Principles and Practices of Commercial Construction (8th Edition)

Commercial construction can be defined as the combined effort of designers, project managers, fabricators, and construction personnel to build large structures with the aid of heavy equipment. The whole process must be done within a predetermined length of time, by using the best possible combination of materials and construction methods, meeting all relevant building code and environmental concerns, and maintaining budget constraints.

From the above definition it becomes clear that the subject matter dealing with commercial construction includes a wide and varied range of topics. ;Each project must be thoroughly analyzed from beginning to end by the project management team. Each stage of the project, such as site evaluation and excavation, structural design, fabrication, and the actual construction must be broken down into manageable quantities since each area of the construction process has its own requirements. Based on the precedent set in the first five editions, the sixth edition of Principles and Practices of Commercial Construction concentrates on the practical aspects of the construction process, primarily the basic construction methods, equipment, and materials used in the instruction of a large structure. To provide additional insight into these areas, formulas, tables, and sample calculations are provided. Chapters dealing with topics in formwork, concrete, steel, and timber frames deal with material application, fabrication, and erection—all guided by applied engineering fundamentals.

Any text dealing with technical topics involving measurements must address the issue of units. With much of the world using metric measurement, more and more structures are being planned and designed using this method of measure. In the construction industry, the manipulation and understanding of units of measure is crucial. However, not all manufacturing processes are totally metric and products are still being manufactured in standard units of measure (also known as imperial or customary units). Added to this, many people are more comfortable using the customary units than the metric system of measure.