Learn · guide

How to use the quick tools

Four small everyday tools: bar areas and laps, a simple beam, a dead load build-up and imposed loads. What each one gives, and where it stops.

All guides Inputs The tools Access Walk-through Mistakes

1. What the page does

The quick tools page holds four small everyday tools on one page: bar area with the anchorage and lap lengths, a simply supported beam, a dead load build-up and the imposed load for an occupancy. You type and the answer follows. The page says it plainly: the values are characteristic, for a first check; the full design calculators are on the calculators page.

The codes are named on each card: SANS 10100-1 4.11.6 and Table 24 for the laps, SANS 10160-2 Annex A for the densities, SANS 10160-2 Tables 1, 2, 4 and 5 for the imposed loads, and elastic beam formulas for the simple beam.

Quick tools page heading — The page heading: four small tools, type and the answer follows.

2. The inputs, tool by tool

Input	What it means	Typical value
Rebar area, anchorage and laps	Bar diameter, number of bars, f_y and concrete f_cu.	4Y16, 450 MPa, 30 MPa
Simple beam	Span, UDL, central point load, E and I.	6 m, 10 kN/m, E 200 GPa, I 8500 cm⁴
Dead load build-up	Slab thickness, screed thickness, finishes and services.	200 mm slab, 50 mm screed, 0.5 + 0.5 kPa
Imposed load	Occupancy category, loaded area, stack height (storage) and movable partitions.	B1 offices, 20 m²

3. How to read each tool

Rebar. The area of the bars, then the anchorage and lap lengths for each case: bottom bars, top bars in deep members, corner bars or close laps, and compression. Laps of top bars and corner bars are longer because the concrete around them is weaker or thinner.

Rebar area, anchorage and laps tool — Rebar: 4Y16 = 804 mm²; tension anchorage 550 mm (34Ø) for a bottom bar, laps from 550 to 1550 mm by case, compression lap 475 mm.

A tension lap: the two bars overlap by the lap length so the force passes from one to the other through the concrete.

Simple beam. The reactions, maximum shear, maximum moment at mid-span and the mid-span deflection with the span/deflection ratio, from the elastic formulas shown under the card.

Simple beam tool — Simple beam: 6 m at 10 kN/m gives 30 kN reactions, 45 kNm and 9.93 mm (L/604) with I 8500 cm⁴.

Dead load. Each layer with its density and its load in kPa, summed to the permanent load G_k. Movable partitions are an imposed load, not a dead load, so they are in the imposed load tool.

Dead load build-up tool — Dead load: 200 mm slab 4.80, 50 mm screed 1.15, finishes 0.50, services 0.50: G_k 6.95 kPa.

Imposed load. The distributed and concentrated loads for the category, the total over the loaded area, and notes on reductions and escape routes.

Imposed load tool — Imposed load: category B1 offices, q_k 2.5 kPa, Q_k 4.5 kN, 50 kN over 20 m².

These tools give values, not a pass or a fail; there is no governing check and nothing marked NOT CHECKED.

4. Access

The page says it is free and needs no sign-in. The full design calculators, with their calc sheets and schedules, follow the sign-in rules on their own pages.

5. A 2-minute walk-through

Rebar: pick Y20, 3 bars; read the area and the bottom-bar lap.
Simple beam: a 5 m span at 12 kN/m with a 20 kN point load; read the moment and the deflection.
Dead load: a 170 mm slab with 30 mm screed; read G_k.
Imposed load: switch to C3 (museums, public corridors, stairs) and compare with B1.
Take the loads to the slab or beam calculator.

6. Common mistakes

Characteristic values as design values. Factor them in the combination.
The wrong E and I in the simple beam. E 200 GPa is steel; for concrete use a lower value and the cracked I.
Bottom-bar laps for top bars. Top bars in deep members need the longer lap.
Partitions in the dead load. Movable partitions belong in the imposed load.
Laps for the wrong concrete. The lengths depend on f_cu; a lower grade needs longer laps.

7. Where it fits

The tools are for the quick numbers you need many times a day: a lap length for a site query, the dead load of a floor build-up for a take-down, the imposed load for a new occupancy, or a first size for a beam. For the design itself, take the loads into the RC beam, slab design or steel member calculator, which build the combinations and check every clause. The Loads 1 course explains where each number comes from.

8. Learn more

Try it nowFour small tools on one page.
Open the quick tools

A guide to using the calculator, not a design. Check every value against the current code and your own project, and have the design checked and signed by a registered professional engineer.

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