Industrial construction involves the construction of buildings used as industries, i.e., manufacturing, factories, warehouses, power and processing plants. Apart from the construction, it also involves designing, installing, and maintaining mechanical and structural components of these buildings.
These buildings under industrial construction are specialized for the types of activities and machines required for the process. For this reason, buildings are designed for smooth functionality rather than style. They need to support heavy and large industry equipment that are made in accordance to industry-specific regulation.
The floor plans in industrial construction dictates the building design to be implemented as they should smooth foot traffic put all the attention on directing processes. In order to satisfy local entities, industrial construction projects have to be assessed and attain occupancy requirements to receive permit.
These buildings have different construction principles. For instance, warehouses and distribution centers are often one-story while covering a vast piece of land, approximately 5,000 square feet or larger. They have high ceilings of up to 60 feet and have loading docks, large garage doors, and parking lots for semi-trailers used in transit.
Facilities designed for manufacturing, also called heavy industrial buildings, are built to house equipment required for the production process. Some examples of manufacturing buildings include mining, oil, and shipbuilding businesses. Construction involves a three-phase electricity supply to power the machinery used for the manufacturing process.
Manufacturing facilities are designed with high-capacity ventilation and exhaust system to ensure that there are no harmful fumes and chemicals in the air. Most industrial processes require water for cooling the systems and cleaning them, therefore, there are pressurized air and water lines for smooth functioning. There are also water storage tanks and the building should have floor drains as water pooling could be dangerous.
