Types of buildings in civil engineering- Purpose requirements of buildings

A building can crudely be defined as a relatively permanent structure enclosing certain spaces provided with a covering structure, constructed over a plot of land. There are different types of buildings in civil engineering which are discussed below in detail.

In technical terms, buildings can be defined as any structure which includes foundation, plinth, walls, floors, roofs, and openings for entry and exit, constructed out of any suitable available materials.

It must fulfill the requirements to provide various building services such as storage commercial residential purposes etc. These structures may or may not be used for human habitation. Temporary structures like tents, tarpaulin shelter, etc. are not be considered as buildings.

The building can be of various sizes, shapes, and types depending on the surrounding environmental conditions and various other factors. A building is constructed for various purposes like shelter, storage, commercial, and various recreational activities.

In terms of social aspect – a building provides a comfortable, secure living space where people can store their belongings and carry on their habitual daily activities. Thus, separating it from the outside extreme environment and weather conditions.

In past peoples majorly constructed building for residential and few commercial purposes, but in today’s modern age buildings are required in every sector which includes offices, institutions, industries, commerce, etc. where people can perform tasks and works comfortably and safely.

This concludes that building have become a necessary part of the human life.

Types of buildings in civil engineering

  • Group A: Residential Building
  • Group B: Assembly Building
  • Group C: Educational Building
  • Group D: Hospitals & Clinic
  • Group E: Commercial Building
  • Group F: Office Building
  • Group G: Industries
  • Group H: Storage

Group A: Residential Building

Types of buildings in civil engineering- Purpose requirements of buildings

Any building structure with the provision of sleeping accommodation, with or without cooking or dining or both facilities can be classified as a residential building. Residential Buildings are further divided into 4 sub-groups.

Sub Group A1: General residence

Any private residential building with the provision of sleeping accommodation for not more than 40 persons and having a built-up area less than 500sq. m are classified as a general residence.
These types of buildings have a min. the occupant load of  11.5 persons per 100sq. m.

Sub Group A2: Residential with limited commercial use

Any residential buildings with a plinth area less than 150 sq. m with the provision of a limited part of the building for commercial or office purposes. These types of buildings have a min. the occupant load of 9 persons per 100sq. m.

Sub Group A3: Residential Apartments

Any building which provides residential units for three or more families living independently within a single building is classified under residential apartments. These types of buildings have a min. the occupant load of 18 persons per 100sq. m.

Sub Group A4: Dormitories and Hotels

Any building under single management, which provides sleeping accommodation with or without dining facilities for more than 10 persons and has an occupancy load greater than 40 persons are classified under this category. These types of buildings have a min. the occupant load of 23 persons per 100sq. m.

Group B: Assembly Building

Types of buildings in civil engineering- Purpose requirements of buildings

This types of buildings in civil engineering are designed for gathering of 50 or more people are classified under the category of the assembly building. Cinema halls, auditorium, party palaces, exhibition halls, theatres, museums, gym, conference and meeting halls, etc. are some examples of assembling buildings.

Assembly buildings are further divided into two categories.

Sub Group B1: Assembly buildings and spaces with capacity up to 500 people
Sub Group B2: Assembly buildings and spaces with capacity above 500 people

Group C: Educational Buildings

Types of buildings in civil engineering- Purpose requirements of buildings

Any buildings which are used as a school, college, training institutes accommodating more than 25 students at a time are categorized as Educational building.

Classification of Educational Buildings in civil engineering.

Sub Group C1: Primary Schools (upto standard 5)
Sub Group C2: Secondary Schools (beyond standard 5)

Any classrooms which hold more than 50 students must be treated as an assembly unit and should be designed accordingly for exits.

Group D: Hospitals and Clinics

Types of buildings in civil engineering- Purpose requirements of buildings

Any building or structures which are intended to provide medical and healthcare services to the persons suffering from physical or mental illness, disease, or infirmity are categorized into this group of building. Smaller clinics with a built-up area less than 100sq.m, where the patients are not expected to stay are excluded from this category

Types of Hospitals and Clinical buildings in civil engineering are further divided into the following subgroups.

Sub Group D1: Hospitals and Clinics with less than 25 beds

Sub Group D2: Hospitals and Clinicswith more than 25 beds

Group E: Commercial Building

Types of buildings in civil engineering- Purpose requirements of buildings

These types of buildings are very common in market areas where high care of safety should be applied in civil engineering. Any buildings or the part of the buildings which are accommodated for various commercial usages such as shops, markets, wholesalers or retailers, malls, departmental store, etc are categorized under this category.

Buildings with plinth area less than 150sq.m where limited part of the building has been accommodated for the commercial activities and other parts for the residential purpose shall be categorized under subgroup-A2 (Residential with limited commercial use)of residential building group and designed accordingly.

Group F: Offices

Any building or part of the building which is accommodated for official or business purpose are classified under offices category.

If certain limited part of the building with plinth area less than 150sq.m has been used as offices and other for residential purpose, then such building is categorized under subgroup-A2 of the Residential building group

Group G: Industrial Building

Types of buildings in civil engineering- Purpose requirements of buildings

Any building or part of the building which is accommodated for industrial activities such as fabrication, assemblage, manufacture or processing of the various type of product are categorized under the category of the industrial building.

These types of buildings in civil engineering must be designed to withstand some hazardous events and must be designed under fire safety code 107.

Group H: Storage

Any buildings or structures which are used primarily used for the storage of non- hazardous goods, merchandise, vehicles, cattle, and other animals are categorized as stores. Storage buildings usually have lower occupancy in proportion to area.

An additional category of the building (not mentioned in NBC, Nepal) can be found in the world which is known as Hazardous building which is used for the purpose manufacture of highly explosive, highly toxic, highly corrosive chemical products and materials. 

The subtype and general description of the above-mentioned building types may vary from one country to another.

  • According to NBC 206 of Nepal, on the basis of the number of Stories and Height of buildings, buildings are categorized into 4 groups.

Group S1: General Buildings

Building under this category has 1 to 5 Stories or below 16m height. The height of this type of building is within reach of firefighter ladders and hose streams. Lift is not required since the floor is comfortably reachable through the staircase.

Group S2: Medium Rise

Medium rise buildings are 6 to 8 Stories or have a height of 16m to below 25m which are within the reach of fire hose streams.

Group S3: High Rise

High rise buildings have 9 to 39 stories or have a height of 25m to below100m. The height of these buildings is beyond the reach of normal ground-based firefighting provisions. Thus emergency escapes routes and fire lift are required to be designed in case of high rise buildings.

Group S4: Skyscrapers
Types of buildings in civil engineering- Purpose requirements of buildings

Skyscrapers have 40 or more stories or have high above 100m. These types of buildings should have provisions to cope with various emergency situations within itself without affecting the structural integrity of the whole building.

I hope this article on “Types of buildings in civil engineering” remains helpful for you.

Happy Learning – Civil Concept

Contributed by,

Civil Engineer – Jenish Shakya

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"Structural Engineer" with over 5 years of experience in estimation, structural design, and surveying. I am passionate about using my skills to create safe and sustainable structures. I am also a keen writer, and I enjoy sharing my knowledge and experiences with others.

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