Differences between Residential and Commercial Constructions

Construction is one of those industries that has evolved overtime. The methods have certainly changed through the course of time, but the purpose has remained the same—building a shelter for living or working purposes.

There are two major types of constructions that will always be categorized separately. These are residential construction and commercial construction. For those who don’t know the key difference between these types of constructions, here are some points below:

Uses

If you still haven’t guessed it from the name yet, residential construction is the construction of big or small houses and apartment buildings. In fact, it includes all types of constructions that are used to build living spaces.
Commercial construction, on the other hand, only involves the building of the business place. These places could be gigantic shopping malls, office plazas, or even big factories.

Permits and Codes

One of the major differences between both of these constructions is the permits acquirement. For residential construction, you would need to acquire a permit from municipality to follow a certain type of construction codes.

When it comes to permits and codes, residential construction is much easier to work on. The list of codes and permits for commercial construction is immense. This is because of the sheer size of most of the commercial projects. A commercial contractor needs to be really careful in following the codes; otherwise, the whole project can be jeopardized.

Materials

When it comes to materials, there are some major differences between the two mentioned constructions. Most of the residential constructions, such as small suburban houses, mostly require wood to build. The overall materials used in residential construction are relatively lighter.
Commercial construction usually requires heavy materials such as steel beams and high grade concrete.

Equipment Required

Residential construction can mostly be completed with relatively smaller equipment. It doesn’t matter how big you want your house to be, it will always be dwarfed by the immense size of a commercial building.
Commercial construction usually requires heavy duty equipment for transportation of the material and also for building. These equipment also include gigantic cranes that stand hundreds of feet tall in the air.

The best place to contact is TBI Contracting if you are looking to hire a commercial contractor in Pittsburgh, PA. Our services include excavating, masonry, carpentry, and many other construction related services.

For more information about our commercial general contractor services, click here.