ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

ADDIS ABABA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (AAIT)

SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame

Construction Method for 40/60 Housing Projects in Addis Ababa – A
Case Study on Megenagna Site

By: Belachew Yilma

GSE/1315/07
Advisor :Abebe Dinku, Prof. (Dr.-Ing)

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Addis Ababa University

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of
Engineering in Civil Engineering
(Construction Management and Technology)

June, 2019
 ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
ADDIS ABABA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (AAIT)
SCHOOL OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

This is to certify that the thesis prepared by Belachew Yilma, entitled Prefabrication
Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for 40/60 Housing
Projects in Addis Ababa – A Case Study on Megenagna Site submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Engineering (Civil Engineering –
Construction Technology & Management) complies with the regulations of the university and
meets the accepted standard with respect to originality and quality.

Approved By Board of Examiners

Abebe Dinku, Prof. (Dr.-Ing) ------------------------------

Advisor

------------------------------ ------------------------------
Examiner

------------------------------ ------------------------------
Chairman
 Acknowledgements

First, I would like to thank the Lord for all that He has done for me in my life, and creating all the
conditions needed for the fruition of this research. I would also like to express my sincere
appreciation to all PBPPE staff who contributed to this project by responding to my requests for
information and insight. I thank my advisor and instructors at AAIT for following up on my progress
and providing me encouragement and support.

I am grateful for my dad for making me keep pushing myself in the academic path and inspiring me
to excel. Thanks to the rest of my family members for their all rounded support. Last but not least, I
would like to thank my wife for her overwhelming love and support which gave me the energy to
fulfill the requirements for an MENG final project.

[I]
 Contents
Contents ...................................................................................................................................... I
List of Figures.......................................................................................................................... IV
List of tables .............................................................................................................................. V
Abbreviation ............................................................................................................................ VI
Keywords ................................................................................................................................ VII
Abstract .................................................................................................................................. VIII
1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background and history .......................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Research Method ..................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Scope of the Research ............................................................................................................. 2
1.4 Research limitation .................................................................................................................. 3
1.5 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................................ 3
1.6 Hypotheses .............................................................................................................................. 4
1.7 Objective of the study ............................................................................................................. 4
2 Literature Review ................................................................................................................5
2.1 Definition of Prefabrication ................................................................................................... 5
2.2 Origins of Precast Construction .............................................................................................. 5
2.3 Brief History of Precast Construction ..................................................................................... 5
2.4 Major Advances and Current Status of the Precast Industry .................................................. 8
2.5 Clarification of Terms Used in Precast Construction : Pre-stressed ,Pretension ,Post-
Tensioned Concrete .......................................................................................................................... 10
2.6 Application of prefabricated Concrete in housing industry .................................................. 11
2.6.1 Types of precast systems ............................................................................................... 11
2.7 Prefabricated Building components ...................................................................................... 12
2.7.1 Design Concepts for Precast Concrete Buildings .......................................................... 15
2.7.2 Production and Transportation ....................................................................................... 17
2.7.3 Erection Considerations ................................................................................................. 17
2.7.4 Typical Connection of Precast Concrete Elements ........................................................ 18
2.7.5 Elements of Precast Fixtures and Tool .......................................................................... 20

[I]
 2.8 The Precast Preparation Process ........................................................................................... 22
2.9 Construction Management .................................................................................................... 23
2.10 Other countries Experience ................................................................................................... 24
2.10.1 American Experience ..................................................................................................... 24
2.10.2 Yugoslavian (CzechRepublic and Slovenia) Experience .............................................. 25
2.10.3 Singapore Experience .................................................................................................... 26
2.10.4 Japan Experience ........................................................................................................... 27
2.10.5 China Experience ........................................................................................................... 27
2.10.6 .South African Experience ............................................................................................. 28
2.11 Construction in Ethiopia........................................................................................................ 28
2.11.1 Coopertiva Muratori’e Cementisti (C.M.C)................................................................... 31
2.11.2 The Prefabricated Building Parts Production Enterprise (PBPPE)................................ 32
2.11.3 Current Status of Prefabrication Technology ................................................................ 37
2.12 Ethiopian Housing Policies ................................................................................................... 38
2.12.1 The Pre 1975 Situation................................................................................................... 38
2.12.2 Housing Development between 1975 and 1993 ............................................................ 39
2.12.3 The Current Situation Policy ......................................................................................... 40
3 Research methods and Methodology .................................................................................42
3.1 Research methods .................................................................................................................. 42
3.1.1 Study Area ..................................................................................................................... 42
3.1.2 Study design ................................................................................................................... 42
3.1.3 Sample size determination and sampling technique ...................................................... 43
3.1.4 Method of data collection .............................................................................................. 43
3.1.5 Research Variables......................................................................................................... 44
3.1.6 Plan of data analysis....................................................................................................... 44
3.2 Research Methodology:......................................................................................................... 44
4 Presentation and Analysis of Data .....................................................................................45
4.1 Cost Estimation Methodology............................................................................................... 45
4.1.1 Method of Cost Comparison in Construction Industry: ................................................. 45
4.1.2 Comparison of Standardized Identical Buildings .......................................................... 45
4.1.3 Comparison of Standard Buildings with Local Modifications: ..................................... 45

[II]
 4.1.4 Comparison of Functionally Similar Buildings: ............................................................ 45
4.2 Financial Assessment of the Prefab and 40/60 Apartment Buildings ................................... 46
4.2.1 Structural Description .................................................................................................... 46
4.3 Bill of Quantity of Selected Buildings .................................................................................. 50
4.3.1 Cost analysis of 40/60 (2B+G+12)Conventional Construction ..................................... 50
4.3.2 Bill of Quantity of Prefabricated Model ICT park B+G+8 Building ............................ 51
4.3.3 Cost Comparison the selected 40/60 apartment building(2B+G+12) and Prefab model
G+8 Building ................................................................................................................................ 52
4.4 Analysis of Cost Savings Related To Construction Time ..................................................... 53
4.4.1 Computation of Monthly Supervision cost .................................................................... 54
4.4.2 Computation of Cost Saving from Bank Interest ........................................................... 57
4.4.3 Computation of Cost Saving from house renting by End users ..................................... 57
5 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................60
6 Conclusions and Recommendations ..................................................................................62
6.1 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................... 62
6.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 63
7 References ..........................................................................................................................65
8 Appendix ............................................................................................................................67

[III]
 List of Figures
Figure 2:1.Apartment construction in the U.S.S.R. using prefabricated cells to
make up the structure [19] ................................................................................. 6
Figure 2:2. Seven-wire strand and strand vise [3] ............................................. 7
Figure 2:3.Long Line Casting Bed. [3] .............................................................. 7
Figure 2:4 Different types of Precast Slabs [6] ................................................ 13
Figure 2:5 Precast Concrete Wall [6]............................................................... 14
Figure 2:6.Precast Concrete Column [6] ......................................................... 14
Figure 2:7 Precast Concrete Beam & Inverted Tee beams supported on precast
columns[6] ....................................................................................................... 15
Figure 2:8.Precast concrete Stairs[6] ............................................................... 15
Figure 2:9 Precast Column Connection [7] ..................................................... 18
Figure 2:10 Precast Beam to Column Connection[7] ...................................... 19
Figure 2:11.Precast Slab to Beam Connection [7] ........................................... 19
Figure 2:12.Some of the Buildings Built by P.B.P.P.E ................................... 36
Figure 2:13. Recent accomplishment of P.B.P.P.E in “Goro” ICT Park ......... 37
Figure 4:1. Sample Floor Plan of ICT Park Prefab Building [Source:ICT Park
project office] ................................................................................................... 48
Figure 4:2. Sample Floor Plan of 40/60 Apartment building[ Source :Project
office] ............................................................................................................... 49
Figure 4:3. Construction Time Schedule for Conventional construction ........ 53
Figure 4:4. Construction time schedule for prefab building ............................ 54

[IV]
 List of tables
Table 2-1.Precast Fixtures and Tools with Corresponding Illustrations ......... 20
Table 4-1 Summary of the building ................................................................. 47
Table 4-2. Summary of Floor Areas ICT Park Prefab Building ...................... 48
Table 4-3. Summary of Floor Areas of 40/60 Apartment Building ................. 49
Table 4-4. Summary of Cost For 40/60 Conventional Construction ............... 50
Table 4-5. Summarized Price for B+G+8 Prefabricated Building................... 51
Table 4-6.Cost Comparison per m2 area of structural frame construction ...... 53
Table 4-7.Summery of Professional assigned for 17 Blocks ........................... 55
Table 4-8. Summary of Professional Fee for 17 Blocks .................................. 56
Table 4-9. Reimbursable Office, Office Facilities, Report and Professional
indemnity and other insurance Expenses ......................................................... 56
Table 4-10. Cost Saving from Supervision Fee per block ............................... 56
Table 4-11. Summary of Saving From Bank interest ...................................... 57
Table 4-12. Summary of Condominium House renting price.......................... 58
Table 4-13. Summary of Number of households per floor/Block ................... 58
Table 4-14.Total saving by end users from house renting. .............................. 58
Table 4-15. Total Cost Advantage from Time saving of prefab house ........... 59

[V]
 Abbreviation
AARH Agency for the Administration of Rental Houses
CMC Cooperativa Muratorie Cementisti”
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GTP Growth and Transformation Plan
HCB Hollow concrete blocks
HOB Housing and Development Board
AAHDE Addis Ababa City Housing Development Enterprise
ICT Information Communication Technology
IHDP Integrated Housing Development Program
IMS Institute for testing of materials
MHI Manufactured Housing Institute
P.B.P.P.E Prefabricated Building parts production Enterprise
PCI Precast/pre-stressed Concrete Institute
PHF Prefab Housing Factory
RCC Reinforced cement concrete
UK United Kingdom
UN United Nations
US United State of America
USD United State Dollar
WWII World War II

[VI]
 Keywords
- Comparison Between Construction Methods
- Construction Cost
- Construction Quality
- Construction Speed
- Precast Construction
- Cast in-situ Construction
-40/60 Saving House Project

[VII]
 Abstract
It can be easily noticed how there are numerous defects in almost all of the concrete buildings in
Ethiopia. Anyone who works in the construction industry would have witnessed poor quality of work
in several projects. If such a person has an engineering and construction management background,
the quality problems and subsequent technical risks would stand out even more.
This MEng final project is about precast construction as alternative method of construction for mass
housing projects, specifically, about the significance of this construction method being introduced in
Ethiopia. Despite the array of structural, serviceability, and quality problems that are very common, it
is exciting to think of the tremendous opportunities that such a fresh start as precast construction
would bring. Where the equipment and production space is available, structural concrete elements
could be cast and cured in a controlled manner on the ground level. This could be seen as a
characteristic feature of the precast method of construction
The reader will find brief descriptions of the in-situ construction method, other countries experience
on prefabrication and overview of Ethiopian policy towards housing for the past three regimes .
The research then goes on to study the cost benefit analysis of precast construction over conventional
method of construction , Using a case study 40/60 saving apartment building in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, the aim of the study was to evaluate the differences in cost, quality ,delivery time for both
construction technologies in delivering the house to the end users, in order to determine which of the
two had lower cost, good quality and time saving; and would be a better-performing alternative for
the Ethiopia's construction industry.
The findings are mostly as would be expected. Mainly, the precast method was found to be better in
cost saving ,quality, resources, and time, than the in-situ construction method. It was also found that
there are certain types of buildings that are more suitable to be constructed using the precast method.
Finally, the research reveals that 36% cost saving if we use prefabrication for mass house
development project..
This is a major reason that this topic was chosen for MEng project. It was arrived upon while
searching for ways of modernizing the construction process in leaps and bounds. With the degree of
out datedness of the construction process in Ethiopia, a catapulting change is needed just to cop up
with where the modern world has already reached.

[VIII]
[IX]
Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
40/60 Housing Project

1 Introduction

1.1 Background and history

As the population continuously growing rapidly, so the need of rapid or fast construction is
requirement of current and future generation. Precast concrete construction methods are become
feasible and alternatives method or solution in such applications likes buildings and bridges. The
primary benefit of precast construction is the speed of construction (i.e. reduction in time of
construction), waste management, and cost efficient construction. Precast elements can be cast in
controlled environment conditions at a pre casting yard in advance of when they will be required,
stocked, and transported to the construction site carefully as required. The structure can then
simply be assembled precast elements. The construction of members or element is design by
industrial method (1).
In general, precast construction systems are said to be economical when compared to
conventional (i.e. cast-in-place) residential construction (apartment buildings).The use of tools,
heavy machinery, and other modern equipment, usually automated, in the production of precast
element, interchangeable parts and products. As the precast elements are manufactured in
controlled environment there is an elimination of weather effects on it.
Now a day’s many developing countries looking for quality product of construction and
increasing the productivity of precast element. Precast concrete is the ideal solution for residential
because the structure of residential buildings are somewhat standard so the construction of same
type of elements are easy and result in to cost saving on if its production is in bulk. Precast
concrete provides durability, flexibility, sound, durable and versatility with cost effectively.
Precast concrete construction required less construction process which saves money on financing
costs. Cost saving on labor policies, skills development of employ, providing training to them is
major factors. Maintenance cost will also reduce in precast concrete construction (1).
The rapid population growth of most of the developing countries makes effective and efficient
service delivery difficult for governments, to satisfy the need of their residents. Housing is
considered to be one of the basic requirements for human survival, but it still remains to be a
major obstacle for developing countries that are unable to fulfill the housing needs of the people.
Ethiopian economy is growing at a faster rate especially in the past two decades. In which the
construction industry is believed to have the major contribution. Construction Industry contributes
to economic development by satisfying the basic objective of development including output
generation, employment creation, income generation and redistribution. It also plays a major role
in satisfying basic physical and social need including a production of shelter, infrastructure and
consumer goods (1).

Belachew Y.Mohammed, AAIT,AAU [1] June,2019

Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
40/60 Housing Project
The history of prefabrication in the West begins with Great Britain’s global colonization effort. In
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, settlements in today’s India, the Middle East, Africa,
Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States required a rapid building initiative. Since
the British were not familiar with many of the materials in abundance in these countries,
components were manufactured in England and shipped by boat to the various locations
worldwide. The earliest of such cases recorded was in 1624, when houses were prepared in
England and sent to the fishing village of Cape Anne in what is now a city in Massachusetts (2).
In 1954, the mobile home industry expanded with the need for affordable rapidly constructed
housing. Similar to the UK temporary housing programs, mobile homes were completely built as
a module on a chassis in a factory and then trucked to site. Mobile homes kept their wheels,
making them capable of transport, but in most cases were never moved. By 1968, mobiles
accounted for a quarter of all single family housing in the United States (2).

1.2 Research Method

Based on the research goal, this research can be categorized under applied research. This is
because the results of the research analyses are meant to be applied instead of solely enriching the
knowledge base; based on research objectives, it is both a descriptive and exploratory research.
The reason it could be under these two categories is because the research has both aspects. It has
abundant descriptions of its topics of consideration, wherever it is deemed necessary, while it also
critically explores topics that need to be analyzed, explained, and put in perspective.
Based on research approach, it is again both a qualitative research and quantitative research; It has
a quantitative approach when it deals with the quantitative data, and it takes on a qualitative
nature for numerous non-number data. Based on research design, it is a Non experimental type, as
it does not involve any experimental works in its data collection and analysis; Accordingly based
on data type, it is secondary research (desk study), as no experimental works were needed.
The approach to data collection adopted for conducting this research is fieldwork (primary data
collection) specifically the survey approach. Personal interviews and archives from P.B.P.P.E are
the basic research instrument to collect data. The information obtained from those sources were
analyzed and the summarized.

1.3 Scope of the Research

This paper focuses on the application of prefab concrete technology for housing development
sector and the cost comparison conducted mainly focuses on the total cost for constructing the
structural elements of a 2B+G+12 and 18 40/60 condominium houses, including supervision

Belachew Y.Mohammed, AAIT,AAU [2] June,2019

Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
40/60 Housing Project
costs, interest cost, related opportunity costs. The cost analysis part of this paper doesn’t include
walling, finishing, sanitary, electrical, electromechanical, etc. costs.

1.4 Research limitation

The problems encountered while preparing the research
- Unavailability of written literatures and required data particularly on prefabrication system
in Ethiopia.
- The unwillingness of officials to provide information, so that the investigation was carried
with very limited data obtained.
- Monopolization of prefabrication by one company limits the versatility of costing the
buildings
- Lack of code of practice for prefab design which limit the versatility of building types
- Since the project focus on the structural frame construction. Hence will not give full
comparison on finished building
- There is no systematic way to control the inventory of material supply for 40/60 apartment
project on Megenagna project site which limit to analyze and compare the wastage of
material with the prefab building method

1.5 Statement of the Problem

Housing is the major problem currently Ethiopia is facing. The combination of high population
,poor delivery system 40/60 condominium house by government and urban growth rates coupled
with a high occurrence of urban poverty and migration from rural areas to urban areas have
contributed to enormous strain on Ethiopian cites especially on Addis Ababa.
The characteristic of the construction industry contributes significantly to housing problems in
Ethiopia. These are its late delivery system, expensiveness, poor wastage management, poor
quality which results in a high maintenance cost and poor workmanship on construction sites.
These problems create a gap between the demand and supply of housing by prohibiting
effectiveness as well as efficiency on cost, time and quality.
In order to improve these characteristics of the industry, an alternative technology should be
adopted to transform the current conventional way of construction to more advance, fast and
economical construction technique. One of these alternatives is considered to be prefabricated
technology. That has been used for years and it has been proven to be effective in building large
scale housings in the world.

Belachew Y.Mohammed, AAIT,AAU [3] June,2019

Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
40/60 Housing Project

1.6 Hypotheses

- Prefabrication Construction is more economical alternative than conventional construction

methods for 40/60 Condominium Housing Projects.
- Faster return on investment for the client and public can be achieved by using prefab
construction.
- Shorter durations for fixing and erection operations this advantage gives the government
higher rate of house transfer to the demanding public in parallel with faster modernization
of the city.

1.7 Objective of the study

1) To carry out total project time and cost comparison between prefabrication and
conventional structural frame construction methods for Addis Ababa housing development
projects specifically on 40/60 Condominium projects located at Megenegna site.
2) To identify which construction method is Affordable and offers fast delivery of houses to
the growing society
3) To Assess the experiences and best practices of developed and developing countries on
prefabrication technology for mass housing projects
4) To Assess the current prefabrication industry in relation to the housing Demand and
supply and to come up with recommendations to improve our prefabrication technology
practice

Belachew Y.Mohammed, AAIT,AAU [4] June,2019

Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
40/60 Housing Project

2 Literature Review

2.1 Definition of Prefabrication

Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other

manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction
site where the structure is to be located.

The term “precast concrete” or “prefabricated concrete” is a construction product produced by

casting concrete in a reusable mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment,
transported to the construction site and lifted into place. These include; foundation walls, sound-
barrier walls, retaining walls, floor and roof slabs, architectural panels, paving elements, modular
housing, manholes, box culverts, utility boxes, grease and oil interceptors, septic tanks, treatment
plants, precast tanks, bridges, piers and tunnels (3).

A prefabricated building is a type of building that consists of several factory-built components or

units that are assembled on-site to complete the unit. Modular construction' is a term used to
describe the use of factory-produced pre-engineered building units that are delivered to site and
assembled as large volumetric components or as substantial elements of a building (3).

2.2 Origins of Precast Construction

Ancient Romans used to pour concrete into molds to build aqueducts, culverts and tunnels
beginning around 100 B.C. In modern times, precast was first utilized in Liverpool, England by
then city engineer John Alexander Brodie in 1905. Later, the method was widely adopted in
Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. In the US, the precast concrete “products” industry, which
mostly encompasses non-pre-stressed precast products for utilities construction is represented by
the NPCA. Meanwhile, the precast concrete “structures” industry which includes pre-stressed
precast concrete and other precast elements used in buildings, bridges, and parking structure.

2.3 Brief History of Precast Construction

Precast construction started to be widely used in the U.S.S.R. in 1954. The products mainly
consisted of separate precast elements that would all be assembled on site. Since 1958, precast
cell systems started to be produced. “By this new concept, individual large sections of buildings
are manufactured instead of separate precast concrete elements…”. Parts of apartment buildings,
as big as one complete living unit at once, started to be precast and assembled. “… entire cells of

Belachew Y.Mohammed, AAIT,AAU [5] June,2019

Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
40/60 Housing Project

buildings, for installation as completed sections of a block of apartments, have been

manufactured” [19]. Figure 2.1 shows such an assembly.

Figure 2:1.Apartment construction in the U.S.S.R. using prefabricated cells to make up the
structure [19]
Marked use of machinery for concrete production, and the use of pre-stressed reinforcement
became very prominent after this method of construction sprung up and gained popularity in the
developed countries. In 1949, there was no precast pre-stressed concrete production in the US. In
1974, 1.4 billion dollars’ worth of precast was sold by North American precast plants.
The first major pre-stressed structure built in the US is the Walnut Lane Bridge in 1949. It was
designed by a European engineer, Gustave Magnel.
In a Canadian Conference on Pre-stressed Concrete in 1954, Magnel criticized the American
production industry saying that they have highly specialized machinery which has resulted in a
“save labor” hilosophy that prevented Magnel’s team from producing 100,000 identical bridges.
Special fittings like sandwich plates and rubber cores for the Walnut Lane Bridge were only
needed in a few hundred which no one in America was interested in “machine tooling”, so they
had to be manufactured in Europe.
Mikhailov states that in the beginning, there were five factors that mass production of pre-stressed
concrete depended on.
i. Availability of 7-wire cold drawn stress relieved steel strand, i.e. pre-stressing wire.
ii. Development of a workable strand vise, used to apply tension on the pre-stressing wire.

Belachew Y.Mohammed, AAIT,AAU [6] June,2019

Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
40/60 Housing Project

iii. Efficient production of high strength concrete.

iv. Implementation of the long straight line casting bed concept.
v. Development of standard cross sections”[19].
These are factors that affect PBPPE’s production process. For example, the pre-stressing strand
has to be imported from either Europe or India if production is being carried out. The wedge and
barrel that are used to lock the pre-stressing wire could now be produced in-house, although they
used to be imported for most of the plant’s lifetime. “These five accomplishments made possible
the rapid development of a mass production manufacturing industry in pre-stressed concrete” [3].

Figure 2:2. Seven-wire strand and strand vise [3]

Figure 2:3.Long Line Casting Bed. [3]

A different method of pre-stressing had been tried prior to this classic method, which included
winding wire “around rectangular beams to pre-stress them externally”. Magnel mentioned
additional concerns he had about pre-stressed precast production in the US stating that the high
strength, zero slump concrete required for pre-stressing could not be achieved because the
contractor preferred to save labor. They had to settle for 2 inch slumps which went down to 6 inch
slumps towards the end of the project.

This led the American concrete production industry to use the vacuum process, “where relatively
high-slump concrete was cast in special vacuum forms, and a low water-cement ratio was then
obtained by removing the excess mix water by means of vacuum”. There are advanced methods
that are being used now which can get much higher strength with zero slumps but “in the early
50's the vacuum process gave the fledgling industry a way of obtaining high-strength concretes
without decreasing the ease of placement” [3]. The Vacuum system was very large and expensive.

Belachew Y.Mohammed, AAIT,AAU [7] June,2019

Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
40/60 Housing Project

The long line casting method was another crucial development in precast production. Instead of
casting individual elements in separate forms and on separate pre-stressing beds in rapid
succession, it provides the more economic way of casting on a 150 meters long bed with pre-
stressing wires of the same length jacked at the ends of the bed. As can be imagined, this method
in itself presented enormous challenges relating to the shape of the structural element and the
varying steel profile in each of the elements, which were required for the structural efficiency of
the element.

Precast production seems to be most appropriate for producing precisely alike shapes and lengths
of concrete members repetitively, but this is not frequently the case in most buildings. The long
line process allows for the customization of concrete elements without losing the advantages of
fast and highly controlled precast production for bridges and other lineal road structures. The
repetitive production serves great benefits of saving time and money.

2.4 Major Advances and Current Status of the Precast Industry

With the comprehensive technological advancements of concrete, precast concrete has also found
applicable features. The Design Build Institute of America has published a paper discussing the
widely applied inventions and citing other more specialized innovations on concrete.

The publication states that “new advancements in concrete and cement-based products are
completely changing the design and construction worlds”. As in most North American
publications on precast, equal importance is given to the architectural decorative aspect of
concrete in the paper as it is to structural and workmanship aspects. However, since the focus of
this thesis is on quality, cost, and construction or production time of structural concrete members,
the applicable technologies have been included here.

Load-Bearing Wall (LBW) system is gaining recognition in high-rise buildings with repetitive
cell layouts, such as hotels and apartments. “… The walls and slab are poured simultaneously
when using the innovative tunnel form construction method”.

The improvements in tilt-up systems have been quite remarkable that precast load-bearing walls
can be lifted to large heights. This allows for different installations within the walls. “…The Tilt-
Up industry is reaching new heights with the record lift nearing 100 feet. Production is
streamlined with embedded facers cast integrally with wall panel to greatly reduce labor
requirements with conventional brick and mortar veneer”.

Belachew Y.Mohammed, AAIT,AAU [8] June,2019

Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
40/60 Housing Project

Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (AAC) is one of the most exciting inventions in concrete
technology. “Lightweight Masonry takes the form of AAC block. With sufficient structural
capacity to be used as low-rise bearing walls, AAC block greatly reduces masonry partition wall
weights for elevated slab construction”. Moreover, the porous nature of AAC allows for a
thorough curing on a micro granular level of internal concrete structure.

The following probably offer more advanced solutions than the basic kind that the
aforementioned innovations would provide, but the rapid competition within the international
construction industry could pose such demands in the near future.

A pro-level knowledge on the common characteristics of concrete suggests that traits such as
heavy weight, surface cracks and chipping are usually linked to the presence of coarse aggregates
in concrete. Despite their side-effects, coarse aggregates are what provide the majority of
compressive strength to the concrete. “Reactive powder concrete is extremely workable, durable
and yields ultra-high strengths without using coarse aggregates. Reaching compressive strengths
of 30,000 pounds per square inch (psi)…”. Ideally, this is one solution that can be used nearly
problem-free reinforced concrete members.
Self consolidating concrete is not really as recent as the other technologies mentioned above. It
has even been put to use in some large construction projects in Ethiopia. It is an important
innovation that allows for large size concrete bodies that would not be easy to consolidate using
conventional means such as vibration. “Self Consolidating Concrete (SCC) eliminates the need
for mechanical consolidation and yields a smooth surface finish without mix segregation. SCC
and computerized precision color are revolutionizing the precast industry” [21].
A number of other inventions are gaining popularity in concrete construction ranging from fiber
reinforcements as in Ultralite to long-span yet shallow truss systems such as Pre-stressed Open
Space Truss (P.O.S.T.). Fiber reinforcements are briefly discussed as follows.
The earliest that the precast industry started to make use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) as an
reinforcement alternative for concrete is in the early nineties in the United States. “The most
common use of FRP in infrastructure is for repair and strengthening of existing structures. FRP is
an attractive choice for these applications since it is often cost-effective, easy and quick to install,
and does not significantly affect the mass or geometry of a structure…”.
So far, the use FRP in concrete construction has not been wide spread, but it is forecasted to be
more utilized in precast construction in the future. “…Recent advances in the precast concrete
industry have enabled more widespread use of FRP in new construction with a variety of new
applications emerging”.

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Fiber reinforced polymers can be made in different forms like sheets, plates, bars, and grids.
Offering a wide range of applications for construction. “Construction of the panels consists of: (1)
casting the bottom layer of concrete, (2) placing the insulated rigid foam with FRP grid, and (3)
casting the top layer of concrete” [21].
Insulated Concrete Form walls (ICF) provide speed, sustainability, and endurance to concrete
structures. “In addition to rapid construction, energy savings and increased durability, owners also
gain a healthier and quieter environment. Most recently, blast-test experiments [on ICF walls]
showed exceptional results for resistance to catastrophic loadings, including fire, wind, and
tornados”.
PBPPE uses post-tensioning to pre-stress concrete members in precast construction projects.
“Post-Tensioning has new construction and retrofit applications. An intumescent material creates
fire-resistant PT strands for bridge deck and parking garages. The ‘Spider’ method retrofits
buildings for earthquake protection, while External Post-Tensioning (EPT) helps solve strength
and serviceability problems”.
Another finding that can be incorporated into precast construction systems is MMFX, a new
highly corrosion resistant form of steel that can reduce the speed and precision of concrete mat
construction. “…’Reinforcement Carpet’ gives a unique solution to reduce shipping and erection
costs… Galvanized and stainless clad rebar offer less expensive, but corrosion resistant
alternatives to stainless steel rebar. The latest technology of MMFX micro composite steel gives a
high-strength, corrosion-resistant product with a cost-effective price” [21].

2.5 Clarification of Terms Used in Precast Construction : Pre-stressed

,Pretension ,Post-Tensioned Concrete

“Pre-stressed concrete is concrete that has had internal stresses introduced to counteract, to the
degree desired, the tensile stresses that will be imposed during operation”. Pre-stressing tendons
could be “individual hard-drawn wires, cables of hard-drawn wires, or bars of high strength alloy
steel”. They may be used for Pre-tensioning or post-tensioning the precast concrete members.

Pre-tensioning is a process that involves pulling pre-stressing tendon in a frame or between

anchorages that would stay at the end surfaces of the member, and pouring fresh concrete around
it. After the concrete has set, the tensioned steel is released slowly to transfer stress to the
concrete that it has already bonded with. It takes a certain distance from the ends of the member
for the force to transfer and this is called the transfer length.

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Post-tensioning is when the concrete is cast around ducts through which pre-stressing tendons
would pass. After the concrete sets, the tendons are passed through the concrete member,
“tensioned by means of portable jacks” and fastened to the ends of adjacent members.
Anchorages are used for the fastening and they are left embedded in the concrete to maintain the
longitudinal compressive stress that they had transferred to the precast members. The ducts are
usually grouted to protect the tendons form rust. “Post-tensioning can be done on the job site
without any need of heavy temporary anchorages. Anchorages are needed for each tendon,
however, which is a significant cost item” [9].

2.6 Application of prefabricated Concrete in housing industry

2.6.1 Types of precast systems

According to the World Housing Encyclopedia (WHE), precast systems can be divided into the
following categories, based on the load-bearing structure, precast systems can be divided into the
following categories:

- Frame systems
- Slab-column systems with shear walls
- Large-panel systems
- Cell systems
- Mixed systems (4).
Frame systems: can be constructed using either linear elements or spatial beam-column sub
assemblages. Precast beam-column sub assemblages have the advantage that the connecting faces
between the sub-assemblages can be placed away from the critical frame regions; however, linear
elements are generally preferred because of the difficulties associated with forming, handling, and
erecting spatial elements. The use of linear elements generally means placing the connecting faces
at the beam-column junctions. The beams can be seated on corbels at the columns, for ease of
construction and to aid the shear transfer from the beam to the column. The beam-column joints
accomplished in this way are hinged. However, rigid beam-column connections are used in some
cases, when the continuity of longitudinal reinforcement through the beam-column joint needs to
be ensured (4).
- Precast concrete frames involve an entire structure being fabricated off-site.
- Structural components can be supplied for incorporation into a structure on-site.
- Frames can simultaneously achieve both structural and decorative design requirements
 Wide variety of mixes, colors and finishes can be accommodated.

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 Architecturally-finished precast structures can be left exposed to exploit

concrete's high thermal capacity in a building's "green" energy management
system (4).
Slab-column systems with shear walls: Is a system that uses horizontal pre-stressing in two
orthogonal directions to achieve continuity. The precast concrete column elements are 1 to 3
stories high. The reinforced concrete floor slabs fit the clear span between columns. After erecting
the slabs and columns of a story, the columns and floor slabs are pre-stressed by means of pre-
stressing tendons that pass through ducts in the columns at the floor level and along the gaps left
between adjacent slabs. After pre-stressing, the gaps between the slabs are filled with in situ
concrete and the tendons then become bonded with the spans. Seismic loads are resisted mainly
by the shear walls (precast or cast-in-place) positioned between the columns at appropriate
locations. This technology has been used in Yugoslavia during the last 40 years under the
proprietary name, “IMS Building System,” and it can be found in all major Yugoslav cities,
including Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, and in other countries, such as Ethiopia, Cuba, the Philippines,
and Egypt (4).
Large-Panel Systems: The designation “large-panel system” refers to multistory structures
composed of large wall and floor concrete panels connected in the vertical and horizontal
directions so that the wall panels enclose appropriate spaces for the rooms within a building.
Mixed Systems: In this type of structures all the three types or the two types of the structural
precast system can be applied at a time (4).
Cell Systems: These are systems where all fittings (electrical and mechanical systems) and
finishing’s are all installed during pre-casting. Whole units such as kitchens and bathrooms are
done on ground level and installed at desired locations.

2.7 Prefabricated Building components

The basic components of a building that can be prefabricated are the wall and slab elements.
However more innovative ways of prefabrication still exist. The main precast concrete structural
elements are;

a) Precast Slabs
Filler slab

The basic concept behind use of filler slab is to remove substantial portion of concrete below the
neutral axis, which does not contribute to the tensile strength of the slab. Various types of filler
slab can be used, such as coconut shell; HCB slab etc. use of filler slab contributes to the
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economy the construction compared to the conventional RCC slab. Such slab is comparatively
lighter in weight, and has increased insulation properties because of voids between the tiles (5).

The principal advantages of precast floors are speed of construction, absence of scaffolding, large
variety of types, large span capacity, & economy.

Precast floors can also be classified according to their manufacture into totally & partially precast
floors.

- Totally precast floors are composed of units, which are totally cast at the plant. After
erection, the units are connected to the structure & the longitudinal joints are grouted. In
some cases a cast in-situ structural topping screed is added.
- Partially precast floors are composed of a precast part & a cast in-situ part. Both parts are
working together at the final stage to achieve the composite structural capacity. The main
totally precast system types are described hereafter (6).

Figure 2:4 Different types of Precast Slabs [6]

b) Precast Walls
 Hollow Concrete Blocks (HCB) wall;

Different types and sizes of hollow concrete blocks for wall construction can be produced. The
most common type of HCB is the one with two openings. Sometimes it may be produced with
poor quality. However, with the same mix ratio, it is possible to increase the compressive strength
by using different mold types with increased number of openings. As test results show, HCB with
three openings acquire a greater compressive strength than with two openings. This is because as
the number of openings increases the contact area also increases hence have greater bearing
capacity. Additionally, making one side of the HCB closed results in reduction of mortar wastage
and increase productivity (6).

 Precast concrete wall;

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Figure 2:5 Precast Concrete Wall [6]

c) Precast concrete columns

Figure 2:6.Precast Concrete Column [6]

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d) Precast concrete Beam

Figure 2:7 Precast Concrete Beam & Inverted Tee beams supported on precast columns[6]

e) Precast concrete Stairs

Figure 2:8.Precast concrete Stairs[6]

2.7.1 Design Concepts for Precast Concrete Buildings

The design concept of the precast buildings is based on the build-ability, economy and
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standardization of precast components. In design of precast members and connections, all loading
and restraint conditions from casting to end use of the structure should be considered. The stresses
developed in precast elements during the period from casting to final connection may be more
critical than the service load stresses. Special attention should be given to the methods of
(7)
stripping, storing, transporting, and erecting precast elements .

When precast members are incorporated into a structural system, the forces and deformations
occurring in and adjacent to connections (in adjoining members and in the entire structure)
should be considered. The structural behavior of precast elements may differ substantially from
that of similar members that are monolithically cast in place. Design of connections to transmit
forces due to shrinkage, creep, temperature change, elastic deformation, wind forces, and
earthquake forces require special attention. Details of such connections are especially important
to insure adequate performance of precast structures (7).

Precast members and connections should be designed to meet tolerance requirements. The
behavior of precast members and connections is sensitive to tolerances. Design should provide
for the effects of adverse combinations of fabrication and erection tolerances. Tolerance
requirements should be listed on contract documents, and may be specified by reference to
accepted standards. Tolerances that deviate from accepted standards should be so indicated (7).

All details of reinforcement, connections, bearing elements, inserts, anchors, concrete cover,
openings and lifting devices, and specified strength of concrete at critical stages of
fabrication and construction, should be shown on either the contract documents prepared by the
architect/engineer of record or on the shop drawings furnished by the contractor. Whether this
information is to be shown on the contract documents or shop drawings depend on the provisions
of the contract documents. The shop drawings should show, as a minimum, all details of the
precast concrete members and embedded items. The contract documents may specify that
portions of connections exterior to the member are also to be shown on the shop drawings. The
contract documents may also require the contractor to provide designs for the members and/or
connections

The contract documents should show the loads to be considered in design of the precast concrete
elements of the structure, and they should indicate any special requirements or functions
(for example: seismic loads, allowance for movements, etc.) that should be considered in design
assigned to the contractor. In this case, the shop drawings should include complete details of the
connections involved (7).
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2.7.2 Production and Transportation

Designers exert more control over the final appearance of the structures using precast concrete
because they can view finish and range samples as well as mockup panels prior to full-scale
production. The architects, engineers and owner can visit the precast plant to monitor progress,
ensuring that no surprises arise at the site. Plant production’s high quality-control standards result
in tighter tolerances. This approach ensures a smoother, faster fit during erection that speeds
construction and minimizes the need for on-site adjustments. As the single source for so many
architectural and structural components, the precast producers can work closely with the
construction team to ensure satisfaction with the design and quickly alleviates any on-site
challenges that may arise (7).

When these structural and architectural components are completed, they are temporarily stored
and then transported directly to the project site for erection. These finished components make
only one trip to the construction site through the congested city traffic. On the other hand, were
these components fabricated at the project site, repeated trips to the site during working hours
would have been required to transport workers, materials, and equipment’s as well as the removal
of debris, to accomplish the same results. Furthermore, the precast components can be transported
during off-peak hours, such as in the middle of the night, when vehicular traffic is at its lowest
volume (8).

2.7.3 Erection Considerations

Once the site is selected and the design is approved from structural, aesthetic, and budgetary
aspects, there are additional considerations with which the construction team creates an efficient
construction process (2).

These include:

- Site restrictions; including nearby buildings that will require special efforts to man
oeuvre around to bring in materials or erect components. In many cases, staging areas can
be located nearby, away from the congested area, or trucks can be picked directly as they
arrive each day with the scheduled components, avoiding the need for space at the site for
storage;
- Owner requirements; such as needing minimal disruption to the site so business can
continue to be conducted or customers can access adjoining locations. Owners can also

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require designs to match existing aesthetics or even align with existing buildings for
walkways or connecting bridges between them. Precast producers can help with these
various requirements, including working in off-peak hours as needed;
- Site logistics; including the need to close off streets or avoid damage to a wooded
location;
- Scheduling; to ensure that each trade has access to the needed spaces when those crews
have been scheduled to be there. The ability of precast concrete to enclose the shell
quickly and get the project into the dry helps expedite scheduling and allows interior
trades to begin work earlier; and
- Project management; such as bringing all of the elements together rather than keeping
each construction-team member focused on a specific element of design, construction,
materials, or systems(2).

2.7.4 Typical Connection of Precast Concrete Elements

 Column to Column Connection;

Figure 2:9 Precast Column Connection [7]

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 Beam to Column Connection;

Figure 2:10 Precast Beam to Column Connection[7]

 Slab to Beam Connection;

Figure 2:11.Precast Slab to Beam Connection [7]

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2.7.5 Elements of Precast Fixtures and Tool

There are different elements that are used in precast construction which are not requirements for
in-situ construction. They are briefly described here to give the reader an idea of what they are
used for and simplified picture of what they could look like.

Table 2-1.Precast Fixtures and Tools with Corresponding Illustrations

Precast Fixture or Tool Illustration Illustration

Joints - in situ concrete joints and grouting joints

commonly used; precast elements prepared with
space at their ends for in situ concrete joints;
section ‘3’ shows an in situ concrete joint

Precast Fixture or Tool Illustration

Anchor Rods - have various types and sizes
depending on what they are used to anchor

Multi-strand Post-tensioning Anchor

90° Anchor Bolts - commonly used to anchor steel

to concrete

Round U-Bolts - connect concrete surfaces to

adjacent parallel surfaces

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Threaded Re-bars - anchor different structures, being used in

Ethiopia as a means of lengthening re bars without splicing

Plates - used as a membrane between concrete and

steel fixtures like wedges and barrels in posttensioning

Wedge - thick conical steel element that is inserted in a barrel

and grips the pre-stressing tendon also known as a Bullet or
Carrot Barrel - grips the wedge and anchors it to the ends of
the pre-stressing bed. It is also known as a collar, cone, or a
chuck
Hydraulic jack for tension cables - applies tension to pre-
stressing tendons during the curing stage of concrete

Barrier Pins - used in road construction

Hex Bolts - commonly used as construction

fasteners

Structural Bolts - heavier than hex bolts, have

structural purposes

In addition to the fixtures illustrated in Table 2.2, the following parts should also be considered.
a. Corbel - a projection jutting out from a wall to support a structure above it. Precast slabs
would rest on corbels that are an extension of the supporting beams.
b. Pre-stressing Tendons - Steel cables or bars that transfer pressure to reinforced concrete
in order to resist tension that is subsequently imposed on the concrete member.
c. Longitudinal Transferring Re-bars and Holes - The reinforcing bars jut out of the end of
one precast member and are inserted into holes at the end of an adjacent member and

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grouted. The re-bars and holes would have lengths of one-third of the member into which
the transferring rebar is inserted. They ensure structural continuity between aligned
members.
Furthermore, precast construction joints can be classified into wet joints and dry joints. The types
of the precast element connections differ, according to the type of precast system to be used.
Generally, connections can be categorized into wet joints and dry joints.
If wet joints are to be used, precast elements would have to have holes at the ends where extended
rebars from adjacent elements would be inserted. The holes would be of slightly larger diameter
than the rebar diameters to ease the insertion. Then, the remaining space in these holes is grouted
and allowed to set. This process better resembles the cast in place concrete construction.
Dry joints are done by welding steel plates or fixtures at the ends of one precast element to those
at the ends of an adjacent precast element. “Using one of these methods, each elements of a
building structure are attached to their adjacent counterparts and assembled to form the whole
building.

2.8 The Precast Preparation Process

Precast construction includes the casting of reinforced concrete (RC) members on the ground
level at a precast plant, or on a portion of the ongoing construction site. Briefly stated, the casting
process first requires reinforcement bars (re-bars) to be placed in the molds. Next, fresh concrete
is poured into the molds and vibrated for consolidation. Then, these cast reinforced concrete
members are placed in a curing pond, or a curing chamber so that the concrete can completely
undergo hardening reactions.
There are a number of ways that each of the above processes can take place. First, the location of
where to cast the RC members has to be decided. Availability, price, and, convenience of using
heavy trucks for transportation or heavy duty precision cranes for onsite installments have to be
compared. Whether or not to make the whole operation labor intensive or machinery intensive has
to be thought about and compared. Availability of sufficient space for production and storage may
also be a deciding factor.
The next decision would be based on whether the RC members are designed to be pre-stressed or
not, pre-tensioned, or post-tensioned, what kind of bolts to use to fasten the elements together, the
amount of tension to be applied to the rebars, and similar factors that have to do with rebar
arrangement in precast.
Consolidation is one of the most important processes that must be applied to freshly cast concrete.
It is primarily done by vibrating the freshly poured concrete mix. Vibration could be done using

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hand-held internal vibrators as is the usual case in almost all site-mixed concrete works in
Ethiopia. Other alternatives that would provide a more even coverage include using external
board vibrators that are installed at different intervals on the formworks. Additional types of
concrete vibrators are rebar shakers and external rotary vibrators. “…instead of the regular head
that's inserted into the concrete, [a rebar shaker] uses a proprietary device that is slipped over the
top of the rebar, and uses the rebar itself to transmit vibrations into the concrete”. As for external
rotary vibrators, They are “small, handheld vibrators…usually powered by cordless drills” [18].
When it comes to curing, the major comparison should be between immersing members in a
curing pond, which is sure to provide a total coverage of all the concrete surface and thorough
penetration into the concrete body in the days the concrete member is allowed to sit in the pond,
or placing RC members in a curing chamber where water vapor is used instead of liquid water, in
order to let the higher temperature increase the rate of curing. The latter option would require
more energy to keep the water steaming, while the former might take longer number of days for
complete curing.

The above descriptions are about the casting phase of precast construction. What follows would
be the installation or erection phase, which deals with lifting the precast pieces to their final
positions on the building and attaching them on to their adjacent counterparts. These activities can
also be carried out using different kinds of methods.

2.9 Construction Management

Construction Project Management: is the planning, organization, monitoring and control of all
aspects of a project and motivation of all involved to achieve project objectives safely and within
a defined time, cost and performance.

The project management in the prefab construction site is not that much sophisticated as that of
the conventional one. This is because the major construction materials like the cement, sand,
aggregate, reinforcement bars, formworks and others managed in the conventional technology are
not present at site during prefab construction and there are few number of manpower at the
construction site to be managed. Therefore the headache of managing the construction projects in
the conventional technology can be significantly reduced in the prefabricated construction
projects.

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And due to the precise estimation of the prefabricated component’s costs, the project will be
finished as per the schedule, claims raised by contractors for extension of time and claims for
escalation of the cost can be minimized.

Prefabrication is not easily used in traditional design-bid-build projects. Prefabrication is much

more easily used in projects that use integrated project delivery or in design-build projects, where
design and construction decisions are made with a view toward maximizing cost and schedule
efficiencies and where all participants share in the risks and the rewards of project execution.
Project participants must work together and be open to new approaches to realize the full benefits
of prefabrication (6).

For achieving the benefits and advantages of prefabricated technology in the construction, the
project construction management team should plan, organize, monitor and control well the project
using appropriate management skill and techniques.

A good management skill and techniques helps not only to retain the cost saving mechanisms
considered during the design phase but also to attain additional cost saving techniques. However,
if the project is not well managed it may incur additional cost. Therefore, greater attention should
be given to construction management that encompasses the inception till completion of the
project.

2.10 Other countries Experience

2.10.1 American Experience

Initially, in North America, the housing industry was fragmented and substantially diluted having
more regional nature than in many European countries(1). Nevertheless, as a result of precast
concrete systems successful application in Europe, a great deal of interest was generated in the
1960s. With the involvement of large precast companies of Europe who were interested to expand
their markets, many different systems were introduced in the United States and Canada, but very
few were successful in precast housing(9). The reasons behind this was

1) High costs of the systems relative to the existing traditional housing construction

2) Initial capital costs could not be justified

3) Inadequate feasibility study and incorrect marketing strategies and

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4) Problems in plant management and production in as well as major fluctuations in market

demand.

Although, the precast concrete construction for housing was not successful as expected, great
(1)
efforts have been carried out to promote the industry in other civil engineering fields . To this
end, the "Precast/pre-stressed Concrete Institute" (PCI) was established in the United States to
enhance the development of pre-casting, in order to carry out the dissemination of up-to-date
research developments, to prepare and distribute design manuals and guidelines among producers
and professionals. In addition the institute promotes new methods and facilities for marketing,
technology and production of precast concrete. The institutehave a regular magazine through
which new developments in the field are made known to the public. Since the early 1960s the
precast concrete has been used in the United States(9).

In 1976, Congress passed the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Act. At
the same year, HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) started to establish the
industrial standard for manufactured housing. According to the data from MHI (Manufactured
Housing Institute) – Cost and Size Comparisons of Manufactured Homes & Site Built Homes
(1990-2008), the manufactured housing takes 12% percent of all residential homes in 2008 (10).

2.10.2 Yugoslavian (Czech Republic and Slovenia) Experience

The construction industry in Yugoslavia was problems in difficult condition immediately after the
end of the World War II. The reasons for the construction industry's crisis lie both in the general
crisis the country was undergoing and in the builder's' inadequate organization which
consequently did not allow the proper application of knowledge and modern technology. So, the
solution was based on the builders' greater independence and thereby their greater responsibility
for their own fate and the tasks that society has entrusted to them (9).

The demand for building of housing units efficiently and inexpensively pointed out to look for a
precast technology application which is classified as industrialized building system. The new
building technology of precast concrete, the IMS system, was meant to fulfill all requirements
adequately i.e. structural safety, the fast rate of building and rational use of building materials and
labor. Over the forty years of its application this building technology has proven its flexibility and
adaptability to newly arisen situations and demands (9).

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Because of the stated characteristics, the IMS building technology has found its application in
other countries as well, which were on very different levels of development which proved its
compatibility to local conditions (9).

The IMS is based on modern building materials, technology and it employs materials and labors
in the most efficient way compared to any other building technology. It is formed from precast
concrete elements to be assembled afterwards in structures of different 'spans and different uses.
The assembly of the elements is achieved through their pre-stressing by steel cables or ropes, in a
way to form the monolithic entity (9).

Yugoslavia has started rapid post war expansion of housing development, the building of new
house states and expansion of urban areas. To this end the introduction of the IMS prefabricated
technology has played an important role. The first IMS buildings were erected in 1957 and by
1982 some 60,000 housing units and many schools, health institutions, office buildings, hotels
had been erected (9).

2.10.3 Singapore Experience

Precast concrete was adopted as a solution of choice for up grading Public Housing in Singapore.
The Housing and Development Board (HOB), the sole public housing Authority are responsible
for providing high quality houses at affordable prices in Singapore, has launched a program to
upgrade the quality of the existing stock of public housing. Since its inception the HOB is
credited with constructing more than 750,000 apartments for housing 86 per cent of Singapore's
population. Prefabrication technology was used to overcome the many difficulties associated with
the construction of high rise apartment extensions in heavily populated areas. The use of precast
concrete elements helped to over-come the special difficulties of construction work in the
congested areas. The upgrading mainly consists of a newly added space stack which is designed
to be completely on new independent foundation(9).

The technology and construction methods chosen in the upgrading program meet the basic
requirements such as (9)

1) Enhanced safety and security where there is control on the noise and dust pollution arising
from the construction site

2) It is a dry construction process that result in faster construction time

3) Cost effectiveness responds to the budgetary constraints.

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The extensive use of prefabrication methods that hinge around offsite/on-line factory production
techniques of building components fit the requirements. At the same time, prefabrication ensured
better standards of construction workmanship and reduced the need for skilled foreign labor(9).

The implementation of the program started in 1991 and 21,000 housing units have been upgraded
by 1994 in three phases. The validity of the use of prefabrication in public housing upgrading
hinges on ensuring that the component designs are kept simple and streamlined; standardization
of precast concrete components is imperative; there must be an optimum number of repetitions of
components; the size and weight of the components must be kept to the minimum(9).

The standardization and the repetition of components go with the architects requirements for
aesthetics and flexibility of design. In the highly built up nature of the existing sites it would have
been difficult if not impossible to construct using conventional cast-in-place methods (9).

The cost of construction of the added space was found to be 4 times less than the construction
cost of a new block of apartments with conventional cast-in-place methods. The lower cost of
construction, the shorter time of construction, the non-existence of noise and dust pollution have
contributed to the success of the program showing the importance of precast concrete(9).

2.10.4 Japan Experience

The manufactured housing in Japan starts around 1960s. Due to WWII, lots of houses were
destroyed. After the baby boom, the demand for residential house is urgent. In order to construct
more houses without sacrificing on quality, Japanese companies used the “prefabricated housing”
approach. Some of the leading companies are Taisei Corporation, Sekisui House, Daiwa House,
and Misawa House (10).

Japan has its own industrial standard for prefabricated housing, which is different from the US. It
is said that a house is made by prefabricated housing if the 2/3 or more construction process is
finished in factory and the main parts of house, such as walls and floors, are pre-made following
certain industry standards. In this sense, 20%~25% of new residential houses are prefabricated
housing in year 2002. If we include houses that used the prefabricated modules, then the
percentage goes to nearly 85% and more for year 2002(10).

2.10.5 China Experience

In Hong Kong, the housing industrialization began at 1953 when a big fire occurred and a lot of
houses were burnt down. Nearly 53000 people became homeless. By the end of 2002, the

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prefabricated materials take up to 17% of the total construction materials in respect of cubic
meters of cement. This percentage increased to 65% in 2007(10).

In Mainland China, the housing industrialization began in 1998. In this year, the Chinese
government implemented the commercial residential building reform. In about ten years (from
1998 to 2008), there is a significant growth in demand in the housing market. Different from the
US, Chinese people usually lives in apartment buildings with many floors because of the huge
population and limited land. How to build more houses faster and with higher quality is an
important problem for Chinese real estate companies (10).

Vanke is the leading residential developer in China with RMB 41 Billion sales, 2.34% market
share, 5,570,000 square meters sold in 2008. Vanke started the prefabricated housing research in
1999. In 2006 and 2007, Vanke has finished two prefabricated housing projects (10).

2.10.6 .South African Experience

Precast concrete technology has been used in South Africa since the early 1960s, with most of the
technology being imported from Europe. Now there are approximately 60 major precast
manufacturers in South Africa, while the total number of precast manufacturers, including small
block yards, is estimated to be in excess of 1,000. Precast concrete is widely used for
infrastructural and structural components in South Africa. A variety of precast concrete
technology have been used in south Africa like breakwater systems, radiation shields for medical
treatment, precast concrete toilets, stadium seating elements, single-cast precast bus shelters,
harbor walls and boat quays, highway barriers, bridge elements and dry dock support columns.
Precast concrete is now widely used for infrastructural and structural components in South Africa
(11).

2.11 Construction in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian construction industry is one of the country’s predominant industries with
substantial amounts of expansion and advancement. It takes a considerable portion from the
federal budget and has a number of noticeable results in the country’s infrastructure.

“The development of the construction industry can be measured using its Gross Value of
Production GVPC). The GVPC, at constant market price increased from Birr 7.6 billion in
1996/97 to Birr 18.9 billion in 2006/07 depicting an average annual growth of 9.6 percent over
the period…”.

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The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) specifies the types of
manufactured articles that are included in the construction industry as follows, relocating input
production towards the manufacturing industry.

“…In the case of Ethiopia, …the activities actually covered under the [construction] industry are
the construction and maintenance activities of: (1) Residential buildings in urban and rural areas,
(2) Nonresidential buildings, i.e. factory buildings, ware houses, office buildings, garages, hotels,
schools, hospitals, clinics, etc., (3) Other construction works, like roads,dams, dikes, athletic
fields, electricity transmission lines, telephone & telegraph lines, etc. [MoFED, 2005]” [12].

The first step in concrete works is obtaining the required materials. These materials are then
mixed as per the mix ratio specified in the design. Water-to-cement ratios should be provided and
complied with while mixing. The whole of the mix ratio calculations would be redundant and the
concrete would be weak if too much water is used during mixing. Next to the mixing of the fresh
concrete, pouring is followed by consolidation works. Hand held vibrators of varying sizes are
most widely used for this purpose.

Curing plays an equivalently important role in the quality of the final product as the previously
explained steps of mixing. How well a finished concrete is cured is a decisive factor for the
strength and quality of the finished product. In typical construction sites in Ethiopia, curing is
usually done manually with a watering hose or by sprinkling water out of a bucket using a jug.

Through all the steps of preparing, pouring, and curing concrete, there should be as little impurity
as practically possible in the concrete mix. For this reason, there should be a mixing area which is
clean, flat, smooth, and lined with a material that the concrete wouldn’t bond with. Examples
would be “bricks or lean concrete or iron sheets, of a size as per requirement of the volume of
concrete to be mixed. Commonly a platform made of iron sheet having 3m2 in size with strips or
curbs are used”.

If concrete is to be manually mixed, the required quantity of sand should first be spread evenly on
the mixing platform. Next, cement in the required amount should be dumped on to the sand and
spread out evenly. The sand and cement should be mixed using shovels and “turning the mixture
over and over again until it is uniform in color” [13]. Following this, coarse aggregate is spread
out uniformly over the sand and cement mix. Care should be taken not to dump the coarse
aggregate on one spot on the sand cement mix. Mix it from the center to the side, side to center,
and center to side again.

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The next step is to add water into the dry mix. First, a depression should be made in the center
and one half to three quarters of the required amount of water should be added. The material
should then be turned towards the middle with a shovel and the remaining quantity of water
should be poured slowly during this time. The mixture should be turned over and over repeatedly
until it has uniform color and consistency throughout. It is best to add the water with a gardener’s
can fitted with a rose-head. Water added all at once will wash away the cement from the mix.

In construction sites where all of the mixing, pouring, consolidation and curing is carried out by
daily laborers, the presence of a site supervisor with a clear understanding of the basics of
concrete technology is absolutely important. As nearly all daily laborers are illiterate, the
supervisor should have a consistent follow up routine of all concrete work either directly or
through a foreman. This continuity in follow up would decrease any risk of compromise in the
quality of the finished product.

Untrained manual labor is one of the culprits preventing the systematic measurement of aspects of
time and cost expenditure in regular Ethiopian construction. "During an interview with one of the
project managers, it was learnt that productivity standards are used during the preparation of their
main schedule but I believe that, it is meaningless if the information used during planning is not
transferred to the crew by planning. From the above finding we can understand that the project
management objectives are not appropriately transferred down to their crews showing that
coordination that could have been obtained by this is lost” [14].

The first step to improving an existing system is to measure its performance. Regular Ethiopian
construction practices are nearly impossible to measure even during the construction phase. To
use such advanced tools, such as embedded microchips to measure their long-term structural
performance is highly unlikely with such messy on site working conditions. The precast system of
construction would fundamentally alleviate this problem. “…This production standardization
produces high quality precast that can be delivered to a site just-in-time. There’s no waiting
around for concrete to cure on-site and no need to stockpile… In particularly sensitive
applications, these same microchips can send a signal to indicate excessive movement or impact.
This is particularly useful for bridges, tall buildings and structures in earthquake zones”.

Developing countries are the ones most affected by environmental pollution and its consequences.
Probably the third most dominant source of pollution in the capital city of Addis Ababa is the
carelessly disposed waste and dust from construction sites (the first and second being sewage
waste and vehicular fumes). “The production of precast concrete in an off-site manufacturing

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plant means that construction sites are cleaner, quieter and safer…much less construction site
debris and potential pollution to streams and natural areas…”.

Precast concrete systems greatly reduce unnecessary or surplus building materials from ever
reaching a project site.

Production and finishing materials and the waste they produce never even reach the project site…
In addition, construction of a precast concrete structure generates very little dust decreasing the
likelihood of problems with dirt and poor air quality, the most common causes for complaints
from residents near construction sites… Sustainable plant upgrades using emission control
equipment recycle concrete dust and concrete washout water used in precast product
manufacturing.

A hush-hush approach is habitually implemented when workers’ safety measures are

compromised and accidents befall as consequences, which leads one to wonder, how many of
these types of accidents have happened so far and have been kept guarded from the public eye.
Insurance policies are not made available to site workers, unless for international projects, which
reflects poorly on most contractors’ professional character.

Other nuances such as discontinuity in between, or in the middle of project activities, noise
pollution, workers’ fatigue, unsightly construction sites and over expenditure of energy can serve
as indications to some inefficiencies that most Ethiopian contractors exhibit while implementing
in-situ construction methods. “Vibration, sawing and other noise-pollution activities that are part
of concrete pours on the job site are eliminated because the precast is produced offsite. This
results in substantially quieter construction sites. The easy installation of precast products makes
for less noise pollution from the construction site, a significant benefit to those inhabiting or
working in adjoining properties” [15].

2.11.1 Coopertiva Muratori’e Cementisti (C.M.C)

The Special Housing Project in Addis Ababa came into vision in order to accommodate the needs
of the large diplomatic community and many expatriates working in international organizations.
The project was intended to use a large area for the development of a housing and commercial
complex. In the first phase of the program, it was envisaged to construct 2,500 apartments
including commercial services, sports and health facilities, and embassy residences. The Ministry
of Urban Development and Housing being a client has assigned the construction of the first 500
apartments to Cooperativa Muratorie Cementisti (C.M.C) of Ravenna Italy. The foreign currency

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component of the contracts has been funded by a pool of Italian Banks with special facilities
granted by the Italian Government (9).

The C.M.C has built a precast concrete factory for the Special Housing Project on an area of
124,000 square meters to produce precast concrete components used in the construction. All the
systems and equipment needed for the production of precast elements were installed in the
factory. The production of slabs was with a potential daily output of 300m2 of slab. The precast
elements produced at the site include cladding panels finished in smooth marble chipping with
decorations, partition walls, stairs and landings, balcony parapets, and cornices. As many as 40
elements, amounting to 400 square meters, could be produced in the central section of factory out
of which 10,000 elements were used for Special Housing Project. Chemical additives and steam
were used to speed up the concrete curing process (9).

The investment made including all the machinery used for the Special Housing Project and the
various workshop for pre casting, amounts to approximately $10 million US dollars (9).

The Special Housing Project constitutes to be the first project where precast concrete elements
were used efficiently, especially by a foreign construction firm to introduce diverse designs in
Ethiopia. The design calculation is based on Italian standards and has made use of automated
process (9).

The precast concrete produced by the C.M.C. was later utilized for two projects, the UN
Economic Commission for Africa head office complex in 1994 and the Patriarch Palace Building
project in 1996 both in Addis Ababa. The decorated wall panels used for the construction of these
buildings are architecturally attractive and the Palace building has some carved features of ancient
Ethiopian building styles of Lalibela and Axum (9).

2.11.2 The Prefabricated Building Parts Production Enterprise (PBPPE)

Due to its highest technical effect, modern methods of construction – prefab against traditional
construction- has been considered as a leap to transform society to the future through
industrialization. Among the steps taken in this direction, the establishment of the IMS system,
the Prefab Housing Factory, in Addis Ababa constitutes the corner stone in the evolution of the
building industry (9).

In the late 1970's and 1980's, the demand for housing was immense that the government being the
only facilitator for shelter could not meet the ever rising demand. As a result it was decided to
introduce a new building technology, the prefabrication of concrete structural elements. The

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technical assistance was obtained from the former Yugoslavia and the IMS system, of a
Yugoslavian firm with more than 30 years of experience in the field was selected. The IMS
system was a patent of the Institute for Testing Materials for pre-stressed concrete, and its
acceptance led to the establishment of the former Prefab Housing Factory for prefabrication in
1984. The Factory was organized administratively under the former Ethiopian Building
Construction Authority (9).

The initial total cost of the factory was estimated to be Birr 13 million which late on raised to Birr
17 million due to the delays in the implementation. The prefabrication factory started the
production of structural elements in 1986 (9).

a. The main objectives of the factory were:

- To alleviate the shortage of housing in Addis Ababa and the surrounding area,
- To promote the building industry by raising the capacity for mass production of structural
elements,
- To produce building parts and execute the erection of such parts at building sites,
- To reduce the construction cost required per built up floor area,
- To minimize the use of formwork and by so doing conserve the natural forest,
- To produce quality and standardized structural elements as per the need of potential house
builders of the inhabitants of Addis Ababa,
- To expand concrete production technology through prefabrication of large wall panels,
doors and window(9).

The design and erection of the first Ethiopian prefabricated residential building constructed on the
Bole road which consisted 150 flats, has opened new opportunity to implement various technical
and architectural possibilities in the IMS system. The construction of the building commenced in
April 1985.There after similar design and construction solutions have been used on several
construction works where the IMS system was deemed suitable (9).

To familiarize the technology, the products of the factory were assumed to be taken by the then
Ministry of Construction for the mass production of residential buildings under the existing
housing policy guidelines. However, as a result of the frequent changes in the policy, the
presumed coordination was not materialized as was expected(9).

b. Re-organization of the Enterprise

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The Prefabricated Building Parts Production Enterprise (PBPPE), previously known as Prefab
Housing Factory (PH F) at a department level under the former Ethiopian Building Construction
Authority (EBCA) was reestablished as an autonomous business entity in accordance with the
new economic policy in 19903. It was generally in charge of the three phases of prefabrication
process, the production, transportation and assembly (erection). The production of the structural
components take place in the factory about 10 kms from Addis Ababa at Kaliti. Transportation of
the produced components to the construction site is carried out by heavy vehicles of the
establishment and consequently the erection has been performed by the technical staff assigned
for the work. Initially, in order to make prefab viable, the distance to the construction site, the
weight of the components as well as its easiness for transportation were taken into consideration
in the design of the precast elements (9).

The company has a designed capacity of 50,000m2/year, the enterprise has the ability to finish a
G+12 building in 1 year. The building components are made using standard molding devices.
Clients who are interested in using precast concrete elements should keep in mind of the standard
sizes provided by the company and arrange their designs accordingly (9).

After the re-establishment of the factory, in order to make the enterprise profitable, it was decided
to extend its functions with additional tasks parallel to the production and erection of precast
concrete. Consequently, the following were included in the work schedule of the enterprise (9).

- Preparation of precast ribbed beams for the condominium housing projects.

- Production of agro stone panels
- Production of Hollow concrete blocks.
- Provides ready mix concrete using truck mixer wherever needed all around Addis Ababa,
- Based on work orders, produces concrete products such as fence poles, stairs, manhole
and covers, curbs etc.,
- Hire or lease out the services of construction equipment such as truck cranes (Kato
cranes), tower cranes, loaders, excavators and rollers,
- Produces metal" doors, windows, water tanks and gates receiving work orders,
- Take office/residential building contracts engaging in conventional construction works
using precast as well as cast-in-situ concrete methods and finishing works (9).

Since its establishment the P.B.P.P.E has built a number of buildings in Addis Ababa. Some
of those are PEACOCK BUILDING, OLYMPIA BUILDING, TANA BULIDING, ASSAI

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PUBLIC SCHOOL, MINA BUILDING, AYU SHASHE BUILDING, AAWSA HEAD

OFFICE BUILDING, and APARTMENT BUILDINGS IN BOLE ROAD AND OTHERS (9).

A.) MINA BUILDING B.) AAWSA HEAD OFFICE BUILDING

C.) AYU SHASHE BUILDIN D.) APARTMENT BUILDING

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E.) ASSAI PUBLIC SCHOOL F.) RAS AMBA HOTEL

G.) BISRAT BUILDING H.) RIFT VALLEY HOTEL

I.) ETHIOPIAN SPRING S.C BUILDING J.) WARYT BUILDING

Figure 2:12.Some of the Buildings Built by P.B.P.P.E

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2.11.3 Current Status of Prefabrication Technology

Currently the application of prefabrication technology is very low compared with application in
the past. The previous P.B.P.P.E is now integrated with other governmental owned construction
companies and is called Ethiopian construction Works Corporation.

This company is now engaged only in one governmentally owned office building which is located
in ICT Park. According to the project manager of the project, the company has accomplished one
G+2 office building and now other agreement has been signed by the company with Ministry of
communication and technology to construct B+G+8 office building. In addition to this other
production works of precast beams, Hollow concrete blocks both for wall and for Ribbed slab
construction in implemented. Even though as described above the production capacity of this
company is 50,000m2/yr, the company is almost not performing as the capacity it have.

Figure 2:13. Recent accomplishment of P.B.P.P.E in “Goro” ICT Park

In addition to that, there is high knowledge and experience gap within the consultants and
Engineers throughout the country on prefab housing construction and related design aspectsof the
technology.

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2.12 Ethiopian Housing Policies

Production of housing is a very expensive process. Governments often give less priority to the
housing sector due to their shortage of investible resources. In a country like Ethiopia which
strives to get quick return from investment. It can be expected that the housing sector would be
given a marginal position owing to the fact that a significant investment in the housing sector
would also result in resolving social problems which the city is now facing(12).

Apart from this, concerning operational problem on investment in housing, Ethiopia becomes one
of the developing countries to allocate a very low percentage on housing sector, which is
estimated to be 2.5% of its national income. This figure is below the minimum standard set by the
United Nations for developing countries, which is 6% of GDP(12).

In fact one of the key problems to provide adequate housing facilities is associated with the
difficulty to make adequate investment on housing. At the conceptual level the total housing need
encompasses:

1. Housing required accommodating newly formed families.

2. Housing required replacing dilapidated houses.
3. Housing required easing over-crowding.
4. Housing need associated with the desire to accommodate homeless households.
5. For emigrants from rural area and regional towns

The housing sector has been subject to a variety of interventions over the last 30 years, which
provide important lessons to any effort that aims at drafting an appropriate and coherent housing
policy(12).

2.12.1 The Pre 1975 Situation

Housing provision in pre 1975 was predominantly handled by the private sector and it can be said
that the government didn’t attempt to exert any effort in the provision of housing for low-income
people. The housing market during this period can be characterized as operating somehow on free
market principles as land lords were leasing urban land and construct residential houses to
tenants, and there was no restriction as regards to the selling and buying of houses. No formal
housing policy was adopted during that period and most of the poor people in the city were lived
in extremely overcrowded areas. Nevertheless there was a need in some form of intervention
particularly in the low income housing sphere as it has been evident for several years that the then
workings of private enterprises in housing have not tackle the problems which existed in Addis

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Ababa and in Ethiopia at large. More over this laissez faire condition was one of the factors
blamed for the unplanned development of most of the urban centers in Ethiopia particularly in
Addis Ababa. Poor qualities of housing and unplanned sites are also attributes to the deterioration
of physical condition of houses, which made the provision of infrastructure difficult(12).

2.12.2 Housing Development between 1975 and 1993

Policy Proclamation no. 47/1975 nationalized all urban land and extra houses, high-rise
apartments and office buildings without any compensation. The main target of the proclamation
was to get rid of the right of landlords. The most important immediate effects of the proclamation
were a regressive reduction on the amount of rent by 50 per cent for tenants who were paying a
monthly rent less than 144 birr. /The then price 1USD = 2.07 Birr Then the government has a
direct involvement in the sphere of housing provision(12).

Production of Housing As far as the production of new dwelling houses is concerned different
programs undertook the provision of housing and at the beginning the government allocated
budget to construct newly rental dwelling houses, which are administered by the Agency for the
Administration of Rental Houses AARH. On the other hand self-help and assisted self-help
housing as well as housing cooperatives flourished to assist the low-income group. Low-income
people, whether they are worked in formal or informal sector, offered a house plan free of charge
and technical assistance from the government. The applicants were also be able to get loan from
governmental bank (Housing and Construction Bank HCB) with reduced interest rate of 6 and 4.5
per cent for self-help housing and housing cooperatives respectively. Most importantly anybody
could get land free of charge whatever the project might be. This was however subject to the
following conditions:

- The person should testify that he/she does not have another house, which is to be
ascertained by local authorities ‘Kebele.’
- The person must afford to build the type of house, which he/she wants to construct, and
the builder must either have the cash, which must be deposited, in a bank in blocked
account or the housing and savings bank must prove his/her credit ability considering their
level of income.
- The builder must complete the house within 6 months’ time after receiving proper
documents from the municipality.

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Although the government took over the responsibilities of building rental houses to those who
cannot afford to build their own houses, it has done a little in this regard because of its financial
constraints(12).

2.12.3 The Current Situation Policy

Following the change of government in the country, the transitional government of Ethiopia come
up with a land lease policy no. 80/1993 which enables people to possess land so as to build houses
for residential as well as for rental purposes. According to the policy any Ethiopian citizen could
buy land on a bid bases. Urban land possession differs according to the type of services and the
maximum would be 99 years of lease for residential plots. It was only after 1993 that the
government gave signals about its possible tolerance of private sector participation in the
provision of housing. Buying land on a bid tender, individuals can build residential houses,
services and facilities with the right to sell or rent. According to the newly adopted policy the
government starts to liberalize the housing sector by taking measures which include the selling of
houses administered by the public sector, abortion of the assistance of subsidized building
material delivery and ceasing the subsidy of interest rate loans from the financial sector(12).

Since the late 1970s housing cooperatives have also provided an avenue for home ownership.
This delivery method was established in 1978, through Proclamation No. 138. The approach is
for citizens to organize themselves into small groups (between 10 and 20 people), register as a
cooperative group for land allocation, develop savings capacity, prepare settlement plans, receive
land and secure tenure, and largely build their housing themselves incrementally. Cooperatives
have received varying levels of government support over the last 40 years. Between 1986 and
1992, housing supply by cooperatives did increase due to the significant subsidy of construction
materials (60 per cent), land being allocated with no charge, and low mortgage interest rates, but
this help was inadequate to meet the magnitude of housing demand. Between 1975 and 1992
housing, cooperatives produced a mere 40,539 units. In addition to its small scale, cooperative
housing is challenged by the undesirable peripheral location of land allocated, low quality of
allocated land making construction costly and difficult, and the exclusion of the poorest sector of
society who more often than not do not have a savings capacity at the scale demanded by this
relatively expensive approach(13). The government estimates that the current housing deficit is
between 900,000 and 1,000,000 units in urban areas, and that only 30 per cent of the current
housing stock is in a fair condition, with the remaining 70 per cent in need of total replacement(13).

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In order to improve these condition, since 2005 Ethiopia has been implementing an ambitious
government-led low- and middle-income housing Program: The Integrated Housing Development
Program (IHDP). The initial goal of the Program was to construct 400,000 condominium units,
create 200,000 jobs, promote the development of 10,000 micro - and small - enterprises, enhance
the capacity of the construction sector, regenerate inner- city slum areas, and promote
homeownership for low- income households in the first GTP.(13).

Based on the research held by UN Habitat showed, the Program has not met all of its original
targets, according to the information from Ethiopian News Agency, until February 11/2016 it has
built only 143,482 and 61,349 housing units respectively in Addis Ababa and other regional
towns. According to the ministry of urban development, housing and construction, within the
second GTP the government plan to construct about 750000 houses in urban areas and 1.7 million
houses in rural areas throughout the country (14). From then until today, the demand for housing
increased but in contrary the performance of housing development agency decreased Specially in
this year (i.e. 2016/17 G.C or 2009 E.C), construction of new housing detained completely due to
financial problem according to prime minster Hailemariam Dessalegn’s report to journalists. So,
it is difficult to satisfy the increasing demand of housing by this performance and the deficit will
continue to the future.

From the above literature review one can see that the experience and intention of Ethiopia
towards prefab industry implementation is very poor as compared with the rest of the world. As I
have reviewed in this chapter many countries in the world implemented prefabrication technology
to solve their short and long term housing problem sustainably. But when I see the past and the
current experience of our nation is in contrary to others. To fill this deficit, using only
conventional methods, will not meet the demand within a certain period of time in addition to its
expensiveness. So, alternative construction methods shall be applied. Prefab technology can be
one alternative solution. Having an easily built house has been always one of human wishes and
prefabricated home makes this wish come true because of its affordability and fast completion.
But there is no any policy or proclamation that supports this construction technique in Ethiopia.
One of the major objective of the policy and strategy of the housing sector is to support labor
intensive construction method in order to support job creation in addition to constructing housing,
due to this; the policy doesn’t initiate prefab technology.

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3 Research methods and Methodology

3.1 Research methods

3.1.1 Study Area

The location where research is carried out in Addis Ababa, as it is where the research subjects are
located. Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia. It is also the nominated capital of the African
Union (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). The city is located
at the center of the country and spans from 2200 to 3000 m above mean sea level in altitude. Its
topography ranges from rolling to hilly areas with relative steep gradients. The municipality
expands over 540 square kilometers, 10 sub-cities, and 116 “Woredas". It has 220 square
kilometers allocated for green area and a vegetation cover of 80km2, and the number of inhabitant
more than four million peoples.

Addis Ababa is also known for being an up-and-coming construction center in Eastern Africa.
The whole city seems to be under construction for buildings, roads, and other similar utilities.
This makes the research highly relevant.

The research will focus on Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame

Construction Methods for 40/60 housing projects in Addis Ababa, a case study on Megenagna
40/60 project.

3.1.2 Study design

Based on the research goal, this research can be categorized under applied research. This is
because the results of the research analyses are meant to be applied instead of solely enriching the
knowledge base; Based on research objectives, it is both a descriptive and exploratory research.
The reason it could be under these two categories is because the research has both aspects. It has
abundant descriptions of its topics of consideration, wherever it is deemed necessary, while it also
critically explores topics that need to be analyzed, explained, and put in perspective.

Based on research approach, it is again both a qualitative research and quantitative research; It has
a quantitative approach when it deals with the quantitative data, and it takes on a qualitative
nature for numerous non-number data. Based on research design, it is a nonexperimental type, as
it does not involve any experimental works in its data collection and analysis; Accordingly based
on data type, it is secondary research (desk study), as no experimental works were needed.

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The choice of method designed for this research was the Case Study method. This method helps
the researcher ―gain better understanding of the whole by focusing on a key part (Gerring,
2007). The case study method can fortify the research which generally intended to be explanatory
and descriptive. Case study is a preferred strategy. for better understanding of a control over
events, and when the focus is contemporary phenomenon within some real-life context .The case
study method, in this context, can help track the system in which AAIHDP was developed
through, and compare and clarify the major changes that occurred within the processes and the
organizations. The AAIHDP condominium housing is scattered throughout the city and this
method can trace the changes in actor and planning and design process that occurred within
AAIHDP for better understanding as well as.
Quantitative and qualitative observational study will be conducted on 40/60 Condominium
Housing Projects located around Megenagna which includes 2B+G+12 and 2B+G+18 and Some
of the Buildings constructed By Prefabricated Building Parts Production Enterprise in Addis
Ababa.
Questioners will be distributed to different stockholders for gathering information regarding rental
rate of house near by the project area and experts opinion regarding the project
3.1.3 Sample size determination and sampling technique
The required sample size will be determined by using single population proportion formula. For
the calculation, 95% confidence level with 5% marginal error will be assumed. Since the study
area is specific to 40/60 housing project located at Megenagna (Ehil Nigde and Tourist site) the
sample size is predetermined and the sampling method becomes purposive random sampling, and
the Buildings constructed by Prefabricated Building Parts Production Enterprise (P.B.P.P.E) will
be selected based on purposive method of sampling.
3.1.4 Method of data collection
To achieve the mentioned objectives we will collect and review relevant primary and secondary
data’s from relevant sources. The information’s will be obtained from;
The primary data will be obtained by desk studies, semi-structured interviews, closed type
questioners and Case study 40/60 condominium( 2B+G+12) located at Megenagna project site
and comparing with Model prefabricated building from ICT park which is G+8 , consultant,
client, house users, prefab producer (supplier), and small enterprises. All the relevant data for the
case study is collected through desk study , interviewing, acquiring contract document from
concerned stack holders like client ,consultant, contractor and ministry of works and urban
development.
The secondary data source includes books, previous researches, publications and journals
Belachew Y.Mohammed, AAIT,AAU [43] June,2019
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3.1.5 Research Variables

Simply put, independent variables are values in a research that the researcher manipulates in order
to see the effect that the manipulation has on the results that will be reported. The results that
change due to such manipulation are the dependent variables. Correspondingly, the independent
variables of this research are: construction basic cost components; influencing factors of in-situ
and prefabrication construction cost; and ’time saving and cost’, ‘time’, and ‘quality’ measures
and records from PBPPE.

The dependent variables are: precast construction total direct cost; precast construction overall
indirect cost; in-situ construction total direct cost; in-situ construction overall indirect cost;
quality grade

3.1.6 Plan of data analysis

The collected data will be organized in appropriate ways and it will be analyzed to find out what
the data is telling us which lead to conclusion.

3.2 Research Methodology:

The methodology used for this research will include an in depth review of Prefabrication
Construction and its applicability as an Alternative Construction Method for structural frame
construction of 40/60 condominium house in Addis Ababa. Cases studies on 40/60 condominium
projects located on Megenagna site and the prefab houses will be conducted in order to compare
construction cost ,cost advantage from time saving and construction durations. Here the total cost
for structural frame construction of the project be considered in the comparison of construction
costs. Discussions with different stakeholders will be conducted to learn stakeholders
understanding, opinion and view on the conventional construction method and the proposed
prefabrication technology. Since 40/60 saving house projects are government owned and the
project is awarded selectively without bid computation the price is taken directly from the
contract document and the cost for prefabrication is taken from Prefabricated Building Parts
Production Enterprise (P.B.P.P.E), market study will be made for rental rate of different type of
house with questioner. Then those collected data and information’s will analyzed by using
different techniques. And after analyzing the data conclusions and recommendations towards our
objectives will be made.

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4 Presentation and Analysis of Data

4.1 Cost Estimation Methodology

4.1.1 Method of Cost Comparison in Construction Industry:

During the past decade a large number of such studies has been carried out and published. In the
existing studies three principal approaches for comparing costs of building projects among countries
can be distinguished

- Comparison of standardized identical buildings

- Comparison of standard buildings with local modification
- Comparison of functional similar buildings

4.1.2 Comparison of Standardized Identical Buildings

With the first method exactly the same building work is priced on the basis of the same drawings and
specifications. This is possible only in the theory, largely as a result of national (or regional)
differences which exist in architecture, standards, availability of products, etc. the building and the
costs will be comparable. But they are not necessarily representative.

4.1.3 Comparison of Standard Buildings with Local Modifications:

Better representative can be achieved when modifications for local circumstances, like buildings
codes, standards, specification levels, are taken into account.

4.1.4 Comparison of Functionally Similar Buildings:

The third approach, typical, functionally similar buildings are compared: this means building types,
which are representative. Not only locally divergent circumstances and quality - levels are taken into
account, but also various performance and aesthetic criteria, which reflect typical client requirements
or tenant expectations for buildings in that sector. The buildings and the cost are representative, but
not necessarily comparable .Arguably 'apples' are being compared with ‘oranges’. A meaningful
comparison must take into account all relevant (time- dependent and quantity -dependent) cost
components, classified as follows

- Lab our;
 Direct
 Indirect
- Materials

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- Investment
- General expenses(site and plant)
- Transportation (for system construction only)
- Overhead
As for this study the method of cost comparison used standardized identical buildings and
functionally similar buildings while the unit is cost per gross floor area.
Building Type

In this cost comparison G+12 40/60 apartment building is considered which is already on practice.
An equivalent area G +8 prefabricated house type is considered in order to get comparative sample.
We used modularized prefabricated building elements that can be produced by Prefabrication
Building Parts Production Enterprise (PBPPE). As we know the enterprise has good reputation in
producing and installing structural elements for the construction of office buildings, apartments,
hotels and residential buildings. From the enterprise products, we can use prefab Columns, slabs,
footings, shear walls, stair flights and landings using this we execute the structure of the
condominium house.

The dimensions of the prefab model are not identical with the 2B+G+12 model due to limitation in
production of customized building elements by PBPPE. Hence, for the purpose of this paper building
elements that are modularized and readily available are used.

In this cost comparison only the costs that are associated with construction of structural frame of the
2B+G+12 building is considered in both cases.

4.2 Financial Assessment of the Prefab and 40/60 Apartment Buildings

4.2.1 Structural Description

The 40/60 housing project are made with a concrete is C-30 and the structural steel used is S-400;
whereas the prefab houses are of a concrete grade is C-40. The reinforcement steel used is S-400.
The Pre-stressing wire has characteristics strength of 1400mpa. In prefab buildings tight quality
control ensures that components are produced with uniform consistency.

Concrete mixes with low water/cement ratios are enabled by factory-controlled batching and
immediate placement of concrete to yield higher strength mixes averaging 40 Mpa or more precisely
controlled air entrainment also results in minimal expansion and contraction and reduced cracking

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 Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
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and surface scaling. But in the condominium type it is difficult to control quality of every material
quality, water to cement ratio and even the bar spacing.

The summary of the building is presented as follows

Table 4-1 Summary of the building

Conventional Condominium Prefabricated Condominium

Parameters Building Building
 2B+G+12 and 2B+G+18 40/60  Modularized G+8 prefabricated
Building type
apartment Buildings building
 13,776.04 m2 structural floor
Total  8232.84m2
Area of building for 2B+G+12
 Office building in ICT Park
Function  For public housing (Customized for use as
condominium housing )
Location of site  Addis Ababa  Addis Ababa

Construction  Convention construction method  Building method currently

method that is currently in practice practiced by PBPPE

Building
 Ribbed slab and solid slab  Slab frame system
elements

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 Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
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Figure 4:1. Sample Floor Plan of ICT Park Prefab Building [Source:ICT Park project
office]

The ICT park building which is G+8 includes, one basement for parking and the rest utilized for the
purpose of office and conference hall on 7th floor.
I have used the cost of concrete Fram construction from the above table 4:5. Summarized Price for
B+G+8 Prefabricated Building for the subtract and super structure part which amounts
33,588,592.85 birr including vat.
Table 4-2. Summary of Floor Areas ICT Park Prefab Building

Floor Unit Area No of Floors Area per Floor

2
Basement m 914.76 2.00 1,829.52
Ground Floor Area m2 914.76 1.00 914.76
1st-7th Floor Area m2 914.76 8.00 7,318.08
Total Area of Super Structure 11.00 10,062.36
Total Cost for Super Structure Fram work 33,588,592.85
Construction Cost /m2 3,338.04

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Figure 4:2. Sample Floor Plan of 40/60 Apartment building[ Source :Project office]

The 40/60 building which is 2B+G+12 includes, two basement for parking, for purpose of
commercial area use ground ,1st and 2nd floors and the rest utilized for the purpose of housing (3rd -
12th)
I have used the cost of concrete Frame construction from the above table 4:4. Summary of Cost For
40/60 Conventional Construction Building for the sub structure and super structure part which
amounts 33,588,592.85 birr including vat.

Table 4-3. Summary of Floor Areas of 40/60 Apartment Building

Floor Unit Area No of Floors Area per Floor

2
Basements m 1329.31 3.00 3,987.93
Ground m2 1329.31 1.00 1,329.31
1st m2 1154.075 1.00 1,154.08
2nd m2 948.205 1.00 948.21
3rd -12th m2 1034.45 10.00 10,344.45
Total Area of Structure 16.00 17,763.97
Total Cost for Structure Fram work 71,811,592.73
Construction Cost /m2 4,042.54

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4.3 Bill of Quantity of Selected Buildings

4.3.1 Cost analysis of 40/60 (2B+G+12)Conventional Construction

Table 4-4. Summary of Cost For 40/60 Conventional Construction

SUMMARY OF PRICE FOR 2B+G+12 TYPOLOGY CONVENTIONAL 40/60

BUILDING
A-SUB STRUCTURE
1 Excavation and Earth work Birr 3,846,613.78
2 Concrete Work Birr 21,521,956.09
3 Stone Masonry Work Birr 166,529.09
TOTAL A...........
Birr 25,535,098.96
B. SUPER STRUCTURE

1 Concrete Work
Birr 40,922,907.15
2 Block Work
Birr 4,020,492.52
3 Roofing Work
Birr 1,517,678.75
4 Carpentry and Joinery Work
Birr 2,544,710.00
5 Metal Work
Birr 1,838,655.97
6 Plastering Work
Birr 8,185,868.85
7 Steel Structure
Birr 7,563,384.45
8 Finishing Work
Birr 6,018,774.50
9 Glazing Work
Birr 1,409,111.49
10 Painting Work
Birr 296,998.70
11 Sanitary Installation
Birr 771,114.17
12 Electrical Installation
Birr 1,132,103.36
Total B ……….........
Birr 76,221,799.91
Total A + B ...................
Birr 101,756,898.88
VAT(15%) ................... Birr 15,263,534.83
Total A + B ................... Birr 117,020,433.71

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4.3.2 Bill of Quantity of Prefabricated Model ICT park B+G+8 Building

Table 4-5. Summarized Price for B+G+8 Prefabricated Building

SUMMARY OF B+ G+8 MIAN BUILDING (PREFABRICATED AND ERRECTED )

A. SUB STRUCTURE

1 Excavation and Earth work

Birr 1,439,153.2
2 Concrete Work
Birr 1,659,848.0
3 Stone Masonry Work
Birr 64,619.3
Total A
Birr 3,163,620.6

B. SUPER STRUCTURE
1 Concrete Work
Birr 27,547,624.0
2 Block Work
Birr 2,208,575.3
3 Roofing Work
Birr 912,846.8
4 Carpentry and Joinery Work
Birr 799,070.0
5 Metal Work
Birr 39,798,194.5
6 Plastering Work
Birr 1,750,324.1
7 Steel Structure
Birr 506,280.4
7 Finishing Work
Birr 22,130,024.6
8 Glazing Work
Birr 224,580.6
9 Painting Work
Birr 297,441.9
10 Sanitary Installation
Birr 5,729,816.0
11 Electrical Installation
Birr 29,869,918.0
12 Mechanical Installation
Birr 33,062,355.0
Total B
Birr 164,837,051.2
Total A+B
Birr 168,000,671.8
Vat(15%)
Birr 25,200,100.8
Grand Total
Birr 193,200,772.6

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4.3.3 Cost Comparison the selected 40/60 apartment building(2B+G+12) and

Prefab model G+8 Building
From the above tables of bill of quantity summery, cost of prefabricated building structure frame
and conventional 40/60 apartment building structure frame are 33,588,592.85 Birr and
79,806,044.48 Birr including VAT respectively and the cost for concrete works in structure frame
is considered for the purpose of this project. But, as we have mentioned earlier the height of the
conventional 40/60 apartment building and the prefabricated building are 2B+G+12 and B+G+8
respectively. Due to this reason the construction cost we obtained above in the BOQ should be
factored to get an Estimate made equivalent height of building.

The cost of construction highly related with number of story and there will be cost variation with
floor level. Standard textbooks on building economics usually provide little hard evidence to back
the reasonable claim that unit construction cost teds to rise with building

Tall buildings are invariably more expensive to build than two- or three- story buildings offering
the same accommodation, and the taller the building the greater the comparative cost .. What are
the reasons for this ?

i. The cost of the special arrangements to service the building particularly the upper floors
ii. The necessity for the lower part of the building to be designed to carry the weight of the
upper floors…. Also the whole building will have to bed designed to resist a heavy wind
loading
iii. The cost working at a great height from the ground when erecting the building
iv. The increase area occupied by the service core and circulation

In UK , Stone(1963,p.49) also reported a moderate rise in unit building cost with building height
for blocks of flats and maisonerres in London and the province similarly ,Seely (1983,p.26)
quoted a Department of the Environment study which reported that the cost of apartment building
rose 'fairly uniformly by about 2.0% per floor when increasing the height above four stories.
based on this I have used 2.0% increment per floor , accordingly 2% for 9th floor,4% for 10th
floor,6% for 11th floor and 8% for 12th floor and total of 20% to compute equivalent height cost
of the prefabricated building cost for 2B+G+12 building

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Table 4-6.Cost Comparison per m2 area of structural frame construction

Equivalent Cost of Prefab building for 2B+G+12 per m2

Building
Item Total Floor
Actual Cost/Area Height Cost/Area
Project
No Area Cost(Birr) (birr/ m2) Adjustment (birr/ m2)
Factor
40/60 Conventional Frame 1.00 4,042.54
1 17,763.97 71,811,592.73 4,042.54
Construction
ICT park Building Frame 1.20 4,005.65
2 10,062.36 33,588,592.85 3,338.04
Construction

4.4 Analysis of Cost Savings Related To Construction Time

As we know one of the construction costs that are directly related to duration of construction time
are Consultancy/ supervision cost, bank interest and rental cost/income (depending on the
evaluation). Hence we have tried to compute this cost savings that are attributing to prefab
buildings due to reduced construction time. In order to get the monthly supervision cost as
follows

Figure 4:3. Construction Time Schedule for Conventional construction

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Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
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Figure 4:4. Construction time schedule for prefab building

The production capacity of the prefab is known and company has a designed capacity of
50,000m2/year, the enterprise has the ability to finish a more than three G+12 buildings. The
building components are made using standard molding devices. Clients who are interested in
using precast concrete elements should keep in mind of the standard sizes provided by the
company and arrange their designs accordingly.

The inputs to the scheduling of both method of construction are gathered through, on site data
collection, interviews of the projects staffs, from consultant and contractor recordings, weekly
site plans and actual sample data collection on site

According to the schedule shown above the time required to finish the structural frame
construction are 413 Cal days and 126 Cal days for Conventional construction and prefabrication
and erecting respectively. Which means the time gap between the two methods of construction
becomes 287 Cal days (9.60months). From this difference I have calculated the under described
cost savings

4.4.1 Computation of Monthly Supervision cost

The consultant assigned for the supervision of the 40/60 housing projects located at Megenagna
(Ehil Nigd and Tourist sites) projects is YOHANNES ABBAY Consulting Architects &

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Engineers. The project includes two sites on opposite side of the road connecting “24 kokeb
building” to Megenagna “ Derartu Tulu building” .There are six 2B+G+12 buildings in Ehil Nigd
project site and eleven 2B+G+18 buildings included in Tourist project sites . Total of Seventeen
buildings are under construction with the supervision of YOHANNES ABBAY Consulting
Architects & Engineers. And the monthly payments for supervision service are shown in the table
4:8, 4:9 and 4:10.

Table 4-7.Summery of Professional assigned for 17 Blocks

Min Monthly
Position Assignment Qty Unit Rate Birr Total
Key Staffs /Full time staff
Project Coordinator 1 per project 19 Man Month 22,500.00 427,500.00
Resident Engineer (RE) 1 per project 19 Man Month 20,000.00 380,000.00
Quantity Surveyor 1 per project 19 Man Month 8,000.00 152,000.00
Site Inspectors 1 per 2 blocks 18 Man Month 8,000.00 144,000.00
Site Inspectors 1 per 2 blocks 18 Man Month 8,000.00 144,000.00
Site Inspectors 1 per 2 blocks 18 Man Month 8,000.00 144,000.00
Site Inspectors 1 per 2 blocks 18 Man Month 8,000.00 144,000.00
Site Inspectors 1 per 2 blocks 18 Man Month 8,000.00 144,000.00
Site Inspectors 1 per 2 blocks 18 Man Month 8,000.00 144,000.00
Site Inspectors 1 per 2 blocks 18 Man Month 8,000.00 144,000.00
Site Inspectors 1 per 2 blocks 18 Man Month 12,000.00 216,000.00
Sanitary Inspector 1 per project 18 Man Month 8,000.00 144,000.00
Electrical Inspector 1 per project 18 Man Month 8,000.00 144,000.00
Intermittent staffs
Intermittent Structural
Engineer 1 per project 4 Man Month 8,000.00 32,000.00

Intermittent Architect 1 per project 4 Man Month 8,000.00 32,000.00

Intermittent Electrical
1 per project 4 Man Month 8,000.00 32,000.00
Engineer
Intermittent Sanitary Engineer 1 per project 4 Man Month 8,000.00 32,000.00
Intermittent Geotechnical
1 per project 4 Man Month 8,000.00 32,000.00
Engineer
Pre-Cast Elements Production
1 per project 4 Man Month
Inspector 8,000.00 32,000.00
Total Sum 2,663,500.00

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Table 4-8. Summary of Professional Fee for 17 Blocks

Total Contract
Item No Total
Costs Unit Monthly Rate per block Amount for 19
No Blocks Month
months
Total Fee Before 8,246.13 17 19 2,663,500.00
1 VAT Birr
1,236.92 17 19 399,525.00
2 VAT Birr
3 Total Amount Birr 9,483.05 3,063,025.00

Table 4-9. Reimbursable Office, Office Facilities, Report and Professional indemnity and
other insurance Expenses

Total Contract
Item Unit of Total Price Amount for 19
No Description of Cost Quantity Measure Unit Price /month months
1 Local transportation 1 Month 10,000.00 10,000.00 190,000.00
2 Communication 1 Month 2,500.00 2,500.00 47,500.00
3 Paper and stationary 1 Month 2,500.00 2,500.00 47,500.00
Total 285,000.00
15% VAT 42,750.00
Total fee including VAT 327,750.00

I have prepared the work schedule for both Conventional Construction and prefabrication
construction of structural frame of the buildings for proportional height and area of building like
40/60 apartment building. The schedules are prepared based on the actual data from site like
production per hour, material, equipment used, manpower assigned and by neglecting
unreasonably excess material and time wastage. According to the schedule of construction one
can see the time gap in completion time of both method of construction for equivalent building.
The time saving and the related cost advantages with respect to supervision are presented in the
table 4:11 below.

Table 4-10. Cost Saving from Supervision Fee per block

Time
Amount Per Saved Total Saved
Item No Description month (Months) Amount Birr
1 Professionals Service Fee 9,483.05 9.6 91,037.28
2 Reimbursable 17,250.00 9.6 165,600.00
Total Amount 26,733.05 256,637.28

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In the above table it is shown that, as we can complete the structure works of prefabricated
building 9.6 months earlier than the conventional we can reduce a 9.6 month supervision cost that
is estimated to be about 256,637.28 birr per Block.

4.4.2 Computation of Cost Saving from Bank Interest

Then we will compute cost savings related to Bank interest. Here I have assumed 70% of the
construction cost is borrowed from bank with a Bank average nominal interest rate of 17.5 % per
year on intermediate term loan base. Thus, Interest savings will be as follows. Here I have
considered the total construction time of the project from the schedule to compute the bank
interest. The factored project is calculated based on the total floor area of conventional building
multiplied by the unit cost of prefabricated construction per m2 before any adjustment.

Table 4-11. Summary of Saving From Bank interest

Bank Interest
Factored
Project loan interest/month project
project project cost Total. Int.
70% (A) (17.5%/yr) duration
(A)
Conventional 71,811,592.73 50,268,114.91 1.46% 18 9,212,353.98
Prefab 59,296,900.11 41,507,830.08 1.46% 12 4,719,897.85

Saving from Bank Interest cost 4,492,456.13

Since we can complete the building 6 months early, one can reduce associated Bank
interest cost an amount of 4,492,456.13.

4.4.3 Computation of Cost Saving from house renting by End users

The third cost saving is associated the cost that the end user inures for renting house somewhere
else until the project is completed and transferred to the end user. In the building we have
considered 10 households to per floor that means 90 households per block. And we have collected
the average renting price near by the project area through questioner for different type of house
and presented in the table below

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Table 4-12. Summary of Condominium House renting price

Number of Bed Rooms

Item No Location 1 2 3
1 Gergi Condominium Average 5000 7000 8000
2 Balderas Condominium Average 6500 9500 10500
Average 5,750 8,250 9,250

Table 4-13. Summary of Number of households per floor/Block

Number of Bed Rooms per floor

Item No Location 1 2 3

1 Number of house per floor 2 6 2

2 Total Number of floors 10 10 10

Average 20 60 20

Table 4-14.Total saving by end users from house renting.

Number of Rent per Time Saving Total amount

Item No Location
house month (Months) Saved (Birr)
1 One bed room 20 5750 9.6 1104000
2 Two bed rooms 60 8250 9.6 4752000
3 Three bed rooms 20 9250 9.6 1776000
7,632,000.00

The above three tables shows the saving with respect to the time saving correspondingly I have
obtained that rental expense of 7,632,000.00 birr will be saved from the pocket of the end users,
in other words rental expense that would have been paid for 9.6 month for living in rental house
will be saved.
Finally I have summarized the total cost savings and I have obtained the net adjusted cost per m2
for prefabrication compared it with conventional construction cost per m2 in the table 4:6 above.
From the table the cost per m2 for conventional construction is greater than that of prefabrication
construction before adjustment for height difference of the buildings under study. The
prefabricated building in ICT Park is B+G+8 where us the 40/60 apartment considered for this
study is 2B+G+12. Then I have introduced adjustment factor 2.0% increment in cost for each
floor increment in total 20% that will compensate the cost increment due to height increment and

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structural load increment which is not included in B+G+8 prefab building design and construction
cost pricing . Finally I have associated cost advantages that comes with reduced construction time
in case of prefab and the results are presented in the table 4:15 below. Structure construction costs
per m2 of area before adjustment are 4,042.54 Birr/m2 and 4,005.65 birr/ m2 for conventional and
prefab building respectively. However, after computing the associated costs the cost/ m2 area
become 2,964.51birr /m2 and 4,042.54 birr/ m2. Hence, have learnt that the total cost of
construction of structure using prefab is lower than the conventional and its total cost will be
lowered by 36%.
This cost is not taking into account all the material, and untimely maintenance waste evident in
the in-situ construction method. In addition to the direct cost component, some foreseeable
indirect cost components have been discussed. Along with the apparent major difference in direct
cost, the precast construction method is shown to be lower in overall cost than its in-situ
counterpart.

Table 4-15. Total Cost Advantage from Time saving of prefab house

Total Cost Advantage from Time saving of prefab house

Description Amount
Consultancy Fee Saving 256,637.28

Bank Interest Saving 4,492,456.13

Early return on Rental / Rental cost saving 7,632,000.00

Total (A) 12,381,093.41

Factored Construction cost of prefab (B) 47,634,731.68

net cost of prefab C = (B-A) 35,253,638.28

Total Area of prefab 11,891.88

Prefab Adjusted cost /m2 2,964.51

Conventional Adjusted cost /m2 4,042.54

Total Net Construction cost difference /m2 (Birr) 1,078.03

Prefab Adjusted cost /m2 2,964.51

Conventional Adjusted cost /m2 4,042.54

% cost increased 36%

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5 Discussion

As it is known, the need for housing is vulnerable in the current Ethiopia. Due to many reasons
cost of housing construction is highly expensive and makes it difficult to have a shelter for most
of Ethiopians especially for the young generation. So all of the attention is focus on the
government to provide affordable houses. But, by the way of the current construction, it is
impossible to meet the demand within a reasonable period of time. So, the government should
give attention to other alternative technologies like prefabrication. But there is no any special
policy or strategy set by the government in order to support the adaptation of this technology
throughout the country to use for the current housing development. Currently the plan of the
government is to create plenty of job opportunities and promote the development of micro and
small – enterprises. Since the focus of the government is on conventional construction method to
attain those plans, prefabrication is neglected. But the demand of housing should give more
concern than the job creation political decision of the government even if it is not met yet.

Even though since 1984 the prefabrication technology has been introduced and implemented for
the housing and other sectors in our country, the development and utilization of the technology
has been declining rapidly. It has been known and determined the advantages gained by looking
at the prefabricated buildings, which have high durability, low maintenance cost, good aesthetics
and many other advantages specially by comparing with the recently build condominium housing
using the conventional technology.

There is no clear reason behind the declining usage of this technology, but due to the poor
initiatives of the stake holders in the construction industry for the advancement and modernization
of the industry the technology has now been utilized as it was desired.

As we have tried to mention earlier the cost assessment is made by considering a single 2B+G+12
40/60 apartment blocks by evaluating the costs of constructing the structure using conventional
construction system vs. prefabricated construction. The result of this assessment initially showed
that the cost of prefabricated construction system is lower than the cost of conventional system.
one of the major reason for this is that the cost for the prefab is for B+G+8 building which is
located in ICT bark compound and for the conventional construction I have taken the cost of
2B+G+12 40/60 apartment building which is located at Ehil Nigd site . And then I have
considered 2.0% increment in cost per m2 of prefab building for each floor rise in order to
compensate the cost increment due to height of the building and the load increment in foundation

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and column then to compare in equivalent bases .This is because this cost only considers the costs
that directly will be paid to the contractor, in other words the total construction cost that will incur
during the project life cycle were not considered. As we all know the total construction cost
should include construction cost (that will be directly paid to the contractor, design and
supervision costs, interest costs and opportunity costs. And the costs of both method of
construction taken from AAC Saving Houses Development Enterprise (SHDE) for conventional
construction and P.B.P.P.E for prefabrication. The main reason is the cost for conventional
construction is fixed by AAC saving houses development enterprise and contractors are invited to
undertake the construction with fixed price base and for the prefabrication since the sector is
monopolized by one P.B.P.P.E there is no other option to consider.

Due to the reduced duration of construction period, the prefab method will have advantage in
respect of supervision costs, interest costs and house rent saving costs. Thus, for comparison
purpose when we deduct this cost advantage from the initial cost of the prefab, its total cost
decreases from 4,005.65Birr/m2 to 2,964.51 birr/m2 and the difference becomes 1,078.03 birr/
m2 , and that of conventional house (4,042.54birr/m2) .

In addition to this, maintenance costs and the service life of the buildings should have been
considered in the total construction cost. And considering this cost advantage of prefabrication
will be highly maximized. Moreover this cost analysis is limited to one G+12 block, but in high-
rise modular and mass housing projects the cost saving from prefabricated housing projects will
be again maximized due to reduced equipment utilization factor per block.

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6 Conclusions and Recommendations

6.1 Conclusions

This chapter presents an overview of the technical merit and scientific value gained from the
study and concludes with the lessons learned. The conclusions include analysis results, followed
by recommendations for future research and practice.

In general, the overriding purpose of this study was to determine the level of acceptance that the
Ethiopian construction industry would have for the precast construction system. In order to
accomplish that goal, it was necessary to reach some prerequisite goals. The research has shown
Determining what precast construction is and how this system affects the country’s construction
industry assumed a high degree of importance during the literature review conducted for this
study. Related to that effort, it became necessary to reach an understanding about the nature of
Ethiopia’s construction method. To provide for the possibility that precast construction could be
perceived and measured as a viable method of the booming construction business, it was
important to systematically compare the method of construction that is currently being used with
the precast method. Once these fundamental steps were achieved, this research was able to go
forward. This chapter reports the conclusions and recommendations that resulted from this study

Prefabrication housing construction technique is not developed and expands as its age since it was
started to practice in Ethiopia. There are so many reasons, but the main one is that it is not the
target of the government, the factory was left forgotten for a long period time and there is no even
a single policy or strategies that discusses and support the case of prefabrication technology for
housing development sector.

Based on the cost analysis we observed that the structural frame construction cost of prefabricated
building is lower than the conventional structural frame construction method. As per our analysis
we can save more than 36% of the cost incurred for structural frame construction of conventional
building by using prefab technology where the figure will be considerably huge in the case of
mass housing projects. As an example for one block the saving will be 12,819,784.69 Birr per
block from structural frame construction only.

Due to the poor initiatives of the stake holders in the construction industry for the advancement
and modernization of the industry, the technology has now been utilized as it was desired.

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Most of the developed and developing countries know a day’s use prefab technology as a solution
for their low and middle income societies affordable housing demand within a short period of
time.

6.2 Recommendations

The government has to pioneer in this area as it has in other areas in the past. The five year
growth and transformation plan set in motion by the FDRE is having the result of a country under
construction. The amount of ongoing construction in the country is currently at its all-time
maximum. This demands faster and more reliable construction solutions to be delivered
immediately. As per the results of this research, precast construction is a viable and fitting method
for the construction industry, which brings about the conclusion that many more precast plants in
different regions of Ethiopia should be set up and commence operations.

Finally I have forwarded the under listed recommendation from my study

1. Accordingly, the study recommends that the government pay due attention to developing
precast construction as a viable solution to improve the quality, speed, and economy of
upcoming construction activities. It is also recommended that many more studies should
be done to further show any other ways in which the current precast plant can be enhanced
in order to provide the required information for the expansion of the precast industry in
Ethiopia.
2. All the results in the above sections conclusively show that precast construction is
considerably more economic, and extremely faster than the in-situ method and further
studies should be carried out in order to find more practical ways to incorporate this
system into the Ethiopian construction industry.
3. Expansions of the prefab factories in different districts of the country also have a positive
impact for increasing production capacity and to address for the whole society. In order to
attain this goal train professionals and skilled man powers so as to increase availability of
working force throughout the country.
4. Support researchers and research institutions in order to make studies and researches to
improve the technology and to adapt it in an appropriate way to our country. As we have
seen from this research to create awareness about the prefab technology to the society and
decision makers in order to increase the use of the technology. Since the policy and
decision makers are the politicians following the demand of the public.

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5. The government and other major stakeholders in the industry must have an initiation in
introducing such type of technology that will save the countries huge resources. And those
bodies must create awareness.
6. One of the major actions is to preparing appropriate policies and strategies that support for
the creation of a fertile ground in order to adapt the use of prefabrication technology in a
great extent.
7. Urban planning is another area, which can contribute to effective development and use of
available urban space. Feasible attempts must be made to improve the financial position of
the municipality, which is expected, among other things, to develop urban land. This may
take the form of revising tax rates, tariffs, land prices which are connected with urban
build up areas or other sources of income collected by the city council, or to look for
additional revenue by expanding tax bases.
8. Something must also be done in regard to urban management. This refers to the need to
coordinate the activities of various offices under the council. If such activities properly
coordinated, it would undoubtedly contribute to lowering the cost of provision of services.
In this regard, the implementation of site and services can facilitate the construction of
additional housing stock.

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7 References

1. Gutema Bulto, Prefabrication of Structural Elements: Case Study, A Thesis Submitted to

the School of Graduate Studies, Addis Ababa University

2. Shilpa Narayanamurthy, Prefabrication in Developing Countries: a case study of India,

Graduate Researcher, University of Utah.

3. Esayas Ayele, Policy Impacts on Housing Sector, The Case of Addis Ababa, Ministry of
Works and Urban Development, Ethiopia.

4. Kibirt Bayou Chane, Precast Construction in Ethiopia - An In-Depth Look At The PBPPE
Precast Plant, Master’s thesis ,Addis Ababa University ,Ethiopia,2016.

5. REDEAT ABATE FANTA, Planning and Design Process and Organization Structures
in Public Mass Housing, Master’s thesis ,Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia,2016.

6. UN Habitat, Condominium Housing in Ethiopia: The Integrated Housing Development

Program

7. Xin Xu and Yao Zhao, Some Economic Facts of the Prefabricated Housing

8. Ethiopian News Agency, www.ena.gov.et, February 11/2016

9. Prof. Ashish Waghmare and Vaishali Turai. A Study of Cost Comparison Of Precast
Concrete Vs. Cast-In-Place’’ Department Of Civil Engineering, Dr. D.Y. P.S.O.E.T Pune,
India.

10. PCI Designing with precast and pre-stressed concrete Manual, 3rd Edition (MNL 122-
07).

11. National precast association, A little book of concrete, A guide to 100 advantages of
precast concrete, Indianapolis, 2006

12. Svetlana Brzev, Precast concrete construction, British Columbia Institute of Technology:
Canada Teresa Guevara-Perez,1999

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Prefabrication Construction as an Alternative Structural Frame Construction Method for
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13. Dagnachew Tsegaye, Solomon G/hiwot and Tewelde Kifle, A Thesis On Low Cost
Housing In Addis Ababa, Faculty of Technology (South), Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in
construction technology and management 2006.

14. Habteselssie Dejene (M.Sc.), a modern construction technology on prefabrication

handout, 2012/13.

15. Prefabricated Building parts production Enterprise (PBPPE) brochure.

16. www.paradigm.in ; Structural Engineering & Geospatial Consultants

17. Alfred A. Yee (Dr.Ing), Benefits of precast concrete technology, applied technology
corporation Honolulu, Hawaii.
18. Concrete Consolidation, ICF Magazine, icfmag.com/articles/how-to/
concrete_consolidation.html
19. Mikhailov, V. V.; Susnikov, A. A.; Development of Factory Production of Precast Pre-
stressed Concrete in the U.S.S.R.; PCI Journal, 1995
20. Bennett Jr, W. B.; Manufacture and Production of Pre-stressed Concrete; PCI Journal,
1976
21. High Performance Construction Materials - ‘What are the Opportunities for Design-
Builders?’; Design-Build Institute of America, 2005
22. Lunn, D.; Lucier, G.; Rizkalla, S.; Cleland, N.; Gleich, H.; New Generation of Precast
Concrete Double Tees Reinforced with Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Grid; PCI
Journal,2015
23. Precast Considerations, Building and Construction Authority, Singapore Government,
bca.gov.sg/publications/Build ability Series/others/pcpr_s2, 2015
24. Concrete Consolidation, ICF Magazine, icfmag.com/articles/how-to/
concrete_consolidation.html

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8 Appendix

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APPENDIX A
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
PBPPE experts
- Abedu Jemal . (Resident Engineer of Virtual consulting ICT park )

- Desalgn Mekonen (Project Manager of ICT park building )

- _______________ (Construction Engineer in ICT park)

- _______________ (Site Engineer in ICT park)

- _______________ (Office Engineer in ICT park)

- _______________. (Production Forman)

- ______________ (Erecting Forman)

AAC Saving House Development Enterprise

- Ato Tesfaye (Contract Administration Department Head of AACSHDE)

- Ato Denku (Design Department Head of AACSHDE)

Yohannes Abbay Consulting Architects and Engineers plc

- Ato Zerihun ( Project Coordinator of 40/60 condominium project)

- Ato Zelalem (Resident Engineer of 40/60 condominium project)

- Ato Tesfaye (Work inspector of 40/60 condominium project)

- Ato Henok (Work inspector of 40/60 condominium project)

- Ato Bayu (Work inspector of 40/60 condominium project)

- W/o Tigist (Work inspector of 40/60 condominium project)

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APPENDIX B
INTERVIEW
Interview Questions to PBPPE Staff Members
1. How long have you worked in PBPPE?
1.1. More than 0 years and less than 5 years
1.2. More than 5 years and less than 10 years
1.3. More than 10 years and less than 15 years
1.4. More than 15 years
2. In your opinion, is PBPPE functioning up to its capacity?
2.1. Yes
2.2. No, but it can
2.3. No and it cannot
3. In your opinion, does PBPPE need any major renovations?
3.1. Yes
3.2. I cannot say
3.3. No it is working well enough
4. If you answered “Yes” to question number 3, please discuss which elements you would suggest
for renovations.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________
5. Do you think PBPPE offers a fair price for construction?
5.1. Yes
5.2. I cannot say
5.3.No, but it should
5.4.No, and it should not
6. What is your justification for your answer to question number 5?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
7. What do you say is the biggest obstacle against the development of the plant?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

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___________________________________________________________________________
8. Do you think that PBPPE has become obsolete?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
9. Do you think a precast plant is a requirement in Ethiopia?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
10. In your opinion, is there anything that should be noted about the history, works, development,
or challenges of PBPPE?
11. What score, from 1 up to 5, 1 being very bad and 5 being very good, would you give PBPPE
on issues of the NPCA Grading Schedule topics with no data to back them up?
12. Please provide records or notes of any quality control measures that have been taken by the
plant in the last ten precast building projects.
13. In your opinion, what are major benefits that precast construction has that in-situ construction
does not? Choose from the list below.
A. controlled consolidation I. no false work needed
B. no material wasted J. repetitive formwork reuse
C. modularity (repetitive production) K. safety
D. controlled curing L. fixed rebar positions
E. shorter time M. little maintenance needed
F. finished surface at form removal N. less no. of laborers (easy HR
G. little supervision needed management)
H. in-house lab testing O. Controlled casting

14. From the benefits of precast construction you chose in question number 13, please give a
score of 1, least beneficial, up to 5, most beneficial.

A. ________________ G. ________________
B. ________________ H. ________________
C. ________________ I. ________________
D. ________________ J. ________________
E. ________________ K. ________________
F. ________________ L. ________________

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M. ________________ O. ________________
N. ________________
15. Please choose which precast construction benefit in ‘Column B’ is important to the building
type listed in ‘Column A’. Several choices can be selected for each building type.
COLUMN A COLUMN B
A — modular real estate houses i.Controlled consolidation
B — mixed use buildings (malls, city ii. No material wasted
centers) iii. Modularity (repetitive production)
C — apartment buildings
iv. controlled curing
D — schools
E — hospitals v. Shorter time
F — office buildings
vi. Finished surface at form removal
G — residencies (individual designs)
H — dual home-work compounds vii. Little supervision needed
I—religious/worship buildings viii. In-house lab testing (embassies,
(churches, mosques) international organizations,
J — national landmarks (palaces, universities)
museums) ix. No false work needed
X. repetitive formwork reuse
xi. Safety
xii. Fixed rebar positions
xiii. Little maintenance needed
xiv. less no. of laborers (easy HR
management)
xv. Controlled casting

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APPENDIX C
INTERVIEW WITH TENANT
Interview Questions to tenant of condominium house and other
1. How long have you lived by renting house?
1.1. More than 0 years and less than 5 years
1.2. More than 5 years and less than 10 years
1.3. More than 10 years and less than 15 years
1.4. More than 15 years
2. In your opinion, where do you want rent your house?
2.1. In local house
2.2. In condominium house buildings
2.3. Kebele house
2.4. Public housing Agency
3. In your opinion, does condominium housing with conventional construction method of
construction is convenient to A.A?
3.1. Yes
3.2. I cannot say
3.3. No it is time taking
4. If you answered “Yes” to question number 3, please discuss which elements you would suggest
for renovations.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________
5. Do you think house renting price in Addis Ababa is fair price?
5.1. Yes
5.2. I cannot say
5.3. No it is very expensive

6. If your answered "No ", What do you think about the cause of high price of house renting ?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
7. How much do you pay for renting around megenagna?

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7.1 . Single Class___________
7.2 . One bed room ___________
7.3 . Two bed room ___________
7.3 . Three bed room ___________

8. How much do you pay for renting in Balderass (Signal) Condominium?

8.1 . Single Class___________
8.2 . One bed room ___________
8.3 . Two bed room ___________
8.3 . Three bed room ___________

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