Drywall - Future of Indian Buildings

Drywall is a not a new term in India. It has been around for a long time. However, it was only being used in a very limited way in internal partitions in commercial buildings - mostly offices. Some of these partitions didn't require much performance as they were being used as separators only. With time, the requirement started becoming stringent. Fire ratings and acoustic ratings for walls became important and the specifications changed.

Today, most high rise towers, housing offices for MNCs have a clear requirement for Fire and Acoustics and hence they specify such walls. Fire and Acoustic ratings are globally specified for the buildings with office spaces and strictly adhered to by most companies. More and more Architects & Consultants have now started specifying the same in India.

In Residential Buildings, the story is different. Most Builders have stayed away from Drywall since they felt that Drywall doesn't offer the kind of strength and rigidity as Brick or Concrete walls. But this is really not true. Drywall offers similar strength and better performance and can easily replace the traditional brick and concrete walls. The concept of Drywall is less understood so there are inhibitions around its use. 'How do we put unplanned load? Are the walls strong enough (since their is hollow knocking effect)?' are some of the typical questions raised by builders. Drywalls have stood the test of time in many developed countries and such concerns can easily be addressed. Drywall companies need to address these concerns of the builders. Nowadays some of the leading developers are taking an initiative to replace the conventional walls with Drywalls. One of the main reasons behind this change in thinking is the increasing shortage of sand and water. This is a positive change and hopefully will be adopted by others too. It is a step forward in showing responsibility towards our environment.

Drywall is the future of construction in India. It is here to stay as sand and water become dearer - cost and availability. Drywall are lighter and can save significant loads (dead) which in turn means thinner columns and slabs. It is faster to construct and requires very less quantities of water. Therefore the construction can be managed at a much faster pace and in a well planned manner. The walls are more accurate and aligned leading to less undulations and corrections. As the buildings become taller especially in cities like Mumbai, Delhi & Bangalore, the need to reduce the load increases and drywall becomes the only answer. Mumbai is witnessing this change and some of the leading builders developing skyscrapers are now only looking at drywalls as a solution.

The use of Drywall in Residential segment will open up a whole new opportunity for the companies in this segment and will also lead to a different type of construction practice. Good Drywall Contractors will soon become the need of the hour and those who are gearing up to the job, will be presented with lot of work. The knowledge of Drywall construction alone is not sufficient; training the labour is also important, as there is a dearth of good construction labour which is skilled in this type of construction. Usually, the people who have been doing False Ceilings (Gypsum) work, have ventured into Drywall construction. However the labour industry is highly fragmented and presents a big challenge as the quality of work is still not up to the mark. For the industry to grow, fresh supply of skilled labour will be required and Drywall companies will also need to create focus on training & developing skills for these people. Good Drywall Contractors will succeed provided they can organise good quality workforce and manage work efficiently. Almost all big Drywall companies operate in India and this should help the industry. 

The times ahead look challenging yet exciting as huge construction projects are taking place in India, Drywall will be adopted across various segments. The adoption of this new technology in India will depend a lot on the initial experiences of the builders and the customers who come to reside in them. There will be teething issues, as is the case in any new technology - but with time this should get resolved. India is poised to become a very big market for Drywall in near future.