If You Plan to Build 100 Schools in Congo

.                within a limited time, you have to be efficient.

This means one needs a standard design prepared with an even more standardized system that allows small adjustments to be made for each project.

Having broken ground on more than 100 schools over the last year, my strategy for creating project construction documents has evolved.  In the beginning, I created all of the standard drawings for classrooms (in blocks of 3, 4, 5, and 6) and latrines.  Below you can see an example set for a block of three classrooms.  The brick + cast in place concrete + corrugated roof panel scheme is typical of rural East African architecture.  All dimensions conform to the Congolese Ministry of Education standards (which sometimes differ between provinces) and provide seating for approximately 30 students per classroom.

Plan

Elevation

Elevations, Sections

Sections

Details

Latrine Plan

Latrine Elevation, Section

In the beginning, I would adjust each drawing set to cater the communities’ needs.  Some would want water catchment; some a ceiling, or a different type of flooring.  My first few sets of documents were consumed in these details – as I represented each variation visually.  It became clear by my 15^th school however, that the number of projects and their pressing deadlines would not permit such attention to detail.  I have therefore begun using this single set of drawings and directing the contractor to the budget.  This allows us the control all construction details through contractual language and the material quantities that arrive on site.

Below is a Bill Of Quantities that we use to build the most common school unit of 3 classrooms, 2 latrines and a water capture system.  In this variation, the foundations have been budgeted as stone masonry which frames the cheapest flooring option: compacted soil topped with a brick pavers and a pure cement finish.  Quantities for bricks, sand and gravel vary according to material quality and brick dimensions – and have been slightly increased to ensure sufficient quantities.  (It should also be noted that all local materials here can be decreased in the event that the community has access to such materials and can contribute them to the building effort.)  Tools and measuring instruments should also be factored into project costs, as their quality usually limits them to a “one project” life span.  In all, a project of this scope (in the accessible regions of South Kivu) will cost less than $22,800 and take about 3 months to build.

	Material	Unit	Quantity
1	Sand	m3	46
2	Gravel	m3	9
3	Masonry Stones	m3	21
4	Bricks	pce	40000
5	Scaffolding Posts (± 5m each)	pce	60
6	Scaffolding Boards	pce	6
7	Ciment	sac	230
8	Ventilation Blocks	pce	108
9	Formwork Wood (3.5m ea.)	pce	35
10	“2×4” Wood  (3.5m ea.)	pce	94
11	“2×2” wood perlins (3.5m ea.)	pce	75
12	Fascia Board 25cm wide, 3.75m long	pce	18
13	Shovel	pce	5
14	Pick	pce	3
15	Hoe	pce	2
16	Machette	pce	1
17	Trowel	pce	2
18	Spirit Level	pce	1
19	Wheel Barrow	pce	2
20	Digging Bar	pce	1
21	Measuring Tape, 50m	pce	1
22	Measuring Tape, 5m	pce	1
23	Mason Hammer, 5 kg	pce	2
24	Mason Hammer, 1 kg	pce	1
25	Mason Bucket	pce	4
26	Wheel Barrow	pce	1
27	Carpenter Hammer	pce	2
28	Mason Square	pce	1
29	Crow Bar	pce	1
30	Hacksaw	pce	1
31	Hacksaw blade	pce	10
32	Scissors (Tin Shears)	pce	1
33	Large Tarp	pce	2
34	Paint Roller	pce	6
35	Brush, 3″	pce	4
36	Brush, 4″	pce	6
37	Sand Paper	ml	2
38	20 Liter Bucket	pce	6
39	Large Sand Sieve (5mm)	m2	1
40	Fine Sand Sieve (2mm)	m2	1
41	Deisel Fuel	litre	10
42	12mm String (100m Roll)	pce	1
43	Nylon String  (100m Roll)	pce	2
44	Rebar HA6 (12m ea.)	pce	52
45	Rebar HA8 (12m ea.)	pce	42
46	Galvanized Tie Wire	kg	15
47	Galvanized Roof Panel (G30)	pce	103
48	Galvanized Roof Crown	pce	15
49	Roofing Nails	kg	15
50	15mm Nails	kg	10
51	12mm Nails	kg	18
52	10mm Nails	kg	10
53	8mm Nails	kg	10
54	5mm Nails	kg	6
55	PVC Gutter	ml	44
56	Gutter Ends	pce	4
57	Gutter/PVC connection	pce	2
58	Gutter Brackets	pce	26
59	PVC 110mm	ml	15
60	PVC 110mm Elbow	pce	3
61	PVC 110mm “T”	pce	3
62	PVC Glue	tube	2
63	Plastic Water Tank (2m3)	pce	1
64	1/2″ Tap	pce	1
65	Complete Wood Door 0.8×2.10	pce	2
66	Complete Wood Door 0.9×2.10	pce	3
67	Complete Wood Window (150×110)	pce	6
68	Complete Wood Window (200×110)	pce	6
69	Chalk / Lime (50 kg)	sac	3
70	Latex Paint	litre	45
71	Oil Paint	litre	26
72	Chalkboard Paint	litre	3
73	Kitchen Salt	kg	6
74	Student Desk	pce	45
75	Teacher Desk	pce	1
76	Teacher Chair	pce	1

I provide these details not to help you understand what a good three room school building will cost – or how to build such a building.  There are numerous beneficial details that are missing from this example. Rather, I present it here to show what a team of locally trained masons could be expecting to build.  It could also be assumed that a rural community would enjoy seeing such an example built for their school.

I welcome you to use this information as a reference point for your own designs.  Any improvements to this scheme could drive the project cost up – but in my view, any and all considerations taken towards appropriate, contextual design can have lasting positive affects towards the sustained development of your community.

The next step, of course, is the how.  Material procurement, appropriate construction methods, conflict, and corruption present the most formidable challenges to project completion.  … But perhaps that will be left to a follow up post…

Happy building!