Course detail

Building Materials

FAST-BIA001Acad. year: 2025/2026

Basic information on the structure and properties of materials in the context of their use in construction.
Methods of determination of physical and mechanical properties and durability with a focus on destructive methods. Basic deformation properties of building materials and their determination.
Properties of building materials according to the classification: stone, aggregates, binders, concrete, mortars, building ceramics, metals, wood, macromolecular substances, bitumen, and composites.
Performing the practical laboratory determination of the properties of selected building materials with individual assignments for individual students, including preparing protocols and assessing compliance with valid standards or product data sheets.

Language of instruction

Czech, English

Number of ECTS credits

5

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

doc. Ing. Barbara Kucharczyková, Ph.D.

Department

Institute of Building Testing (SZK)

Offered to foreign students

Of all faculties

Entry knowledge

Units of physical quantities and their conversions, fundamental physical laws, and basic mathematical operations.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

Extent and forms are specified by guarantor’s regulation updated for every academic year.

Aims

Professional knowledge:

  • can describe the basic physical and mechanical properties of the basic types of building materials
  • remember the basic physical and mechanical properties, specifics, advantages and disadvantages of individual materials
  • remember the basic principles of the technology of production, processing and finalisation of materials and products
  • can give examples of the use of selected materials in practice
  • can reproduce basic technical data and principles of determining the properties of materials
  • know the basic principles of work in a laboratory environment

Professional skills:

  • can work with basic measuring instruments for determining dimensions, volume and weight in a laboratory environment
  • can process measured data in the form of a measurement report
  • can assess the compliance of the determined results with normative regulations or technical sheets
  • can determine the basic physical and mechanical properties of building materials by calculation based on the specified inputs
  • can use theoretical and practical knowledge at a basic level for real application in construction (assessment of the compatibility of building materials when combining them, suitability for use in a given environment, calculation of self-weight, volume, transport of materials, load-bearing capacity etc.)

Competencies:

  • ability to work and communicate in a team
  • ability to interpret opinions clearly
  • ability to formulate conclusions of partial activities

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

DUGGAL, S. K. Building Materials. New Age, 4th revised edition, 2012. p. 1-612. ISBN – 13: 978-8122433791 (EN)
Lecture presentations and Laboratory practice materials are shared with all students registered for the course through MS Teams -  "BIA001_Building Materials" team. The registration code will be provided at the start of the course. (EN)
Dalibor, Vojtěch: Materiály a jejich mezní stavy, Praha 2020, ISBN 978-80-7080-741-5 (CS)
EVERETT, A.; BARRITT, C. M. H. Mitchells Materials. Longman Scientific and Technical, 5th edition, 2014. p. 1-272. ISBN: 9780582219236 (EN)
Prezentace z přednášek a laboratorní materiály jsou sdíleny se všemi studenty registrovanými do kurzu prostřednictvím MS Teams - týmu „BIA001_Stavební materiály“. Registrační kód bude poskytnut na začátku kurzu. (CS)
STEHLÍK, M.; BÍLEK, V. Building Materials. Akademické nakladatelství CERM, s.r.o. Brno, 2003. p. 1-171. ISBN: 80-214-2544-X (EN)
SVOBODA, Luboš: Stavební hmoty . Jaga group, sro, Bratislava, 2009. ISBN 978-80-8076-057-1,  http://people.fsv.cvut.cz/~svobodal/sh/ (CS)
VARGHESE, P. C. Building Materials. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd, 2nd revised edition, 2015. p. 1-283. ISBN – 13: 978-8120350915 (EN)

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme BPA-SI Bachelor's 1 year of study, summer semester, compulsory

  • Programme BPC-SI Bachelor's

    specialization VS , 1 year of study, summer semester, compulsory

  • Programme BPC-MI Bachelor's 1 year of study, summer semester, compulsory
  • Programme BKC-SI Bachelor's 1 year of study, summer semester, compulsory

  • Programme CZV1-AKR Lifelong learning

    specialization PBC , 1 year of study, summer semester, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

26 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

prof. Ing. Pavel Schmid, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Barbara Kucharczyková, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Tomáš Vymazal, Ph.D.

Syllabus

  1. Introduction, basic properties of construction materials, Proper laboratory practice, Introduction to the life-cycle of structures. 
  2. Structure and properties of construction materials. 
  3. Building stone and stone products
  4. Aggregate for construction purposess
  5. Binders – non-hydraulic, hydraulics
  6. Mortars – for masonry, rendering, plastering, special.
  7. Concrete I – Fresh concrete – composition, properties, specification.
  8. Concrete II – Hardened concrete – types, properties.
  9. Ceramics.
  10. Wood, Timber elements, Engineered wood materials
  11. Polymers, polymer-based composite materials and products
  12. Metals - Steel, ferrous, and non-ferrous metals
  13. Bitumens, bituminous mixtures, bituminous waterproofing products and roofing

Exercise

26 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Ing. Jaromír Láník, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Tomáš Vymazal, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Barbara Kucharczyková, Ph.D.
Ing. Dalibor Kocáb, Ph.D.
Ing. et Ing. Kristýna Hrabová, Ph.D.
Ing. Dominik Lisztwan
prof. Ing. Pavel Schmid, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Petr Cikrle, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Ondřej Anton, Ph.D.
Ing. Petr Misák, Ph.D.
doc. Ing. Petr Daněk, Ph.D.
Ing. Petr Žítt, Ph.D.

Syllabus

  1. Introductoduction.
  2. Determination of the properties of fresh mortars and binders.
  3. Determination of the properties of building stone and aggregates.
  4. Determination of the properties of ceramic materials.
  5. Determination of the properties of metals.
  6. Determination of the properties of hardened mortars and binders.
  7. Determination of the properties of plastics.
  8. Determination of the properties of concrete.
  9. Determination of the properties of wood and timber.
  10. Determination of selected properties of materials concerning temperature, impact stress and mechanical damage.
  11. Calculations on the properties of building materials for practical use.
  12. Verification of the level of mastery of the practised material practiced.
  13. Summary, credit.