FRAMEWORK FOR IDENTIFYING INFLUENCING FACTORS FOR FORMWORK SELECTION FOR RESIDENTIAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

Abstract

Formwork systems (FWS) are essential to any reinforced concrete (RC) construction activity. They are the temporary structures that can bear the load from the concrete and also shape the fresh concrete till it hardens. FWS accounts for around 40% to 60% of concrete's cost and 10% of overall construction's cost of the project. Further, FWS operations consume 50% to 70% of the time in RC construction. The selection of a FWS for a particular type of buildings depends on several factors. However, selecting a FWS is a complex process that takes years of knowledge in this way. In the Indian construction sector, FWS decisions primarily rely on formwork specialists' intuitive and subjective opinions. Therefore, the present research proposes a framework to identifying the influencing factors for formwork selection for residential buildings construction using the Delphi technique. Firstly, the study identifies nine factors and their thirty-four sub-factors influencing the formwork selection based on literature review. The factors are finalized after conducting two rounds of the Delphi technique by creating a questionnaire and gathering data from eleven qualified professionals. Eventually eight main factors (Characteristics, Cost Productivity, Building Design, Productivity, Safety, Quality, Formwork aspects, and Degree of repetition) along with their thirty-one sub-factors are shortlisted. To check the reliability, Cronbach's alpha value is calculated for each factor. The proposed framework can be extended for estimating the weightage of influencing shortlisted factors for the selection of FWS of residential projects in the Indian construction sector.