I am building at the moment and have spent close to 6m on a bungalow including the money I used for acquiring the Land which is 1.2m.I still need finishing touches that will cost me some 2.5m - 3m.I feel the Engineer is frauding me and I just don't wanna make the saeme mistakes next time.Can someone please tell me the best way to build and save cash ?

I dont know the engineers opinion on this. but it would have been better if you took the drawings of your house to a quantity surveyor. His job is to take off quantities from the drawing and attach going rates to each item of work to be done. next is to give a copy of this bill, excluding the rates supplied to as many contractors as possible. They will return it with their different rates. you will then compare them together and also with that of your QS. with this you can know if you are being cheated or not. you can also pay at stages agreed on and unless the contractor visibly finishes the job paid for no money again and you can also hold him responsible cus you have a contract.

but what most people do is to just get someone and say can you build the house. how much and they begin with no basis for comparison or checks. some dont even have drawings to start with. Talk to a live and unbaised engineer on this. its not easy typing on this forum. little can be typed.

@badboym
What and what has been completed so far and what is left to be done. What size is this house and how many bdrm's ?
Six millions including land maybe fence plus building plans/drawings and the building structure is not bad. I don't think he's cheating you that much but I'll have to see the size of the mansion you are trying to construct.

ajileko:

@badboym
What and what has been completed so far and what is left to be done. What size is this house and how many bdrm's ?
Six millions including land maybe fence plus building plans/drawings and the building structure is not bad. I don't think he's cheating you that much but I'll have to see the size of the mansion you are trying to construct.

Thanks for your contribution Bro.I wil try and get the Pics I took of the House on here and must state that out of the money,200k has been paid as money for deposit for C of O.Omoniles got 200k and he claimed he did the borehole for 260k.As for what still needs to be completed,I still have the Aluminium windows to go , fittings for the Toilets e.t.c.P.O.P and PVC,Interlocking,Car Port,Platering of the Fence,Doors and so on.Finishing works generally.

DIPUU2LIFE:

I dont know the engineers opinion on this. but it would have been better if you took the drawings of your house to a quantity surveyor. His job is to take off quantities from the drawing and attach going rates to each item of work to be done. next is to give a copy of this bill, excluding the rates supplied to as many contractors as possible. They will return it with their different rates. you will then compare them together and also with that of your QS. with this you can know if you are being cheated or not. you can also pay at stages agreed on and unless the contractor visibly finishes the job paid for no money again and you can also hold him responsible cus you have a contract.

but what most people do is to just get someone and say can you build the house. how much and they begin with no basis for comparison or checks. some dont even have drawings to start with. Talk to a live and unbaised engineer on this. its not easy typing on this forum. little can be typed.

I know what you mean even though you din't typed to your satisfaction.

Thanks, I will like to see the picture of the house because I'm doing a small project but not quite as big as yours. It's a 3 bdrm bungalow with 2 baths. Just finished the foundation and working on the German floor.

ajileko can u give me an estimate of how much a 5 bedroom bungalow would cost, the land is in anambra state. my email is emyworld2002@yahoo.com

There is really no easy way to it. You cannot help being cheated cos builders and artisans are cold blooded. However you can reduce the level of fraudulent actions if you secretly involve yourself in the purchase of materials by doing your home-work. Never believe the prices they quote, they are not kind, never take their word as law for the authenticity of materials purchased or you would end up replacing many items in less than a year of residence. And goodness! never leave them on their own, uninspected.

I have been blessed by reading the post of Dipuu2life. Good way to go. In my own case, I got a consultant for the manager handling my project. With this spanner in the works, in the end, I became the wiser one, saving myself headache and loads of money.

Very good point.

The best way out is to have an overall supervisor that will be responsible for whatever go wrong on the site, even if he is going to make money off u. be assured u'll still get a good structure. That will compensate you.

Can someone please tell me the best way to build and save cash?

Mail me. You should be able to save a great percentage of your construction cost whilst adhering to desirable quality!

Its what considering using a family member - especially if you are away from the town where your house is being built, if you have someone free in your immediate family who is matured enough and street wise (aka: a sharp man) he or she is less likely to defraud you and will be a bit more sincere than outsiders in general. For me, I'm not in the country, but I just completed the purchase of 1 plot in rumuokuta P/H, at N2m. With the help of My elder brother who happens to be a lawyer. And I am commencing building my 3 bedroom bungalow in January, with the help of my Dad who's retired. but with his free time has managed the building of 2 houses in the past few years

eewule:

Its what considering using a family member - especially if you are away from the town where your house is being built, if you have someone free in your immediate family who is matured enough and street wise (aka: a sharp man) he or she is less likely to defraud you and will be a bit more sincere than outsiders in general. For me, I'm not in the country, but I just completed the purchase of 1 plot in rumuokuta P/H, at N2m. With the help of My elder brother who happens to be a lawyer. And I am commencing building my 3 bedroom bungalow in January, with the help of my Dad who's retired. but with his free time has managed the building of 2 houses in the past few years

You might be blessed with reliable family members, have heard stories of how family members squandered the money of their siblings and nothing to show for it.
What i do, when i am in Nigeria, i do the buying of the land and try to build the fence around it within the 2 weeks that i will be around.
Lock and go back.
When i have money again, i will come there, start foundation till when i am done and leave
basically, i will be doing what i could when i am around till i am done.

I have great family oh, but money and family, i think should not mix, i treat it like business

@badboym, according to your explanation the exact cost of the building is 4.5m which may not really be on a high side. there are some bungalows that could cost you fortune it all depend on the magnitude of the building. Meanhwile, you need to verify the engineer you are using is he a qualified engineer by education and training, or one of this people that parade themselves as engineer. In actual fact i agreed wt the fact that if you get a good and experienced QS you will have the total cost from onset and then use it as guideline. If you need a QS subsequently you can contact us thru abidoyventures@gmail.com

@ Thirdeye, what will you do if the supervisor colludes with other workers and you have a feeling that despite the fact that you give him his fee, he still inflates other workers' fees?. He takes quotations from them and even uses the artisans he knows.