THE EFFECT OF SERVICE INSTALLATIONS ON STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF SLABS IN BUILDINGS

Abstract

In building construction industry service installations, usually housed in conduit pipes, are
commonly mounted inside reinforced concrete structural elements. This practice is adopted
to attain aesthetical outlook at both interior and exterior surfaces of the buildings.
Depending on the extent of service installations, the cross sectional area of the load
bearing structural member is substantially reduced. However, the current structural design
guidelines have no provision to accommodate the extent to which the existence of conduit
pipes impairs the load bearing capacity of the structural element though reduced cross
sectional area. This study has attempted to address this gap in structural design of
buildings; it involves assessing the current design practice of considering a structural
element as a full solid body and comparing its ultimate load bearing capacity with the ones
containing the conduit pipes. The study findings are based on test results from laboratory
experiments on reinforced concrete slab models with varying intensity of conduit pipe
installations as commonly practiced on construction sites. Recommendations are put forth
when and how to consider the reduced load bearing capacity through the existence of
service installations as part of structural engineering designs.