nnadychuks:
In the next 14 days, prices of building materials will reduce. Don’t stock up

segzyfunmi:



Thanks a lot. Pls share contact of alternative as suggested. Pls tell me, what do you think should be the rough estimate for labour and engineer fee??

segzyfunmi:
Good evening to everyone.


Pls I need a quick professional response on my matter.

My uncle wants to start his project in Abeokuta on Monday. His site has been cleared and foundation is to commence on Monday. He just funded his daughter's wedding last Saturday so he's not too boxed up, but he still insist on starting with one loose fund of #2.5million.

The problem is the engineer in charge is insisting on 3Million as indicated on the BOQ prepared by him, then an additional 5% of 3Million as the engineer's fee. Labour alone is 550k excluding engineer's fee.

It's a plot of land with very hard/dry soil in Abeokuta. The plan is strip foundation of 3bedroom up and 3bedroom down. That's just a storey building.

Professionals in the house pls help analyze if this high cost is worth it.

KolaShangOne:
For those that dont know the genesis, the first time @BigTiie posted about some days ago, he said cement price was 3400 and I offered to help.

It was simply a matter of going to Ewekoro and finding a truck heading towards Atan and buying the 200 bags from them at 3100.

We all know the volatility of the market now and how prices are going up and down.

Pls I take exception to your rip off statement @serborrhic.

bixton:


How you come about the bolded I'm surprised. Is that how you have been doing?

A quote is been done by the person who is expected to get the job done.
Now the other line to tow is to get a QS to give a quote which the client can use as comparison and monitor the actual work to be done.


The client has his 2.5M, he can procure the materials by himself ensuring he is getting the right ones.


Are you sure you actually read the post well.
The engineer is requesting for his engineering/supervision fees of 3% of the 3M quoted to build the sub structure.

Please edit your post. Don't be in a hurry to criticize wrongly.

Chekitaut:
Am in Abeokuta will guide you accordingly. You will surely need an engineer.

I will supply you best quantity & quality materials.

opy2com:
Good Evening All,

Please I Need Your Help! I Am About Roofing A 5 Bed Rooms And 2 Living Rooms Apartment And I Have Been Asked To Get The Skeletal Wood Work Done Before Knowing The Actual Cost Of The Roofing Sheet.

Now, I'd Love To Make Use Of A Stone Coated Roofing Sheet But I Am Afraid I Might Not Be Able To Afford It With The Way People Around Are Talking About The Cost. My Budget Is 1.8m For The Sheet And Accessories.

Can Anyone Please Give Me A Rough Estimate? I Need To Know The Possibility Before I Venture Into Erecting The Woodwork.

Thank You

diordaves:


Taking another look in regards to your response, I can now infer that the BOQ states the foundation cost is 3 million. So 5% of 3 million is 150k. I got this wrong then. But the focal elements of my take are in order:

# BOQ should be prepared independently of the resident engineer/builder.

#Circa 100k is a decent fee for the supervision

# It is advisable to get further quotes.

diordaves:


Taking another look in regards to your response, I can now infer that the BOQ states the foundation cost is 3 million. So 5% of 3 million is 150k. I got this wrong then. But the focal elements of my take are in order:

# BOQ should be prepared independently of the resident engineer/builder.

#Circa 100k is a decent fee for the supervision.

# It is advisable to get further quotes.

QSFemi:
Happy Sunday.

As regards the situation, I have said it times without number that it's advisable for clients, project sponsor or home owners to hire independent professional to assess the construction cost of their projects especially in a relatively high end construction.

To have a contractor to submit his quotation for a project to a client, to be assessed, who has no knowledge of construction processes will not be fair to the clients at all. Even if the clients insist on buying all the materials as quoted and subsequently monitor the usage of such, there's still no way for the client to know the fair cost of required labour for such project. Hence, the client is still very likely to lose a good amount of money to labour cost.

That's why professional Quantity Surveyors are trained to be an independent cost assessor of construction enterprises which ranges from building to roads, bridges to railway, and what have you.

In your case, the best bet is to let us have the drawings and advise on the cost consequently.

As regards 5% supervisory fee, it's subject to review. However, in a standard contract with reputable and registered construction firms, 15 to 35% or even higher (case in point: Julius Berger) is normally charged to the actual cost of construction for overheads and profit.


Thanks for your input. The drawings are with my uncle at the moment. Is there no way I can get an approximate value for the labour cost? Pls read my first post for the description of the job to be done.

QSFemi:
Happy Sunday.

As regards the situation, I have said it times without number that it's advisable for clients, project sponsor or home owners to hire independent professional to assess the construction cost of their projects especially in a relatively high end construction.

To have a contractor to submit his quotation for a project to a client, to be assessed, who has no knowledge of construction processes will not be fair to the clients at all. Even if the clients insist on buying all the materials as quoted and subsequently monitor the usage of such, there's still no way for the client to know the fair cost of required labour for such project. Hence, the client is still very likely to lose a good amount of money to labour cost.

That's why professional Quantity Surveyors are trained to be an independent cost assessor of construction enterprises which ranges from building to roads, bridges to railway, and what have you.

In your case, the best bet is to let us have the drawings and advise on the cost consequently.

As regards 5% supervisory fee, it's subject to review. However, in a standard contract with reputable and registered construction firms, 15 to 35% or even higher (case in point: Julius Berger) is normally charged to the actual cost of construction for overheads and profit.

bixton:


Everything is possible due to the expertise of the contractor.
But it's location dependent and cost of labour acquired. Though the cost may not be much but did you use granite all through your build or a mixture of brown stones were acquired too? Did you also use laterite or sharp sand as filling material for your foundation? What mix ratio did you use for your concrete mix( kindly break it down into headpan measurements).

Thank you.

somehow:
Okay thanks
I believe the design may likely be the difference in cost (Both interior and exterior)

spyder880:
Cement prices in some parts of the east today.

Enugu N2,800
Awka N2,800
Ekwulobia N2,800
Umunze N2,900
Orlu N2,850

n3xt:
Yay or Nay?

This is something I’m working on for a minimalist project. Would you chose same and why?

bixton:


Are you insinuating that the person may likely not be reputable so he is not entitled to a standard contract probably he does not own a registered company?

Is it owning a company that makes one reputable or it's the reverse?

ceelog:


You might be right.
House was designed and carcass built by Harney.

Brown stones were only added for staircase cast and upper floor lintel and pillars when granite finished. Parapet was granite chips.

Laterite sandfill from dug well and suckaway

Mix ratio if I remember was 1/3/5.

QSFemi:
Happy Sunday.

As regards the situation, I have said it times without number that it's advisable for clients, project sponsor or home owners to hire independent professional to assess the construction cost of their projects especially in a relatively high end construction.

To have a contractor to submit his quotation for a project to a client, to be assessed, who has no knowledge of construction processes will not be fair to the clients at all. Even if the clients insist on buying all the materials as quoted and subsequently monitor the usage of such, there's still no way for the client to know the fair cost of required labour for such project. Hence, the client is still very likely to lose a good amount of money to labour cost.

That's why professional Quantity Surveyors are trained to be an independent cost assessor of construction enterprises which ranges from building to roads, bridges to railway, and what have you.

In your case, the best bet is to let us have the drawings and advise on the cost consequently.

As regards 5% supervisory fee, it's subject to review. However, in a standard contract with reputable and registered construction firms, 15 to 35% or even higher (case in point: Julius Berger) is normally charged to the actual cost of construction for overheads and profit.

segzyfunmi:


Thanks for your input. The drawings are with my uncle at the moment. Is there no way I can get an approximate value for the labour cost? Pls read my first post for the description of the job to be done.

cool318:
Good evening able builders , suppliers and prospective clients. It's a great pleasure stepping into this learning arena.

Pls my question is this: Is it cost effective for somebody outside the country (Asia) to be precise, to shop for home fittings like: WC's, lights and fittings ( both indoor & Outdoor), Television and home theater, AC's, curtains and fittings, kitchen cabinets, wrought irons for rails and fancy doors, solar street lights & CCTV etc.

Please, experienced expert advice is needed in terms of the cost of Container and shipping charges.
Is it cheaper over there as one is buying in bulk.

diordaves:


Without the plan, the figures here are just ballpark figures but this will give you an insight into how this is done:

#Digging the foundation of 3 bedrooms aim for 50k.
(In Abeokuta, this might be tricky as the town can be rocky and difficult to dig but then again, because of the terrain you may not need a very deep foundation to get to stable soil).

Blinding aim from 35k

The setting of foundation block: I don't know how big is you flat, but let's guess 1300 blocks with a high foundation. To lay one block is N50.
so 50x1300 = N65k

Iron Bender to tie the basket and columns: aim from N35k

Carpenter formwork aim from: 10k

The casting of the Columns: For three bedrooms, depending on your design, your total columns should be around 16 columns. To cast one column aim from 1k per column.
So 1x16 = N16,000

Foundation and back filling aim for: 15K


Wetting of foundation (compacting) - 1k

Casting of German floor aim from: 10k

Total Labour: N237k

These figures are highly debatable but hopefully, you should now have an idea on the direction of travel.

Amastermovic:


BLINDING COST 35K y is casting of german floor now 10k pls guide me .

PrimeQuay:
Happy Sunday,

I totally agree with this point of view i.e engaging a QS who is independent of the project.

However in my limited experience, bill of material and labor does vary from QS to QS. how does one eliminate inconsistencies.

Ive also noticed that engineers might markup labor costs (especially) in order to increase the total, resulting to a higher figure if they are working on %.

QSFemi:
Hiring a QS for your project is one of the smartest decisions that will save you lots of money as a client, project sponsor or building owner.

As regards different QS arriving at a significantly different project costs, some reasons can be attributed to that;

1) Inadequate drawings. Some projects especially that involve 2 or more floors might have only architectural drawings without even having structural drawings. M&E drawings are non existent in most cases. In this scenario, that means the Quantity Surveyors will have to make "reasonable assumptions" of the structural elements in the building based on experience and competence.

2) Difference in specifications. Lots of important specifications are always missing on even drawings. In an ideal setting, a QS is supposed to send a "query" to either the design Architect or Engineer as the case may be to get a clarification on such items. In a situation where the QS has no express access to the designers - Architect or Engineer, the QS has to make "reasonable assumptions". Making reasonable assumptions is a very important part of QS training.

3) Competence of the QS of course.

4) Estimating information and pricing details used by the QS. This include market price of materials, labour rate, preliminaries pricing, overheads pricing etc.

5) Arithmetic errors in the bill of quantities. Quantity Surveyors are humans and as such do make arithmetic errors in the bill of quantities. That's why during tendering such as open or competitive tendering for a project where a number of contractors bid for such, one of the things the consultant QS will do after opening of bids is to check for arithmetic errors in the submitted bids and make corrections.
That's why whenever I receive quotations either from contractors, subcontractors or suppliers, the first I do is to check for arithmetic errors.

6) Method of procurement of the proposed building. There are many methods of procurement of projects with their pros and cons and that consequently have a considerable effect on the overall construction cost.

7) Nature of the project and the expected technical expertise required. You don't expect a project that require the expertise of Cappa D Alberto or Julius Berger to have the same contract sum for one that will be done by Femi and Son Construction Company even for the same type of project.

Other factors such as site accessibility, site conditions, etc can also affect a QS bill of quantities.


Let me just stop here.

There are still tons of other factors.

diordaves:


Without the plan, the figures here are just ballpark figures but this will give you an insight into how this is done:

#Digging the foundation of 3 bedrooms aim for 50k.
(In Abeokuta, this might be tricky as the town can be rocky and difficult to dig but then again, because of the terrain you may not need a very deep foundation to get to stable soil).

Blinding aim from 35k

The setting of foundation block: I don't know how big is you flat, but let's guess 1300 blocks with a high foundation. To lay one block is N50.
so 50x1300 = N65k

Iron Bender to tie the basket and columns: aim from N35k

Carpenter formwork aim from: 10k

The casting of the Columns: For three bedrooms, depending on your design, your total columns should be around 16 columns. To cast one column aim from 1k per column.
So 1x16 = N16,000

Foundation and back filling aim for: 15K


Wetting of foundation (compacting) - 1k

Casting of German floor aim from: 10k

Total Labour: N237k

These figures are highly debatable but hopefully, you should now have an idea on the direction of travel.

kolnel:
hey house,
please I need ideas of car port, costs et al.
project in Ibadan
thanks