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Mumbai, Sept 1

There is more to construction than just brick and mortar. Pre-engineered steel buildings are making great headway into commercial realty with ready-to-assemble colourful CKD (completely knocked down) packs.

Erection is easy and time-saving - interlocking nuts and bolts - and more importantly cost-effective and maintenance free with a 100-year lifespan.

"In simple terms, we deliver four 50,000 sq ft of buildings a day," says Mr S.V. Rao, CEO, Kirby Building Systems India Ltd.

Construction cost

The square foot cost varies between Rs 210 and Rs 270. An equivalent amount is needed for erecting a concrete platform for anchoring the structure.

Normal construction cost varies from Rs 800 to Rs 1,500, which again is dependent on many factors.

It took all but seven months for Kirby to commission the 10-lakh sq ft corporate office of Reliance Retail.

About 900 tonnes of steel went into the Rs 70 crore-plus building as beams, columns and sheets, which do not lack colour, aesthetics or architectural splendour.

A five lakh sq ft factory building for the Nokia manufacturing facility in Sriperumbudur, Chennai, has generated repeat orders for two more.

Client list

Kirby's client list appears to growing by the day. It has constructed large buildings for the Delhi Metro, Videocon, Tata Holset and other industry majors, besides a warehousing facility for the Karnataka Government.

The company has delivered over 3,000 buildings in the last couple of years.

Accessories include sliding doors, louvers aluminium windows, ventilators and translucent panels for lighting.

The steel sheet and cladding come in a variety of colours doing away painting. For cold storage facilities, a polyurethane foam sandwich is provided.

Limitations

Mr Arun Kumar Kedia, Managing Director, Garnet Constructions Ltd, who is into industrial and residential construction, says even in the commercial and industrial sectors, the pre-fab buildings are more suitable for IT and electronic industries.

Heavy engineering industries go in for steel fabricated structures.

In the residential segment, it is suitable for low-cost housing. Moreover, there is a general consumer apprehension for the material. And, it would just not suit the high-end niche home segment, he said.

Mr Rao concedes that there are technical hitches that prevent building above seven floors and cost too would go up for smaller buildings of lesser span.

Other advantages

Some other advantages the company speaks of are flexibility in expansion - both vertical and horizontal, energy efficient and earthquake resistant of up to 8.5 magnitude. This apart, it can also be dismantled and shifted.

Starting off with a capacity of 40,000 tonnes in 2000, Kirby Building Systems today has a market share of about 55 per cent in the country with a production capacity of two lakh tonnes. The company is confident of achieving Rs 600-crore turnover in 2007 (calendar year) and reach Rs 1,000 crore in 2008. Kirby India is owned by Kuwait-based Alghanim Industries.

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