Review labour contract price

[pachik]

I have finalized a labour contractor for my new house. It is a 40*60 site with G+2. He initially qouoted 27k per chadara roof to roof, finally negotiated for 25750/-. Items excluded:
- earth work
- compound wall
- chejja
- roof muddy
- roof parapet wall
- oht head room
- elevation work
- civil work in setback area (not covered under the roof)

Can you review it and let me know if this is a reasonable price?

Thanks.

[pribaaji]

hi pachik,

I cannot comment if the quote is reasonal or not, but will give my quote for comparison. We are paying 27k/chadra roof to roof for complete civil construction, including all the items you have mentioned.I donno if i am paying more than normal but we went by the reputation of the contractor who is just finishing my uncles house.

regards,
priya.

[pachik]

Thanks for replying. I think you got a pretty good deal. I could have negotiated a little and have asked to include couple of items from the list. I went with this contractor because my engineer has worked with this guy and I also checked his work.

[nagzzz]

Dear pachik,
Generally all labour contracts involve the following mentioned below. Only thing I would suggest is get these things atleast included in the contract. Item wise rates for these will work out very expensive.
- chejja
- roof muddy
- roof parapet wall
Priya- I am not sure if they cover Compound wall also since yours is roof to roof. Compound wall is generally separate. Contractors generally consider wall to wall. So be a little careful. Since it is roof to roof, they might end up considering Window Chejjas and Door Chejjas as part of measurement. Since you know the contractor well, get this clarification.

[pribaaji]

hi nagzz,
thank you for the input, checked with them and even compund wall and all chejjas are included.He said complete civil work.

[ausraja]

In that case he is considering the entire site measurement.

If you are leaving a lot of offset then this wont be economical.

[pachik]

Hi nagzzz,

Thanks for the clarification. I will go back and talk to the contractor and see if he can include those items also. Based on another post in the forum, I did a rough calculation for the roof parapet wall, chejja and muddy and it comes to a significant amount. So for 26k if all the above are included, is it a good price?

Between, for my site I already have compound on 2 sides and I am leaving a setback of 3' 9" overall and hence did not go for site measurement.

[venkyn]

what is the general practice to do payment in labor contract? Is it weekly or work wise?

Any recommendation?

Regards,
Venky

[pachik]

Just wanted to give an quick update, I went back and talked to other contractors. Luckily one of my known sources referred another contractor who agreed to do the work for 25k per chadra. This includes everything, except for earth work, chejja (agreed to do it half the price) and the compound wall. They also start their work 6AM till 6PM, that way we can get more work done in a day and I can spend more time at my site. I have also renting out a house just behind my site, it will be easier for me and my family to manage and monitor the work progress.

@Venky - the payment really depends. Some people ask for weekly and some of them ask at various stages of work. My advice would be whatever option you are going with make it clear and put it in the agreement in the beginning itself. You can always be flexible once you get to know the contractor better. For me my known source said he will let me know when and how much to pay, so it might be easier for me.

[basha_skj]

@pachik, 25K is good deal, but make sure that sump, OHT, parapet wall, terrace maddy are included in that. It is better make an agreement with labour contractor by mentioning all the type of workes included as well as breifing about works which are excluded from the contract.
@venky, normally based on attendance they ask for weekly payment and I am following the same way. My mason works from 6A.M to 6P.M. with 1 1/2 day payment. In my view, main advantage of this kind is, work will move faster.