The most common materials used in low-rise (6 storey) structures in China are brick (supporting walls) and concrete (foundations, posts, loops beams, floors and roofs). Brick structures with concrete foundations are built at an extremely low cost due to the abundance of low cost labor and cheap bricks. Although the system is cheap, it is surprisingly very time consuming to build! A recent study completed by Chreod for FII entitled Opportunities for hybrid WFC solutions in China's urban housing market revealed that it takes between 7-9 days to construct each reinforced concrete floor which includes building the formwork, laying out the steel grid, and casting the concrete.
