The recently published report on Rethinking Construction in the UK has highlighted the need to reduce on-site activities as part of its drive for greater efficiency, improved quality and greater certainty in the delivery of construction projects. For multi-storey buildings, the use of precast slabs in the floors - particularly if this can be done without the need for in-situ screeds - drastically reduces the volume of on-site concreting required. Although the use of precast hollow core slabs in steel framed buildings are common, their use in composite design with steel beams is relatively new. By designing the steel beams and precast hollow core slabs compositely, a reduction in beam size and overall floor depth can be achieved, which would lead to an overall reduction in construction cost. This paper summarises the recent developments and on-going research on composite construction with precast hollow core slabs.

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