Information to provide in scheme design:

●     Thickness of slab spanning in one direction

●     Size of secondary and primary beams

●     Clear floor height

Reasons to use this slab type:

Capabilities

●     Flexible for future additional and alteration designs

●     Accommodates heavy utility systems and other loading

●     Not a lot of maintenance cost needed

●     Accommodates slab openings for services installation and distribution

●     Strong resistance to sound, fire, vibration, and heat

●     Flat soffit decreases concrete spalling

●     Provides robustness

●     Accommodates design for irregular grid lines and different shapes of buildings

Construction

●     Repetitive construction of components, which decreases the learning curve, construction cost, and construction schedule

●     Local experience of construction of beam slabs

Advantages over other slabs:

Beam Slab vs Flat Slab

●     Beam slabs are more common, making them more cost and time efficient

●     Beam slabs can provide longer spans

●     Beams slabs can accommodate slab openings and future alteration in design

●     Beam slabs can be designed for irregular grid lines and different shapes of buildings

●     The structures in flat slabs are heavier than those of beam slabs, so beam slabs are less expensive due to less cost in materials used for foundation

●     In Flat Slabs, not a lot of stiffness provided for wind resistance if there are no core walls

Beam Slab vs Ribbed Slab and Waffle Slab

●     Beam slabs uses a more common formwork that that of ribbed/waffle slabs, which saves time and cost

Disadvantages

●     Less flexibility with size and location of slab openings due to limitations on penetrations

●     Larger structural depth which requires construction of a heavy foundation at times

●     More labor needed for complicated reinforcement positioning for downstand beams

●     Penetrations through beams will affect beam strength and clash and placement issues with reinforcement in beams