[TUTORIAL] How to calculate the numbers of blocks needed from a Building Plan

Questions are been asked on How many Blocks can i use to get my Building completed.This tutorial is written with illustrations to make it easy for you to do the calculations yourself from the plan your Design Architect gave you.

The plan above is for a 2 Bedroom Bungallow, so we are going to start from the fundamental basics having in
mind the followings factors-

i)The lenght of a block is 0.45m or 450mm or 18″
ii)The width of thickness varies -150mm or 6″ and 225mm or 9″ which are most common.
ii)Taking for a general or average purpose, the blocks laid from foundation to dpc(german or
oversite concrete) is 4 coaches/levels. From dpc to the base of window another 4 coaches,from
base of window to top of window another 5 coaches, then from top of window to base of roof
another 3 coaches, neglecting the lintel or concrete on top of window.
Now with these parameters let calculate the plan above which has a wall of 150mm or 6″ all
through.

Add the length and breadth of the blockwall for external and internal
Therefore (A)9,400mm +9,600mm(B)+9400(C)+9600(D)=38,000mm or 38m
Now add the internal walls too

(Follow the grid lines and check the corresponding dimensions on plan remember 150mm is the
block width)

(Grid 7)150+3600+150+150+3600+150=7,800mm or 7.8m
(Grid 6)1350+150+2250+150+825+675+150=5,550mm or 5.55m
(Grid 1b)800+2400+1300+900+100=5,500mm or 5.5m
(Grid 2)2600+900+100+150+100+900+500+150=5,400mm or 5.4m
(Grid 3)1800+150+650+900+250+900+1450=6,100mm or 6.1m
(Grid 3b-Kitchen)900+50+1200+50+150=2,350 or 2.35m
(Grid 7b toilet)1800 or 1.8m

Total internal walls=34,500mm or 34.5m
Therefore Total walls=38,000mm +34,500mm=72,500mm or 72.5m
Now for the first 4 coaches to dpc level the wall will run right through, i.e the spaces for
doors or windows are not left out (n/b- blocks are used in relatively strong and stable soil not
waterlogged area that requires concrete instead).
Divide the sum by 450mm to know the numbers needed for one level/layer/coach of blocks
72,500/450=161 blocks
From dpc level to roof lets take the numbers of coaches to be 4+5+3=12 coaches
then multiply the numbers of blocks for each coach above by 12
161 x 12=1932 blocks
Don’t forget we have windows and doors spaces which we need to remove,for each window of 1200mm
take numbers of the block to be 14 (i.e 1200/230=5.2 and 1200/450=2.6 ,5.3 x2.6=14 approx
Now count the numbers of 1200mm windows and multiply by 14
Total numbers of 1200mm windows as counted on plan is 12 (note 2400mm window was taken as two of
1200mm window)
i.e 11 x 14 =154 blocks + 7 blocks for 600mm window for toilet. Total=161 blocks
Now calculate for doors,Numbers of blocks for a door of 900mm is 18.
height of a door(2100/225=9)+width of a door (900mm/450mm=2). so 9 x2 =18 blocks for each door.
Multiply 18 by numbers of doors=18 x8=144 blocks
Add 144+161=305 blocks,then remove from total blocks of 644 (for dpc) + 1932
Total numbers of blocks reqd=2,271 blocks
For a quick calculation, having the entire length to be 72,500mm. Take for a bungallow total
length from foundation to roof to be 1,200mm +3000mm=4200mm
Then calculate the surface area which is 72,500 x 4200 and convert to meters
72.5m x 4.2m=304.5m2
Remove surface areas of windows and doors
For window, height is 1.2m and total is 11
i.e 1.2m x 1.2m x 11=15.84m2 +0.6 x0.6(toilet window)=16.2m2
For doors, height is 2.1m while width is 0.9m
i.e 0.9 x 2.1 x 8(nos of doors)=15.12
Total area for doors and windows=16.2m2 +15.12m2=31.32m2
Remove 31.32m2 from 304.5m2=273.18m2
Now divide this by surface area of a block which is 0.225 x 0.45=0.10125
The blocks required calculated by this method is 273.18m2/0.10125=2,698 blocks

Note a difference of about 400 blocks from the two calculations. Of course you can’t get exactly
the numbers you need but the first method is close to it. And calculations are not 100% true
because of these factors
1-The mortar space was not considered
2-Blocks that will be wasted due to breakages e.t.c