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BLOCK LAYING, BRICK LAYING AND CONCRETE WORKS

EXAMINATION SCHEME

There will be three papers, Papers 1, 2 and 3 all of which must be taken.Papers 1 and 2 shall be a
composite paper to be taken at one sitting in 1 hour 45 minutes for 100 marks.

Paper 1: will consist of forty multiple-choice objective questions all of which are to be
answered in 45 minutes for 40 marks.

Paper 2: will consist of five short-structured questions. Candidates will be required to

answer any four in 1 hour for 60 marks.

Paper 3 will be a practical test of 3 hours duration for 100 marks. It will be a work
piece involving laying of a total number of blocks not exceeding 30 and where the
work piece is made of bricks only, the total number of bricks shall not exceed
100.

Where the work piece to be laid is a combination of bricks and blocks, this will
not contain more than 20 blocks and 40 bricks. (i.e. in composite walling).

A list of materials for the test shall be made available to schools not less than two
weeks before the paper is taken for material procurement and relevant
preparations.

Alternative to Practical Test

Alternatively, in the event that materials for the actual practical test cannot be
acquired, the Council may consider testing theoretically, candidates’ level of
acquisition of the practical skills prescribed in the syllabus. For this alternative
test, there will be two compulsory questions to be answered in 3 hours for 100
marks.

DETAILED SYLLABUS

S/NO. CONTENT NOTES

1. Workshop and site safety (i) Various safety rules at work site.
(ii) First aids.
(iii) Purpose of safety.
(iv) Safety regulations (scaffolding, electrical,
installations, etc)
(v) Protective wears.
2 Basic tools and equipment (i) Identification of basic hand tools for
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blocklaying, bricklaying and concreting
including site preparation and levelling tools,
finishing tools.
(ii) Sketching of basic hand tools.
(iii) Uses of basic hand tools and equipment.
(iv) Simple maintenance of basic tools and
equipment.
3 Site preparations and setting - (i) Tools and equipment used for site
out preparation.
(ii) Clearing of building site.
(iii) Methods of setting out.
(iv) Setting out tools and materials.
4. Manufacture, application and (i) Manufacturing processes of blocks and
properties of blocks and bricks. bricks.
(ii) Types of bricks and blocks
(iii) Materials used for blocks and bricks (sand,
lime, cement, clay, laterite and water).
5. Concreting materials (i) Various constituents of concrete
(ii) Cement – Types of cement
(iii) Definition of Fine and coarse aggregates
and their differences.
(iv) Storage of concrete materials.
6 Formwork for construction (i) Functions and functional requirements of
work. formwork.
(ii) Materials used for formwork.
(iii) Advantages of steel and timber formworks.
(iv) Construction of formworks for concrete floor
slabs, beams, columns, arches lintels and
staircase.
(v) Erection and striking of formworks.

S/NO. CONTENT NOTES

7 Concreting operations (i) Mix proportions. (Cement - aggregate ratio;
water-cement ratio).
(ii) Stages in concreting (Batching, mixing,
transporting, placing, curing).
(iii) Methods of transporting wet concrete.
(iv) Testing of concrete.
(v) Properties of concrete.
(vi) Methods of making construction joints in
concrete elements. (Beams, columns,
concrete roofs and slab).
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(vii) Need for concrete reinforcement.
(viii) Methods of reinforcing concrete elements
(ix) Types of steel reinforcement bars.
(x) Casting and curing of concrete structures
(in-situ and precast concrete).
8 Basic principles of (i) Types of soil.
substructure construction work (ii) Definitions of site and soil investigation.
including ground floors (iii) Definitions of bearing capacity of soil.
(iv) Definition of foundation, types and uses.
(v) Definitions of ground floors, types, uses and
construction.
(vi) Materials for d.p.c. and d.p.m.
(vii) Differences between d.p.c. and d.p.m.
(viii) Methods of placing and positioning d.p.c. in
walls.
9 Upper floors (i) Functions and types of floors.
(ii) Methods of floor construction.
(iii) Types of flooring and their applications.

10 Walls (i) Functions and types of walls.

(ii) Walling materials.
(iii) Common bonds in brick/block walls.
(iv) Mortar (types, mixing methods and ratios).
(v) Differences between pointing and jointing.
(vi) Types of pointing and jointing.

S/NO. CONTENT NOTES

11 Openings in walls. (i) Functions and types of openings.
(ii) Materials used for lintels, beams, and arches
(iii) Windows and doors
- functions and types of windows and doors.
- materials for windows and doors.
- methods of fixing.
(iv) Ironmongery for doors and windows.
12 Stairs construction (i) Types of stair.
(ii) Construction of a straight flight stair.
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13 Scaffold and scaffolding (i) Types of scaffolds.
(ii) Scaffold components.
(iii) Hoisting equipment.
(iv) Safety regulation.
14 Finishes (i) Types of finishes.
(ii) Types of finishing materials.
(iii) Characteristics of finishing materials.
(iv) Uses of finishing materials
(v) Care and maintenance of finishes.
15 Construction of drainage (i) Principles of good drainage system.
system. (ii) Types of a drainage system.
(iii) Differences between a sewer and a drain.
(iv) Simple sketches of septic-tank; soakaway
pit, inspection chamber, manhole and
cesspool.
(v) Surface drainage.
(vi) Method of laying drain pipes to a specified
gradient.
16 Kerbs (i) Functions and types of kerbs.
(ii) Materials used in production of kerbs.
(iii) Methods of laying precast concrete kerbs.
17 Business opportunities in (i) Opportunities in building industry.
Building (ii) Procedures for establishing businesses in
the industry.
(iii) Requirements for managing construction
business
(iv) Estimating the cost of construction jobs.
(v) Principles and techniques of Book-keeping.

LIST OF TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

TOOLS EQUIPMENT
1. Internal angle trowel 1. A complete set of scaffolding,
fittings and scaffolding pipes
2. External angle trowels 2. Block moulding machines
3. Pointing trowel 3. Buckets
4. Hand trowel 4. Concrete mixer
5. Block axe 5. Concrete vibrator (Poker and
clamp-on)
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6. Boat level 6. Gauge box
7. Bolster 7. Manual hand mould
8. Club hammer 8. Hand rammer
9. Builders square 9. Hand sieves (various sizes)
10. Brick hammer 10. Headpan
11. Cold chisel 11. Levelling instrument
12. Corner blocks 12. Measuring tape
13. Folding rule 13. Pick axe
14. Gauge rod or rule 14. Slump test apparatus.
15. Hawk 15. Tyrolean machine
16. Joint duster 16. Water hoses and roses
17. Jointers 17. Wheelbarrow.
18. Jointing board/caulking board 18. Terrazzo grinding machine
19. Line and pin
20. Mason’s hand saw
21. Metal float
22. Plastering trowel
23. Plumb rule and bob
24. Builder’s line
25. Spade
26. Shovel
27. Claw hammer
28. Gauge lath
29. Pointing tools
30. Pointing trowel
31. Range.
32. Spirit level.
33. Steel square
34. Straight edge
35. Skutch
36. Square and bevel
37. Tingle plate
38. Wire brush
39. Wooden float.

SUGGESTED READING LIST

S/NO. TITLE OF BOOK AUTHOR PUBLISHER

1 Barry’s introduction to construction of Stephen Emmett and Blackwell
Buildings Christopher A Gorse Publishing.
2 Building Technology Ivor H. Seeley Palgrave
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3 Building Construction, Mckay Longman
Volumes 1 – 4
4 Principles of construction Roger Greeno.
5 Advanced Building Construction C. M. H. Baritt. Longman
Volumes 1 & 2
6 Construction Technology Volumes 1 R. Chudley. Longman
–4
7 Building Construction for Senior L. A. Adesokan and Ilesanmi
Secondary Schools. Volumes 1 – 3 M. O. Adeniyi.
8 Blocklaying and concreting Industrial M. O. Obande Longman
Crafts Series
9 Brickwork Volume 1 – 3 W. G. Nash