UNIT CONVERSION

MEASUREMENT UNITS USED IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY:

In construction industry two type of measurement systems are prevalent;

1.       SI or Metric unit system: In this system the following units are used for length, area & volumetric measurements;

a.       Length  : meter (m), centimeter (cm), millimeter (mm) etc.

b.      Area                      : sqm (m²), sqcm (cm²), sqmm (mm²) etc.

c.       Volume                : m³, cm³, mm³ etc.        

2.       Imperial unit system: In this sytem the following units are used for length, area & volumetric measurements;

a.       Length  : yard (yd), feet (ft), inches (in) etc.

b.      Area                      : sq.yard (yd²), sqft (ft²), sqinch (in²) etc.

c.       Volume                : cu. Yard (yd³), cu. ft (ft³), cu. Inch (in³) etc.

Conversion Tables:

Length

Imperial units of measurement.	1 foot (ft or ‘) = 12 inches (in or ") 1 yard (yd) = 3 feet 1 mile = 1,760 yards
Metric units of measurement.	1 centimetre (cm) = 10 millimetres (mm) 1 metre (m) = 100 centimetres 1 kilometre (km) = 1,000 metres
Converting from Imperial to metric measurements.	1 in = 25.4 mm 1 in = 2.54 cm 1 ft = 0.3048 m 1 yd = 0.9144 m 1 mile = 1.6093 km
Converting from metric to Imperial measurements.	1 mm = 0.0394 in 1 cm = 0.3937 in 1 m = 3.2808 ft 1 m = 1.0936 yd 1 km = 0.6214 miles

Area

Imperial units of measurement.	1 sq foot (ft2) = 144 sq inches (in2) 1 sq yard (yd2) = 9 sq feet 1 acre = 4,840 sq yards 1 sq mile = 640 acres
Metric units of measurement.	1 sq cm (cm2) = 100 sq mm (mm2) 1 sq metre (m2) = 10,000 sq cm 1 sq km (km2) = 100 hectares
Converting from Imperial to metric measurements.	1 in2 = 6.4516 cm2 1 ft2 = 0.0929 m2 1 yd2 = 0.8361 m2 1 acre = 4046.9 m2 1 mile2 = 2.590 km2
Converting from metric to Imperial measurements.	1 cm2 = 0.1550 in2 1 m2 = 10.7643 ft2 1 m2 = 1.1960 yd2 1 m2 = 0.0002 acres (not used) 1 km2 = 0.3861 mile2

Volume/Capacity

Imperial units of measurement.	1 cu foot (ft3) = 1,728 cu inches (in3) 1 cu yard (yd3) = 27 cu feet (ft3) 1 pint (pt) = 20 fluid ounces (fl oz) 1 gallon (gal) = 8 pints
Metric units of measurement.	1 cu decimetre (dm3) = 1,000 cu cm (cm3) 1 cu metre (m3) = 1,000 cu decimetre 1 litre (l) = 1 cu decimetre
Converting from Imperial to metric measurements.	1 in3 = 16.387 cm3 1 ft3 = 28.3286 dm3 1 ft3 = 0.0283 m3 1yd3 = 0.7646 m3
Converting from metric to Imperial measurements.	1 cm3 = 0.0610 in3 1 dm3 = 0.0353 ft3 1 m3 = 35.3357ft3 1 m3 = 1.3080 yd3 1 ml = 0.0352 fl oz 1 l = 1.76 pints (UK) 1 l = 0.220 gallons (UK) 1 hl = 21.997 gallons (UK)