The settlement of the slab will be checked before the slab is started and after the reinforcement is placed to ensure that it complies with the issued design drawings. It is extremely important that the entire panel is vertically aligned and does not deviate in the vertical direction.
First, the slab is placed to start the formwork. The beam floors are then laid and then the panel formwork is attached.
After fixing all the reinforcement in the slab and beams, the next piling phase is carried out. At this stage the following points are checked.
- Beam staking : Beam depth and width are checked based on position relative to grid lines to ensure they are aligned as shown in the drawings.
- Slab staking : The vertical and horizontal alignment of the slab is checked. Horizontal alignment is checked using the gridlines. Typically the grid lines are in the middle of the beam. For practical reasons, the gridlines on the board are offset. Alignment is checked using this offset line marked on the panel formwork.
- plate leveling : The leveling of the slab is checked after tying the reinforcement. The height of the plate can be checked from above or below. Checking the slab height from the bottom formwork is a common practice.
- Column staking : Column reinforcements that extend above ground level should be checked to ensure they are vertical and in the same location shown on the drawings. The positions of the columns are also checked in relation to the displacements marked on the slab. If misalignments are observed, the column reinforcements are moved into place using steel chains.
Slab staking is an extremely important task in which consultants and contractors must participate.
For example, if not all of the panels are vertically aligned, the contractor must align them vertically at his own expense. Due to misalignment on different floors, the contractor may need to fill the walls with more plaster than estimated.
Since contractors are paid for plastering based on area, the contractor incurs additional costs due to additional amounts of plastering, which cannot be claimed by the homeowner.
Therefore, it is very important to be present at slab staking to ensure that construction progresses according to design drawings and to reduce construction costs by not using additional material to correct mistakes made during concreting work.
