You have the site and the money to build it. But “how to go about building it?”— is the million dollar question that plagues many first-time house builders. Sometimes you may even have what is called ‘Sanction purpose plan’ which does not make it any easier to start construction.

There are essentially two ways of building your dream home. One way is to give the entire responsibility to a contractor and the other one to build it yourself!

Here, building it yourself does not exactly mean that you will be mixing cement and applying it with a trowel. It simply means you will be selecting material, labour, making payments to the suppliers and settling wages directly without the interference of a middleman, ie, the contractor. In owner-built houses there are no contracts between anybody. It is strictly on hire and fire basis.

Hire workers if you like their workmanship. If you don’t like their speed of work, just send them away and get somebody else! There are no contracts binding them to you! If you like the building material, just buy it. Select the tiles of your choice and buy the sanitary appliance that you fancy. There won’t be any contractor restricting your choice by telling you that it is not as per the contract entered between yourself and him!

This is the essential difference between a contractor built house and owner built house. In a contractor built house, everything has to be decided right at the beginning. In fact the contract is based on fixed detailed specifications and material types. Any changes and variations from the contract are difficult and costly.
Many times the owners are not confident of themselves in the initial stages. As the house progresses from foundation stage to walls and especially after the roof is cast, the owners become more sure of how their house is going to look and whether it is indeed the one they want. This is the stage from which many owners start making changes in the detailing and finishes.

Avoid middleman

If there is a middleman, he will always try to cut corners, by either putting inferior material or lesser proportion of cement and steel. In owner-built houses, the workers will put exact proportions as per the instructions of the architect as they have nothing to gain by putting less. By avoiding a middleman, about 20% of cost of construction can be saved. ‘Own-house builders’ may not know what type of soil there is below ground and the type of foundation that is needed for the building.

Similarly, other doubts would include:
Which walls have to be load bearing and which can be thin partition walls?
If columns and beams are needed; if they are, where?
What should be the thickness of roof slab and size of steel reinforcement? These are facts not known to the ‘own-house builder’. For guidance in all these matters, it is advisable to engage an architect to ensure quality of construction and workmanship.

Architects not only guide house builders in respect of plan preparation and working out the details regarding placement of furniture and windows, they also keep track of quality of construction, workmanship and material — which are very essential for the success of any building.

Owner’s choice

Owners have better choice now. All the material is easily available in the market. In fact, there are bazaars where lorry loads of building material like sand, stones and bricks are available. Every layout has its share of hardware, sanitary, electrical and wood shops. Nowadays for the owners, making the right choice out of numerous brands and varieties is difficult.

As house owner, if you take the right decision at the beginning, you can expect smooth sailing and make your dream home a reality much more easily than you thought possible.

When the house is completed, there is greater satisfaction due to greater involvement of the owner right from the beginning. Most importantly, he will know exactly where each rupee went and where each bag of cement was used. Everything is done on item by item basis and there may not be major settlement of bills at the end of the project.

In control

The owner himself handles the money and it is all paid after the material has come and after the labourer has done his work. So there is little risk of losing money. The payments will be made, literally on day-to-day basis in small amounts based on work turnover to various agencies. (It is actually paid once a week at the weekend)
Though it may appear to be a tiresome exercise, the fruit of this effort is truly rewarding. It is worthwhile to get involved in the process of house construction and take in a bit of headache as it is very satisfying apart from getting quality work. There is little chance for dispute and there is a lot of flexibility in the construction process. Changes can be made with little difficulty. With the middleman eliminated, the owner can be assured of more direct deals and cost savings.

The author is an architect and can be contacted on phone no 98441 32826 or email: ArchitectJayaram@ yahoo. co. in