Walbrent College

Walbrent College offers the following three core courses for its Diploma program:

• Building Durable Houses
• Estimating Construction Costs (Prequisite – Building Durable Houses course)
• Managing Construction Contracts (Prequisite – Building Durable Houses course)

Students who successfully complete the three core courses will be awarded the Diploma of Walbrent College.  Walbrent College also offers short courses in structural analysis and design for civil engineers.  A description of each course follows.

Building Durable Houses

This course is divided into 4 sections and only includes relevant information to allow a builder to complete, and a home-owner to check, the construction of a safe and durable house:

1. Before Construction
2. During Construction
3. After Construction
4. Successful Contracting Tips

A.  BEFORE CONSTRUCTION

A.1  Contract With the Client

A 1.1 Contractor (Builder) Obligations

A 1.2 Client (House-owner) Obligations

A 1.3  Making Changes to the Contract

A 1.4  Resolving Disputes

A.2  Planning Approval Process

A.3  Drawing Review

A.4  Safe Construction

A.5  Site Inspection

A.6  Quality of Materials

A.7  Using Reinforced Concrete

A 7.1  Mixing Concrete, Grout & Mortar

A 7.2 Safe (Minimum) Bend Diameters

A 7.3 Safe Reinforcement Lap or Splice Distances

A 7.4  Corrosion and Fire Protection

A.8  Quality of Connections

A.9  Lateral Stability

A 9.1 Concrete Block Walled House

A 9.2 Timber Walled House

B.  DURING CONSTRUCTION

B 1  Preparing the Site

B 1.1  Clearing the Site

B 1.2  Boundary Markers

B 1.3  Access Road

B 1.4  Storing Construction Materials

B 1.5  Sewerage Well

B 2  Foundations (including columns)

B.2.1  Foundation Types

B.2.2  Excavations

B.2.3  Strip Footings

B 2.4  Pad Footings & Columns

B 2.5  Slab-on-Ground Foundation

B 2.6  Timber Post Foundations

B 3  Slabs

B 3.1 Reinforced Concrete Slab on Fill

B 3.1.1  Slab-on-Ground

B 3.1.2  Slab-on-Strip Footings

B 3.1.3  RC Ground Floor Slab Not Tied to Strip Footings

B 3.2  Suspended RC Floor Slab on Beams.

B 3.3 Suspended Timber Floor

B 4  Stairs

B 5  Walls (including beams)

B 5.1  Concrete Block Walls

B 5.1.1 Lintel Beams

B 5.1.2  Wall Support Beams

B 5.1.3  Embedded Pipes

B 5.1.4  Concrete Stiffners

B 5.2  Timber Walls

B 6  Roofs

B 6.1  Timber Structure on Concrete Block Wall

B 6.2  Timber Structure on Timber Wall

B 6.3  Reducing the Span

B 6.4  Roof Connections

C.  AFTER CONSTRUCTION

C 1  Maintenance & Repairs

C 1.1  Construction phases

C 1.2  Progressive weakening

C 1.3  Use strong and durable materials

C 1.4  Protect Vulnerable Elements

C 1.5  Inspections

D  SUCCESSFUL CONTRACTING

D 1.  Review drawings

D 2.  Builder’s Responsibilities

D 3.  Before you submit your quotation

D 4.  Economical Building Tips

The course materials for this course will be based on a synthesis of the structural requirements of regional building codes.  The students will need to implement what they learn at their respective construction sites, and a site inspection will be conducted at least 4 weeks after the classroom sessions are ended.

The course materials are examined annually and updated as necessary to reflect relevant changes to Caribbean building codes or relevant best practices.

Classroom Duration: 10 days.  Tuition Cost: US$600.  Payment Terms: Very flexible – you pay what you can when you can.

Estimating Construction Costs

This course comprises basic mathematical calculations to determine the quantity of materials, labor and equipment required to complete typical building activities.  The title of each teaching module follows.

1. Course introduction, basic geometry
2. Substructure measurements
3. Superstructure measurements
4. Determining building rates
5. Preliminaries, overheads, profits
6. Course Evaluation & Final Examination

The course materials are examined annually and updated as necessary to include current building designs, materials, methods and costs.

Classroom Duration: 6 days.  Tuition Cost: US$300

Managing Building Contracts

This course is a discussion of relevant construction case law.  The title of each teaching module follows.

1. Course introduction, contract types
2. Contractor obligations
3. Client obligations
4. Contract variations
5. Dispute resolution procedures
6. Course Evaluation & Final Examination

The course materials are examined annually and updated as necessary with recently settled Caribbean cases, whether through adjudication, arbitration, or litigation.

Classroom Duration: 6 days.  Tuition Cost: US$300

Structural Analysis and Design

This course teaches students how to do the following.

1. Calculate static and dynamic loads (dead, live, wind, seismic, earth, storm-water, and wave).
2. Model a structure.
3. Input the model and material properties into a structural analysis computer program.
4. Analyse the structure, critically review the computer results, and design the structure.

Classroom Duration:  6 Days.  Tuition Cost: US$600