation of masonry wall and wall finishing, as it shows a very high correlation with the quantities of work studied. When testing the results against three house designs, it was found that the ratios calculated from the detailed takeoffs of the three houses fell within the range of the study's results and that the differences from the average study results were within the acceptable accuracy range of the rough estimation method, which could vary by 20-30%.