Points to Remember While Building Your Own House

So here are some important points to remember if you are building a house through a developer.

• Selecting sub-contractors: most of the developers have their own team of experts that includes a team of sub-contractors as well. But if you want your own sub-contractor then you need to inform your developer in advance, so that the scope of work and costing can be finalised accordingly.
• Budget: costing depends on the design of the house and quality of products you are selecting modular kitchen, bathroom fittings and fixtures, flooring, electrical switches and fittings, painting and many more. So once you have finalised the budget, you need to convey to the developer as this will determine the kind of materials that can be used for the construction of the house.
• Cost of labour: you should discuss the cost of labour at the start of the construction. It is always better to finalise the cost of construction well in advance to avoid any kind of disputes in later stages or during the stages of construction. Make sure that the developer provides you with a clear estimate of material costs and labour costs, such that you are not in a state of shock when you receive the final bill. Don’t forget to discuss safety and security of the labour to avoid any legal hassles.
• Approvals: ensure that your developer has all necessary approvals like no-objection certificates, sanctioned plan, structural report and insurance, letters from various departments in order to construct the house.
• Construction updates: keep a track of the construction. Make sure that you visit the site from time to time to check the progress of the construction and also take timely updates from the developer such that there is no deviation from the agreed construction plan.
• Interior plan: it is important to keep your developer informed about your interior plans so that the developer can position the power points, water and lighting positions accordingly.
• Project completion: the developer should share a development schedule to you so that accordingly you can provide financial support on time in line with the progress of the construction. You need to ensure that all decision including paint colours, fittings and fixtures, selection of flooring etc are done in a timely manner. After the completion, the developer’s team should hand over the guidelines, manuals, instructions or warranties wherever necessary to you.

Now let’s consider the points to remember while building a house through a contractor.

• There should only one point of contact. Every time you need to be updated about the project by a single person only.
• There should be a proper contract including all the details about the work assigned to the contractor, budget, materials to be used, specifications, labour costs, and sub-contract assignments and their responsibilities.
• Here the owner needs to finalise the design with the architect and coordinate for all approvals like electricity, building plan, water, sewage connection and many more. In order to have a smooth functioning the owner should introduce architect to the contractor.
• The owner should discuss the construction schedule with the contractor and clearly define the task to be undertaken by the contractor such as bath fittings, tiles, kitchen fixtures among other.
• It is important to take regular updates on the construction progress as that will help in the further decision making for the changes (if require). The owner should visit the site in-person to check the progress and should also know the details about the person who is supervising the daily activities at the construction site. The owner should be available on the important days like the placement of electrical points, when the tiles are fixed and others.
• At the end of the project, the owner should receive the essential document like contact information of sub-contractors, user manuals for electrical equipment, inspection reports and list of plumbing utilities should be received.