Chapter one
Hello Everyone,
My name is Kemmie, a civil engineer and an active digital citizen when needed to. Professionally, I work in the construction materials sector, to be specific the sustainable kind. My work investigates the influence of using alternative materials such as construction wastes for new construction work to achieve similar durability properties and lower carbon emission in the atmosphere. If you personally know me? query me on the how's. Please!
Now, Fünditales was created from a combination of the two words “Fündi and Tales” — which individually mean, a local construction technician and a narrative, respectively. Together, form a narrative in the Construction materials world that’s based specifically in the East African region. The FündiTales is a narration and embodiment of tales from the fundi’s perspective.
Fundi’s are the bridge between experts in the construction industry such as civil engineers like me, mechanical and electrical engineers, architects, quantity surveyors, project managers, and common folk. Fundi’s have been able to carry this profession through understandable content and deliver construction work through their own translation.
One of the most consistent ways of selecting and usage of construction materials in Tanzania has always been, “Fundi acceptable” and never “Engineer nor Technician acceptable” and understandably so because of various reasons. Some of them being financial capacity to contract these professionals and the lack of easiness to make people understand the professional language of construction work. People feel as though “why not use a local fundi to deliver similar yet cheaper work that a professional engineer or technician would?”.
Please note the italics used in the later paragraph. I use the italics to relate to the use of “tales” in the word Fünditales; which in the merriam-webster meaning translates to an imaginative narrative of an event.
Small scale investors and individual people who require any construction activity in the Tanzanian space first contract a fundi before anyone else. Fundi’s usually provide them with a glimpse of what the work entails, the materials to use and the duration of the whole job. Of which — if you ask the non-professional me, entails everything a non-profession needs to become convinced that they do not require professional help.
Now, welcome to Fünditales, Fünditales will help you understand some of the reasons why you need professional advise on construction materials.
Have you ever come across statements like these? Concrete is the most utilized material in the world second to water or that some of the world's oldest structures are made of stone? And are still present.
These are just two types of construction materials mentioned. There are about five adequate construction materials in the world. Concrete, Wood or Timber, Metals, Glass and Stone. All these materials have been researched and recommended for construction use due to distinct factors such as strength, density, shrinkage, and durability, making it suitable for a variety of applications. Yes — there is also cost and aesthetics in this picture but I’m sure you can hear my engineering side now.
The usage of building materials in the construction sector is governed by national and international standards and testing procedures, so they can be trusted to provide workability, structural integrity and durability measures. Let me trim it down for you. A workable construction material provides easiness to maneuver and ideally work with. Structural integrity covers material strength and loss of moisture effects. Durability measures covers how the material reacts against the aggressiveness from the environment.
The most essential thing to remember out of all things I mentioned in this article is that all these materials cannot be utilized in construction work if they do not attain the specific standard requirements specified in these standards through proper testing procedures. These requirements are commonly the minimum criteria for adoption of construction materials. Anything below these standard will certainly never provide adequacy for construction work.
Why I'm I mentioning this in my FundiTales? Because as a non-professional, it is not your job to be aware of these specifications, nor the local Fundi’s to inform you of them. Do you see the gap now? Ideally, there is a variety of construction materials; both cheap and expensive and the fact that local fundi’s have a bill of quantity that is permanently cheaper than a professional expert one, introduces a gap they can fill. Which is, provide you with construction work made of cheaper materials but certainly with lesser durability and higher maintenance costs.
Fünditales is a bridge between the use of quality construction materials and accessible resources and labor found in the Tanzanian construction industry. During my Fünditales, I will try and present Tanzanian construction materials in the most understandable content. My hope is that, through Fünditales we can embrace sustainable construction work, assist fundi’s into building and recommending materials that cover engineering aspects as well as raise awareness of the vicious cycle that causes constant deterioration of modern structures in the Tanzanian construction sector.
If you work in the Tanzanian construction material field and want to be part of this journey with me? Yes — Please, Welcome. Reach out to me through the comment section as well as my official Instagram page (@thefunditales)
That’s all from me, and my tales of the fundi through a sustainable eye.
