Documenting My Experience Dealing with Material Contractor

[pramod_murthy]

Dear Members,

I am planning to construct a new house in Banashankari, Bangalore. I have finalized a contractor and initiated the architectural drawing process.

The plot in subject is 6X12 mtrs corner plot and I am looking to construct a G+3 house. I am looking to have a small shop and stilt parking on the ground floor and 4 BHK on the above floors. My objective is to have a spacious house within the given dimensions. I have aged parents therefore, I am planning to provision for a lift.

I am attaching the draft floor drawings shared by my contractor. Request experienced and knowledgeable members of this forum to advise on any omissions and possible improvisations. It will be of great help to me.

Also, my contractor suggests the elevation will be planned once construction is commenced. I am not convinced of the same. Please advise what is the best approach for elevation planning.

Thank you
Pramod

[ganeshncm]

My suggestions, based on a similar house that I have seen

First floor. Stairs and lift are in the center of the house, causing a narrow passage. If there are senior citizens at home, going through the narrower passage is a little pain, especially if you have railings around it. They fear falling down. Please see if you can push lift, stairs to a corner. Also try and see if you avoid the second set of stairs for the duplex one.

Second Floor - Same as first floor.

On the third floor, please see if you can point the commodes to face the wall, instead of the lift. That will significantly ease up your plumbing work and you can place a simple wall mounted closet. Also, there wont be bends that can cause clog in the future.

if you need more info, I can elaborate or suggest.

[pramod_murthy]

Thank you for your views, ganeshncm. I am unable to comprehend your thoughts clearly. Could you please elaborate:
1. Do you have any idea how the staircase can be redesigned on the 1st floor? I have given a lot of thought about it but no other design seems to come to my mind. Other designs are not space efficient.
2. How can we avoid 2nd set of stairs? What is your idea?
3. Please elaborate on the cmmodes.

[pramod_murthy]

Dear Esteemed Members, I am looking for your guidance on the floor plans. I am on the verge of signing the contract and appreciate if you could provide your inputs on the plan so that it can be incorporated at the beginning itself.

Also, my contractor has proposed floating columns in the structural plan. My reading on the web says, it has more disadvantages than advantages. Can anybody advise, what are the things that need to be considered or incorporated into the plan if I am to go with floating columns?

Thank you,
Pramod

[Kiran Kumar K]

I am attaching the draft floor drawings shared by my contractor. where is the plan?

[manomur]

Hi Pramod,
Floating columns usually act as vertical load distribution to main columns rather than load bearing, even in my design two floating columns are incorporated and they are emerging out from a beam of 25.5 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft (length x width x depth) of size 1.5 ft x .75 ft each. As I said earlier In my case these floating columns are just acting as vertical load distribution. When it comes to structure you need to clear all your doubts with your structure engineer before commencing the construction. In my design there are 4 columns of 2 ft x 1 ft from footings to 1st floor and from 1st floor these columns width will be reduced to size of 9 inch to get hidden in red bricks wall of same size. Reinforcement used for these columns are of 25mm of 10 rebars in each column. As the rebars of these size cannot be joggled my engineer suggested to discontinue the five inner rebars at roof level and advised to install new 5 rebars from the lintel level to reduce the size of width but I was not happy to discontinue the rebars which are are coming from footings. so asked my engineer to continue the 1ft width columns to further level and I am okay to accept 3 inch offsets.

[pramod_murthy]

Hi Manomur,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience. It is very helpful. I did speak to my contractor and he has clarified that it is in line with structural safety requirements and I need not worry. I have taken an opinion from someone from the industry and he confirmed it is ok to proceed. So leaving my worries aside and going ahead.

I have a few more clarifications. I will really appreciate all suggestions and recommendations:
1. How the electricity load is decided for the temp connection? I am going for an elevator and there is a borewell. So what is the minimum electricity load I need to plan for when I go for a permanent connection? Any reliable and reasonable electricity contractor around AGS Layout, Poornapragna Layout, Uttarhalli area;
2. For MRL elevator, how safe it is to go with a non-brand supplier? The materials used for the elevator will be branded but the supplier is not a brand. Although, it is a government-licensed supplier. Rates are really competitive and the supplier seems to be good so far based on the interactions. Anything I need to keep in mind?
3. What is air passing in borewell drilling? What are the causes and how to avoid it?

I soon plan to start the construction. I will document my experience here and also share individuals and experts engaged in the whole process with my personal experience dealing with them so that others can benefit.

Thanks,
Pramod

[pramod_murthy]

As mentioned in my previous post, I am penning down my house construction experience.

I have given my house on a material contract so it may not necessarily cover the issues that may arise if one constructing on a labour contract basis.

1. As much as the contract is important, the individual signing the contract is also equally important. Do proper diligence. A company is better than an individual however neither guarantees peace of mind unless the contractor is an honest, knowledgeable, resourceful, accountable, and genuine person. It is a scarce commodity these days;
2. Prefer a contractor who is hands-on. Meaning, who visits the site supervises the work. Every employee is required to be monitored and guided on a real time basis. Armchair generals are useless. Avoid!;
3. Architectural planning and structural design are very important. The first thing to check with the contractor is how good is architectural and structural design team is. Ask the contractor to introduce you to the architectural and structural design team. You will get an idea of whom you will be dealing with and their quality;
4. If you have the smallest of doubts about architectural and structural design, go external and get the architectural and structural design done (or atleast ratified) by a reputed firm or individual. Never take a chance and depend upon the contractor. Everything is done to cost and not really in your interest!;
5. Ask about the execution team. If possible validate the credentials of the execution team before signing the contract. You should avoid contractors who outsource the work. This is difficult in reality. But, atleast ensure the labours engaged by contract have a history of working for him and have done a good job. Most of the time contractors engage cheap labour. Skill and quality come with the cost. It is pure math. I will leave it to your imagination;
6. Don’t fall for social media marketing. My observation is if someone is heavily marketing, avoid him. Construction is not manufacturing to automate and ramp up and down as they wish. It requires dedication, commitment, skilled labour and attention to detail. It is also capital-intensive. If a firm is handling 100 projects no way it is going to give you the dedication, commitment, skill and attention you deserve. Also, there is a shortage of skilled labour therefore, it is not possible to commoditize the construction. Remember, what you see in social media is only one side of the story and one example in 100 projects done by the contractor. Always best is selected and showcased. Also, it is relatively easy to show poor as good;
7. Trust me, site engineer, WhatsApp group, quality audit all fancy terms are coined to deceive the consumer. They mean nothing in real life. Site engineer will have many sites. He is there to just report how much work is completed for the contractor to calculate and pay the 3rd parties engaged for your project. He will not bother or will not have time to supervise. Let’s not even get into their qualification and experience. Quality engineer is bogus. WhatsApp group is to show pictures. That is all;
8. Take Google negative reviews very seriously. Even one properly worded negative review is a red flag. Writing a review takes time and effort. No one will waste time writing a negative review unless he is a victim. Of course, there could be fake negative reviews, but they are relatively easy to identify and ignore;
9. Did I say the contract is important? It is. Try to negotiate reasonable terms agreed. If necessary engage a lawyer. It is worth it. If you have already signed a contract and if you think it is not watertight, don’t be disheartened. No contract will be watertight. You can still get a legal remedy should you wish. Our legal system has matured a lot and the contractor can be brought to his knees. Consult a lawyer you will get an idea. It is more dependent on your interest and intent;
10. When you sign the contract below are the things to keep in mind. This is not an exhaustive list but practical issues that you will face throughout your construction:
a. Overall duration of the project – Start Date and End Date: This is very important. This should be from site marking till the handover. Consult a seasoned engineer and understand each of the stages and define it in the contract. Courts do award damage if the project is delayed. Penalty is not necessary to be written in the contract but desirable;
b. Price – Define the specification in detail with price. It should be as detailed as possible. Each and every construction item should be covered in this list. Consult a civil engineer if necessary to identify what are these items. It is also equally important to ensure the budget given for these items is realistic. Most of the time budget given is just a number. Either you will get sub-standard products or just not available unless you pay extra. Contractor will say the budget is sufficient and you will get the required items at the time of the contractor signature but at the time of execution, it suddenly becomes expensive. Beware!;
c. Payment – It is ok to give some reasonable money as mobilization advance. However, apart from that everything should be linked stage/milestone and satisfactory completion of the same. Any delay in the completion of the stage or quality compromises should allow deductions in the stage payments. For example, if you were to pay INR 1,00,000 upon completion of a stage, have a standard withholding of 5% and in case of delay or quality compromises, there should be an option to additional withholding upto 20% or above. This is additional withholding for your own safety. Don’t negotiate on these items. If the contractor does not agree, walk away. It is a clear sign that he is not confident in his work and doesn’t want to take risk, so should you;
d. Products and Fittings – very clearly define the payment for anything other than masonry items such as Brick, Sand, Cement, Steel, etc., will be payable only upon selection and at the time of supply. Ensure it is not mixed with stage payments. For example, the contract should define the cost of window frames and when window frames are required the payment for window frames should be payable. Not before that and don’t allow these payments to be mixed with other payments;
e. Security and curing – define security to be provided from the start of the work till the end/handover. If security is not provided or curing is not done have a provision to deduct the money from stage payments. For example, you can have 10K for a month as the cost for security and 3 times curing a day. This is not a separate cost in the price but a deduction in case the contractor fails to provide;
f. Cost for additional work – what is not included in the contract, ask for cost for doing the same. This should include items such as the construction of walls, plastering, granite laying, etc., I would not suggest squeezing every penny here. But insist on quality and timely completion;
11. Engage a seasoned civil engineer or a firm for regular audits at the crucial stages. For example, staircase reinforcement, casting, slab casting, column starter casting and column casting, wall building, etc., Very important. In fact, negotiate a provision in the contract itself for such audits and correction of defects identified. Trust me, it is worth it.
12. Visit as many sites as possible that are in the finishing stage. You will get an idea of the quality and everything else. When you plan to construct a house, your thoughts are clouded by your dreams. You will not be able to make clear and logical judgments and make the right decision. So take help of a 3rd person who is a friend or a well-wisher or a professional agency and seek their opinion before making your decision. It will immensely help;
13. Reference will not always help. The above points will certainly help if you stick to it. What ones expectation and experience is not necessarily going to be your expectations and experience;
14. Don’t be afraid to make tough decisions. The first mistake should be the last mistake. Don’t give 2nd chance. Always have a backup plan/2nd contractor. Our legal system is strong and one can always seek legal remedy for the loss suffered;
15. Don’t penny-pinch. Remember every business is for profit. So, the focus should be on the goal and outcome. An expensive but trustworthy and reliable contractor is better than a cheap one. Trust me cheap one will never going to do a good job. It is pure math and a fact.

I have made a few mistakes while finalizing my contractor. I am still working with him to resolve my issues. I will certainly post the outcome of my construction and feedback about the contractor I have engaged once I am done.

Until then I thought to share some of my learnings with others. I will be very happy if it helps someone to choose the right contractor/saves someone from choosing a bad one.

Thanks,
Pramod

[msn1270]

Hi Manomur,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience. It is very helpful. I did speak to my contractor and he has clarified that it is in line with structural safety requirements and I need not worry. I have taken an opinion from someone from the industry and he confirmed it is ok to proceed. So leaving my worries aside and going ahead.

I have a few more clarifications. I will really appreciate all suggestions and recommendations:
1. How the electricity load is decided for the temp connection? I am going for an elevator and there is a borewell. So what is the minimum electricity load I need to plan for when I go for a permanent connection? Any reliable and reasonable electricity contractor around AGS Layout, Poornapragna Layout, Uttarhalli area;
2. For MRL elevator, how safe it is to go with a non-brand supplier? The materials used for the elevator will be branded but the supplier is not a brand. Although, it is a government-licensed supplier. Rates are really competitive and the supplier seems to be good so far based on the interactions. Anything I need to keep in mind?
3. What is air passing in borewell drilling? What are the causes and how to avoid it?

I soon plan to start the construction. I will document my experience here and also share individuals and experts engaged in the whole process with my personal experience dealing with them so that others can benefit.

Thanks,
Pramod

Pramod,
going for 3 KW is good enough for temporary connection during the construction Phase.
Its has no relation with the final permanent load capacity.

For a 2 BHK house, go for 3KW and for 1 BHK, you can go for 2 KW, which is decent enough.
You electrical contractor can give you better guidance in this matter.