Observations of school damage in past disasters indicate
school weaknesses were most likely due to the poor quality
of workmanship and materials. Both factors are important in
regular construction, but are absolutely essential in hazardresistant construction.
The program manager needs to ensure that competent
tradespeople are hired or that those who are hired have
been given sufficient training.
Even with an effective training process, local tradespeople
may lack the years of experience necessary to quickly
pinpoint errors and know when a small adjustment can be
made, when work needs to be redone, or when construction
must be halted all together.
Even with sufficiently trained tradespeople, the material type
and quality used in construction needs to be consistent with
design specifications. Construction materials need to be
verified on delivery. They then need to be tested to ensure
they meet strength requirements and appropriately stored so
they are undamaged when used.
• Monitoring a site. Program managers – whether from
a development or government agency – are responsible
for establishing and coordinating a robust system to
independently monitor materials and workmanship. This
usually means they need to hire a third-party technical
expert to monitor construction, check the quality of
workmanship and materials, and ensure design is
compliant. If substandard work or materials are identified,
the expert should suggest actions that avoid costly or
time-consuming repairs in the future. While having this
technical expert consistently on the construction site is
ideal, at minimum they should thoroughly inspect the school
construction at each key stage of the construction process.
Day-to-day community monitoring can supplement the
construction monitoring carried out by technical experts.
The local school management committee and neighbours
near the construction site are often most aware of the
construction activities, especially when sites are remote
and technical experts visit only periodically.
An appropriate orientation on safe school construction
can teach community members basic tips for identifying
good quali ty materials and workmanship. They can tell
when the contractor has stopped working for weeks, when
masonry bricks crumble if dropped, when reinforcing steel
is smooth rather than deformed, when timber boards are
deformed, and when too much water is being added to
a concrete mix. They may also be able to identify unsafe
construction site conditions that pose a risk to themselves
or the workers.
In a community-based approach, unqualified community
members – including the school management committee
– should not be responsible for ensuring school
construction complies with design and national standard.
However, they should have the power to raise informed
concerns and even halt construction when low-quality
construction is suspected. A compliance checklist can
greatly aid communities monitoring school construction
sites (see the Community Construction Stage case study).
When to inspect
Local government offices are typically responsible
for inspecting construction sites and verifying the
construction complies with national regulations.
Yet in many countries, government inspectors are
overworked, under-qualified or both. They may not be
able to verify that the materials and workmanship are to
standard.
Program managers need to ensure qualified technical
experts monitor school projects at key stages in the
construction process.
Important inspection points include:
• Site and foundation preparation. An inspection
at this time ensures the building has been sited
according to plan, and that utilities and foundations
have been properly laid.
• Post-foundations. After laying foundations, a check
will ensure foundations have adequate strength and
are placed at an appropriate depth.
• Wall or framing. Checks at this point ensure
material strength, and that the wall and structural
frame dimensions meet design specifications. It also
ensures walls and framing are properly anchored to
foundations.
• Roofing. This inspection point makes sure roofing
and building exteriors provide specified weatherproofing and that roof structures are properly
secured to walls or the frame.
• Completion. This final inspections ensures all
aspects of construction are complete and the school
is safe for occupancy
Monitoring is especially useful when it is conducted
by a third party, preferably a qualified technical expert
without financial or other ties to the construction
team. When third-party technical experts verify the
construction complies with hazard-resistant design
before the next instalment of payment is released, it
provides strong incentive for getting the construction
details right (see In context: Technical support and
construction oversight in the Community Construction
Stage section).
SECTION III: CONSTRUCTION
Key activity 1:
Construction monitoring
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