What are the key terms and concepts related to building construction, including stair components, floor classifications, and loads on floors?

Here are the answers to the questions about building construction:

3. a) Match the following parts with fig 1 (Tread, Rise, Nosing, Soffit, Riser, Landing Going, and Toe)

• Going: The horizontal distance from the face of one riser to the face of the next riser.
• Tread: The horizontal surface of a step.
• Nosing: The projecting edge of a tread beyond the riser.
• Soffit: The underside surface of a flight of stairs.
• Rise/Riser: The vertical height of a step.
• Landing Going: The horizontal length of the landing.
• Toe: The lowest part of the stair where it meets the ground or lower floor.

b) Define an upper floor

An upper floor is any floor level in a building that is situated above the ground floor. It provides additional usable space and structurally separates different levels of a building.

c) Floors are classified in three groups; name two of them

Two classifications of floors are:

• Ground floors
• Upper floors

d) Name two types of loads acting on upper floors

Two types of loads acting on upper floors are:

• Dead loads: These are permanent loads, including the weight of the floor structure itself, fixed partitions, and permanent fixtures.
• Live loads (or imposed loads): These are temporary and movable loads, such as people, furniture, and movable equipment.

e) State three functional requirements of an upper floor

Three functional requirements of an upper floor are:

• Strength and Stability: It must be strong enough to safely support all anticipated dead and live loads without excessive deflection or collapse.
• Sound Insulation: It should effectively reduce the transmission of airborne and impact sound between different levels of the building.
• Fire Resistance: It must provide a specified period of resistance to fire to prevent its spread and allow for safe evacuation.

f) Sketch a suspended timber ground floor and name the following parts:
i. Concrete foundation
ii. Over-site concrete
iii. Honey comb

\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.7] % Ground level \draw[thick] (-5,0) -- (10,0) node[right] {Ground Level}; % Strip foundation for external wall \fill[gray!30] (-4,-1) rectangle (-2,-2.5); \draw[thick] (-4,-1) rectangle (-2,-2.5); \node at (-3,-1.75) {\small Concrete Foundation}; \draw[thick] (-4,-1) -- (-4,0); % Wall above foundation \draw[thick] (-2,-1) -- (-2,0); % Strip foundation for sleeper wall \fill[gray!30] (1,-1) rectangle (3,-1.5); \draw[thick] (1,-1) rectangle (3,-1.5); \node at (2,-1.25) {\small Concrete Pad}; % Sleeper wall (honeycomb) \draw[thick] (1.2,-0.5) rectangle (1.8,-1); % Brick 1 \draw[thick] (2.2,-0.5) rectangle (2.8,-1); % Brick 2 \draw[thick] (1.2,0) rectangle (1.8,-0.5); % Brick 3 \draw[thick] (2.2,0) rectangle (2.8,-0.5); % Brick 4 \node at (2,0.2) {\small Honeycomb Brickwork}; % Over-site concrete (blinding) \fill[gray!10] (-3.5,-0.5) rectangle (9,-0.7); \draw[thick] (-3.5,-0.5) -- (9,-0.5); \draw[thick] (-3.5,-0.7) -- (9,-0.7); \node at (5,-0.6) {\small Over-site Concrete (Blinding)}; % Timber joists \fill[brown!50] (-3.5,0.5) rectangle (-3,0.7); \draw[thick] (-3.5,0.5) rectangle (-3,0.7); \node at (-3.25,0.6) {\small Joist}; \fill[brown!50] (0.5,0.5) rectangle (1,0.7); \draw[thick] (0.5,0.5) rectangle (1,0.7); \node at (0.75,0.6) {\small Joist}; \fill[brown!50] (3.5,0.5) rectangle (4,0.7); \draw[thick] (3.5,0.5) rectangle (4,0.7); \node at (3.75,0.6) {\small Joist}; \fill[brown!50] (6.5,0.5) rectangle (7,0.7); \draw[thick] (6.5,0.5) rectangle (7,0.7); \node at (6.75,0.6) {\small Joist}; % Floorboards \draw[thick] (-3.5,0.7) -- (7,0.7); \draw[thick] (-3.5,0.8) -- (7,0.8); \node at (1.75,0.9) {\small Floorboards}; % External wall \draw[thick] (-3.5,0) -- (-3.5,0.5); \draw[thick] (-2,0) -- (-2,0.5); \node at (-2.75,0.25) {\small External Wall}; % Air brick \draw[fill=gray!50] (-3.75,0.2) rectangle (-4.25,0.4); \node at (-4,0.3) {\small Air Brick}; % Arrows for labels \draw[->] (-3,-1.75) -- (-3,-1.2); \draw[->] (2,0.2) -- (2,0.05); \draw[->] (5,-0.6) -- (5,-0.55); \draw[->] (1.75,0.9) -- (1.75,0.75); \draw[->] (-3.25,0.6) -- (-3.25,0.65); \end{tikzpicture}