Building your dream luxury homes comes with a great deal of patience and planning. Yet, choosing to construct your ideal homes rather than buy an existing house provides some advantages. Building a custom home means you can design it based on specific needs and requirements. You can also ease your financing since there is no added market value in constructing your own house. Additionally, the new homes will be designed based on the updated or newly-passed building design codes, laws, and regulations, thus makes your homes a safer place to live.
What are the things you should consider in building your homes?
Pre-construction planning is the most challenging stage in building your homes. In this phase, you will determine financial capabilities, time constraints, and possible risk factors that might occur in the implementation stage. So what are the things to consider in building a house?
- Location
A location that offers convenience for you and your family is the best choice. Access to public roads and highways should be considered, including proximity to markets, hospitals, and emergency agencies. Safety and security should be considered. Always check if your location falls under or near earthquake zones or fault lines. - Financial Capacity
Choosing an ideal house type that fits your financial capacity works well since you can make necessary adjustments and changes to your building specifications. Building costs are usually computed based on a square foot or square meter of floor area. You should determine if your budget is sufficient with the floor area of the house that you want to build. However, construction loans can be arranged to finance your project. - Which Professionals to Hire
House construction needs the expertise of professionals. For the design of your house, you should hire an Architect. The Structural Engineer will then design the structural elements for the architectural plans, electrical engineer for the power requirements, and MPFS for the mechanical works, plumbing design, and fire safety systems. - Time Requirement
Construction of new buildings requires a considerable amount of time. You discuss the deadlines when you need the project to be completed by the Home Builder. It should be a realistic timetable that is within his capacity. - Participation
If you want to be part of the implementation process, it will take a lot of your time. Additionally, it will also mean more responsibilities for you. However, you can always opt to have the Home Builder send you Progress Reports regularly and inspect them weekly or monthly. You can also hire a consultant to work for you.
After considering these five important things, you can now proceed to materialize your ideas into reality.
What are the stages in building a new house?
The construction of a new building could be challenging and exciting, but it could also pose some complications. Building construction is most efficient if planned accordingly. Avoiding unnecessary and costly mistakes is vital in the construction phase. Ideally, all construction projects have four different stages: the initiation, the planning and design, the implementation, and the completion. We have to follow these stages to ensure the successful planning and building of our homes.
THE INITIATION
Imagine what your dream home looks like. It could be a luxurious home or any custom home design that is ideal to fit your requirements. The beginning of the realization of a building starts from your idea. The initiation stage starts from a collaboration between you and your consultant/designer in coming up with details that outline the project scope, goals, and objectives.
You should be able to communicate the aims and expectations of the project. In turn, the consultant should create a framework of your wishes and reflect them into the project brief. The Project Brief should include the financial and time requirements for the project, its resolutions, and workflow for clarity and efficiency. It will become the basis for coming up with the Planning and Design framework.
THE PLANNING AND DESIGN
In the planning phase, we define all projected outputs and requirements in constructing our house. These include the plans and specifications for the structure, the project cost, and the project schedule.
The Planning Phase is usually the most challenging stage. The success lies within careful planning by determining the financial requirements, time requirements, key personnel, and the future risks that may incur costly mistakes. In the Planning Phase, the Project Consultant will:
- Determine the Time and Cost requirement
- Create the Work Breakdown Structure
- Formulate a Risk Management Plan
- Outline a Communication Plan between the Management, Home Builder, and Client
The Designing Phase begins right after the Planning Phase. It will now involve a team comprised of an Architect, Structural Engineer, and Draftsman to materialize the House Design and Plans that meet your wishes and expectations. The following are the considerations for the designing phase:
- The proposed building design and its rooms, amenities, and recreational features
- Complete set of plans such as Architectural Plans, Site Development Plans, Structural Plans, and MEPFS Plans
- The proposed building site or location
- Actual Site Conditions including tests (soil characteristics, earthquake and typhoon zones, weather and climate conditions, land zoning, etc.)
- Building height, easements, vehicular and pedestrian access, orientation, and setbacks
- Availability of the materials in the area
- Current governing building codes, laws, and regulations in the city and country
- Worker requirements for key personnel, laborers, and skilled workers as well as the equipment and tool requirements
- Client’s superstitious beliefs
Once you and the Designers finally came up with the final approved plans, you can now process the construction permits to the office of the Building Officials at the City Hall. After the approval, you can now hire a Home Builder for the implementation of the project. Finding an experienced and honest Home Builder is vital for the construction of the home because he will be the one to materialize the building plans and turn them into reality.
THE IMPLEMENTATION
The luxury home builder carries out the Implementation Phase. He examines the plans and specifications with you and the designers. The discussion will solve minor mistakes in the building plans and clarifies all the questions. It will also correct minor mistakes before the start of the implementation.
The Home Builder will also start the procurement of the materials, tools, and equipment required to start the construction activities. He will create a procurement schedule to ensure on-time materials delivery.
After all the preparations, the Home Builder can now kick off the construction of the building. The following are the construction activities involved in the completion of the project:
- Mobilization – the materials, equipment and tools, and workers will be delivered and transported to the project.
- Surveying and Layouting – Layouting of foundations, pipes, pathways, and driveways, and fence
- Earthworks – Excavation for the foundations/footings, tie beams, and septic tanks, including backfilling and compaction
- Foundation Works – Construction of footings from the installation of reinforcements up to concreting of the foundation
- Construction of Structural Framing – Construction of Columns, pedestals, tie beams, floor beams, and roof beams (from reinforcement to concreting)
- Construction of floorings or slabs – Construction of ground floor slabs and slab-on-grade
- Fitouts including Plumbing, Electrical, Mechanical, and Fire Safety – Laying of pipelines, electrical wires, conduits, utility boxes, etc.
- Installation of Walls – Construction of masonry walls, partition walls, and drywalls, including the preparation for doors and windows
- Plastering works – Finishing works on concrete surfaces, including columns, beams, masonry walls, under slabs, etc.
- Installation of Roofing Structure – Construction of roof framing, and installation of roofing sheets
- Doors and Windows
- Exterior Design and Finishes -Paintworks, brick and cladding installations, and other exterior designing works
- Floor Finishing – Installation of floor tiles, cement finishes, or wooden floorboards
- Installation of Fixtures for MEPFS – Installation of fixtures such as water closets, shower sets, kitchen sinks, lavatories, fire protection systems, air-conditioning systems, lighting fixtures, convenience outlets
- Interior design and finishes – Installation of ceiling works, paintworks, wallpapers, corner moldings, carpeting, or floor tile installations
- Site development, fence construction, and landscaping – Concreting of driveways and walkways, construction of the fence, and beautification of the surroundings
- Clearing and Demobilization – Final clean-up and pullout of equipment, debris, trash, and workers
In case you wish to make some changes in the plans or want to propose additional items, you and the Home Builder should come up with an agreement and make a break-even analysis on the cost of the changes. It is to determine whether the changes will incur additional expenses or may provide savings. All changes must be agreed upon and approved by both parties in a written document.
After the house is complete, the Home Builder will now turn over the building to you. Both of you will create a collaborative Punch List of all the items in the building that need rectification and repair. All items that don’t meet your required quality of work and items that do not align with the plans must be included in the Punch List. Both of you will then sign the Punch List, and it will now become the basis for the Home Builder to work on the list of items that needed rectification.
THE COMPLETION
After accomplishment of the Punch List, you and the Home Builder will walk through the list once again to check all the items. Once you approve all the items in the Punch List, the Home Builder will now turn over the project. The Home Builder will come up with an agreement with you regarding the Warranty Period of the building. The Warranty Period is the period that specifies the number of days, months, or years that the Home Builder holds liability on the project. Within this period, any defects, discrepancies, and work items that need to be repaired should be rectified by the Home Builder with no additional charges. You must inspect the building from time to time and report any defects to the Home Builder.
Watching the construction of the house come together is very exciting. From planning to excavation up to the finishing works, the orderly process of the building construction will be a sure success with the right planning and accurate implementation. Working with the correct team of people will surely be an advantage for those that aspire to build their own homes. Their knowledge and skills coupled with years of experience surely be an asset for the success in building our dream homes.
