Thsis

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa
Cost Effective Condominium Construction Project in Addis Ababa
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)

Degree in Construction Technology and Management
BY:
Berhanu Adane
Mesfin T/ Giorgis
Addis Ababa
February 2012
Addis Ababa University Department of Construction Technology and Management
Berhanu Adane & Mesfin T/giorgis
Addis Ababa University

Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development
Department of Construction Technology and Management
A BSc. THESIS ON COST EFFECTIVE CONDOMINIUM CONSTRUCTION

PROJECTS IN ADDIS ABABA:
APPROVED BY BOARD OF EXAMINERS:
ADVISOR: Ato Tadesse Ayalew (MSc)
EXAMINER
________________________________ ____________________________________________
EXAMINER
_________________________________ ___________________________________________
CHAIR PERSON
_______________________________________________________________
PREPARED BY: Berhanu Adane

Mesfin T/Giorgis
Addis Ababa
February 2012,
ABSTRACT
Housing is a basic need for civilized living. In many developing countries, housing inadequacies and
backlog have been increasing mainly due galloping increase in population; fast pace of urbanization and
other social and economic factors which include breaking up of the joint family system, and steep rise in
the prices of land, building materials and labour.
Housing has become one of the complex problems of our times and unless urgent measures are taken
both at the national and international levels to mitigate the housing problem, it will assume crisis
proportion with grave adverse consequences on the survival and well-being of the people, as well as the
process of economic and social development.
Developing countries need to accord high priority to housing and despite the severe constraints of
resources; ways and means have to be devised to tackle the housing problem.
As a matter of fact, cost effective housing means housing at low cost for all sections of the population in
a better quality standard. Thus the accent is on housing at effective cost as compared to the prevailing
cost levels.
It is sometimes felt that what is really intended by cost effective construction is cost reduction in
housing. Others view it as a low cost housing.
However, cost effective housing construction, generally implies housing for the low-income families
housing at affordable cost to them it can even be projected to high income group also.
The perspective should be clear to all. Surely by low-cost housing it is meant to achieve cost-effective
housing for all, particularly for the low-income families so that to the extent possible, housing is brought
within their reach.
Cost effective construction should not mean low quality housing although the quality and cost go
together. The total cost of housing, called life-cycle cost of housing taking in to consideration the initial
capital cost of housing construction and also the recurring cost of maintenance and repair of housing,
over a period of its economic service life, should be determined and the most cost-effective housing
should be adopted
Since 2005 Ethiopia has been implementing an ambitious government-led low- and middle-income
housing program The Integrated Housing Development Program (IHDP). The initial goal of the program
was to construct 400,000 condominium units, create 200,000 jobs, promote the development of 10,000
micro - and small - enterprises, enhance the capacity of the construction sector, regenerate inner city
slum areas, and promote homeownership for low income households.
i
In order to avoid these problems and upgrade the systems, it is essential to get a well organized
construction management team works as well as quality control techniques at construction sites.
It is obvious that construction quality management is necessary to ensure that the construction is always
underway and operating smoothly by addressing problems caused by:
Supply of insufficient skilled construction labors
Inadequate supply of construction materials
Lack of proper control of production process, etc.
The research is focusing the projects of cost effective housing study conducted through questioners,
interviews and site observations. The findings of the investigation have shown that; on a specific project
sub-contractors and the main contractor has weak communication between each other .This is because;
the contract agreement is only with the client. This results non-uniform quality of end product .It is
found out from the respondents that the majorities of labors does not have sufficient skills for the jobs
they have given, and the contractors are not supplying appropriate manpower required. Among the
respondents, most of them are not satisfied with the quality of materials brought either from different
quarry sites or from production areas .It is observed from sites of those cost efficient hosing projects
that, negligence of the quality of works is highly developed in most of the people there. Furthermore, the
site engineers follow traditional way of controlling techniques and among the observed sites most of
them have poor quality of control mechanisms and production techniques.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to express our gratitude and deep appreciation to our advisor, Ato Tadesse Ayalew, for
his valuable comments, suggestions and advice during preparing the thesis paper.
We want to acknowledge Ato Tibebu Asefa and Mr. Ingo from EIABC for their great support in
material and successful accomplishment of our research work.
And we would like to thank professionals working in housing development office, site engineers,
supervisors and house hold who have been providing us the necessary information and data required for
the thesis.
Last but not least, we would like to thank our families who have been with us for their continuous
encouragement and assistance.
iii
Table of Contents
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ....................................................................................................................... iii
List of figures and charts ....................................................................................................................... vi
List of tables ......................................................................................................................................... vi
Acronyms ............................................................................................................................................ vii
Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................................... 1
1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Background .................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Statement of the problem .............................................................................................................. 1
1.3 Objective of the study ................................................................................................................... 2
1.3.1 The General Objectives .......................................................................................................... 2
1.3.2 The specific objectives ........................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Significance of the study............................................................................................................... 3
1.5 Research limitations ..................................................................................................................... 3
1.6 Research structure and organization .............................................................................................. 4
CHAPTER 2.......................................................................................................................................... 5
2. LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................................................... 5
CONTEXTUAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................. 5
2.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 5
2.1.1. Historical background ........................................................................................................... 5
2.1.2 Housing Problems, Housing needs and effective demand ....................................................... 6
2.1.3 Condominium Housing in Ethiopia Context ........................................................................... 7
2.1.4 Policy and legal frameworks and the actors in shelter delivery ............................................... 8
2.2 Housing in Addis Ababa ............................................................................................................. 11
2.2.1 Access to Shelter and Housing Stock ................................................................................... 11
2.2.2 Housing Standard, Affordability and Tenure ........................................................................ 12
2.2.3Design consideration, site selection ....................................................................................... 14
CONCEPTUAL REVIEW ................................................................................................................... 17
2.3 Cost-Effective Constructions ...................................................................................................... 17
2.3.1 Cost-Effective building economic concepts.......................................................................... 17
2.3.2 Construction Management ................................................................................................... 17
2.3.3 Construction industry and building materials ....................................................................... 18
2.3.4 Building elements ................................................................................................................ 19
2.3.5 Technological concept and new technologies ....................................................................... 23
2.3.6 Low-cost housing in construction......................................................................................... 23
2.3.7 Water, sanitation, Electrical systems and Vertical circulation ............................................... 25
2.3.8 Impact of science and technology ........................................................................................ 26
2.3.9 Significance of Building Materials ....................................................................................... 27
CHAPTER -3- ..................................................................................................................................... 33
3. Research methodology ................................................................................................................. 33
3.1. Research Methods materials and procedures .............................................................................. 34
3.1.1 Research Approach .............................................................................................................. 34
3.1.2 Research Area ...................................................................................................................... 34
3.1.3 Research Design .................................................................................................................. 34
3.1.4 Population, Sample and Sampling Techniques ..................................................................... 34
3.1.5 Data gathering instrument .................................................................................................... 34
iv

CHAPTER -4- ..................................................................................................................................... 37
4 Analysis and discussions ................................................................................................................... 37
4.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 37
4.2 Policy implementation ................................................................................................................ 37
4.3 Material delivery and quality standard ........................................................................................ 38
4.4 Small scale enterprises ................................................................................................................ 39
4.5 Schedule, quality and cost .......................................................................................................... 39
4.6 Affordability and cost effectiveness ............................................................................................ 40
4.7 Indigenous materials ................................................................................................................... 41
4.8 Households problem ................................................................................................................... 42
CHAPTER -5- ..................................................................................................................................... 43
5. Conclusions and Recommendations.................................................................................................. 43
5.1. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 43
5.2. Recommendation ....................................................................................................................... 45
APPENDIX:-A .................................................................................................................................... 47
APPENDIX:-B..................................................................................................................................... 52
v
List of figures and charts

Figure 1:- Dilapidated Houses
Figure 2:- Institutional Frame work of HDPO
Figure 3:- Slum areas in parts of the city
Figure 4:- Concrete in its visibly finest form
Figure 5:- Power Trowel Finishing Techniques
Figure 6:- Faire faced pigmented concrete wall
Figure 7:- External finishing stage Block Type E1 at Jemo3 site
Figure 8:- Terrazzo Riser ready to use
Figure 9: Flow Chart Representation of the Thesis
List of tables
Table 1:- Table 1: Houses constructed in Addis Ababa, 1996-2003
Table 2:- Financial structure for beneficiaries according to unit type
vi
Acronyms
HDPO: - Housing development project office
MoWUD: - Ministry of Works and Urban Development
MSE:-medium to small enterprises
CEH: - Cost Effective Housing
(NGO):-Non Governmental Organizations
AARH Addis Ababa Rental Housing
USD: - United States Dollar
AACA:-Addis Ababa City Administration
CSA: - Central Statistics Agency
AAHDPO: - Addis Ababa Housing development Office
RC: - Reinforced concrete
CSIR:-Central Research institutes under the council of scientific and industrial research
CBRI:-Central building research institute
CGCRI:-Roorkee, Central Glass and Central Building Research Institute
CFRI Central Fuel Research Institute
SERC: - Structural Engineering Research Centre
IHDP: - Integrated Housing Development Program
ETB: - Ethiopian Birr
vii
Chapter 1
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Housing Practices is an ongoing series that documents the experiences of countries who are
implementing large-scale affordable housing program which provides authoritative and independent
documentation of innovative affordable housing program in countries of the developing world.
Rather than drawing from theory or abstract models, Housing Practices addresses the demand for
practical guidance on housing program based on experience. Each volume holistically documents one
best-practice housing program that has achieved significant results.
The stagnant nature of economic development and rapid population growth of most of the developing
countries makes effective and efficient service delivery difficult for governments, to satisfy the need of
their residents. Housing is one of the basic necessities for human survival; despite it remains for long
period as a critical problem of most of the cities of developing countries. This is the main situation in
Ethiopia as well.
The paper deals with analyzing the existing condominium construction situation of the city to identify
different factors that affect the strategy originally planned make it low cost.
1.2 Statement of the problem

This study outlines the state-of-the-practice about cost effective construction in terms of construction
management, material and work methodology within condominium projects of Addis Ababa. In the use
of construction materials and discusses the applications of indigenous materials. An evaluation based on
technical, environmental, and economic factors indicated that have significant potential to replace
conventional materials for various applications in construction, and should be projected for future
construction. Specific applications of the products and potential problems associated with their usage in
the operations are also the rationale for the study.
Civil engineering has made a vast progress with the development of new materials and sophisticated
techniques of construction. Quality control, time saving and reliability have become the motto of civil
engineering. But, the construction of low-cost residential buildings in Ethiopia is dominated by the use
1

of labour-intensive technique of construction. There is not much improvement in the management and
quality of construction due to the following reasons.
old traditional techniques of construction are still on-going as they are thought that they are assumed
cheaper and facilitate the contractors:
cheap labour attracts the local contractors as advanced machines are costly
old techniques of construction involve more labour than machines
Most of contractors have not undergone civil engineering education
Also the housing standard of the city is incompatible with the affordability of the majority residents to
build their shelter. In other words the majority of the residents have no financial capacity to build their
dwelling to fulfill the standard of the regulation, provided that the estimation of construction cost of the
units increasing day to day. However this is beyond the current reality since the price of construction
materials is rising rapidly.
Measures taken to alleviate the problem by public and private sectors could not bring about a solution
especially from the need of the poor. The city administration had difficulties to supply standard housing,
in quantity as well as in quality terms, and basic services.
There are, however, a number of unanticipated challenges facing the program The most pressing is
the affordability of the units for low-income households, with the cost increases in the price of
condominium houses deeming them no longer an option for many low-income households. Furthermore,
the inability to pay the monthly mortgage and service payments forces many households to move out of
their unit and rent it.
The issue of successful housing construction of the city there for rests mainly on strategies applied to
increase cost effective construction. So the question is what are the possible strategies that can enable
cost effective construction of the city to build decent dwelling?
1.3 Objective of the study

1.3.1 The General Objectives
The general objective of this research is to show better alternative ways of plan preparation and
implementation that suits the socio-economic and political (policy) environment of the country at large
and the city in particular. This paper deals with the cost effective construction in terms of construction
management, material and work methodology within condominium projects. Analysis and the current
2

quality control management practice in cost effective housing projects. The research is based on case
study conducted on respective projects; focuses will be made on condominium house project sites in
Addis Ababa.
1.3.2 The specific objectives
To assess the ongoing condominium housing construction projects in Addis Ababa particularly
in one of the selected site with respect to the strategic policy, plan and its goal achievement.
To study cost effective housing construction in terms of construction management, material and
work methodology on the basis of past and ongoing experience.
To assess the affordability of condominium housing.
To observe problems of end products ready for use by the households and those already being
used by the household and come up with alternative solutions.
1.4 Significance of the study

The study is expected to give new insight on the current status of condominium housing construction
and also give information to researchers in housing construction.
The overall focus of this study is to assess the status of condominium housing construction practices and
identify factors that challenge housing construction and give alternative ways. So, it is the researchers
that this study may:
- Give some information related to condominium housing construction
- To assist responsible bodies to assess the strength and weakness of the condominium housing
construction
- Inspire researchers for further study in the area. Moreover, this study will attempt to give light on
the urgent need for integrated condominium housing construction
1.5 Research limitations

This Study conducted through site-visits, interviews with key stakeholders and household surveys on
condominium sites.
3

We acknowledge the contribution of all individuals and organizations. In addition appreciation is given
to the households who participated in the household surveys undertaken in Jemo and Gofa.
During the research work, we have been facing a number of constraints .Some of the major limitations
are mentioned as follows:
Time limitations
Shortage of data collecting instruments
Unwillingness of the construction companies and professionals to give informations
To overcome the limitations, we have been spending all the time given, all of our resources we have got
with maximum possible efforts.
1.6 Research structure and organization

The report contains the following five main chapters
Introduction: In this chapter, the general summary of the research is presented. It includes the
background, aims and objectives, limitations, and structure and organization of the research.
Literature review: This chapter presents the basic concepts, principles and implementations of QCM
.Investigations of the present quality control systems, causes of quality faults and improvement
mechanisms are discussed in detail.
Research methodology: this chapter deals with the methods chosen for the research together with the
reasons for selection. It also describes the sources of data, and how questionnaires, interviews and
discussions are conducted.
Results and discussions: In this chapter, the analysis of the data collected through questionnaires,
interviews and literature review is presented .The different quality control techniques and management
systems are discussed to measure the efficiency applied upon cost efficient housing projects.
Conclusions and recommendations: This chapter presents a summary of the findings of the above
chapters of the thesis. In addition, it includes the conclusions and recommendations of the research.
4
CHAPTER 2
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
CONTEXTUAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Regardless of the economic condition of the developing country attempting to meet its national housing
needs, it is evident that in the selection of housing schemes, the questions of economy remain the
primary consideration because construction of houses requires considerable investment of capital. As a
result, there is a great need to reduce building cost with the help of optimum utilization of building
materials that are scarce and costly. Speed in construction is also to be brought about so that
construction is completed in a short time as possible and the houses are ready for early occupation with
relatively less cost. [1].
The conceptual review with respect to cost saving mechanisms is addressed from two aspects, namely
construction technology aspect and construction management aspect. Besides these two construction
aspects are interrelated, a good management skill helps not only to retain the cost saving mechanisms
considered during the design phase but also to attain additional cost saving and quality techniques.
However, if the project is not well managed it may cost additional amount and may become more
expensive than the conventional construction method. What we want to say is that though the cost
reduction techniques are interrelated, greater attention should be given to the construction management
that encompasses the inception till completion of the project.
2.1.1. Historical background

According to many scholars, the concept of condominium is quite old. Albert Ferrer states that there is
at least one record of the sale of part of a building, in ancient Babylon (modern Iraq), during the First
Dynasty, nearly two centuries before the birth of Christ, and that there is evidence of the use of the
system among the Greeks, Egyptians, and others. It was during the Middle Ages, when walls were
constructed to enclose cities in order to provide security, that building space became even scarcer in
many European cities. This lack of space led to individual ownership of parts of a building, sometimes
even individual ownership of single rooms, in cities such as Orleans and Paris. Leyser states that this
5

ownership of floors of houses, and even rooms, in the hand of different persons was common in various
parts of Europe. The condominium concept of home ownership became especially widespread in the
French cities of Nantes, Saint Malo, Caen, Rouen, Rennes, and Grenoble. In Rennes a catastrophic fire
in 1720, which destroyed most of the city, forced inhabitants to build under a new system of wider
streets and taller, multi-family buildings. The experiment was so successful that the system was firmly
adopted.[3]
The condominium concept spread to other European countries and, eventually, to other parts of the
world as Europeans immigrated to other continents. Among the industrialized countries, the United
States was the last to embrace the condominium concept. The first attempt in the United States or its
territories to develop condominiums was the Horizontal Property Act of Puerto Rico, passed in 1948,
utilizing a model statute developed by the Federal Housing Authority. [3]
After World War II, essentially the only type of commonly owned housing that was available to the
general population was the cooperative.[3]
2.1.2 Housing Problems, Housing needs and effective demand

Housing is one of the basic needs for living. Proper housing is an important need for every human being.
However, the type of accommodation largely depends on the economic development of the country.
The developing counters today have three major challenges to face: the alarming increase in population,
poverty, and the fast pace of urbanization. As a result of these challenges a large number of people in
Asia, Africa, and Latin America are either homeless or inadequately housed, which adversely affect
their well-being and retards social and economic development. [14]
The government estimates that the current housing deficit is between 900,000 and 1,000,000 units in
urban areas, and that only 30 per cent of the current housing stock is in a fair condition, with the
remaining 70 per cent in need of total replacement. In Addis Ababa alone, 300,000 units are required to
meet the deficit.
The housing deficit is set to increase concurrently with the foreseen high population and urbanization
growth.
Between 1983 and 2007, Ethiopias population more than doubled, from 33.5 million to 81.2 million,
and it is projected to more than double again by 2050 to reach 170.2 million. To accommodate future
growth, the Urban Sector Millennium Development Goals Needs Assessment (2004) predicted that to
6

meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015 requires a total of 2,250,831 units, which
equates to a considerable 225,000 houses per annum. There is massive demand for serviced, healthy,
affordable housing. This demand stems from both the current housing deficit and the poor quality of the
existing kebele housing stock that is beyond repair. However, there is low effective demand. Effective
demand is based on the ability and willingness to pay for housing, affected by income and what
households are prepared to pay. Although effective demand is difficult to determine because it requires
reliable data on income levels and expenditure patterns of households, their savings capacity and
prioritization of housing vis--vis other forms of investment, it is the case that the majority of Ethiopians
cannot pay for formal housing supplied by the private market. Therefore, the greatest need is for
affordable housing. [11]
Figure 1 Dilapidated Houses
2.1.3 Condominium Housing in Ethiopia Context

The idea of condominium housing is a new phenomenon in Ethiopia. It is just as old as the IHDP. It
emerged as a strategic response to rapid urban population growth, high prevalence of urban poverty, and
urban unemployment in major Ethiopian cities; because only 30% of the urban house stock was
regarded to be in fair condition; and the housing shortage is being estimated to be between 900 000 and
1 000 000 (MWUD, 2006, IHDP 2008). The condominium housing project thus aims at meeting the
elements of Millennium Goal 7 on Environmental Sustainability, target 11 which seeks to achieve a
significant improvement in the lives of at least 1 million slum dwellersIn Addis Ababa city more than
7

70% of the population lives in slums and the houses are made predominantly from mud and straw
(IHDP 2008). [4]
2.1.4 Policy and legal frameworks and the actors in shelter delivery
Currently though housing policy is not yet formulated at national and city level, the citys housing
principle is following the free market economic policy adopted in 1991that create conducive atmosphere
for private sector particularly the real estate developers to participate in housing development. The
federal government enacted proclamation on urban development policy that gives high attention for
alleviating housing problems of urban areas. The city administration has also prepared five years
housing development program in 2004 to reduce housing problem of the city by 50%. The program
gives prior attention for alleviating housing problem of low income households. It promotes high raise
(up to G+4) condominium buildings with a minimum built up area of 22 m2 to minimize the
construction cost so as to benefit low income families. Government, Private sector (Real estate
developer, Cooperatives, and Individuals) and Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) are considered
as the major actors in housing construction and marketing activities. [5]
The central government represented by AARH was involved in constructing and renting houses for
residential and other purposes before 1991 none the less the outcome was not as it was required. Over
the period 1974-1991, the AARH constructed 8623 dwelling units throughout urban Ethiopia. (PADCO
1996:29) At present it is only renting the constructed and nationalized houses with a monthly rent of
above USD 11.11.The city administration is renting about 150,000 nationalized units rented below USD
11.11 per month and known as Kebele houses. Besides even though it was responsible for supplying low
cost residential houses it built 7409 units only during 1996-2004. Now days it is involving in building
32000 units for residential and commercial purposes with a high emphasis of supplying housing for the
low income households. The process is however hindered by shortage of financial and material
resources.
Housing cooperatives, individuals and real estate developers are the main actors in shelter delivery for
owner occupied and rental purposes. Nonetheless the sluggish land supply system and unaffordable
construction cost and requirements are the main factors that affect private housing supply. The number
of plots allocated by lottery system between 1995 and 2002 was only 2049 (Esrael 2005:41-46). Better
result is registered in 2004 and 2005 when about 60,000 members organized under 2000 cooperatives
8

acquire land for residential purpose.(AACA 2006:14). The other problem is that, individuals and
cooperatives are obliged to deposit about 20% of the total building cost in block account to acquire land
for residential house. (NUPI 2004:211) On the other hand even if the participation of real estate
developers is growing since 1998/99 as a matter of principle, these privately owned companies do not
concerned about supplying houses for low-income parts of the society. The study indicated that real
estate developed houses constructed up to now be accessible to the high income group only. (NUPI
2004:193) [5]
Management with executive responsibility of each of the project team members should define a policy
for quality control including objectives for quality and its commitment to quality. The quality policy
should be relevant to the owners goals and expectations. Project team member management should
ensure that the quality policy is understood at all levels of the project team members organization. (15)
For example; the quality policy of HDPO is stated as follows:
Insure the quality of the houses to be build consistently by preparing accurate and to the standard
designs, as poor designs can never result in a high quality product implementing the same with the use
of approved material, appropriate equipment and competent workmanship to meet the minimum quality
requirements specified therein with a minimum possible cost and without affecting health, safety and
environmental consideration.
I. Make the management body at various levels fully aware and committed to implement
the quality management system of the project office
II. Insure preparation of accurate and to the standard designs and specification
III. Insure the use of only materials of specified quality. This includes quality control of raw
construction materials in production area, inspection of production process, final products
and during purchase of materials.
IV. Conduct close supervision during construction: Checking the dimensions, working
procedures, mix ratios etc. to insure the correct implementation of design drawings &
specifications.
V. Supervise the skill & competence of staff & tradesman employed by Producers, the
Contractors, and the Consultants and by the Employer in one way or anther for the
execution of the projects. . (19)
9
Figure 2 Institutional Frame work of HDPO
10
2.2 Housing in Addis Ababa

2.2.1 Access to Shelter and Housing Stock
The housing condition of Addis Ababa is by far inadequate in quantity and quality terms to meet the
need of the residents.
In 1994 the number of housing units (374,742) was 9.5% less than the number of households (414262)
which need an equal number of dwellings. (CSA1999:218). Based on the data of planning and policy
commission the difference has increased to 24.8% within ten years, even if the total housing stock has
risen to 471429 with 2.5% average annual increment. The unfulfilled demand for residential housing in
2004 was therefore 116,806. Besides, different studies indicate that 269814 (about 80%) of the houses
located in the inner part of city (337268) need complete replacement because of dilapidation. Hence, the
estimated gap between housing supply and demand or housing deficit due to new household formation
and dilapidation as of 2004 is estimated to be about 386,620. [5]
Housing supplier
No of houses
Percentage share
Public
7409
8.4
Cooperative
24820
28.2
Individuals
22225
25.3
Real estate developers
3520
4.0
Informal sectors
30000
34.1
Total
87976
100
Table 1: Houses constructed in Addis Ababa, 1996-2003
Measuring housing quality by major indicators that are availability of adequate space for privacy and
mobility and Physical condition of the houses, most of the dwellings in the city are termed as low level
of quality. About 31% of the housing stock had only one room and the average number of households in
11

one-room house is 1.1 (CSA1999:229-233). Therefore about 24.8% of all Addis Ababa household are
living in overcrowded dwellings. (UIS 2002:24) With regard to physical condition, the feature of most
of the units is in need of replacement because, 82.3% of the total housing stocks are built up of mud and
wood and served for more than 40 years (CSA 1999:224-227). [10]
Figure 3 Slum areas in parts of the city
2.2.2 Housing Standard, Affordability and Tenure

The housing standard of the city is incompatible with the affordability of the majority residents to build
their shelter. The city administration has adopted housing standards (G+0 and G+1) in 1994 and 2003
with respective construction cost of 3889 and 6667 USD, which are only affordable to households who
earn a monthly income of more than 167 and 222 USD respectively. (Esrael 2005:47-48)
The term affordable housing has a number of connotations and definitions. Some regard it simply as
housing for low-income people. Others interpret affordable housing as any form of directly or
indirectly subsidized dwelling. The formal definition, however, refers to the share of a households
income that is spent on lodging. An expenditure of a households gross annual income on mortgage
principle, interest, taxes, and utilities has become a recognized measure of how much people should
12

spend on rented or owned adequate and safe housing. Housing is, therefore, affordable when households
with income at or below the city, community, or state median income spend no more than some percent
of their gross annual income on shelter. Along with societal and economic changes, the growing need to
house a segment of the population affordably has accelerated in recent decades.[9]
However according to the assessment result of housing study of ORAAMP 92% of the total population
of the city earn a monthly income of less than 167 USD (ORAAMP 2002:24-26). In other words the
majority of the residents have no financial capacity to build their dwelling to fulfill the standard of the
regulation, provided that the estimation of construction cost of the units remain unchanged. On the other
hand this is beyond the current reality since the price of construction materials is rising rapidly. The
respective price change of the main construction materials that have great role in determining
construction cost of a house, with in the last two years was 61%, 37% and 26% for cement, sand and
reinforcement bar. So that it is not difficult to understand that the percentage of people who cannot
afford to build standard unit could go up.
Affordability involves a relationship between housing cost, which includes mortgage payments, rent,
property taxes, and utilities, and household income. In particular, it refers to the ability of homeowners
or potential homeowners to make payments on a home. Access refers to the ability of potential
homeowners to obtain financing for a home. It is largely determined by lending practices set by the
lenders conventions and affected by the availability of financing interest rates, down payment
requirements, and other borrowing terms and conditions. The affordability gap is another important
term that is commonly used. It is defined as the difference between the amounts a household can afford
to pay as a percentage of income and the actual rent or mortgage payment needed. [9]
Unit Type
Down
payment
Interest rate
Grace period
Repayment
period
studio
10%
0%
6 month
20 years
1-Bed
10%
2%
3 month
10 years
2-Bed
30%
7.5%
15 years
3-Bed
30%
7.5%
10 years
Commercial
100%
Table 2 financial structure for beneficiaries according to unit type

13
In the light of tenure, Addis Ababa has two forms of housing tenure, government and private, which
accounted for 40.4% and 50.8% of the total housing units respectively (CSA1999:253). Residents who
own land formally are secured to obtain tenure certificate irrespective of sex, even though those
households who built house on illegally obtained land, which proportionate about 25% of the total units,
(ORAAMP 2002:34) are not secured to legal status and are vulnerable to forced eviction. [5]
2.2.3Design consideration, site selection

Housing design involves the form, dimensions, orientation, natural lighting, ventilation, and spatial
organization of dwellings. There is no ready-made solution for housing design in reconstruction.
Careful and contextualized integration of many issues determine whether or not a rebuilt houses
stakeholders, most importantly, its inhabitants, are satisfied.
The Addis Ababa city administration is constructing houses based on master plan and neighborhood
planning of the city. The existing dominant housing topology is changed from single to multi-storey (up
to G+4) to maintain the population density of the core area 650-2000 Inh/hect proposed by the master
plan. For instance 696 units are built on 45191 m2 plot of land or on average 755 persons are settled on
one hectare. (AAHDPO 2005: 3)
The other main principle of the design of the condominium houses is that maintaining the existing mixed
settlement that is constructing units for different income groups and purposes. Based on this units for
commercial and communal purposes are also constructed with the Studio up to three bed room type of
residential houses. [5]
According to the housing development project office of Addis Ababa Ethiopia; 173.8 hectares of land
was spared and prepared for 34,280 condominium units in the city. This includes land for the erection of
the condominium houses, land for common space, land for local kitchens, land for common laundry and
land for septic tanks and drainage laying space. The research established that there were no criteria used
for site selection. Land belongs to the government; as such the government provides land for
condominium housing projects in order to cut construction costs. Building sites were randomly selected
for the project on open spaces in inner city and some on the peripherals of the city. Households that
benefited from condominium houses in the inner city had an advantage of living and working in the
inner city without transport costs; and access services. Those households who benefited from
14

condominium projects outside the city centre are now incurring costs of transport to acquire services to
and from the city centre. [10]
15
Figure 4 External finishing stage Block Type E1 at Jemo3 site
Figure 5 Terazo Riser ready to use at Jemo3 site

16
CONCEPTUAL REVIEW
2.3 Cost-Effective Constructions
2.3.1 Cost-Effective building economic concepts
Budgets are clearly worked out to the last detail. They exemplify how, and by what measures, costeffective planning and building are possible. Because cost-effective building requires that special
attention be paid to the overall planning and implementation these processes are examined
comprehensively in specialist contributions and project documentations, from office organization
through the design phase and the coordination of implementation planning, on to ultimate realization.
The spectrum of solutions extends from the use of standardized products to innovative and individual
solutions for details, complete with specified costs, and are a source of inspiration for architects and
planners. [15]
2.3.2 Construction Management

Construction project management encompasses organizing the field forces and backup personnel in
administrative and engineering positions necessary for supervising labor, awarding subcontracts,
purchasing materials, record keeping, and financial and other management functions to ensure profitable
and timely performance of the job. The combination of managerial talents required presupposes training
and experience, both in field and office operation of a construction job. Proper construction project
management will spell the difference between a successful building or contracting organization and a
failure. This section outlines practical considerations in construction project management
based on the operations of a functioning general contracting organization. Wherever possible, in
illustrations given, the forms are from actual files for specific jobs. These forms, therefore, not only
illustrate various management techniques, but also give specific details as they apply to particular
situations. [18]
Administration of construction requires an intimate knowledge of the relationship of the various skills
required for the construction, which involves labor, material suppliers, and subcontractors. Feeding into
the job are all of the life supplying services. Whether the contractor combines one or more of the jobs in
more than one person are immaterial. Construction project management that will result in a profitable,
on-time job involves the organization and interplay of many talents. Activities of engineers, architects,
field supervisors, construction labor, material and equipment suppliers, and subcontractors, aided by
17

accountants, attorneys, insurance and bonding underwriters, design professionals, and the owner, must
be organized and carefully coordinated. Those who succeed in this complex and difficult business are
the ones who familiarize themselves thoroughly with the daily operations of their jobs. They understand
the needs of different clients and design professionals and are able to tailor services to them. [18]
2.3.3 Construction industry and building materials

The policy should also promote use of appropriate building materials for mass housing constructions.
Special emphasis in national policy would have to be laid on prevention of environmental degradation,
energy conservation, and ecological balance.[14]
As with finance and urban service provision, the government significantly controls the construction
industry. Before 1991 the government had a monopoly over the production and supply of building
materials. Even though the government is still active in retailing and some subsidies remain in place,
material production and supply is gradually shifting to a market based approach where prices are byand-large market prices.
Building materials are high in price and of a low quality relative to neighboring countries. For lowincome housing the most common building materials used are wattle and daub (chikka) for walls, with
roof rafters of round tree lengths (usually Eucalyptus) covered with corrugated iron sheeting, and skim
concrete or compacted earth floor. Larger multistory commercial and residential buildings in urban areas
are composed of reinforced concrete frame and slab construction with hollow brick or fired brick infill
walls.
There is a pressing need for more cost efficient alternative materials, as the current cost of construction
materials is a high proportion of total construction cost, typically around 70 per cent. The construction
industry comprises four main sectors: building and residential development sector (construction
companies), civil engineering sector, professional services, and informal self-building sector.
The national Ethiopian Building Code, Ethiopian Building Proclamation 624/2009 is a legal document
that outlines the building regulations and requirements, for use by local authorities to ensure building
standards are maintained in their jurisdiction. The codes are only used and enforced in buildings
developed in the formal sector. [6]
The construction sector is undergoing several changes. The governments plan for the budget year of
2008/09 was to enhance the capacity of the construction industry by making it capable and competitive,
18

enhancing its contribution to the countrys economy, enabling it to meet the demand for housing
construction, and enabling it to create ample employment opportunities. It aimed to achieve this by
improving construction industry policy; developing a construction industry capacity building
programme; and ratifying and implementing the national building proclamation.[6]
2.3.4 Building elements

2.3.4.1 Indigenous building Materials
Indigenous building materials have been used extensively for building houses at affordable cost. They
are easily available locally at little or no cost and local people are conversant with the technology of
using them for construction of houses largely through self-help.
The performance of the houses built with indigenous building materials is suited to the geoclimatic
conditions. However, frequent repairs and reconstruction are required. Moreover, large-scale damage
and destruction takes place due to natural disasters like heavy rainfall and floods, earthquakes and
landslides, strong winds and cyclones, and fires.
It is, therefore, incumbent on builders to achieve economic optimization in the use of indigenous
building materials by application of modern science and technology, so that more durable and livable
houses can be constructed at lowest possible cost. This is also necessary to ensure sustainable
development without causing environmental degradation and ecological imbalance, which have become
matters of overriding significance.
Some notable progress has been made in some developing countries in the improved use of indigenous
building materials for low-cost housing and is briefly mentioned here, along with its potential for
tackling the massive problem of shelter for the people at affordable cost. [14]
2.3.4.2 Fair faced concrete structural and wall elements

The description of fair-faced concrete is not always entirely clear-cut, and various different definitions
are given for it in the normative literature. Essentially, fair-faced concrete is a part of the structure that is
intended to remain on view after completion. When it comes to planning a project, functionality and
optimum space utilization are decisively important but so too are the surfaces, and the visual impact
that these surfaces have. The focus is thus on the appearance that the architect wishes to impart to the
fair-faced concrete surfaces (the "architect's wishes"). [17]
19

Spun concrete is characterized by a nonporous, closed fair-faced concrete surface. With the surface
design, you can allow your ideas to run free - the individual, uniform color shading in any pattern you
wish offers you almost boundless leeway for design. Simply select your design wishes from a large
palette of colors and surface structures.
You can also chose additional mechanical treatment of the surfaces: e.g., sandblasting, chiseling,
polishing, or granulating. The great resistance of these surfaces to scratches and impacts and to
aggressive environmental effects (for example, corrosive salty sea air) minimizes preventive and
corrective maintenance costs. The noticeably smooth surface of the spun concrete places your poles and
masts in just the right light - from functional as well as design aspects. [17]
20
Figure 6 Concrete in its visibly finest form
Figure 7 Faire faced pigmented concrete wall Royal Nederland Embassy Chancery building
in Addis Ababa
21
2.3.4.3 Flooring
With several varieties of power trowels on the market, each one has positives and negatives according to
the site you are working on. Power trowels come with both electric and gas engines and as walk-behinds
and ride-on. The walk-behind trowel, which you push along, generally comes with a 5- to 10horsepower engine. The ride-on trowels come between 10 to 25 horsepower. Trowels also come in
different diameters, with 600mm or less used for refurbishment work in tight walkways, 800-1,200mm
for wide areas such as warehouse floors and factories, and 900-1,200mm double heads for large areas
that need a good finish and polish.
Floating: Once the concrete is sufficiently dry, when a worker can stand on the concrete surface and
only sink 3mm, it is time to begin the trowel process. The floating pass is the first step in trowel
finishing. Using a float blade or a float disc, the trowel is passed from one side of the concrete to the
other, with the worker pulling the trowel while walking backwards. The concrete is still soft at this point,
so the trowel will clean up the worker's footprints as it moves along. There will be circular marks left in
the concrete at this point. These will be cleaned up during the finishing pass.[15]
Finishing: After the blades have been changed from floating to finishing, it is time to make the final
pass. This finishing pass should be performed once the concrete has dried and walking on it no longer
leaves indentations. The blades are angled at this point toward the concrete. After each pass, to ensure
you get the best finish, a 5- to 10-degree increase in blade angle should be adjusted. The steeper the
angle of the blades on the final pass, the harder the finish. [15]
Figure 8 Power Trowel Finishing Techniques

22
2.3.5 Technological concept and new technologies

The housing design considers land as scarce commodity and the provision of basic infrastructure as
relevant cost factor.
However, the costs for basic infrastructure can only be economized if inbound infill areas are used.
Settlements on the fringe or outside of urban centers are financially not viable because of the high costs
for the provision of minimum basic infrastructure.[12]
The housing designs are elaborated according to the Ethiopian Building Code Standard and take into
consideration the different earthquake zones within Ethiopia
The following new technologies are introduced by the Low-cost Housing Project:
New hollow block size - more economical, easier to handle.
U-shaped block, same size as hollow block used for prefabrication of lintels and beams.
Reinforcement for columns inside of the hollow blocks - no formwork required for columns.
Combined strip- and slab foundation - apt for any kind of soil.
Pre - fabricated slab system (beams and hollow blocks) - no formwork required.
Modular architectural system adjusted to varying financial capabilities of beneficiaries.
Designs to be adapted to any kind of soil and earthquake regions.
Reduction of material wastage of up to 30%.
Environmentally friendly approach, as no wood is needed for formwork. [12]
2.3.6 Low-cost housing in construction

The term low-cost housing has many conceptions and it would be appropriate to clarify the meaning of
this popular terminology. Low- cost housing means housing at low cost for all section of the population.
Others define it as low-cost housing means that from the given physical resources of funds, materials,
land, and skills one should able to build the maximum number of houses of good quality at affordable
cost i.e. building houses at lower cost as compared to the prevailing cost level.
It is sometimes felt that what is really intended by low-cost housing is cost reduction in housing others
view it as cost-effective housing. Therefore, through the low- cost housing programs it easier to achieve
cost-effective housing for the existing housing shortage particularly for the low-income families so that
to the extent possible, housing is brought within their reach. Low-cost housing should not mean low
quality housing although the quality and cost go together. The total cost of housing taking into
23

consideration the initial capital cost for the housing construction and also the recurring cost of
maintenance and repair over a period of its economic service life, should be determined during planning
and designing and the most cost effective housing should be adopted. If it is so, it is unquestionable that
cost-efficient housing program is the timely solution for the drastically growing housing demand of the
society in the city.
Civil engineering has made a vast progress with the development of new materials and sophisticated
techniques of construction. Quality control, time saving and reliability have become the motto of civil
engineering. But, the construction of low-cost residential buildings is dominated by the use of laborintensive technique of construction.
There is not much improvement in the quality of construction due to the following reasons:
- Old traditional techniques of construction are on-going as they are cheaper
and facilitate the contractors
- Cheap labor attracts the local contractors as advanced machines are costly
- Old techniques of construction involve more labor than machines
- About 50 percent of contractors have not undergone civil engineering
The following construction mistakes are observed and overlooked during the construction phase of
residential buildings.
- The cement-sand mix in the mortar and brick masonry is made quite early, prior
to its use and in larger quantities than required
- The construction materials like sand, bricks, aggregates, etc, are not washed
and are full of deleterious material and dust
- Compaction of bottom strata in foundation work is not carried out
- During concreting of footings, the concrete is poured at a height greater
than 1 m. Generally, trapezoidal footings are resorted to, where concrete is never vibrated
- Reinforced concrete (RC) columns, being an important part of the structure, are neither
mechanically vibrated nor machine mixed. They are cast in short lifts with increased
number of joints
- Cover to reinforcement in columns, beams and slabs is insufficient
- Misalignment of columns at foundation level and rectification at higher level, leading to eccentric
loading
- RC coping at plinth level being an important barrier to dampness is never densely cast
24

- The plinth filling is never carried out in layers nor compacted
- At the joints of RC and brick masonry, either the RC surface is not roughened or filling of mortar at the
joint is not evident
- The joints of brick masonry at larger heights are improperly racked
- Mixing ratio in plaster and brick masonry is not maintained
- In the cases where beams are cast prior to slab:
(i) In large slabs, the concrete in beams starts setting before casting of RC slab
(ii) The concrete spilled on the sides of beams while casting is never removed which gets set
subsequently
- Reinforcement of RC columns is kept exposed above RC slabs
- Hacking to concrete surface is poorly done prior to plastering
- Bearing to lintel on both ends is not sufficient
- In load-bearing structures, secondary beams are resting directly on the walls giving point loading
- Corner reinforcement is not provided in two-way slabs leading to upliftment of corners
- Proper care for uplift pressure in black cotton soil is not taken in:
(a) Ground beam
(b) combined footing. [13]
2.3.7 Water, sanitation, Electrical systems and Vertical circulation

This section treats the major subsystems for conveyance of water and removal of wastes in pipes in
pipes within a building. The pipes generally extend beyond the building walls to a supply source or a
disposal means, such as a sewer. To prevent illness and death from unsanitary or unsafe conditions in
supply of water in buildings and removal of wastes in pipes plumbing and fire prevention codes were
created.
There are two commonly recognized model plumbing and fire prevention codes: International
Plumbing Code and International Fire Code, These codes are generally revised on 3-year cycles.
[18]
The model of the condominium house project provides all sites with drainage and sewer pipes. However
due to the ever increasing population in Addis Ababa in search of better opportunities and services the
drainage and sewer pipes are frequently busting and blocked because they are failing to cope with
25

increasing pressure. Designers did not consider the size of the pipes in anticipation of the proportion of
the number of condominium housing units built with an average of.5-8 person per household. [10]
Electrical systems: Design of the electrical installations in a building used to be simple and
straightforward. Such installations generally included electrical service from a utility company; power
distribution within the building for receptacles, air conditioning, and other electrical loads; lighting; and
a few specialty systems, such as fire alarm and telephone. Though highly sophisticated and capable,
these systems can easily be disrupted or damaged by power system anomalies such as sags, surges,
noise, and power outages. Electrical design elements to protect against these disturbances must be
included and must be designed to be
appropriate and sensitive, fast, and robust.
Vertical circulation: Circulation, as usually applied in architecture, is the movement of people and
goods between interior spaces in buildings and to entrances and exits. Safe, convenient, rapid circulation
is essential for all buildings under both normal and emergency conditions. Vertical circulation of traffic
in a multistory building is the key to successful functioning of the design, both in normal use and in
emergencies. In fact, location of elevators or stairs strongly influences the floor plan. So in the design of
a building, much thought should be given to the type of vertical circulation to be provided, number of
units needed, and their location, arrangement, and design.
Traffic may pass from level to level in a multistory building by ramps, stairs, elevators, or escalators.
The powered equipment is always supplemented by stairs for use when power is shut off, or there is a
mechanical failure, or maintenance work is in progress, or in emergencies. [18]
2.3.8 Impact of science and technology

As a result of advances in building science and technology, greater attention is being given to quality,
performance, and durability of houses, provision of fittings and fixtures in the house, and installation of
more efficient and reliable services offering modern conveniences, such as in kitchen, bathroom, and
living rooms. Greater attention is also being given to planning and design of houses and buildings to
ensure constructional, structural, health, and fire safety.
An industrial approach to building and housing is being developed to increase the efficiency and
productivity of the building and housing industry, especially for reducing the cost of construction,
increasing the speed in building, and enhancing the capacity of the industry to undertake large-scale
housing and building projects.
26

Proper layout of housing colonies and town sectors for rational use of land and its development,
economical and efficient planning of building and dwelling spaces, and the aesthetics of architecture are
being given due attention. [14]
2.3.9 Significance of Building Materials

Building materials account for up to two-thirds of the total cost of house construction. Moreover, the
speed of construction, safety, durability, and performance of houses greatly depend on the type of
building materials used and appropriate technology of construction.
Policy Imperatives
The production and availability, supply and distribution, Cost and quality of different types of building
materials, particularly indigenous and traditional building materials, need to be given due attention for
low-cost housing. For successful implementation of mass housing programs, a national policy for
building materials is warranted. [14]
National Plan
Hitherto, the production and supply of building materials for housing has been almost entirely left to the
private sector particularly in respect of indigenous materials like mud, bamboos, reeds, and local timbers
and traditional materials like burnt clay bricks, lime and stone.
Due to several constraints it has not been possible for the building materials industry in the private
sector to augment its production to meet the demand. As a result there is a great demand for indigenous
and traditional building materials and some materials are in short supply and their prices have risen
considerably. [14]
Advance planning
To meet the requirements of construction program, the availability and production of building materials
of different kinds from indigenous resources would have to be considerably stepped up. Emphasis has to
be laid on increasing the production of new building materials which can be used as alternative materials
effecting saving in consumption of costly and scarce materials like cement, steel, and timber. New
production units have to be installed in different parts of the country based on the latest advances in
technology.
27

As a matter of fact the augmentation of production of building materials required for mass housing
program should be undertaken well in advance so that the required types of building materials are easily
available reasonable cost.
Inorganic Materials
Inorganic materials include commonly used materials like soils and literate, burnt clay bricks and tiles
building lime and clay pozzolana, stones, and sands. As a result of research work done by CBRI,
Roorkee, India and similar research organizations in other developing countries, improved use of these
materials for construction of low-cost houses has been made for achieving economy. Some of these are
as given below:
1. Techniques of soil stabilization using materials such as lime, cement, and emulsified bitumen to
make and walls stronger and durable, with better dimensional stability.
2. Water-resistant mud plaster using bitumen emulsion for application on soil-based walls and roofs
to prevent erosion caused by rainfall.
3. Good quality late rite and lime bricks for construction of walls.
4. Better quality burnt clay bricks and tiles for construction of walls and roof.
5. Good quality building lime and clay pozzolana and also ready to-use lime and lime-pozzolana
mixtures.
6. Stone spalls with cement concrete to produce economical stone blocks for masonry work.
7. Sand- lime bricks and blocks that is strong and durable. [14]
Decentralized production
In view of the locale and for different types of building materials, it is necessary to encourage the
production of building materials in cottage industries as well as establish small-scale industries for
production of a variety of building materials using local raw materials and skills.
It is important to improve the quality of locally produced building materials in conformity with national
standards and to conserve energy required for their production. Government policies should be devised
so that technical guidance as well as financial assistance is made available to motivate the manufactures
to adopt improved production technology. [14]
28

Augmentation of conventional Materials
In the case of conventional building materials such as cement, cement concrete products, and other
metallic building components such as roofing sheets, augmentation of production has to be undertaken
in a planned manner. However, the cost of these materials is generally high on account of high incidence
of exercise duty, sales tax, and other taxation on raw materials as well as finished products. Most of the
conventional materials are so costly and sometimes scarce that they are by and large beyond the
affordability of the common people and so cannot be employed for mass housing.[14]
Alternative Building materials
It is important, therefore, to search continuously for alternative building materials that are cheaper and
durable. Research and development in this field needs to be supported and financed by appropriate
policy. A number of indigenous and traditional building materials are in short supply. For example, there
is great scarcity of timber and to prevent deforestation use of timber in construction should be either
eliminated or reduced to the extent possible by use of alternative materials. Valuable agricultural soils
are being used for production of burnt clay bricks and tiles as well as sun-dried bricks. These need to be
conserved by use of alternative materials. Consumption of cement needs to be rationalized by use of
alterative building materials such as mud, lime and clay pozzolana, gypsum binder, or rice-husk lime
binders.[14]
A variety of alterative materials have been evolved, the production of which should be encouraged as a
national policy by promoting the establishment of:
1. Demonstration- cum-training plants;
2. Pilot plants for introducing the production of alternative materials
3. Captive plants for production of materials by large construction departments, and
4. Commercial plants for producing alterative materials for making them available in the open
market.
5. Demonstration- cum-training plants;
6. Pilot plants for introducing the production of alternative materials
7. Captive plants for production of materials by large construction departments, and
8. Commercial plants for producing alterative materials for making them available in the open market.[14]
29

Use of Industrial and Agricultural Wastes
Due to a rapid program of industrialization as well as the green revolution in the countryside, as well as
growth of cities and towns, a variety of industrial and agricultural wastes and city garbage are available
in increasing quantities which not only pose the problem of disposal but also create environmental
hazards.
As a result of research work done in the developing countries, industrial wastes like fly ash, cinder, red
mud from aluminum plants and phosphor gypsum from fertilizer plants and be profitably used for
production of a variety of building products and components. [14]
A number of agricultural waste products such as rice husk, timber waste, and grass fibers, which are
available in large quantities, can be similarly used, as can city garbage such as paper waste and sludge
from sewerage plants.
The national policy must not only support research to find alternative use of waste materials in
construction but also support financially and technically, particularly through fiscal policies such as tax
concession, the establishment of a variety of building materials industries using industrial and
agricultural waste products.
Manufacture of New Materials
With the spectacular advances in science and technology, several new materials and building products
and components have been developed particularly in advanced countries by the production and use of
which a revolution can be brought about in the building industry and in mass housing. Financial
assistance should be provided for setting up new building industries.
Policy measures
To augment the cheap production of good quality materials, the following policy measures need to be
taken:
1. Provide financial support and technical guidance for expansion and modernization of the existing
units and for setting up new production units.
2. Arrange timely supply of coal and other types of fuel in adequate quantity.
3. Promote adoption of more scientific methods of production, particularly to conserve energy by
providing financial and other incentives.
4. Promote the production and use of alternative materials for doors, windows, rafters, purlin,
roofing, and flooring to avoid or minimize the use of timber in construction.
30

5. Support setting up of small-scale factories for production of precast and prefabricated cement
concrete components which not only save consumption of cement and steels as well as
construction times but also serve as substitute materials and components for timber.
6. Establish building materials production centers in different
7. Organize a public distribution system to make available low-cost building materials.
Prospects of developing new and alternative buildings materials - A case study of India
The research institutes under the council of scientific and industrial research (CSIR) viz. the central
building research institute (CBRI), Roorkee, central Glass and Central Building Research Institute
(CGCRI), Calcutta, central Fuel Research institute (CFRI), Dhanbad, Structural Engineering Research
centre, (SERC), Ghaziabad and Madras, National Council of Building Materials and Cement Research.
Ballabhgrh, and Forest Research Institute, Dehradun over several years of research and development
work have evolved a number of alternative building materials utilizing indigenous materials and
industrial, agricultural and mining wastes, some of these are described below:
Fly Ash Bricks
Over 40 million tones of fly ash is generated every year from the thermal power plants set up at various
places. Processes have been developed for production of clay fly ash bricks and bricks using fly ash and
sand with addition of lime or chemicals with or without autoclaving.[14]
Sand lime Bricks
Sand lime bricks are a good substitute for burnt clay bricks with much lower energy consumption as
they do not require burning but only autoclaving. Sand lime bricks have excellent structural properties
and can be manufactured in a number of colors having a strength from 15 to 40 N/mm. 2 As these bricks
do not require clay precious agricultural land would be conserved. [14]
Cellular Concrete
Cellular concrete blocks could be a good substitute for clay bricks wherever fly ash is available. Cellular
concrete is being produced in India and is used in place of clay bricks. It has good dimensional stability
and the structural properties required of a building component. Because of its light weight, it is
particularly suited for construction of multi-storied buildings. [14]
31
Late rite Blocks

Laterite soils are available in a number of place in the country especially in the western states of
Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra. A process has been developed for the manufacture of lateritic bricks
or blocks from laetrile soils using lime stabilization having strength of 70-100 kg/cm.[14]
Dry-hydrated Lime
The use of lime and lime pozzolana binder as a substitute for cement is well known. A modern, efficient
process for production of dry-hydrated lime of standard quality has been developed. This dry-hydrated
lime can be used in place of cement for making mortars and plasters directl or in combination with
pozzolana. It is also cheaper than cement mortar and plaster and can be produced in small-scale
units.[14]
Rice- husk Ash Pozzolana
About 12 million tons of rice husks are obtained from the rice mills in the country. It can be for the
manufacture of bricks and for pozzolana binder. When rice husk is calcined under controlled conditions,
the ash formed is highly reactive. In combination with lime it can be used as a binder which can replace
cement in the preparation of mortars and plasters. A process has been developed for the calcinations of
rice husk which is economical and can be adopted in a small scale. [14]
Hollow concrete Blocks
In places where suitable soils do not occur for manufacture of good quality bricks, cement hollow
concrete blocks are manufactured and used for 2-3 storied buildings without adopting reinforced cement
concrete (RCC) frame structures. These are also suitable as filler block wall construction with RCC
frame for high rise buildings. The machinery for manufacturing hollow concrete blocks as well as the
process are available indigenously and are being used in several places. [14]
Secondary Species of Timber
Several lesser known species of timber can be used in construction after seasoning and preservative
treatment. By use of seasoned secondary species of timber the primary species can be preserved and
saving of up to 30 per cent can be achieved in woodwork.[14]
Asphaltic Roofing Sheets
Asphaltic roofing sheets consist of primary board or board felt impregnated with asphaltic medium and
protected with conserving material. The board is manufactured from scrap pear bagasse, jute waste and
other locally available waster material. The asphaltic roofing sheets are recommended for use in regions
32

where temperatures do not exceed 440C in the shade. They are much cheaper than traditional Asbestos
cement sheets or galvanized iron sheets and can be used for low-cost housing.
Stones
In hilly regions it is a common practice to build houses with stones. Limestone, sandstone, granite,
basalt, and other stones which are locally available at a cheaper rate are used in place of bricks. They are
commonly used for construction of load bearing walls. Precast stone blocks may also be manufactured,
which enable the use of small stones and also reduce the thickness of walls and increase the pace of
construction.[14]
[[[[[
CHAPTER -33. Research methodology

33
3.1. Research Methods materials and procedures

3.1.1 Research Approach
The research focuses on assessing the present construction management and material quality and work
methodology on condominium projects at Addis Ababa to permit cost effective construction system to
be applied on cost efficient housing projects. In order to meet the aims of the research, a qualitative and
quantitative approach was utilized.
3.1.2 Research Area

Our research area is Gulele sub city Jomo 3 condominium housing project in Addis Ababa.The site is
chosen because we have better accesses for data and information and also assume there would be other
factors that contribute to the study.
3.1.3 Research Design

Generally there are two major categories of design: observational study and experimental or intervention
study.For our reaserch we have chosen observational study since the intension of this study is assessing
and describing the existing situation in condominium projects; hence descriptive design is applicable
3.1.4 Population, Sample and Sampling Techniques

Our population the condominium housing projects of Addis Ababa.From this population we have
selected Gulele sub city Jomo 3 condominium housing project as our sampling area.For the application
of the study we have used simple random sampling technique in which this technique helps us to give
equal probability for our subject.
3.1.5 Data gathering instrument

The instrument used to gather the required information includes questionnaire, interview, observation
and personal experience.
34

Questionnaire
Its prepared to obtain information from contractors, consultants, employer and households as they are
the center for the research.
Interview
To secure additional information, unstructured interview question were conducted.
Observation
In order to make the research stronger actual on site observation technique were carried out.
Personal experience
One of the major reasons that we have selected this research topic is because we have many experiences
in the condominium housing projects as well as other similar type of projects in which we acquire
professional skill and knowledge. Based on these exposures we have been experiencing different pros
and cons attached to the housing construction. These leads us to find alternative solution for those
problems we come across.
35

Figure 9: Flow Chart Representation of the Thesis
Preparation
of the
research
method
Preparation of
questionnaire and
interview
Literature
review
Distribution of
questionnaire and
conducting review
Data collection and

organization
Analysis of the result
Conclusion and
recommendation
36
CHAPTER -44 Analysis and discussions

4.1. Introduction
The analysis of the research is carried out by from the data collected through questionnaires, interviews,
formal and informal discussion and observations on condominium housing construction sites.32
questionnaires are distributed to those who are involved in condominium housing projects, among them
14 questionnaires are received from professionals with in depth knowledge in the subject. Formal and
informal discussions are conducted with selected site supervisors and office engineers. More over the
questionnaires and site observations on quality of works and on workmanship are carried out on two
condominium housing projects. Analysis of results also deals with the concepts and findings which are
written in the literature review portion of the research. The names of the contractors and projects are not
given in order to keep the privacy of companies.
Stake holders
No of
No of
No of
Questionnaire
questionnaires questionnaires
questionnaires
received
distributed
received
not received
percentage
Employer
60%
Contractor
10
80%
Consultant
60%
House hold
40
30
75%
The information we gathered through questionnaires from employers, contractors, households and
consultants are briefly discussed here.
4.2 Policy implementation

Our first research question was:
Is the housing policy being implemented as per the program?
37

From the data collected we have found out that 30% of the respondents responded that the housing
policy being implemented as per the program. But 70% of the respondents were replied that in order to
achieve the planned implementation: Contractors and sub contractors must improve their performances.
Design problem and late delivery of construction materials which have considerable effect on project
delay must be improved.
Improving proper planning and policy implementation and
Government has to revise the policy that has been implemented.
4.3 Material delivery and quality standard

Do have come across any problem that the material delivery by IHDPO?
Material delivery and its quality that IHDPO delivered is another major cause of delay in condominium
housing projects. From the total respondents 85% suggested shortage and late delivery of construction
materials on site and the remaining 15% responded the major problems are improving through time as
compared to the early practice. The respondents in addition raise issues like:
IHDPO has to allocate the required materials on time contractors in order to overcome delay on
construction works.
Construction material demand and supply has to be balanced.
Massive delivery system has to be deployed and
Temporary storage at each site must be provided.
The materials delivered by IHDPO will cause you to excess wastage due to its low quality standard?
From the data collected the quality standard is hampered because of the material delivered by IHDPO.
From the respondents loss or wastage of cement, coarse aggregate, precast beam, roofing materials,
metal works and steel structure are listed here under: 85% of the respondents have replied that the cement wastage is 0-5% but the remaining 15% of the
respondents are within the range of 15-20%.
70% of the respondents suggested that the reinforcement wastage is 5-10% and the other 30% of the
respondents replied between 15-20%.
38
70% of the respondents have responded that wastage from coarse aggregate ranges from 0-5% but the
remaining 30% of the respondents are within the range of 5-10%.
70% of the respondents suggested that hollow block wastage is 5-10% and the remaining 30% of the
57% of the respondents have replied that precast beam wastage is 0-5% but the remaining 43% of the
respondents are within the range of 5-10%
70% of the respondents suggested that roofing material wastage is 0-5% and the other 30% of the
respondents replied between 5-10%.
65% of the respondents have responded that wastage from steel structure ranges from 0-5% but the
remaining 35% of the respondents are within the range of 5-10%.
57% of the respondents suggested that sanitary material wastage is 5-10% and the remaining 43% of the
57% of the respondents suggested that electrical material wastage is 5-10% and the remaining 43% of the
4.4 Small scale enterprises

Is subcontracting to small scale enterprise being supportive to the implementation of the housing
program?
All of the respondents have responded that small scale enterprises are not as such supportive to the
implementation of the housing project in terms of skill, productivity, performance, work ethics and
ability to perform on time.
4.5 Schedule, quality and cost

Do you think a condominium housing project in Addis Ababa is completed within the proposed work
schedule?
All of the respondents of our questionnaires have responded that condominium housing in Addis Ababa
are not completed as per schedule due to different factors like :
Late delivery of materials such as cement, reinforcement, electrical and sanitary materials on site.
39
Lack of close supervision
Poor quality of materials
Poor production of construction materials by small scale enterprises
Design and budget problem
Poor performance of contractors and
Government housing construction policy and implementation.
Does the projects are in cost overrun?

All of the respondents of our questionnaire have suggested there is cost overrun on condominium
housing project due to different possible reasons delayed material delivery, design incompleteness,
contractors performance, lack of proper supervision, poor project coordination, corruption and lack of
interest from the higher officers.
Do you think the project is being completed according the specified quality standard?
All of the respondents have responded quality standard on condominium housing project is affected by
different reasons like:
Lack of experience
Quality of materials from the supplies
Performance of the contractors and sub contractors
The material that are used for finishing is highly low quality
Lack of skilled laborers
Use of poor construction materials
Lack of close supervision by consultants
Poor workmanship and
Poor quality production of construction materials by unskilled small scale enterprises.
4.6 Affordability and cost effectiveness

Do you think the housing project is affordable for low and middle income families?
All of the respondents of our questionnaire have suggested housing project is not affordable for low and
middle income families due to several reasons such as alternative design revisions like use of finishing
free materials, to minimize cost overrun in construction works and the contractors have to make a
discount on their overhead and profit margins.
40
On the other hand the government should make an alternative for low income society and also it has to
make a subsidy to households. Again the government must try to bring down price by improving policy
and implementation. Furthermore the government should reduce the cost or price of house by improving
project management in terms of material, labor and equipment.
Do you think that condominium projects are cost effective?
85% of the respondents have suggested that condominium projects are not cost effective because of
several reasons such as delay in construction works, quality problem, inefficiency of contractors to have
systematic project coordination that upgrade costs, delayed material delivery, design incompleteness,
rework due to poor construction techniques, wastage due to poor quality of construction materials, poor
performance of contractors which have a considerable effect on cost and government policy
implementation problems. But 15% of the respondents have suggested that condominium projects are
cost effective.
4.7 Indigenous materials

Do you have different proposal as employer, contractor, consultant or house hold especially in using
indigenous building material that are locally available resources?
57% of the respondents of our questionnaires have responded that they are proposed indigenous building
materials that are locally available resources. But 43% of the respondents of our questionnaires have
responded that they didnt proposed indigenous building materials due to different challenges such as:
the government implementation policy doesnt give more attention to the contractors to utilize
indigenous materials as per their proposal and also lack of intensive study on indigenous materials and
innovation. Furthermore workmanship problem and technique of construction followed by the
contractors while using indigenous materials is also a major challenge.
41
4.8 Households problem

Have you received your condominium house on time?
All of the respondents have responded that they didnt get their condominium houses on time after they
are announced as lottery winners because the government announces lottery to the households before the
completion of the houses. This suffers the households until 6 month and above without getting houses.
The status of the house when you were handed was it completed?
All of the respondents of our questionnaires have suggested that the status of the house when it was
handed over to households is not completed. The remaining finishing works that are not completed by
government, when the houses are delivered to the house holds are tiling work, internal door fixing work
and painting work.
How much extra money you spent to make the house habitable?
All of the respondents of our questionnaires have suggested that the extra money spent by households to
make the house habitable ranges from:
10,000 to 15,000 ETB for one bedroom
10,000 to 25,000 ETB for two and three bedroom
Do you have functional problems in your private premise, neighbor and common areas?
67% of the respondents have suggested that they have faced functionality problems due to several
reasons like:
Limited space on the corridor to store your house utilities
In case of two bedroom house type, the living room is not fully ventilated and
Because of limited space availability, it is difficult to do different house activities
But the remaining 33% of our respondents have suggested that they dont face functionality problems
while using houses.
Is the stair case or vertical circulation system comfortable to you and does it fulfills the requirement for
disabled and fire escape?
All of the respondents of our questionnaires suggested that the steel staircase or vertical circulation
system is not comfortable to the households due to several reasons such as:
42
Steel staircase is wavy while peoples are moving
The steel staircase is not comfortable for the households because it is risky for their children while they
are playing on it.
There is no other means of vertical circulations for disabled persons like ramp and elevators.
Fire escape access is not provided for condominium projects.
CHAPTER -55. Conclusions and Recommendations

5.1. Conclusions
The following Conclusions are drawn out from the study:
43
Program implementation could not reach to the target due to excessive delay and additional cost as
well.
Material delivery system takes prolonged time and creates additional loading- unloading fee.
Material shortage is not being given immediate solution and hence resulting in suspension of project
activity.
The multiple loading unloading phenomenon of the supply system brings about 10% of wastage on
materials delivered by HDPO and more forced cost on contractors.
Considerable gap is seen between HDPO and MSE in terms of quality and work progress because
there is a very poor communication with the main contractors and consultants on the project site.
Medium and small scale enterprises do have lack of skill, productivity, performance, work ethics and
punctuality on work schedules.
HDPO management and supervision staff selection and employment needs to be reviewed in terms of
their qualification and experience.
As a result of weak follow up, method of statement analysis and improvement on work methodology;
Poor quality of the work, additional cost due to rework on defects remedy is seen.
Materials produced and delivered by medium and small scale enterprises are sub standards and
considerable damage is observed while loading unloading from production area to work site.
The construction, consultant and production team do not have a single well designed work
methodology for each work item.
The material selection by HDPO seems to be given less concern in introducing new indigenous cost
effective and materials requiring minimized finishing works.
The housing development sector seems to be very slow in searching for alternative cost effective
construction projects and implementing them.
The need for quick update in construction technology and materials.
The houses are not affordable for middle and low income families.
Late delivery of houses to the household as a result of incompleteness of construction activities after
being awarded by HDPO due to non parallel execution of infra structure and the HDPO transfer
office long process of handing over. The houses are partially completed needs more works and more
money to be habitable.
Problems observed on the end product in our site visit of finished houses which are
ready
for the households have some quality defects such as.

44

o
Terrazzo floor finish is very poor quality both in production and workmanship
Internal doors are not fixed.
Internal painting is ignored
Terrazzo staircase trade and window sills are poor quality and are broken at edges before
being handed over to households.
Damage due negligence to cover agro stone partition wall while plastering ceiling and walls.
Poor fixing and joint filling of agro stone partition.
The design of the houses needs to be reviewed by considering privacy and vertical
circulation for the disabled, childrens as well as elders.
5.2. Recommendation
First our recommendation starts with the appreciations of the good parts which should be kept up by
the system such as;
Good improvement is seen on the contractors performance though there are steel much to be worked
out on selection criteria of contractors which are to be based on their past performance with HDPO and
other areas of similar or related construction projects.
Introducing new technology such agro stone partitions and doors PVC windows which of course
would have been implemented long time ago.
Quick and progressive revision is required on policy programs and its implementation.
Up to date improvement on the organizational structure of Housing sector by repeatedly investigating
how failures occurred on the policy and its implementation.
Temporary Material production plant should be provided on the project site to facilitate the supply
management coordination with the project management as it is usually practiced in other construction
project site. These will help in minimizing un necessary additional cost incurred due to transporting
process, difficulty in following up of production quality. Even if all production works are being
performed by MSE we found it practical for them to suited on the project site since their plants are
easy to mobilize from one site to the other.
HDPO needs to put much more effort in improving the construction technology and its management
by creating opportunities for new ideas and innovations which makes the projects more cost effective.
We believe this will be achieved by a joint effort with professionals in other sectors (other stake holds)
through researches and panel discussions.
45

The project management team should play a vital role in giving useful practical information and
recommendation in improving the policy and its implementation as fast as possible. This will help
HDPO and government to take immediate measure in order to avoid accumulated effects on over all
projects of the city and the country as well since the projects are considerably big in investment.
There is a need in improving the professional and skill capacity of all the participant of the project by
giving up to date training, short term visit of similar projects, professional up grading and panel
discussions in inter changing their practical and theoretical exposures. This can be achieved both
within the country and between other countries.
Before the commencement of any housing project a joint site survey must be made between the
consultants and the HDPO supervision team to check whether the designer consider the actual
topography into consideration so that corrective measures and economical solutions can given. This
will help in adjusting the project budjet from the very beginning and avoiding addition cost incurred
due to delay of construction to get decision on such matters. Some of them are; floor finish level, road
levels, drainage and sewer system layouts and all other utilities resulting in excess volume of work in
terms of material and labor.
There is a need to improve the work methodology by drafting a very well detailed method of statement
for each work items on how the necessary construction steps are to be followed as a common standard
by all parties of the project. This should progressively have to be up dated depending on the actual site
situation.
The HDPO should have to focus more on investigating and implementing other alternative materials
and techniques both on indigenous materials others which ever effective in cost without compromising
quality, function, aesthetics, structure and environment.
From our study we would like to recommend using indigenous materials described in the literature
review in which the government is still working with it in a very slow rate. This definitely needs the
active involvement of the industrial sector in contributing for new finding and technologies.
The unit price should be revised on a current base. From what we have observed and on the recent
contract documents the unit price fixed by the HDPO were the same as those fixed before 5 and 6 years
ago and hence this resulted in loss to the contractors and does not give any real current price situation.
Thus does not have any contribution to our study.
From the study major concept of cost effective condominium housing projects; we recommend that it is
much more practical and successful to apply the concept of cost effective on the basis minimized
finishing activities. As a model example we can consider the following:
46

o All exposed concrete structures can be (like columns, beams, horizontal or inclined slab soffits
floor surfaces stair case steps and others) finished first time right without further finishing. The
final finish can be fair face concrete, bush hammered, pigmented, patterned form works etc.
o This concept gives too many saving by omitting plastering to (ceiling, columns, beams) screed
painting, floor tiles stair case trades and risers.
o It also gives good quality finishing because it is monolithic, it reduce the dead load of the
building, quick to construct, all utilities can be installed on surfaces for construction and
maintenance simplicity.
o Walling materials can be mortar free dimensioned stones similar to clay brick or smaller size
bonded with key joint; Single brick wall for both internal and external wall with pointed finish
on both sides hence reducing plastering on both sides save room space and fast in construction;
materials from grain straws fabricated in its compressed form etc.
After all this study the cost effective construction of condominium housing can be less costly, quick
to satisfy the rapidly growing demand, improve quality, improve durability, aesthetic,
environmental friendly issues. In addition to this the implementation of modern construction
science and technology supported by industrialization on the basis of construction management,
materials and work methodology can give cost effective construction.
APPENDIX:-A
47
AAU Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City

Development
Dept of construction technology and management
Research topic:
Interview and Questionnaire
Dear Messrs
We kindly request your participation and support in the research on cost effective construction in
condominium building of Addis Ababa by responding the questionnaire attached to this page. Any
information you provide would be highly appreciated.
Part A
1. General information
Objective
The objective of this research is to study cost effective construction in terms of construction
management, material and work methodology within condominium projects.
The intention of the survey

The purpose of this survey is to obtain necessary data for the consumption of final thesis of BSc.
Degree in Construction Technology and management at Ethiopia institute of Architecture, Building
Construction and City Development Addis Ababa University. All datas found from the survey will be
confidential and only used for academic purpose.
For the purpose of this research cost effective is defined as;
. . . true cost effectiveness requires a life cycle perspective where all costs and benefits of a given project
are evaluated and compared over its economic life.
The attached questionnaires are derives from the literature review and from the group observation on
cost effective in condominium houses construction sites. You can tick or mark inside the box, write in
words or rank when it is required on the space provided at your convenience to respond to the
questionnaire.
48

The research will be conducted in group with two members as part requirement for the completion of
BSc degree in the Construction Technology & Management under the supervision of Ato Tadesse
Ayalew.
The identity of the respondent shall be kept confidential. We would like to extend our gratitude for your
cooperation taking your precious time to respond to questionnaires.
If you have any inquiry please contact any of the group through the following addresses.
Mesfin T/Giorgis
Mobile Phone number +251-911-63 72 62
Berhanu Adane
Mobile Phone number +251-911-22 78 75
Respondent Identification
Please provide the name of your organization
Category: -
Employer.
Contractor
Consultant
House Hold
__________________
____________
____________
____________
The Title/Position of the respondent _________________

Only for house hold
House type
One bed room
Two bed room
Three bed room
Studio
Part B: Questionnaire related with Cost effective condominium housing

1. Is the housing policy being implemented as per the program?
Yes
No
If No in what way you think to be improved?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
2. Do you have come across any problem on material delivery system by IHDPO?
49

Yes
No
If No what corrective major should be followed?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
3. The materials delivered by IHDPO will cause you to excess wastage due to its low quality standard?
Yes
No
If yes mark the wastage or loss amount
20-25% and
Material Type
0-5%
5-10%
10-15%
15-20%
above
Cement
Reinforcement
Coarse aggregate
Hollow Block
Precast Beam
Roofing material
Steel structure
Sanitary material
Electrical Material
4. Is subcontracting to small scale enterprise being supportive to the implementation of the housing program?
Yes
No
If No what are the major problems observed?
Skill
Yes
No
Productivity
Performance
Work ethics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Ability to perform on time

No
5. Do you think a condominium housing project in Addis Ababa is completed within the proposed work
schedule?
Yes
No
If your answer is no, what are the factors that affect to complete on time?
____________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
50

6.
Dose the projects are in cost overrun?
Yes
No
If yes, what could be the possible reasons?
Delayed Material delivery
Yes
Design incompleteness
Yes
Contractor Performance
Yes
Lack of proper supervision
Yes
Poor project coordination
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Others________________________________________________________________________
7. . Do you think the project is being completed according the specified quality standard?
Yes
No
If no, what are the factors that affect the quality?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. Do you think the housing project is affordable for low and middle income families?
Yes
No
If No is there an alternative to make it less expensive?

___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
9. Do you think that condominium projects are cost effective?
Yes
No
If No, please specify the reasons

____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
__
10. Do you have different proposal as employer, contractor consultant or house hold especially in using
indigenous building material that are locally available recourses?
Yes
No
If No what are the major challenges that are faced while using indigenous material?
________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
11. Have you received your condominium house on time?
Yes
No
51
If NO specify the delayed time?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
12. The status of the house when you were handed was it completed?
completed
Not completed
If not completed Please list down the remaining work items?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________
13. How much extra money you spent to make the house habitable?
Please specify the figure _____________

14. Do you have functional problems in your private premise, neighbor and common areas?
Yes
No
If yes please specify

____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________
15. Is the stair case or vertical circulation system comfortable to you and does it fulfills the requirement for
disabled and fire escape?
Yes
no
If No what problem you are facing?

________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________
Thank you!
APPENDIX:-B
52
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
1. How is the communication system between parties (Contractors, Consultants, Employer and Medium and
small scale enterprises)?
2. As we know the unit price of the project is fixed by the government, how the price is fixed?
3. How is the material delivery to the contractors managed?
4. How is the participation and contribution of medium and small scale enterprises to the condominium housing
projects?
53
References
1. Muhammad Kaysaar Hussain (2008). Economics of Low Income Housing, Proceedings of IAHS
International Conference, university of petroleum and minerals, Saudi Arabia,
2. The beat (1996).History of condominium. Business education and trade, volume 7, issue1
3. Bennett S.Donna (2010). Condominium home ownership in the United States: a selected annotated
bibliography of legal sources. Northern Kentucky University
4. Ingwani, Emaculate and etal (2010). Design Considerations and Sustainable Low Cost Housing
Provision for the Urban Poor in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
5. Azeb Kelemework(2007?) Housing for the Poor in Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
6. http://chilot.meethiopian-building-proclamation
7. http://www.metropolis.org.marfin
8. Ministry of Federal Affairs and German Technical Co-operation Low cost housing technical manual
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2003
9. Dagnachew Tsegaye and etal (2006). Low cost housing in Addis Ababa: A Study Focusing on the
Main Cost Reducing Mechanisms. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
10. Wubshet Jakal (2008). Condominium Housing Development Solution for Low and Middle Income
Groups, the case of Addis Ababa. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
11. UN-HABITAT (2010) The Ethiopia Case of Condominium Housing: The Integrated Housing
Development Programme. United Nations Human Settlements Programme: Nairobi.
12. Ministry of Federal Affairs and German Technical Co-operation Low cost housing technical manual
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2003
54

13. Unmesh C. Desai (2000). Low-cost housing: Common mistakes in construction. The Indian
Concrete Journal.
14. Mathur, G.C.(1993). Low cost housing in developing countries. Oxford & IBH publishing, New
Delhi.
15. http://a1-optimization.com/webpromotion
16. www.meodedpaint.com
17. http://www.ehow.com/way-power-trowel-finishing-techniques.html
18. Building design & construction handbook Plumbingwater-supply,Sprinkler, and Wastewater
systems Gregory P. Gladfelter Gladfelter
19 low cost housing in addis ababa Thesis (2006)
55

Thsis

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Thsis

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Cost Effective Condominium Construction Project in Addis Ababa

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa University

A BSc. THESIS ON COST EFFECTIVE CONDOMINIUM CONSTRUCTION

APPROVED BY BOARD OF EXAMINERS:

ADVISOR: Ato Tadesse Ayalew (MSc)

PREPARED BY: Berhanu Adane

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

List of figures and charts

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

1.2 Statement of the problem

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

1.3 Objective of the study

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

1.3.2 The specific objectives

To assess the affordability of condominium housing.

1.4 Significance of the study

1.5 Research limitations

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

1.6 Research structure and organization

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

2.1.1. Historical background

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

2.1.2 Housing Problems, Housing needs and effective demand

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Figure 1 Dilapidated Houses

2.1.3 Condominium Housing in Ethiopia Context

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

For example; the quality policy of HDPO is stated as follows:

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Figure 2 Institutional Frame work of HDPO

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

2.2 Housing in Addis Ababa

Real estate developers

Table 1: Houses constructed in Addis Ababa, 1996-2003

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Figure 3 Slum areas in parts of the city

2.2.2 Housing Standard, Affordability and Tenure

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Table 2 financial structure for beneficiaries according to unit type

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

2.2.3Design consideration, site selection

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

Figure 4 External finishing stage Block Type E1 at Jemo3 site

Figure 5 Terazo Riser ready to use at Jemo3 site

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

2.3.2 Construction Management

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

2.3.3 Construction industry and building materials

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa

2.3.4 Building elements

2.3.4.2 Fair faced concrete structural and wall elements

Cost effective condominium construction project in Addis Ababa