Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Free Consultation,2/10/12

Construction of house within limited budget

Quote

Dear Sir
I wish to spend 15Lacs to construct a new house near Oachira Kayamkulam.I want 3 BR+2Bath+kitchen+Hall+sit out and verandah & Car porch-Single Story.Can you suggest a plan.
Regards
Sreelal

My reply

While planning to construct a house, there are few points you should understand clearly:

1. Cost of constructing a house goes up every day. Each day passed make it costlier as cost of hundreds of materials used for constructing a house and labour goes up making it almost impossible for you to build a house with limited budget.

2. No body can predict exactly how much a house construction will cost as the process take at least a year from date of commencement of construction and cost of all inputs for house construction goes up everyday.

3. Only option left to a wise person will be to get professional design and guidance to minimise cost and to go for only essential facilities for the house if you have limited budget.

4. A three bed room house built in two story will not cost anything less than Rs.20 lakhs going by present cost levels which can only go up.

5. You should get a good design and start construction immediately with whatever funds you have.Otherwise,house construction will remain a dream for you forever.

Construction without getting sanction

Quote

sir,
i am a resident of Kochi. four years back we constructed the upstairs without the prior approval from the corporation.there was a land acquisition by the corporation for road expansion in-front of our house. our counselor told does not to worry about the plan, that he will look upon it. so we started our construction. we gave him the plan for approval but he now says the there is no road committee to sanction it.i want to know what measures should I take to make authorize our construction.i request u to please give me an advice as soon as possible.

My reply

First of all,you should not simply start construction just by hearing promise of a councilor or any other politician or official.No politician can waive off building rule provisions.Even if you manage to get anything done by bribing an official,if some one make a complaint in writing the official who took bribe from you will not come up to help you.Violation of rules are always violation of rules and you alone will be held responsible for it.

Even if you have constructed building without obtaining prior permission from concerned local authority,you can apply for regularisation of construction done if the said construction is as per Kerala Building rules.You can contact any Architect/Licensed Engineer/supervisor to get the construction regularised.

Clearance required

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Building Permit":
dear Mr Thomas,
Please let me know the clearances required for home construction if the 4.5 cent plot is facing a private mud road of 2.9m wide.

My reply

If the private road is only 75 meters long,you need to leave 2M clearance in front side.Otherwise you have to leave 3M clearance in front.Other sides which do not have a road close by will need clearance of 1M and 1.2M

Building rules clarification

Query

Dear Sir,

I booked an apartment in Kollam. The builder is yet to get the occupancy certificate from Kollam Corporation.

Grateful for your advice on the following -

1. The fire exit staircase is not separated from the building. It's one side is open to the outside. It is not separated from the public (common) area by any door. It leads to the ground floor lobby (not to outside the building). Is this acceptable?

2. The building is on a plot away from the NH & is accessed by a 4 meter corridor that is part of the plot. It is abutted only on one side by another public road. What is the minimum width of such corridor from fire-fighting angle.

3. Is the builder allowed to have the building water supply from a bore well dug in  adjacent property, where his another project is coming up.

Thanks for your valuable advice.

Regards,

Sukhatma Nair

My reply

It will be more appropriate if you check about these with Town Planning dept. of concerned local authority office like Panchayath/Municipality as I will not be able to reply to your queries without checking up the building permit and approved plan for the building concerned

Trying to design house by yourself

Query

Dear Mr Thomas

Happen to go through some of your blog answering questions from people.

I have some doubts or rather clarifications too . The plot I have is 6.75 cents and is a rectangular one at Calicut.

39 feet width and 79 feet length which has road on front and side (both private roads within the compound of villas).

My plan is to build a two story 2000 sq ft 3 bed house. what should be my ground floor area which will have one bed

living dining kitchen , utility area and store ? I need a front sit out and dining patio. My plan is to have a sloped roof house

with big glass/metal frame windows.

I have attached an idea of my planned areas for each space in my house. I need your expert advise and also let me

know if I need you to do the plan for this house , what are your conditions. Highly appreciate

My reply

Very few people know that house design require a qualified experienced expert.Most people think that owner of the house knows exactly where each room should come and size of rooms and other living spaces.Some people who can understand need of a professional for house design think that the professional is some one to draw as he tells to him to draw a plan

House plans are available free in some magazines,Some contractors offer house plan free of cost if you entrust construction work to them.In short many people think that seeking fees for preparing plan of the house is really bad on the part of a professional.Lot of people think that any one who can draw a plan will prepare the same plan which even the reputed Architect will prepare.

Please understand that plan of your house is the most critical most important drawing for your house construction.Just any plan prepared by any body including you will not be good enough.An experienced professional uses his knowledge acquired through years of his work while preparing plan of your house.There are so many details considered by an experienced professional which can give you more value for your money and better utilisation of limited space for building your house.

From my experience of building more than 200 houses in different parts of state of Kerala and designing many more houses,I can tell you that I have learned a lot by each project handled by me as each project will bring new problems to me.So you need an experienced professional to design the only house you will build in your life time.

Practically no owner of house will be able to understand implications of a Plan of the house(both good and Bad) just by seeing a plan.Only a professional can see through those lines drawn.Even you will be able to understand advantages and defects of the plan after completion of house construction.But it will be too late to do anything at that stage.

In my opinion you should tell what all you need in the house to the Architect in detail.Better to get him to visit your plot to understand your site conditions better so that he can visualise your future house better.A good plan can save you lakhs of rupees and also can provide better utility for built up space inside a house.

As cost of construction goes up everyday,it is very important to avoid wastages in costly built up space in a house.There is no better way to reduce cost of construction other than entrusting preparation of plan to an experienced Architect.If the Architect is good in Vasthu knowledge it will be much more better as it will help you to save money and ensure your prosperity while living in a Vasthu compliant house.

Renovating old house

Query

Sir,

I have a 2 storied 2700 sq.ft. house in Mavelikara. GF built by some 20 years back. 1st floor by 2007. It is not vasthu complaint also. I purchased an old house and used the wood for its 1st floor. It is in 22 cents. I am working in Sharjah. Nobody is at home. Only my relatives and neighbors are around.

It is like a ‘Paniteerathveedu’. Always some changes going on. I want to put an end to this renovation once and for all.

Is it possible to finally modify the whole house and make it beautiful for ever?

Is it better to demolish the whole and build a completely new one? I am totally upset now.

Can you help please?

Regards,

Vijayakumar

My reply

Renovating an existing house is a tricky affair.Before deciding on renovating the house,always try to get a professional to assess existing building.Seek his professional unbiased opinion whether the house is worth remodeling/renovating.In most cases,no one can exactly estimate cost involved in the renovation work.Leave the decision whether renovation is good or bad to the consultant

If he  recommends remodeling/renovation work tell him frankly how much money you are willing to spend on the work.Of course you will not be willing to spend money required for building a new house on remodeling.Based on your budget limitations,your consultant can suggest what all you can do within the budget constraints

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