i am erecting a structure around awoyaya on the lekki axis , my engineer gave an estimated cost of 912k for a raft foundation for a 2 units of a 3bedroom ensuite,but i ended up paying 1.283Mil,he came up with price changes,filling and the issue of omo onile as the basis for the increment, having finished that now.i have asked him to present me with an estimate for blocksettings and labour to the lintel level, please i need an idea of how much or in what range that should be considering the structure stated above,

I really cant say i trust him 100% but he has proven himself with the house he built for a cousin of mine and a friend too,they were masterpieces and solid,he is quite popular in that axis and has a very good reputation amongst the locals there too,but i felt i spent a little too much on the foundation hence my inherent doubts arose,

Hmmn, you could tell the Engineer to hold a tighter rein on the purse next time and try to stay within budget, but the thing with these omo-oniles is that some show up at the lintel level and some even have the audacity to turn up for "something" whilst roofing is in progress



BY Engineer, do you mean the Architect or the Surveyor or the Project Manager?

thanks for the response i appreciate it,he is a building engineer and the project manager as well,but maam i actually want to have an idea of how much the block setting would cost in terms of materials and workmanship to the lintel level in respect of the structure i mentioned in my post excluding the omo onile fees which i know would come up again, .thanks once more

Nobody can tell you exactly what it will cost without the drawings. Fluctuations in prices are also bound to happen, but whoever is doing the job for you can also throw more light on how he arrive at his figures.

ok thanks,will probably set out his quotation on here ,when i have it ,guess that will be better ,

Hello,

What i will advise the poster is to get a Q.S that will be vetting his quotations. Getting this kind of advices on nairaland is like trying to avoid paying proffessionals who are suppose to do this job. Proffessionals in the house let stop giving this kind of advises on nairaland, because if we are not careful a lot of us will taken out of our proffessions just like the architects are doing to builders these days.

@tosola,
Has any architect taken over your job? you've been making this allegations lately, unfortunately in Nigeria no professional is guilty of what you are talking of like the builders themselves, so i am wondering what your point is. Ask any builder around he will tell you he is an architect, an engineer and a builder all put in one. Really I am surprised at your accusations.
Nobody here really knows it but a tip here a tip there can always make a difference, so I'll advice you get yourself more useful to us by enlightening us more about things we need to know or whats the point of coming here if we can't get our questions treated.
But if an architect had taken over your job before accept your errors and learn to move forward.
The sky is big enough for every high-flying bird to fly.

I must say that no architect has ever taken over my job. But it is a common knowledge in Nigeria to see architect doing what they called design and build. What they do is, when they get a brief, they will do the design and get the contract of constructing the building. Rather than getting a builder to do the construction, they will now employ artisans to do the construction, leaving out the builder who is trained to do the construction of a building. In this same circumstances, they also begin to do the work of a QS by costing building by themselves. In all these, where is proffessionalism. Look arround you, there are a lot of these going on arround. I believe in prpffessionalism, the arcitect doing the architectural design, the structural engineer doing the structural details, the QS doing the cost management and the builder doing the actual construction and others ensuring that he follows the details. Some architect do not do this but there are a lot of others doing it. If we all can follow this, a lot of negative occurences in the building industry will be corrected.

kabedudu:

thanks for the response i appreciate it,he is a building engineer and the project manager as well,but maam i actually want to have an idea of how much the block setting would cost in terms of materials and workmanship to the lintel level in respect of the structure i mentioned in my post excluding the omo onile fees which i know would come up again,  .thanks once more

Project Managers are usually trained Architects or Surveyors who are in charge of the whole planning and co-ordination of the project they are working on, from start to finish to make sure it is on time and within budget, so really he has no excuse for going over budget because the main reason he was employed was to keep costs down, so make sure you register your displeasure with him, as well as your cousin and your friend too, to keep them in the know.


If the price changes in materials were not that much different compared to the final bill he landed you with, then I guess you should give him this one-time grace and let him know that if he cannot control costs and prevent them from skyrocketing next time, then you might have to look elsewhere or you would take it up with his professional body, that is if they have one in Nigeria.


Ask him to give you a firm quote for the work needed to raise the structure to the lintel level, hopefully his previous unprofessionalism would stoke his guilty conscience and prevent him from trying to play a fast one on you again.


I wish you all the best, I really do.


Personally, I would not mind tolerating an Architect or Quantity Surveyor going over budget ^slightly, but would not allow that from a Project Manager whom I am going to be paying a higher wage to, biko mba