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Hi ,
I am following this blog for quite some time and found the member community quite helpful .

Now I am planning to start the house construction in our 30*50 sqft .To start with Below things are finalized

1.Plan from Architect - G+2 structure for self purpose( approx 3400 sqft)
2.Hired a labour contractor ,(actually he is a civil engineer where he has a team of laborers) .Quoted 258 Per sft excluding Retaining wall and sump water proofing


Some Challenges in the site as I can see
1) Open drain just behind the site .(its east facing site.In West ,the Drain flows from north to South )
2) Water for construction as we are not opting for Bore as water table is very low in this area.

Now below are some of my queries to start with (currently my mind is messy with many questions in all directions,I think its normal as its not my field of expertise)..Feels kind of fresher who is starting off a job /project

1.I have an estimation from architect an approx 1500 per sqft to complete my construction with medium quality fittings.Is that Reasonable and achievable as I am opting for labour contractor and I have control over material sourcing ..However my point is structure construction should not be comprised ,later some interiors and other fittings can be chosen for medium quality ..

2.As in civil work,I am opting for concrete blocks over red bricks and Ready mix over manual mix ..sump will be done as rcc vs red brick
Is the decisions contribute to good quality of structure or any issues for building quality ??

3.As this is Labour contract .What are pitfalls I need to watch out ?

Please guide me

Thanks in advance

Any comments and suggestions on above post pls

hi,

we are constructing a house around 30squares on labour contract.so some inputs which i can give are :
＞water: As per your point, the only option would be tanker if u dont go with borewell.we have spent around 30,000 for tanker water and our construction has completed at the terrace roof for a G+2 building on a 30×40 site and the tanker capacity of 4500litrs at 500rs per load.Hope this gives you an idea on the amount spent.The only problem with this option is to get the tankers at the right time and coordinating with these ppl.
＞we have gone with bricks and manual mix, so cannot comment much on the other option.
＞The major point with regards to labour contract is the contractor or mason itself.They should have the right focus and do maximum amount of work every day.You would need to spend extra amount of time in communicating and coordinating with different material suppliers.The way payment is made , the delivery time and the quality of materials supplied need to be taken care of.try to talk to suppliers close to ur construction site to have some ease in these factors.
Another thing is always think and be prepared for the next step in the construction.monitor and talk to them every day about their work for the day.
These are some things I can think of at this point.Hope this helps.

Regards,
Priya Balaji

Thanks Priya Balaji for your inputs .

newbie81 wrote:
1.I have an estimation from architect an approx 1500 per sqft to complete my construction with medium quality fittings.Is that Reasonable and achievable as I am opting for labour contractor and I have control over material sourcing ..However my point is structure construction should not be comprised ,later some interiors and other fittings can be chosen for medium quality ..

2.As in civil work,I am opting for concrete blocks over red bricks and Ready mix over manual mix ..sump will be done as rcc vs red brick
Is the decisions contribute to good quality of structure or any issues for building quality ??

3.As this is Labour contract .What are pitfalls I need to watch out ?

Please guide me

Thanks in advance

Newbie , welcome to the forum.

Answers are ,

1)For water there is no alternative except tanker so make sure that u negotiate for entire construction from from tanker owner so that he reduces cost to Rs 400.
One additional point u need to make sure is never call for a tanker in the last minute and always make sure that u have one tanker available all the time.The reason for saying this is this tanker walas have many customers like you and service is on priority.
2)1500/sq is not possible it can be 1600-1700 @ completion even with average items.
3)Rcc sump is always the best
4)Never go for RMC , its good only in western countries or large scale constructions so for house site mix is the best.

Thanks ausraja for your inputs,Very much insightful
I will see through the water issue more clearly and closely .

2)1500/sq is not possible it can be 1600-1700 @ completion even with average items.---

My estimate is to consider rs 2000/sqft to include the E2E interiors..Is that feasible ?
As I mentioned till structure I am trying not to comprise on high quality,Later interiors and other sanitary fittings I may choose the medium quality

Best Regards

Dude , for 1800 to 2000/sq ft you can give lump sum contract to a class -a contractor / engineer including everything you need and getting the signature on the agreement.

Believe me 2000/sq ft they will agree for anything and the only thing u need to make sure is that you don't loosing the grip ie ask for everything and never agree for paying extra.It must be like he hand overs the key to the house after completionn.if you are giving 2000/sq ft then you can even say water/electricity/road-cutting everything is to be included and u don't pay for anything.

you can only walk on weekends(if needed) like a boss and pass your comments instead of breaking half you bones by labor/material contract.

Hi!

Answers are:

1. Good to have completed the planning with Architect.
2. Good to have an engineer as labour contractor.

Regarding challenges:
1. Not to worry about the drain, but take care of proper retaining wall in consultation with str. engineer, if required.
2. Nothing wrong in ruling out bore well since there is no source.

Other answers:
1. Your estimation is reasonable. Your thinking of not compromising on structure is very right. Your thinking of controlling expenses in finishing items is also very right.
2. Going for walls with red bricks or cement blocks is your personal. No one can rule out any one of this. RCC sump is best option. Nothing wrong to go for sump with brick wall or cement block walls. It depends on your constrain in budget.
3. Pit falls in labour contract: I'll post you soon!

Thanks Neha

Yes the structural engineer has considered this while releasing the Retaining wall drawings

I am also thinking of ACC blocks ..anyway there is still time for this

For now ,We are starting off with a temporary shed

Hi newbie81!

The pitfalls of labour contracts(if not a qualified engineer) shall be listed as:

1. FOUNDATION:

The parallality, rightangles, lines and distances are very important at this stage. It is not enough in just marking the pits on ground whatever the pit sizes given in the foundation drawings by the structural engineers. Exact rightangles, alignment of columns with proper covers etc., need to be precisely done. If a column pit of 4'0"X4'0" is excavated and columns is erected within the pit, you will see the structure coming up faster and you are happy. But how exactly the column re-inforcements are oriented, whether they are placed in exact centre, whether the rods are to the plumb and so many other things are to be checked.
No doubt, the labour heads might have completed 25 buildings before your building and still the buildings are there. But whatever way the works need to be done it may not be there and definitely you will not be aware of that.

BETTER TO HAVE AN ENGINEER TO CHECK WHAT THE LABOUR CONTRACTOR IS EXECUTING. MANY LABOUR HEADS DON'T KNOW HOW TO READ THE TECHNICAL DRAWINGS.

2. SUPERSTRUCTURE:

Labours don't have an idea of water cement ratio. Thickness of mortar joints need to be maintained. You can see them putting whole bag of cement on a sand heap and judge the proportion by seeing the colour of the mortar. We have to keep on insisting them to follow technical specifications. If you tell all these things to a labour mistry, the reaction from them may not be positive.

These are only a few points just to project the pitfalls. But endless list is there.

3. FINISHING WORKS;

It is important to decide what type of materials will serve the purpose and how to use them? Elevations need not to be created with extra effort. Planning of the house and the shape of the structure should automatically form the elevation. Only an engineer can bring forward the difficulties or practicality of a plan to the architect. Many times, even you or the labour contractor may not be able to convey the issues in executing a plan as a structure.