Brick material for construction

Abstract

In the construction industry, the most common material used for walls are Bricks. There are many types of bricks used in the construction of walls like cementsand bricks, hollow bricks etc. Most of the bricks to be used for the construction industry are obtained from the local manufacturers. Since the bricks manufactured have to conform to the strict requirements of the standards (BS 3921:1985 and MS 76:1972). Are the bricks manufactured according to the specification? Are the processes for brick manufacturing advanced to produce quality bricks? What are the defects commonly found in bricks that have been manufactured? Do our local contractors understand regarding the requirements of bricks? So, the objectives of the study are to study the manufacturing process, specification for clay bricks, defects in bricks and the understanding of the contractor regarding brick. The study is carried out around Kuantan, Pahang. The data is collected from site observation and through questionnaires. The data is analyzed by statistical analysis. From the study, it was found that the brick manufacturing process differs in the drying and firing process. The sizes of bricks manufactured do not conform to the size as stated in the BS 3921:1985 and MS 76:1972 standard. The contractors do not understand the bricks manufacturing process and constituents of bricks.