Setting out & Excavation

SETTING OUT:

In simple words, transforming the drawing to the site with reference points for executing the same. Usually reference lines are made and the footing locations are set out for excavation. Key point to note and check at this stage is to check for diagonal  measurements and ninety degree or shapes as per drawing  at corners and outline measurements.

EXCAVATION:

Depending upon the scale and location and structural requirement excavation by means of equipment or manual can be chosen.

Manual excavation is more precise when compared to machine for residential projects at small scale, but cost and time is higher.

Machine excavation is little shabby and shaping of the boundary to be done manually but its cheap and can be done within matter of hours when compared to manual excavation.

Things to be noted are shape, depth and in line with other elements and most important all footings to be at same level. If soil is very moist or water table is shallow, have De-watering pumps handy to avoid ponding and damaging the sides of the pit.

Temporary Electrical supply + Water source

TEMPORARY ELECTRICAL SUPPLY : Before starting the actual execution temporary supply or commercial supply according to Locality connections has to be obtained. In many cities commercial charges are considered during the course of construction.

WATER SOURCE: Due to salting of ground water and scarcity of water in many parts of country temporary setups are made for water storage. If ground water is available and suitable please provide bore well or open well according to space and location and make arrangements to use the same. Such things has to be addressed in advance.


One point to be noted here is, Electricity & Water has to be provided at free of cost to the contractor unless or until mentioned inclusive. Because it becomes a considerable cost in many locations.

Building plan approval & License + Loan Process

Please people, go for plan approval.

The procedure is detailed in all City Authorizes web site and office. Follow the guidelines to prepare and submit for license. Obtaining a License is very essential, to get all service connection and you are legal in all aspects. Its the first essential documents for any housing loan procedure.

In recent times many cities provide online facility for approval and licensing, please make use of such services. I accept still its not user friendly, we have to depend on a third party to file the documents.

Its quicker than anything else these days, just check for lower rates and better closure options. DO NOT BURN hole in your monthly budget. Many have a tendency to do so and hold their pocket tight for next few years with all stress in their day to day life. Use your skills to get maximum information before applying loan.

Selecting Contractor for your dream home

 
Before getting into contractor selection process, lets have a look at different kinds of contracts and its features. 

LUMP SUM CONTRACT
The contractor agrees to execute the scope within a stipulated time for a fixed price, in such condition contractor is at higher risk, in such condition markup by contractor will be higher for over heads and profit as the risk involved is high.
Advantage is, customer don't have to worry about variation of material, labour etc. under any circumstance.
Disadvantage of contract is customer has to pay more for the same work which can be done at a lesser cost.

UNIT RATE CONTRACT
The contractor agrees to execute the work by mutually agreeing specification of materials and quality for rate per square feet/meter depending. And conditions are agreed attending all aspects of the contract like price variation, schedule, quality and so.
Advantage of the contract is you have a clear picture of what to be done and how, if the contract is drafted clearly.
Disadvantage is most of the time the rates are quoted by the contractor before getting complete information from client, in such circumstance the possibility of underestimation is more and will end up in  dispute or additional claim.
But this is the most common type of contract prevailing today.

ITEM RATE CONTRACT
This is the best practice of all contracts and used world wide for all major contracts due to its accuracy.
However, for getting quote for this kind of contract you have to hire a Architect and do all the ground works for drawing, finishes and prepare Bill Of Quantities (BOQ). In this kind of contract there is no confusion of extra claims or in any matter, as each and every item are categorized its easy to trace and quantify the bills and payments are released based upon the progress.
Advantage and Disadvantage of this contract is, preparing the BOQ is key, any error in BOQ might lead to misguided rate proposal at times advantageous to Client or Contractor.

COST + FIXED PERCENTAGE / FIXED FEE
This contract name explains it, yes the contractor fixes a particular % of the total cost in his scope or a fixed fee for the particular project. Except this change nothing else changes, all the responsibility holds Contractor responsible like other contracts.
Advantage is you can choose the exact material to use and at any point of time you would have not paid the contractor more money.
Disadvantage is contractor gets better benefited when higher end products are chosen.
In my view this is better and easy to manage when compared to other kinds and when managed properly Clients can get advantage of the excess margin paid in other contracts. Fundamental is contractor don't have a financial stress. 

Based on your requirement, the contract can be chosen.

SELECTING A CONTRACTOR

I have big complaint on both parties here, lets look in detail.

CONTRACTOR : Out of my short experience i have worked with International contractors from Asia pacific and Europe, big and small. What i found is, they have a well qualified and professional team and they are paid good for that, please note this. In INDIA public have a very common opinion that contractors especially local residential contractors are robbers, and its true to certain extent. Has anyone worried to know why, its very simple, lack of knowledge.
Let us make it easier with an example of ABC Client & XYZ Contractor (Un skilled contractor). ABC has asked for a quote to execute a residential project and the least has been quoted by XYZ, XYZ is good at execution but poor at understanding the work involved, calculating material quantity, manpower required etc.. but due to his low quote he is awarded the job most of the time. Don't say no it is happening every day. And end of the day dispute shoots when XYZ realizes that he has underestimated the work, slowly he starts to raise extras for all small works to complete the project or he drops and runs. And then it becomes the most worst thing to complete with available resources.

CLIENT: In INDIA its very common to expect everything at least cost, its time for a wake-up call. General mistake done by clients is looking for a cheap quote as criteria, i hope that's a  very bad sign. In any major tender comparison least quotes who are below the market standards would be rejected.
When ABC starts the home building process, he/she frames a budget, gets quote and checks for the least who is within their budget. What ABC has to do is to check for the quality assured and compare with the price quoted. Further, ABC has to analyze the quotes in comparison with their budget too. I have experienced personally clients running out of money and the project gets dragged off.

To avoid such CHAOS be sure Clients & Contractors discuss all the aspects point by point for a better understanding. And as a result of the understanding the requirements has to be adjusted to fit within the budget or rework the budget for your dream. Please don't go behind LOW QUOTES.

Your dream house Budget

This is a critical area to be decided before you start Construction.

I would like to address the topic with two terms "Project Budget " and " Personal Budget".

PROJECT BUDGET : 

Every project demands a budget irrespective of how much we can spend. It depends  on various factors like size, design, finish quality, location, accessibility etc.. and lot more factors can decide the Project Budget.

PERSONAL BUDGET : 

Everyone will have a budget with respect to their financial stability and commitment. Usually personal savings, loan from family, friends, financial institution are the source in India. In such situations we have to plan accordingly to run the project and complete it without any delay to avoid additional cost during the time and we should be in a situation to satisfy other commitments without any stress. 

Let's get into some detail, when a person decides to start his dream home he or she must work on the budget with utmost care. When you start the project without planning the budget possibilities are very high that you will suffer a lot to complete. To avoid such chaos following considerations and calculations will help you to arrive at your Budget.

1.  In general you know your financial capacity, plan a safe budget based on that.
2. For instance let's say you start your project work, you have got a quote from a contractor before even completing your floor plan, structural design and elevation and you are satisfied with the rate and specifications but when you get the actual estimation for the design and finish of your taste, possibility of getting a different quote is high, if it's on the lower side you are safe on the other hand it can bite your hand. Forcing you to redesign or compromise with finish and quality. So please do the basic ground work like prevailing rates for all kinds of finishes and evaluate your self to make the approximate budget you are afford to decide the size and finish indirectly, and convey the same to Architect to design accordingly.
3. During the course of execution sudden hike in material or labor cost will increase the project cost, in such circumstances you cant stop the work if its half way through. To handle such situation we have to allocate buffer amount at the start.
4. Many of us have a tendency to add things on the go, best example in residential construction is interior decoration works. Most of the time we forget to decide at the start, later we get attracted when we visit some ones house or any place, for such things we have to decide at the start to accomodate within planned budget.
5. Improper documentation of scope, quality and quantity with contractor. Since the sector is highly unorganized there is plenty of bitter experience between Client & Contractor. At worst cases this will destroy your dream or unsatisfied dream.
   In India due to budget constrains people tend to choose non-professional contractors, in such cases agreement are signed between parties without much details regarding scope, finish, quality and time related topics. In such cases contractors tend to charge extra for items and they would have not informed that these things would attract extra cost. And when there is any change or addition in scope, proper documentation will not be done and the contractor would claim without any proper base calculation or split up. Apart from this people choose who quotes the least most of the time, such contractors wont give any written document to guarantee the same and they may even claim extra even if there is not change in scope.
   Such situation is very common in India, to avoid such disputes make sure you record each and every aspect of scope at the start and discuss each individual points in detail to avoid additional burden and  conflict at end.
6. There are many other things which can make change to the budget.
   
   • Change in material quality (Cement, tile, wood, paint, grill, doors, electrical, plumbing, sanitary etc.).
   • Addition or change in scope of any kind of work depending upon the time at which the scope is added or changed.
   • And always have additional budget for meeting unexpected expenditure.
    

Make sure you work with clear idea in all angles to execute your dream home in peace.

Architect & Structural Designer

Many of us don't appoint an Architect & Structural designer for two reason, save the fee paid towards their service or the project size is small i.e indirectly saving money.

What do Architects do ?
They give shape to your ideas. And you will come to know about lot of new products and technicalities for saving energy, cost and so on.





What do Structural designers do?
They give the stamina for your dream to stand for a life time. Do not hesitate just go for it.






I have met few guys (I din reveal my true identity) executing mid size projects based on their experience, they are not technically qualified, buy they are very good at convincing people that they can handle the structural part, design part and most important they can do things at less cost. It was like wt****.

People who have mastered the trade by spending few years at college and professional work place have wasted their time it seems, sorry just kidding. It is happening in India, you cant say no. Very few people go with professionals to get their job done. Others are very keen in paying less and get the job done. Such an attitude is not good, because such an attitude stops many professional to enter this part of the industry. Back to the topic, its all about quality.

So, please do go for Architect & Structural design to do the job for a quality end product.

If you are working with very stringent budget then try to develop the floor plans with the help of the contractor and get the structure done separately.

Requirements - first step to your dream

Your dream home has to be designed by you with all your resources. Does it sound odd, yup but it is very essential to understand what is your requirement and you have give the inputs to the architect to develop the design based upon your feedback. I found that most of the time we don't know where to start, for which i like to highlight some points for any reference.

• No. of units to be constructed
• Vastu
• Living or Living + Dining
• Kitchen or Open kitchen or Kitchen + Dining
• No. of Bed rooms
• No. of Toilet
• Any other room requirements
• No. of car parking
• Expected buildup area
• Maximum budget
• Interior works

There is no limitation for imagination, but have the base line ready so that Architect can draft your requirements easily and you wont end up paying more for the Service by finding what you want through their design.

When you do the home work it would save time & money during construction. In India we are very much attracted to something extra at free of cost from grocery to jewellery, but it is not possible in the case of Construction industry because a simple work can cost 100 Rs. if its pre planned if not it may cost you 1,000 Rs too so the situation and time plays a vital role in deciding your cost for any change during the construction.

So, be well prepared of all your requirements and feed your ideas completely to your Architect to transform the idea do not postpone any idea for later. This will help you in planning your budget allocation and time frame.

Complete your dream home on papers completely in all aspects from floor plan to paint and start Construction.