RCC, PCC, DPC and 50 more: house construction terms explained

A builder's quote and the first few site meetings are full of abbreviations: RCC, PCC, DPC, BBS, OHT. Most homeowners nod along and look them up later. This is the list we wish every client had on day one: the terms you will actually meet while building a house in Bengaluru or Mysuru, in the order they come up, in plain English.

RCC, PCC and DPC: the three you will hear first

RCC: Reinforced Cement Concrete. Concrete with steel bars cast inside it. Concrete is very good at resisting crushing but cracks when it is pulled or bent; the steel takes that pulling force. The footings, columns, beams and slabs of almost every house in India are RCC, designed to IS 456.

PCC: Plain Cement Concrete. Concrete with no steel in it. It goes where nothing pulls on it: as a levelling bed under the footings, usually a lean mix such as M10, and as a base under floors.

DPC: Damp Proof Course. A continuous layer laid on the walls at plinth level to stop moisture from the ground rising into the walls above. On houses it is usually a thin layer of richer concrete with a waterproofing compound. When it is missing or broken, damp patches and peeling paint appear along the bottom of the ground-floor walls.

The short version: RCC has steel and carries the house; PCC has none and levels or fills; DPC keeps the ground's moisture out of the walls.

Foundation and frame

Soil test. Bores or pits on your plot to find how much load the ground can carry. The structural engineer sizes the footings from it.

Footing. The widened base under each column that spreads its load into the soil.

Plinth and plinth beam. The plinth is the part of the house between ground level and the ground-floor level. The plinth beam is an RCC beam at that level that ties the columns together and carries the ground-floor walls.

Column, beam, slab. The load path of a framed house. Slabs carry the floors, beams carry the slabs, columns carry the beams, and footings carry the columns.

Lintel and lintel band. A lintel is a short beam over a door or window that carries the wall above the opening. A lintel band runs the same beam around the whole building at that height.

Chejja (sunshade). A thin RCC projection over a window that keeps rain and direct sun off it.

Parapet. The low wall around the edge of the terrace.

Staircase headroom. The small covered room on the terrace over the staircase. Check whether a quote charges it as built-up area.

Concrete and steel

M20, M25. Concrete grades. The number is the strength in N/mm² that test cubes must reach at 28 days. M20 is the minimum for reinforced concrete in most house conditions.

Nominal mix and design mix. A nominal mix uses fixed proportions by volume, such as 1:1.5:3 for M20, and is only allowed up to M20. A design mix works the proportions out from tests on the actual cement, sand and aggregate.

TMT bars. Thermo-Mechanically Treated steel bars: the ribbed bars used in RCC.

Fe 500 and Fe 500D. Steel grades. 500 is the minimum yield strength in N/mm². The D grade is more ductile: it bends further before it breaks.

Cover. The thickness of concrete between the steel and the outside surface. It protects the steel from rust. Cover blocks hold the bars in place during the pour.

BBS: Bar Bending Schedule. A list of every bar in a footing, column, beam or slab, with its diameter, shape, length and number. Site teams cut steel from it; you can check the steel against it.

Shuttering (formwork). The temporary steel or plywood moulds that concrete is poured into.

Slump test. Fresh concrete is packed into a cone, the cone is lifted, and the drop is measured. It shows how workable the mix is. A very high slump often means someone added water on site, which weakens the concrete.

Cube test. 150 mm cubes cast from a pour and crushed in a lab at 7 and 28 days, under IS 516. The 28-day result tells you whether the concrete reached its grade.

Curing. Keeping concrete wet after it is cast so it keeps gaining strength. Cut it short and the concrete never reaches its grade.

Walls and finishes

AAC block. Autoclaved Aerated Concrete: a large, light block with tiny air pockets. Solid concrete block is heavier, made from cement and aggregate. Both are common in Bengaluru alongside clay brick.

M-sand and P-sand. Manufactured sand made by crushing rock. P-sand is the finer grade used for plastering.

Plaster and putty. Plaster is the cement and sand coat on the walls. Putty is the thin smoothing coat over it, under the paint.

Dado. Tiles on the lower part of a wall, such as bathroom walls tiled up to 7 ft.

Flood test. Filling a terrace, bathroom or balcony with water for a day or two before tiling, to prove the waterproofing holds.

Water, drains and power

Sump and OHT. The sump is the underground water tank; the OHT is the overhead tank on the terrace.

CPVC and uPVC pipes. CPVC handles hot and cold water supply. uPVC is used mainly for cold water and drainage.

UGD. Underground drainage: the city sewer line your house connects to.

Earthing. A conductor buried in the ground that carries fault current away safely.

MCB and RCCB. An MCB trips on an overload or short circuit. An RCCB trips when current leaks to earth, the kind of fault that gives a shock.

Areas and rules

Built-up area. The constructed floor area including the walls; this is what a per-sq.ft rate is charged on. Carpet area is the usable floor inside the walls. Super built-up area adds a share of common areas and is an apartment term; it should not appear on an independent house quote.

Setback. The open strip that must be left between the building and the plot boundary. See the Bengaluru and Mysuru tables.

Ground coverage and FAR. Ground coverage is the share of the plot the building may cover. FAR, the floor area ratio, is the total floor area across all floors divided by the plot area.

Paperwork

Khata. The property's record in the municipal register, needed for plan sanction, loans and utility connections. It is called e-Khata in Bengaluru and e-Aasthi in Mysuru.

EC: Encumbrance Certificate. A record of registered transactions on the property, such as sales and mortgages.

Plan sanction. Approval of your building drawings by the authority for your plot: a city corporation, a development authority or a panchayat.

OC: Occupancy Certificate. A certificate that the finished building matches its sanctioned plan and is fit to live in. Small homes in Bengaluru are now exempt; the house must still match its approved plan.

BOQ: Bill of Quantities. An itemised list of quantities and rates. Asking for one is the quickest way to see what a quote actually includes.

If a builder uses a term that is not on this list, ask what it means and where it shows up in the price. For the standards behind these checks, see IS codes for house construction; for cement and concrete grades in detail, see OPC vs PPC cement.

Frequently asked questions

What is the full form of RCC?

Reinforced Cement Concrete: concrete with steel bars cast inside it. It is used for the footings, columns, beams and slabs of a house.

What is the full form of PCC?

Plain Cement Concrete: concrete with no steel, used as a levelling bed under footings and as a base under floors.

What is the full form of DPC in construction?

Damp Proof Course: a layer laid on the walls at plinth level that stops ground moisture rising into the walls.

What is the difference between RCC and PCC?

RCC has steel reinforcement and carries loads that bend or pull; PCC has no steel and is used where it is only pressed down, such as under footings and floors.

What is the difference between built-up area and carpet area?

Built-up area includes the walls; carpet area is only the usable floor inside them. Construction rates per sq.ft are charged on built-up area.