Technical writing is an important part of everyone's career.

Writing well is difficult and

time consuming and writing in a technical way about technical subjects even makes
it more difficult. People write to propose projects, to document their own actions, to
help other understand the research, to analyze and solve problems, to describe
procedures and objects. If done well, technical writing is an exciting, fulfilling
experience but if done poorly, it is frustrating, even harmful to career development.

There are six basic characteristics of Technical writing

1. Clarity
2. Accuracy
3. Comprehensiveness
4. Accessibility
5. Conciseness
6. Correctness
 Site Selection for Residential and Commercial Buildings.

Factors for Site Selection of Residential buildings

There are many factors which must be taken in to account while selecting a site for a

commercial and residential buildings. Some of these factors are given below.

1. Shape of the Plot.

2. Location of the plot.
3. Availability of amenities.
4. Water Table.
5. Sewerage system.

1. Shape of the plot:

Geometry of the plot for any kind of construction is very important which can largely
effect the appearance of your structure. Shape of the plot should be such that the
construction can be easily made with cost low as possible. And also in the future you
can further expand it. A plot with more routes will be considered a good one.

Location of the plot:

The surround area of the residential plot is very important. It effects the price and the
beauty of the plot. Plot should be taken in the area provided with a lot of services.
And in a suitable environment free from all kind of pollutions. Efforts should be make
to buy it near to main road. Because such plots are more valuable as compared to
the plots situated away from the main road.

Availability of Amenities:

Plot for a residential building should be taken in the area provided with much number
of amenities. Such as electricity, Telephone, Fax, Internet, Gas, School, Colleges,
University etc. and the most important is the good and fast transport system. so that
communication
become more fast and quick.

Water table:
The water table at the site of residential building should not be very high. otherwise it

will effect the quality of water which are used for drinking and domestic purposes. A
plot
with normal water table will be more preferred as compared with other plots having
high
water table.

Sewerage System:
There should be proper sewerage system at the site of residential plots. So that the
extra
water of houses can easily be drawn out especially in rains and floods. if in case
there is
no sewerage system the dirty water effect the building and as well the occupants as
well.

Factors for Site Selection of Commercial Building

The following are the few factors which must be taken into account while selecting a
site
for commercial building.
• Location.
• Climate of region.
• Availability of raw materials.
• Cost and time frame.
• Population of the region.

Location:
The value of a commercial building depends upon its location.whegther it is located
in
the center of the region or at the borders or on the main road or away from the main
road.
For a good commercial building it should be on the main road and in the center of
the
region.

Climate of Region:
The strength and stability of building mainly depends upon the climate of the region
in
which it is going to be constructed. As commercial buildings are very important and
expensive form economic points of so it must be constructed according to the terms
and
conditions of region. So that it can be remain safe form floods, rains, snowfalls etc.

Availability of Rawameterials:
Usually commercial buildings require more construction materials as compared to a
normal residential house. So before the construction of the commercial building it
must
be sure that raw materials are available near by. Other wise it will become
uneconomical.

Cost and time frame:

Before the construction of commercial a through investigation should made for the
cost
and time frame for the commercial building. Cost and time frame mainly depends
upon
the location and the availability of Rawameterials.
Populations of the region:
Commercials building are constructed to meet the need of the local population. So
for
this purpose it must be constructed in the region having sufficient population in which
the
commercial building can restore its cost.

Purpose of technical report writing - why study technical writing report

Technical report writing has two basic purposes:

1. To inform
2. To persuade

The physical description of a new machine, the steps in a process, or the results of
an experiment.

A writer not only describes two sites for a factory but also persuades readers to
accept one of them as the best i.e. to prove your point. The document that achieves
these purposes is called technical writings.

a. Reassure recipients that you are making progress, that the project is going
smoothly, and that it will be complete by the expected date.
b. Provide their recipients with a brief look at some of the findings or some of the
work of the project.
c. Give their recipients a chance to evaluate your work on the project and to
request changes.
d. Give you a chance to discuss problems in the project and thus to forewarn
recipients.
e. Force you to establish a work schedule so that you'll complete the project on
time

Project Proposals in Technical Writing

A document which persuades its readers to accept the writer's idea is called a
proposal. The RFP asks for both a technical proposal and a cost proposal.

There are two kinds of proposals.

1. External Proposal
2. Internal proposal

A. External proposal

In external proposal, one firm responds to a request from another firm on the
government for a solution to a problem. It ranges from lengthy (100 pages or more)
to a short (4-5 pages).

A firm writes external proposals to win contracts for work. Government agencies and
large and small corporations issue a request for proposal which explains the project
and lists its specifications. Companies who receive the RFP writes proposals. A
team assembles a document that shows that the company has the managerial
expertise, technical knowhow and appropriate budget to develop the project.

After receiving all the proposals, the firm that requested them turns them over to a
team of evaluators, who after judging the technical management and cost sections,
select the best proposal.
Planning the External proposal

To write an external proposal, you must consider your audience, research the
situation, use visual aids, and follow the usual form of this type of document.
1. Consider the audience:

Usually your audience express problem to you in a written statement (an RFP) or in
an interview. You must assess their technical awareness and write accordingly. To
write to them effectively, one should

1. address each need that they have expressed

2. explain in clear terms how your proposal fills their needs
3. Explain the relevance of technical data.

2. Research the situation:

To write the proposal effectively you must clearly understand your cutomer's needs
by as well as your own service. You must research their needs by means of
interviewing them or by reading their printed material.
3. Use visual aids:

Many types of visual aids e.g table, maps etc may be appropriate to your proposal.
Your goal is to convince the decision makers that only your way is the best
approach; good visuals are direct and dramatic, drawing your client into the
document.

Writing the external proposal - Organizing

To write an external proposal, follow the usual form for writing the proposals. The
four main parts of a proposal are:
a. Executive summary:

The executive summary contains information designed to convince executives that

the proposers should receive the contract. It should present the content of technical,
managerial and financial sections in clear terms. This section is often designed to
make non technical people feel comfortable with the proposal.
b. Writing the technical section:
A proposal's technical section begins by stating the problem to be solved. The
proposers must clearly demonstrate that they understand what the customer
expects. The proposal should describe its approach towards solving the problem.
c. Writing the management section:

This section describes the personnel who will directly be related to the project. The
proposal writer must explain what technical personnel and levels of management will
be responsible for the success of the project. In a large external proposal, this
section often contains organization charts and resumes. In short proposal, this
section usually explains qualifications of personnel and firm's success with other
similar projects.
d. Writing the financial section

The financial section provides a breakdown of the costs for every item in the
proposal. Often this section is not just a table of costs. At times a brief introduction
and the table may be all you need, but if you need to explain the significance of
certain figures, then do so.

B. The internal proposal

In an internal proposal, an employee on department urges someone else in the

company to accept an idea or to fund equipment on research. There are two types of
internal proposals:

1. Assigned Proposal
2. Uncolicited Proposal

1. Assigned proposal:

In assigned proposal an employee writes solution for a given problem. He does not
have to establish the problem.
2. Unsolicited proposal:

In unsolicited proposal the writer writes the solution of a problem which he has
discovered himself.
Planning the internal proposal

The goal of the proposal is to convince the person or group in authority to allow the
writer to implement his idea. To achieve this goal, the writer must consider the
audience, use visual aids, understand organizational principles and design a format.
I. Consider the audience

Writer considers the audience of a proposal in at least three ways; according to their
involvement, their knowledge and their authority.
a. How involved is the audience

In most cases, readers either have assigned the proposal or they are unaware of the
problem. In assigned proposal, the writer does not have to establish that the problem
is a problem; but he or she does have to show how the proposal will solve the
problem. If the proposal is not assigned then he first convinces the audience that the
problem is a problem then he offers a convincing solution to the problem.
b. How knowledgeable is the audience.

The audience may or may not have the concepts and facts involved in the proposal.
If the audience is less knowledgeable, take care to define terms, give background
and use common examples.
c. How much authority does the audience have?

The audience may or may not be able to order implementation of your proposed
soultion. A manager might assign the writer to investigate some problem, but most
likely the manager will have to take the proposal to a higher authority before it is
approved.
II. Consider your own position

Your own position mirrors the audience position. If you have been assigned to write
the proposal, you don’t have to establish that the problem is a problem, but you do
have to show how your proposed solution matches the dimension of the problem. If
you have discovered the problem then you have to establish that the problem is a
problem and then explain your solution.
III. Use visual aids

Since the proposal probably will have multiple audiences, visual aids can enhance its
impact. Visuals can support any part of the proposal - the problem, the solution, the
implementation or even the benefits.
Writing / Organizing the internal proposal

The writer should organize the proposal around four questions.

What is the problem?

Describing the problem is a key part of proposals. You must establish three things
about the problem.

a. The data
b. The significance
c. The cause

Designing the proposal

To design a proposal, select an appropriate format, either formal or informal. A

formal proposal will have a title page, table of contents and summary. The formats
for an informal proposal can be a memo report on some kind of pre-printed form. The
format depends on company policy and on the distance that the proposal must travel
in the hierarchy-usually the shorter the distance, the more informal the format. Also,
the less significant the proposal, the more informal the format is.

Use the introduction to orient the reader

The introduction must orient the reader to the writer the problem and the solution.
Introductory sections often contain a separate summary paragraph that ______ the
main prints of the body. If the body contains section on the solution, benefits, cost,
implementation and the rejected alternatives, the summary should cover the same
prints.

Use the discussion to convince your audience

The discussion section contains all the detailed information that you must present to
convince the audience. A common approach functions this way:

The problem

1. Explanation of the problem

2. Causes of the problem

The solution

1. Details of the solution

2. Benefits of the solution
3. Ways in which the solution satisfy criteria

The context

 Schedule for implementing the solution

 Personnel involved
 Solutions rejected
 Progress Report
What is a Progress (status) report? Definition:

Progress reports inform management about the status of the project. It is submitted
at regular intervals throughout the life of the project. It lets the reader know whether
work is progressing satisfactorily, that is within the project’s budget and time
limitations.

The project can be the design, construction, or repair of something, the study or
research of a problem or question, or the gathering of information on a technical
subject. Usually progress reports are written when the period of the project is more
than two months.

Even though progress reports are often in the form of a memo, the writer should be
careful to write formal, standard prose. Progress reports represent not only the
writer's work but the writer's organizational and communication skills
Planning the progress report - How to plan the progress report
1. Consider the audience

Most readers are not fully informed about all aspects of the project. To understand
the progress made to date and the problems that are anticipated, readers must fully
grasp what the project involves. If the report goes only to your immediate
supervision, you can assume that he probably knows technical terms related to the
project. If the report goes a greater distance from you, you should assume that the
reader does not know the technical details and perhaps not the technical concepts.
In other words, you must go into as much details as necessary to inform your
specific audience.
2. Research the situation

To plan the project, you must select the categories that you need to discuss the
project usually two major categories are budget and schedule. But many other
categories are possible.
3. Visual aids

Visual aids are as effective for progress reports as for any other type. If you need to
use a table, graph or illustration, do so.
4. Follow the usual form for progress report

Structure of the Progress report

Progress reports usually follow the form shown in the outline below. Sometimes you
will add special sections

1. Introduction
1. Purpose of report
2. Purpose of the project
2. Work completed
3. Work scheduled
Initial progress reports:

An initial progress report contains a brief introduction and a body that describes the
work.

 Writing the introduction:

Begin by stating the purpose of report. A single sentence can name the project,
define time period covered by the project and tell the purpose; to inform readers
about current status of the project. Mention the project, objectives and scope and
name the major work areas.

 Writing the work completed section

In the work completed section, specify the time period and divide the project into
major tasks. Second level head will identify the tasks in this and subsequent reports.

 Writing the work schedule section

The work schedule section again specifies, the time period and repeats second level
and third level head from work completed section. If the readers require a more
detailed chronology of future work, divide this section into two parts:

i. Work schedule for next report period

ii. Work proposed for future.

Subsequent progress reports

Second and succeeding progress reports maintain continuity and refresh the readers
memory by adding a new section, a summary of work completed prior to the present
reporting period.
Introduction

Summary of work previously completed - dates

1. Work completed dates

2. Work scheduled - dates

Adding special sections e.g

Progress report on on staffing

Sometimes other sections need to be added. If readers want specific information on

some aspects of the project that they particularly want to control, you should provide
that information e.g. budget or any other item of special concern can easily be given
a main heading of its own and a thorough accounting.
 Formal elements of a technical report

Those components which are usually included in a report in business and industry

1. Letter of transmittal
2. Title page
3. Abstract
4. Table of contents
5. List of illustrations
6. Executive summary
7. Glossary and list of symbols
8. Appendix
1. Letter of Transmittal

The components of a report are not written in the same order in which they appear
e.g. the letter of transmittal is the first thing the reader sees, but it is probably the last
to be created.

It introduces the purpose and content of the report to the principle reader. It gives
you an opportunity to emphasize whatever you think, your reader will find particularly
in the attached material. It enables you to point out any errors or omission in the
material.

Transmittal letter contains the following element.

 A statement of title and purpose of report.

 A statement of who authorized the project and when
 A statement of method used in the project or of the principal results, conclusion and recommendations.
 An acknowledgement of any assistance you received in preparing the material.

2. The title page

Usual elements are

 Title
 Name and position of writer
 Name and position of principle reader
 Date of submission

A good title must be informative. It. answers two basic questions

1. What is the subject of the report

2. What type of report is it? E.g. sea pollution - control devices

Define the type of report by using a generic term such as analysis, recommendations
e.g summary, review etc. For a simple title page, centre the title (typed in full capital
letter) about a third of the way down the page, then add the readers and writer's
position, the organization’s name and date.
3. The abstract

It’s like a brief technical summary, usually not more than 200 words of the report. Its
directed to readers who are familiar with the technical subject and need to know
whether to read the full report or not. This can use technical terminology and refer to
advanced concepts. Basic types of abstract are descriptive and informative
abstracts. The descriptive abstract sometime called topical or table of contents
abstract. It does not provide the import results, conclusion or recommendations. It
lists the topic covered giving equal coverage to each. The informative abstract states
the problems the scope and methods, and the major results, conclusion or
recommendations.
4. The table of contents

It enables different readers to turn to specific pages to find the information they want.
Well organized report becomes ineffective if table of contents, is not clear. T.O.C
provide only guide to report's structure, coverage and pagination. The headings that
appear in the report are listed in T.O.C

For effective T.O.C make sure the report has effective headings.
5. The list of illustrations

It is a T.O.C for the figures and tables of a report. If the report contains figures but
not tables, it is called the list of figures

But if the report contains tables but not figures so is called the list of tables only

List of illustrations may be on the same page as the table of contents, or may be on
the separate page. If it begins on a separate page, it should be listed in the table of
contents.
6. The executive summary

Sometimes called executive overview or the management summary. It is a one page

condensation of a report. Managers don’t need a detailed and deep understanding of
various projects undertaken in their organization because of limitations in time and
specialization. The background of the project is also discussed clearly herein. The
specific problem that is to be solved through the project is clearly discussed; also the
conclusion and recommendations are discussed in a full separate paragraph.

7. The glossary and list of symbols

a gloss is an alphabetic list of definitions. It is useful if you are addressing a multiple

audience that includes readers who will not be familiar with the technical vocabulary
used in the report. An asterisk or any other notation can be used along the word to
tell the audience that the word is defined in glossary. It is generally placed at the end
of the report just before the appendix. Though if the glossary is a brief one, so can
be placed right after the table of contents.
A list of symbols is structured like glossary, but rather than defining words and
phrases, it defines the symbols and abbreviations used in the report.

Like glossary, the list of symbols may be placed before the appendices or after the
table of content.
8. The appendix

An appendix is any section that follows the body of the report (and the list of
references or bibliography, glossary or list of symbols). Appendices provide
information that is too bulky to be presented in the body or that will interest only a
small number of readers. For conciseness in the report, this information is separated
from the body. Examples of the kind of material that are usually found in the
appendix include maps, large technical diagrams or charts, computations, test data
and texts of supporting documents. Appendices are usually lettered, rather than
numbered and are listed in the table of contents.