Cost factors affecting the design of ground‐ supported floors

The cost of concrete ground‐supported floor slabs represents a significant proportion of the total capital cost of industrial projects. There are many structural design issues that impact on the concrete contractors’ method of construction. This is becoming more apparent with the use of new high‐technology levelling and trowelling equipment, which has significantly increased the pour and finishing rates, resulting in much faster slab construction times compared with the traditional methods of construction. Selection of both the design and the construction methods exerts a large influence on the initial cost. According to the results of the research reported in this paper, it may be possible to save between 2‐4 per cent of the building cost if high technology solutions are incorporated into the design and construction process. This paper investigates cost issues that impact on the design and construction of ground‐supported floors for industrial buildings.