Construction Cost

[dream_home]

I was able to cut cost based on
a) sourcing all the materials from distributors rather than dealers.
1) Tiles i was able to get it at 80 Rs/sqft when the same was charged at 125 rs/sqft in PC Mallappa and other branded showrooms.
2) Plumbing materials and all i was able to get 40% discount (supreme and Ashirvad).
3) Jaguar fittings i got 21 % discount.
4) RAK commode and sinks at 20% discount.
5) Masonry 450 Rs/day and helper 280 Rs/day.
6) Tiles laying 12 Rs/sqft for 2ft x 2ft, and 15 Rs/sqft for 1 mt x 1mt tiles.
7) Finolex cables i was able to time it well when copper was low (i trade in mcx hence this knowledge helped to time it).
8) Paints i got it from direct company godown and painter i worked out on lumpsum based on assumption that price is Rs 350 per painter per day.
9) RMC from concrete India at Rs 3000/cubic meter.
10) 43 grade cement at 290/bag and 53 grade at 310/bag.
11) Red sal at 850/cubic ft
12) Internal doors using flush doors at 190 Rs/sqft.
13) Honne at 1600/cubic ft.

To achieve this i did some preparation and homework for 2-3 months. That helped.

[maheshv]

Hello Dream_home,
1300/SQFT is an excellent effort. Your home work paid back
Also looks like you kept tight control of the full project and didn't leave any room for the contractor to mislead you on cost.

From the break down you have given, i think you have gone for the option of labor contractor and you supplied the material. Is this correct?

Can you also share insight on following,
a) How did you choose the contractor? what agreement you and contractor have?
b) How much of your time went about supervising the work?
c) How did you ensure material weren't wasted/stolen (like cement)?
d) How did you go about finding distributors?

I am in planning phase of contructing a house and have been talking to different people (builder/constructor), nobody has given accurate cost figures. I was thinking they are doing this to 1) aviod exposing their margin (which i am OK with) and keep control of cost under them (which i am NOT OK with)

[dream_home]

At the beginning i was thinking of having Labour contract, but inclined towards full contract on reference.
The engineer with whom i had contract, was able to get the contract as he quoted less. I used to make the payment only on the basis of actuals and 10% margin for him. When the civil was about to complete he started telling some of the stuff as extra, even though it was part of contract. At that instance i had paid him little bit extra than what he actual worked. When i rejected his demand, he vacated the place. Then for all the remaining finishing work i sub contracted to the people and the remaining masonry i took labour.
In this way i was in tight control of the project. I used to visit my site everyday evening and spend few hours on weekend.
Thanks

[Vimal]

I was able to cut cost based on
a) sourcing all the materials from distributors rather than dealers.
1) Tiles i was able to get it at 80 Rs/sqft when the same was charged at 125 rs/sqft in PC Mallappa and other branded showrooms.
2) Plumbing materials and all i was able to get 40% discount (supreme and Ashirvad).
3) Jaguar fittings i got 21 % discount.
4) RAK commode and sinks at 20% discount.

How did you get the discounts for the above items ?

Is it normally offered by the vendor ? or did you bargain hard ? or did you know the vendors ?

Can you share ?

5) Masonry 450 Rs/day and helper 280 Rs/day.
6) Tiles laying 12 Rs/sqft for 2ft x 2ft, and 15 Rs/sqft for 1 mt x 1mt tiles.
7) Finolex cables i was able to time it well when copper was low (i trade in mcx hence this knowledge helped to time it).
8) Paints i got it from direct company godown and painter i worked out on lumpsum based on assumption that price is Rs 350 per painter per day.

How much is the saving to get the paints directly from company godown ? How did you do it ?

9) RMC from concrete India at Rs 3000/cubic meter.
10) 43 grade cement at 290/bag and 53 grade at 310/bag.
11) Red sal at 850/cubic ft
12) Internal doors using flush doors at 190 Rs/sqft.
13) Honne at 1600/cubic ft.

To achieve this i did some preparation and homework for 2-3 months. That helped.

[dream_home]

To get best discount simple steps i followed was
a) I went to few shops and understood the basics of it. Understand the range.
b) During the conversation there will be some hints given by the vendor, for eg: he might say imported tiles from spain/china. But most of the time it will be from gujarat or china. If you visit several places u will start seeing the same design but quoting diff prices.
c) you can workout the margin from above steps.
d) I used to google for wholesale distributors and with my basic background on that subject ask directly the pin pointed question and material.
These steps helped. Having the knowledge of the subject matters a lot.

For paint there are always way to bypass the vendor and get it directly from godown. which once involved with the company salesperson you can workout.

[sreekbda]

dream_home,

Kudos to you for your achievement.

If you can share the contacts / addresses from where you sourced material, it will be of great help to all.

[mohanvk]

While the general costs for the construction is around 1300 - 1500 sft there are many ways to control costs and be environmentally conscious too and also have long term energy savings by using the right materials, fluid design and employing the right architects and contractors. There are many alternative technilogies now available which cnan really benefit a group of people who want to build their houses diffently with not only newer, but better, faster and competitive technology.
regards
MOhan VK

[maheshv]

thanks dream_home!

[Vimal]

Thanks dream_home for your reply. I sent an email to you. Please check.

[mohan_hu]

Can you please post the contact / address.

Thanks,