Where will you locate your new home?

Ar. Shalabh Saxena
B. Arch

Where will you locate your new home?
Locating the right plot of land and buying it,is by far thye trickiest of moves in home building
Subarban , semi-urban olcations are less dear than 'in city' land. In cities , the further you go away from the city centre, cheaper the price of land.
Apart from negotiating the price , you must make sure that the Title Deed to the land is clear. This means you need legal counselling .Have all documents searched in the Land Record office.
Try and avoid brokers , but if you have to go through one, negotiate a deal with him prior to purchase.
Very importantly , reseach the neighbourhood where you're deciding to build your home .Check out what kind of people live there find out about police protection . Find out if there are doctors living in the surroundings,and of course civic amenities like local markets , everyday supply points , water supply , drainage and sewerage etc.
Ideally , buy your land well in advance-because land prices tend to shoot up . Even a small arterial road cutting past the neighnourhood can cause a 'jump' in prices.

Who can help you build your home?
True you're going to build your own home , but most people can't do it all themselves , so you need to employ certain 'people' to do things for you. Here are some important ones:

  • Your Architect: a professional person who will assess your requirements , design/plan your home , its exterior and interiors , in consulation with you . He will take care of functional and aesthetic details and his recommendations will help you build a good , cost-efficient home.
  • Youe Engineer: Another professional who works with the architect and designs the foundation and structure of your home , and may 'supervise' construction also on your behalf.
  • Your Building Contractor: Who usually takes up your construction on turnkey basis , providing labour , skilled and unskilled workers (including masons, carpenters , plumbers , electricians , painters ) , and building materials .

You must work out each one's scope-of-work , their costs and terms-of-payment. The architect usually charges a flat fee for design and planning( you pay separately for Plan Sacntion to Multicipalities/Corporation etc as applcable).The engineer also charge a fee for structural design and a separate fee for supervision . If you can get hold of an architect-engineer , good for you. The building contractor is likely to charge you on a per-square-meter-basis or per-manday basis.
You have already bought land , got it registered in a court of law , engaged an architect and/or engineer , drawn up a construction plan , had it approved/sanctioned ny the appropriate authorities . You have got sanction for a home loan. And you have also engaged a building contractor , applied applied for temporary electrical and water connection , prepared schedulesand worked out phased expenditure.

Now you're ready to begin construction of your dream home.

  • Step 1: There are some traditional rituals which people observe when formal construction begins on open land . After that ,layout and excavation begins along with treatment for termite and other pests.
  • Step 2: Concrete foundation laying , earth-filling , damp-proofing treatment of foundation , setting out drainage and sewerage pits and channels.
  • Step 3: Column casting and brickwork up to 'lintel' level , casting of lintel.
  • Step 4: Brickwork/columns up to roof level , shuttering for roof casting , reinforcement binding (with steel sections) , final roof casting (concreting of roof slabs) , casting of staircase base , curing time.
  • Step 5: Removel of shuttering (columns , staircases , roof etc.), partition walls, brickwork, fixing of window and door frames/grills, inside plastering & curing, flooring finishing/mosaic/other treatment.
  • Step 6: Electrical connections/ fittings , bathroom sanitory and other fittings and water lines/connections , kitchen fittings (sink etc.), doors and windows (aluminium/steel/wood/glass etc.).
  • Step 7: Plastering of exterior of the house, drainage and sewreage line connections, roof treatment, exteroir painting (which you may opt to do at a late date 'after' you're moved in).
  • Step 8: Interior walls plaster-of-paris, curing, painting of walls(as pr choosen colur scheme), phone and cable connection.
  • Step 9: Obtain Completion Certificate, Occupancy Certificate from builders/corporation/municipality.

Your 'Home' is basically ready for you.