PRC ALE cheat sheet

Vitruvian triad: firmitas (firmness), utilitas (commodity), venustas (delight) - the classical test of architectural quality.

Greek orders: Doric (no base, plain capital) is the oldest; Ionic uses volutes; Corinthian uses acanthus leaves and was first applied at the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens.

The Parthenon, Athens (447–432 BC), by Iktinos and Kallikrates, is a Doric peripteral octastyle temple; its optical refinements include entasis and a slight upward curvature of the stylobate.

Roman construction depended on opus caementicium (concrete), the arch and the vault; the Pantheon's dome spans about 43.3 m and its oculus is the only light source.

Byzantine architecture: Hagia Sophia (Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, AD 537) uses pendentives to seat a circular dome over a square plan.

Gothic system: pointed arch, rib vault and flying buttress concentrate loads on piers, allowing thin walls with large glazed openings.

Renaissance: Brunelleschi's dome for Florence Cathedral (1420–1436); Alberti's De re aedificatoria (c. 1450) is regarded as the first modern architectural treatise.

Modern movement: Bauhaus founded 1919 in Weimar under Walter Gropius; Le Corbusier's Five Points (1927) are pilotis, free plan, free facade, ribbon window and roof garden.

Philippine National Artists for Architecture: Juan Nakpil (1973), Pablo Antonio (1976), Leandro Locsin (1990), Jose Maria Zaragoza (2014), Francisco Mañosa (2018); the Baroque Churches of the Philippines were inscribed by UNESCO in 1993.

PD 1096 (National Building Code of the Philippines, 1977, Revised IRR 2004) controls building use, occupancy classification, setbacks, allowable building height and light-and-ventilation requirements.

PD 1096 occupancy groups: A-1 and A-2 (residential), B (business), C (educational), D (institutional), E (mercantile), F (industrial), G (storage), H (assembly), I (hazardous), J (accessory).

PSO (percentage of site occupancy) = building footprint ÷ lot area × 100; ISA (impervious surface area) adds paved and hard-surfaced areas to the footprint; both are capped by the zoning ordinance.

Floor Area Ratio = total gross floor area of all buildings ÷ net lot area; it limits development bulk independently of building height.

BP 344 (Accessibility Law, 1983): accessible routes must be continuous, and ramps must have a maximum slope of 1:12, a minimum clear width of 1.20 m, and landings at changes of direction.

Zoning and land-use control are devolved to cities and municipalities under RA 7160 (Local Government Code, 1991); the comprehensive land use plan is the basis of the zoning ordinance.

RA 9514 (Fire Code of the Philippines, 2008) governs means of egress, travel distance, fire-resistive ratings, alarm and suppression systems, and fire lane requirements.

The Revised National Plumbing Code (RA 1378, as revised) governs fixture clearances, venting, sanitary drainage slopes and water supply sizing.

Street hierarchy (national, provincial, city, barangay) sets right-of-way width, carriageway width and the minimum frontage and access rules for abutting lots.

Solar geometry: at the equinoxes the noon solar altitude equals 90° minus the latitude; Manila at about 14.6° N therefore has a noon sun near 75.5° at equinox.

Earth's axial tilt is 23.5°; at the June solstice the noon sun is overhead at 23.5° N (Tropic of Cancer) and at the December solstice at 23.5° S (Tropic of Capricorn).

Philippine wind regime: amihan (northeast monsoon, cool and drier, November–February) and habagat (southwest monsoon, wet, June–October); orientation is set to capture prevailing breezes while shading the west facade.

Slope classes for site planning: 0–3% flat/easy, 3–8% gentle, 8–15% rolling, 15–25% hilly, above 25% steep; slopes over roughly 18% are normally left as open space or require special foundations.

Contour lines: closely spaced lines indicate steep ground; V-shaped contours point upstream where they cross a valley or stream.

Balanced cut and fill (cut volume ≈ fill volume) minimizes hauling cost; terracing is used on steep sites to create usable pads.

Circulation patterns: gridiron (efficient, formal), cul-de-sac (quiet residential, limits through traffic), Radburn superblock (pedestrian rear access, vehicles on cul-de-sacs), curvilinear loops (follow contours).

Daylight factor = interior illuminance at a point ÷ simultaneous unobstructed outdoor illuminance × 100, used to compare daylit spaces.

Noise control on site: distance attenuation, berms and solid barriers, and evergreen buffer planting at the property edge reduce traffic and industrial noise.

NSCP (National Structural Code of the Philippines), Volume 1 for buildings, governs dead, live, wind, seismic and earth-pressure loads, adopting ACI, AISC and ASCE provisions.

Load combinations: ASD - D, D+L, D+(W or E), 0.9D+(W or E); LRFD - 1.2D+1.6L, 1.2D+1.0W+L, 0.9D+1.0W.

Simply supported beam under uniform load w: maximum bending moment = wL²/8 at midspan; maximum shear = wL/2 at the supports; cantilever deflection = PL³/3EI.

A slab behaves as two-way when the long-to-short span ratio is less than 2; otherwise it is designed as a one-way slab spanning the short direction.

Common deflection criteria: L/360 for live load and L/240 for total load on beams and slabs not supporting brittle finishes.

Reinforced concrete practice: f'c typically 21–28 MPa; Grade 40 bars have fy = 276 MPa and Grade 60 bars have fy = 414 MPa; structural steel A36 has fy ≈ 248 MPa.

Seismic detailing: strong column–weak beam, closely spaced confinement ties in plastic hinge zones, continuous load path and adequate diaphragm action.

Foundation selection: spread footings where soil bearing capacity is adequate and loads are moderate; mat or pile foundations for weak, compressible or expansive soils and heavy loads.

The triangle is the only inherently stable polygon and is the basis of truss action; zero-force members occur at joints with two non-collinear members and no external load.

Concrete mix classes in Philippine practice: Class A 1:2:4 ≈ 20.7 MPa (3000 psi), Class B 1:2.5:5, Class C 1:3:6; the water–cement ratio (about 0.40–0.60) governs strength and durability.

Concrete reaches design strength at 28 days and must be moist-cured for at least 7 days (about 3 days for high-early-strength cement).

Portland cement types: I normal, II moderate sulfate resistance, III high early strength, IV low heat of hydration, V high sulfate resistance.

The slump test measures workability (consistency) of fresh concrete; cylinder tests measure compressive strength of hardened concrete.

Philippine CHB is nominally 400 mm long by 200 mm high, supplied in 100, 150 and 200 mm thicknesses; cells are grouted and reinforced at columns, beams and wall intersections.

Masonry bonds: running (stretcher) bond is most common; English and Flemish bonds alternate headers with stretchers for greater bonding strength and pattern.

Hardwood should be installed at about 12–15% moisture content (kiln-dried) to limit shrinkage and warping; narra, yakal and apitong are common Philippine structural and finish species.

Corrugated G.I. roofing requires a minimum slope of roughly 1:4 (25%) for drainage; purlin spacing is set by sheet gauge, span and wind load.

Glass types: annealed (float) for general glazing, tempered (about four times stronger, breaks into small blunt fragments) for doors and guardrails, laminated (PVB interlayer) for overhead and security glazing.

RA 9266 (Architecture Act of 2004) repealed RA 545 and defines the scope of architectural practice: pre-design, design, construction-phase and post-construction services.

Only a registered and licensed architect may use the title Architect, prepare and sign architectural plans and specifications, and seal architectural documents.

The Professional Regulation Commission, through the Professional Regulatory Board of Architecture, administers licensure; the license is renewed every three years.

RA 10912 (CPD Act) requires 45 continuing professional development units per three-year renewal cycle for regulated professions including architecture.

The United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) is the Integrated and Accredited Professional Organization of Architects (IAPOA) for the profession.

The UAP Standards of Professional Practice (SPP 200 series) cover pre-design (201), design (202), specialized architectural services, construction services, post-construction and comprehensive services.

Standard distribution of the basic services fee across phases: Schematic Design 15%, Design Development 20%, Contract Documents 40%, Bidding/Negotiation 5%, Construction Phase 20%.

Basic services fee is a percentage of Project Construction Cost, commonly in the range of about 6% to 12% depending on project group and complexity.

Civil Code Article 1723: the architect or engineer who prepared the plans is liable for damages if the structure collapses within 15 years of completion.

RA 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act) governs public bidding; the architect of record prepares the design, drawings, specifications and terms of reference for government projects.