Measuring formwork used to do my head in….. formally
There are lots of rules around measuring it correctly and sometimes you do it in square metres and sometimes in lineal metres. You need to make sure you are separating (and watching out for!) and fair face requirements so you can allow for the correct grade of timber…. The list goes on, but here are a few highlights for you.
You gotta measure each formwork based on what it is doing. Vertical surfaces of footings, walls, columns, and any flat soffits including suspended slabs need to be measured separately.
You then want to carve up each category further and measure under 100mm, 100-200mm, and 200-300mm. These guys are measured in lineal metres, anything over this gets measured in square metres.
The tricky stuff is measured separately, like curves or slopes.
Forming up for weird things like grooves are measured separately and in lineal metres.
Little bits and pieces, like forming up steps or odd ends need to be counted up
The list above is just some highlights, but again it is designed to make you really think about the labour requirements. Carving up the trade like this also makes you really think about the things that can go wrong and give you an opportunity to add tags to protect yourself. If you are doing a fancy timber finish to the formed concrete, do you require any client/architect sign off for the timber form works? The last thing you want is to complete the job and then the architect doesn’t like the finish….. Lastly, don’t forget to measure any formwork that you have to leave in place for any reason separately from the stuff the apprentice will be taking off and cleaning down!