Modular Co-ordination in Canada - 1958: A Progress Report

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Technical Note (National Research Council of Canada. Division of Building Research), 1958-09-01

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Modular Co-ordination in Canada - 1958: A Progress Report

Kent, S. R.

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DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA

'f

E

_C

JHI

!if

II CAlL

NOTJE

No.

264

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

FOR INTERNAL USE

PREPARED BY

SoRo Kent

PREPARED FOR _Discussion

CHECKED BY RSF _{APPROVED BY RFL}

ｾ September

1958

SUBJECT _{Modular Co-ordination in Canada -}

₁₉₅₈

A Progress Report

Modular co-ordination in Canada is just emerging from the

talking stage and a general awakening ｴｨｲｯｵｧｨｯｵｾ the industry is

evident0 During the past two years instruction in the principles

of the 4-inch modular system has been given and the effect of this is now being shown through the desire of some manufacturers

to produce modular masonry units and'modular ｷｩｮ､ｯｷｾｯ The

program is still too young to demonstrate conolusively the

advantages of modular oo-ordinationo The ｾ･ｮ･ｲ｡ｬ program has

been first to provide instruction for architects through the

provihcial ｰｲｯｦ･ｳｳｩｯｾｬ associations and to provide information

also to builders and manufacturerso When the professionals in

the industry are familiar with the method they can lead the way

in a ooncentrated program for builders and manufacturers0

Within the last year lectures have been given to

architects in Torontob Halifax, and Victoriag and a l2-hour

course was held on modular drafting for Toronto architectso Future leotures to architects are already planned for Ottawa

and Montreal and drafting courses in Fort William9 Ottawa, and

Toronto0 The vacross the board v instruction of the course

appears to be the most satisfactory way of getting modular

drafting into the architects v officeso An exhibit, sponsored

by the Division of BUilding Research and illustrating the prinoiples, advantages and use of modular co-ordination was

shown at architectural conventions in Hali£ax9 ｍｯｮｴｲ･ｾｬｧ Toronto,

and Victoriao This exhibit was not only of interest to the

architects but also to the manufacturers of building products who usually attend the architects' conventionso

Not only are practicing arohitects being given instruction9

but also ｡ｲ｣ｨｩｴ･｣ｴｵｲｾｬ studentsg and in all the schools of

arohitecture some ork is being doneo This work is not as

intensive as it could be and plans are now underway to prepare a set of teaching slides for use in the schools of architecture

"" 2 =

Some industrial associations such as the National Concrete Products Association continue to advocate modular

co=ordination ,nd there is the ｳｾｲｯｮｧ possibility that one

of the national associations will discuss the SUbject at its

1959

annual conventiono

There is still the need for Canadian publications and

although none are available at preaentD the Canadian Standards

Association will ·publish 8 standard in Novemhero . The Division

of Building Research9 NoRoCo has three pUblications in

preparationg the first contains four papersg the second a

pamphlet on the principles of modular co=ordinationg and the third a modular drafting manualo

Specification .for Modular Co=ordination

In

1956

at the request of the Division of Building

Research g the Canadian Standards Association formed a committee to prepare a standard for modular co=ordination 1n bUildingo This Committee operates under the guidance of the Sectional

Committee on BUilding Materialso The Chairman of the Committee

is Professor SoRo Kent of the University of Torontoo

A draft standard has now been prepared and will be

available in

19590

The purpose of the standard Is to establish

a method for dimensional oo=ordinatlon and to ､･ｦｾｮ･ the terms

to be usedo It does not set standard dimensions tor individual

componentsD but does include a guide on dimensioningo The

responsibility for setting standards for sizes of specific components rests with other committeeso

The Experimental Modular House "" Ottawa

.f. i

The purpose of the modular house was to investigate the

possible inorease in efficienoy of erection and ｬｭｰｾｯｶ･ｭ･ｮｴ of

qualityg and to evaluate th, probable reduction in costs of

producing houses by use of the modular ｣ｯｾｯｲ､ｩｮ｡ｴＱｯｮ systemo

No conclusive ･ｾｩ､･ｮ｣･ of coat reduction was anticipated due to

the added time reqUired iuworklng with the UDrami11ar system

and probable additional cost of components in being made to

=

3

=

Three organizations concerned with improving house

buildingy tte National House Builders Associationy the Central

Mortgage and Housing CorporationD and the Division of Building

Research or the Rational Research Council» joined together to

carry out the -project» each unde-rtaking 13"E1parate respopsibilitieso

The

NoHoBoAo arranged for an Ottawa builder» with serviced

property» to undertake the ｣ｯｮｳｾｲｵ｣ｴｩｯｮ on a speculative basisp

and to provide tbe publicity on completion of the project; the CoMoHoCo to-provide the professional services of an Ottawa architect to desigQ a house and assist in its supervi_ioD$ and the Division of Building Researoh to give technical instruction

and record the projecto ｾｨ･ firm of AoBo Taylor ｃｯｮｾｴｲｵ｣ｴｩｯｮ

Ltdo was appointed by the NoHoBoAo_D and James Wo Struttg of

Gilleland and Strutt9 Architectsi was engaged by CoMoHoCo9 in

August

19570

The architect was instructed to design a four=bedroomD

brick=veneer house, suitable for ·project ｢ｕｩｬ､ｩｮｾ to sell for

$149000 exclusive of lando By the end of October

1957

the

draWings were prepared₉ ｣ｨ･｣ｫ･ｾ｢ｹ DoBoRa for adherehce to

modular principles» and approved by CoMoHoCo and AoBo Tayloro

In late November the excavation was ｭ｡､ｾ only to find that the

subsoil was of low bearing capacity and additional depth of two feet -was required to obtain satisfactory bearing for

footings0 ｾｨｩｳ condition resulted in increased size of footings,

and the basement floorD rather than being slab on gradeD was

ohanged to Yood floor joists over orawl spacso At this time

the wall construction was changed from concrete block to solid concrete due to the depth» and the preference of the contractor for working in cold weather with ready=mixed concrete rather

than with masonrye

Construction of the framing began in January

1958

c and

by the middle of the month the building was enclosedo The

abnormally late winter then set in and further work was stoppedo

Brick veneering began in March» insulation in mid=Aprilo and

plastering at the beginning of Mayo Interior trim was left

until one of the better carpenters wasavailabl$ and' so did not

begin until mid=Juneo Interior painting began

1n

Augusto

The whole projeot was intended to be an ordinary building operation with the only exceptions being the use of

modular components and modular drawings_D in order that a

comparison with ｮｯｮｾｭｯ､ｵｬ｡ｲ building could be madso There

<=

4

<=>

and the arranging of finances which prevented an early Fall

starto As the NoHoBoAo desired some information on the

construction for presentation at the annual meeting of the

ASBo_oiation in January.9 the work wa s begun before the December

freeze up then left for completion in the Springo When the

house was not completed by mid=summer» the group agreed to delay its opening until National Home Week in Septembero

The tent,tive conclusions of the project are as

followag . I

10 The projeot'was successfully carried out without serious

error or any alterations uue to the modular methodo In

general appearanceg the house is unconventional due to

the similar large=size windows in the· lower or basement

level as in the upper floorD not because of any demands

of design by modular co=ordinationo The outstanding

detail of the construction is the neatness of the modular masonry resulting from uniform joints and absence of

small cuts of brickso

20 This was the first construction project carried out under

the collaboration of NoHoBoAo_D CoMoHoCoD and DaBoRo All

groups co=operated to the fullest extento The contractor

found that the keeping of adequate special records for a

special house interrupted his operational organ1zationp

and although a sale price tag has not yet been put on the houses he suggests future projects might better be carried out directly by anyone of the groups rather than as a speculative ventureo

30

It was also the first modular construction for all parties

concerned and complete ｣､ｾｯｲ､ｩｮ｡ｴｩｯｮ was not attemptedo

Some modular ｣ｯｭｰｾｮ･ｮｴｳＹ inclUding brick9 windowsD lathg

fibreboard sheathing and insulation9 were used9 while

non-modular components were positioned by the grid systemo

On future projects9 door componentsD kitchen ･ｱｵｩｰｭ･ｮｴｾ

servicesg and perhaps floor and roof panelsg should be

consideredo

40 S±Dce construction began late in the year and then carried

over through winter» a normal work schedule was not

possibleo This presented difficulties for the building

foreman who had been instructed in modularv and also for

the DoBoRo consultantD in giving constant supervision to

the tradesmen during the dimensional layout work for

·

.'

"" 5

-5.

The location of the house in the western limits of

Ottawa presented some difficulties for CoMeRoCo and DeB.R. personnel who work at the eastern limits of

the city0 With a norma I work sche dule thi s would have

been of negligible importance.

6.

The orders for fabricated components apd shop drawings

were not ｾｬｷ｡ｹｳ checked by the architect or modular

｣ｯｮｳｵｬｴ｡ｮｴｾ but no serious discrepancies arose.

7.

As with all special projects, workmen tended to be more

careful and, therefore, slower» knowing that the work

was being closely observed. The masons found the

8"

storey pole very good but did not use ｴｾ horizontal

gUides to maintain modular stations as the brick was

uniform in sizeo Carpenters laid out dimensions

according to the modular drawings, then checked them by their old method.

8

e To obtain accurate cost comparison was not a prime

objectiv.e; the constructor estimated s however s a Ｕｾ to

10% saving in brick masonsB _{time and probably}

5%

_in

lathers' time. Further cost comparisons were not

possible due to abpormal subsurface conditions, some winter constructions the more careful workmanship, and the extended work scheduleo

9.

There appeared ｬ･ｾｳ wastage on the jobs ･ｳｰ･ｾｬ｡ｬｬｹ of brick.

10. The contractor considered that standardization allowed

the subtrades to follow one another with a more co-ordinated effort.

11. The only extra material cost to the builder for modul$r

components was a small charge for making the Pierson

windows to modular dimensionso The LoEo Shaw Coo Ltd.

of Halifax supplied the modular brick at local brick priceso

The Building Industry in Canada

An owner com1iemplat1ng a building may employ the

services of a professional ｡ｲ｣ｨｩｴ･｣ｴｾ .OJ? engineer, depending

on the type of structure, who will prepare the necessary documents for a contract with a contractor, or he may go directly to a contractor, depending on the complexity of the

---

..

.

.

ｾ

= 6 =0

structure0 An architect or engineer must be licensed according

to the respective governing body established by provinoial

statute in the province in which he desires to practieeo Due

to the diversity of the practice of engineering» ｾｩｧｵｲ･ｳ are

not available on the number of engineers in the building

ｩｮ､ｵｳｴｲｹｾ but there are

1949

architects registered in the

provincial associations of whom approximately

6r:

are in

consulting workj

13%

employed by governments9 by industries

such as public utilities» and manufaoturers9 8 by educational

institutions and others$ and 2% by companies in the construction

industry0 In general most architects engage the servioes of

consulting engineers for structural» ｾ･｣ｨ｡ｮｩ｣｡ｬﾻＭ｡ｮ､ electrical

workj instead of having engineers on their staffa

Contractors and builders are not licensed but many

belong to trade associationsj which are servicing associations

rather than regulating oness dealing with labour relationsg

liaison with governmentsg and questions of business ethics and

informationo The Canadian Construction Association is unique

in that it represents the entire "building force" in Canada

-general contractors9 trade contraotors» road building contractors

and the ｾｮｵｦ｡･ｴｵｲ･ｲｳ and suppliers of building materials» and

equipment0 The latest membership list shows approximately

350

general ･ｾｮｴｲ｡｣ｴｯｲｂＹ

64

road builders» and

250

trade contractorso

The National House Builders Association has a membership of

about

900

house builders»

-460

subcontractors» and several others

related to this part of the industryo It is one of the affiliates

of the Canadian Construction Associationo

On the local level there are

39

Builders Exchanges

affiliated with the CoCoAo₉ the two largest_p Toronto and Montreal,

have memberships of approximately 700 and 400 respectivelyo In

addition to the general associations and buildersn _exchanges

there are a number of local associations such as the local house

buildersn _{groups and national bodies representing some of the}

more important sub=tradeso

About

325

manufacturers of building materials and

equipment belong to the manufacturers and suppliers section of

the CoCoAo and approximately 600 belong to the NoHoBoAo There

are also many industrial associations such as the National

Hardwood Plywood Association» Plywood Manufacturers Association.

of British Columbia» National Concrete Products AssociationD

Brick and Tile Institute of Ontario o Canadian Lumbermansv

Association» Canadian Institute of Steel Constructiono