Building and its types

A building is a structure with walls, floor and roof, built to give shelter to people, animals, goods or activities.

Types of buildings

By use (occupancy), as in the National Building Code, buildings are classed as:

1. Residential: houses, flats, hostels, dormitories, hotels.
2. Educational: schools, colleges, training centres.
3. Institutional: hospitals, clinics, sanatoriums, jails, orphanages.
4. Assembly: cinema halls, theatres, auditoriums, community halls, temples, stadiums, and other places where many people gather.
5. Business / office: offices, banks, post offices.
6. Mercantile (commercial): shops, markets, shopping malls, and warehouses for the sale of goods.
7. Industrial: factories, workshops, power stations.
8. Storage: godowns, silos, garages.
9. Hazardous: buildings storing explosives or flammable materials.
10. Mixed use: buildings with more than one use.

Buildings are also grouped by structure (load-bearing masonry, RCC framed, steel framed and timber) and by height (low-rise, mid-rise and high-rise). The Nepal Building Act, 2055 groups buildings into classes A, B, C and D according to their size and complexity.

  Residential        Assembly Hall        Industrial
   /\                 ___________          _/|_/|_/|
  /  \               |  [stage]  |        |        |
 |[]  |              |___________|        |________|

In Nepal, NBC 205 gives the Mandatory Rules of Thumb for low-rise masonry buildings, and NBC 105 covers seismic design.