COST EFFECTIVE AND SPEEDY CONSTRUCTION FOR

HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS USING SYSTEM FORMWORKS

D.M.Wijesekara
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
E-mail:[email protected]
W.D.A.D.Gunatilaka
Sanken Construction (Pvt.) Ltd, No. 295, Madampitiya Road, Colombo 14, Sri Lanka
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract
One of the most important factors in determining the success of a construction project in terms of
speed, quality cost and safety of work is the formwork used in the project as it accounts about 40% of
the total project cost of the structure. When considering a construction projects both the client and
contractor want to finish the job early as the client wants to use the building for the intended purpose
as soon as possible. The contractor wants to finish the construction as soon as possible to gain a
higher profit. The most efficient way to speed up the work in high-rise building construction is by
achieving a very short floor cycle. The floor cycle of a building mainly depend on the formwork type
as it is the main time factor of a building project. The aim of this paper is to present about the existing
formwork types in Sri Lanka and to show how each one will affect the project duration, project cost
and the quality of the work. For that a research has been carried out and the results will present in this
paper.
Keywords: formwork, duration, cost, quality

1. Introduction
Formwork is defined as a temporary structure whose purpose is to provide support and containment
for fresh concrete until it can support itself. It moulds the concrete to the desired shape and size and
controls its position and alignment. The development of formworks is parallel with the growth of
concrete construction throughout the 20th century. The advancement of technology, increase of
population and the space limitation lead the way to construct high-rise buildings. But the task was not
very easy at the beginning but now the man made the task easy by inventing new machinery and new
techniques.
The most important factor in terms of cost, quality and speed in a high-rise building construction
project is the type of the formwork used in the project. The first formwork type to be used is the
conventional type formwork where the timber planks were supported on timber columns. With the
advancement of technology it developed gradually and people used ply wood sheets instead of timber
planks and steel pipes with jacks were used to support the ply wood. Then people invented small units
of formworks and connect the repeating units in the construction. The larger units were invented like
formworks for slab panels, formworks for columns, beamsetc. when the same elements are
repeating. Then finally the whole system of formwork is made and initially the material used to it was
steel and it was very heavy. Then the aim was to reduce the weight of the system and the materials for
formwork have extended to aluminium, plastic, fiber glassetc.
In Sri Lanka plastic and fiber glass are still not in use in the construction industry. Though the system
formwork is introduced to Sri Lanka it is still not much used and most of the contractors do not like to
shift to the latest technology as they have the doubt of facing losses in their projects and they are very
much familiar with the existing formwork type, the modern conventional type. At the same time the
contractors are in a belief that the system formwork is suitable only for super tall buildings as the
initial cost of the system formwork is a bit high. Though the initial cost of the system formwork is a
bit high it reduces the project duration and hence the total project cost. When considering the overall
construction of a high-rise building the system formwork is much more economical that to all the
other primary formwork types as it reduces the project duration, gives a smooth concrete surface and
the repetitive use of the system. This is suitable for even for a two or three storey housing scheme of
several houses.

2. Types of Formworks
Conventional Formwork: This is the oldest type of formwork used in the construction industry. This
type uses timber, bamboo, masonry and carpentry in the construction. This type is very much suitable
for small houses with two to three storeys and still they are in use for such constructions. But this is
not suitable for the big projects or high-rise buildings. Low initial cost, low experience factor, low
weight are some of the advantages of this type and poor finish, high labor requirement, skilled labor

requirement and consume lot of time are some of the disadvantages.

Modern Conventional Formwork: This type is very much closer to the conventional formwork and in
simple words this is one step advanced than the conventional type. The same technique has used in
the both types and the only difference is the materials use for the formworks. In modern conventional
formwork more advanced materials are used and they can reuse for several times. The differences of
both types are that steel props and various types of jacks (U jacks, T jacks) are used as supports in the
formwork instead of timber supports and ply wood sheets are used instead of timber planks on slab
decks, beams and columns. Low initial cost, low skilled labor requirement, can even use in small
places and when there are lot of deviations in the structure are some of the advantages while poor
finish of the concrete surface, high labor requirement and the higher floor cycle are the disadvantages.
But this is the most commonly used type in the Sri Lanka for every scale of construction.
Semi System Formwork: This type is much more advanced than the modern conventional type. In this
type there are pre-fabricated formwork items such as pre-fabricated formworks for slab panels and
supports and ply wood should be used additionally for slab deck, beams and columns for the surface.
There are other forms of semi system formwork such as table forms, flying formsetc. DOCA is the
most famous brand for this type of formwork and some people know about this type only as DOCA
formwork.
System Formwork: System formwork has prefabricated modular components with casting panels. The
system formwork is fabricated as it suits the required shape. The biggest advantage of this type is the
speedy and quality construction. But the high initial cost is the main disadvantage and hence it is not
economical to use in low rise buildings. But this is the most economical form of formwork type to
be used in high-rise building construction when it is having few typical storeys.

3. Research Study
The expectation of this study is to find the most economical formwork type to be used in a high-rise
building project. When considering a construction project there are many cost components
contributing to the total cost of the project. Preliminary cost is a key cost component when comparing
the total cost of a project, and the duration of the project is the governing factor for the preliminary
running cost.
Total Project Cost = Materials and labour + Preliminary cost + Machinery & equipment t+ Waste
material handling + Safety + Finishes +
Preliminary Cost =

Salaries + Electricity + Telephone + Welfare + Security +

When a building construction project is considered the material requirement is unique as it depends on
the design. But the labor requirement and the duration of the project are directly affected by the
technologies and the construction methods used in the project. The speed of the project is directly
affected by the formwork type used in the project. This is the most critical in high-rise building
construction. When using latest technologies, the labor requirement and the time duration can be

minimized in the project, mainly for the super structure.

In high-rise building projects time controlling factor is the formwork as it directly affect the floor
cycle and hence it will reduce the time taken to construct the main structure and because of that the
total duration of the project will go down drastically. In this research cost comparisons of total project
cost has done for several projects when all the three types of formwork types are used in the same
project.

4. The results
4.1 The Results Obtained
Data is collected to several projects and calculations are done for the total project cost of the selected
projects when using different types of formworks in the construction. In the calculations all the
parameters are kept same and only the formwork type is changed. At the same time all the factors
affect due to the formwork type is considered. The results can be shown in a table as follows.

Table 1: Summary of the analysis

Project

No. of
Storeys

Total project cost (LKR in millions)

Aluminium
panel system
formwork

Semi system
formwork
(DOCA)

Conventional
formwork

Emperor Apartment Tower

35

2102.93

2203.68

2325.26

On three 20 building

38

1849.43

1926.56

2027.52

Green path Hotel complex

25

1864

1942.56

2032.38

Residential apartments at Rajagiriya

22

912.5

957.6

1012.32

4.2 Results for the On Three 20 Building at Union Place

In this project the used formwork type was system formwork and all the values are in LKR and in
millions. The building is a 38 storey building. The main contractor for this building is Sanken
Construction (Pvt) Ltd.

Table 2: Summary of the analysis (On Three 20 Building)

Aluminium panel
system formwork

Semi system
formwork (DOCA)

Conventional
formwork

Duration

40 months

47 months

57 months

Formwork cost

35.6

33.69

27.8

Preliminary cost

227.36

267.15

323.99

Finishes affected by the

formwork

38.23

40.94

62.76

Waste disposal affected by the

formwork

12.63

19.46

Machinery affected by the

formwork

16.91

40.63

50.16

Total

1849.43

1926.56

2027.52

For further clarification the graphical presentations of the results for the above comparison are as
follows.

Figure 1: Total project cost for

different type of formworks

Figure 2: Cost of Different type of

formworks

4.3 Other Comparisons

Figure 4.10: Duration comparison

Figure 4.11: Preliminary cost comparison

5. Conclusions
From the results obtained we can come to a conclusion that when the system formwork is used in the
construction project, the total project cost and the duration of the project is lesser than the other
formwork types.
Modern Conventional
Formwork

>

Semi System formwork

>

Aluminium Panel System

Formwork

The main important thing is that the aluminium panel system formwork is the most expensive
formwork type from those three types. At the same time the highest total project cost is obtained when
modern conventional type of formwork is used in the building construction project which is the least
expensive formwork type. So it is clearly seen that that not the cost of formwork directly affected to
the total project cost but the type of formwork.
The floor cycle will be 6-10 days when the system formwork is in use and hence the total project
duration will be reduced. At the same time a smooth concrete surface can be obtained as the system
can be assembled without any discontinuities in the surface and hence less finishing work will be
there and hence the cost for finishes will be reduced. There will be less waste disposal and less
machinery usage. Not only the direct benefits, there are many indirect benefits of using aluminium
panel system formwork in the high-rise building construction projects. For example the system can be
sold after using, it can be used in other slabs doing slight variations (there is no need to buy materials
again).

Acknowledgements
Apart from the efforts done by us, the success of this research paper depends largely on the
encouragement and guidelines of many others. We take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the
people who have been supportive hands in doing this research paper. We would like to show our
greatest appreciation to the engineering staff, QS staff and other officials of Sanken Construction
(Pvt) Ltd. for giving us the opportunity to collect data for this research paper from the construction
sites The guidance and support received from all the other people were vital for the success of the
research paper. We are grateful for their constant support and help.

References
Hurd, M.K. 1989. Formwork for Concrete, 6th ed. American Concrete Institute, Detroit, MI.
Nolan, . Innovation in concrete frame construction 19952015. IHS BRE Press, Garston. BR 483.
44pp
Moore, C.E. 1977. Concrete Form Construction. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Ratay, R.T. 1984. Handbook of Temporary Structures in Construction. McGraw-Hill, New York
Peurifoy, P.E. 1976. Formwork for Concrete Structures. McGraw-Hill, New York.