Strategies for high rise building sanitary drainage systems design in Ghanaian building industry

Abstract

This study aims to determine strategies to improve the design of sanitary drainage systems (SDS) in high-rise buildings within the Ghanaian construction industry. A literature review was conducted to identify 19 key indicators related to SDS, which guided the development of a questionnaire to validate the study’s objective. A total of 310 participants with experience in high-rise SDS in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana were sampled. These participants included plumbing contractors, plumbing instructors, building services engineers, and site engineers. The purposive sampling method was used to select respondents based on their expertise. The study identified several major strategies for improving SDS design. These include adequate ventilation, provision of access points, use of high-quality pipework materials, use of long-radius bends or de-aerators at the base of stacks, air-tight joints, adequate pipe support, appropriate pipe sizing, and post-installation testing of the system. As there are currently no known studies on SDS in high-rise buildings in Ghana, this study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by addressing the design of SDS in high-rise buildings in the Greater Accra Region. This inform policy, design standards, and construction practices.