Expedite house construction, & how

Jagvir Goyal

Most house builders begin construction of the house with much energy and enthusiasm but by the time of completion, they often get exhausted. Yet the carpenters and painters seem to never finish their jobs while few others wait to install the pending fittings and give final touches to the house. Taking care of the following can help you expedite the construction:

Enlist your preferences

Once you hire the services of an architect, immediately finalise the house plans. Be clear about your preferences like the storeys of the house, provision of basement, a side passage, number of bedrooms, etc.

Get the plans approved

Once the house plans are finalised, get these approved from the local authority. Ask the architect to ensure that the plans comply with the building bye laws. Hiring the services of architects on approved panel list of the local body makes the task easy. Get permission for water supply and sewerage connections.

Make estimate material

Prepare material estimates on the basis of plan and elevation of the house. Estimate the quantity of bricks, cement, steel, wood, sand and coarse aggregate (bajri). For rough estimation and cost involved of these six materials, thumb rules can be applied.

Choose your suppliers

Go for reputed brands of cement and steel. Choose a dealer supplying fresh lots of cement. Survey the brick kilns around, examine the ready lots and finalise your bricks supplier. For supply of steel, ensure that steel bars are IS marked. Go for straight bars instead of coils, which demand extra time and labour. Look for fresh, rust-free steel. Both sand and bajri are normally supplied by one dealer. Keep cross-checking the rates being charged. It pays dividends to timely engage suitable labour contractor to raise structure of the house.

Focus on woodwork

Once the construction is started, buy the required quantity of wood, get it cut to major sizes and store it as per prescribed methods for air circulation among the cut pieces for natural seasoning. Choose wood carefully. Natural drying and seasoning of wood minimises chances of its warping after use. Carpenters are the last to leave the house. Get electric connection where carpenters can work independently to assemble door and window frames and shutters and later to shift them to site.

Time-saving specifications

Choose floor tiles instead of marble to save time required for grinding and polishing of marble. Go for wood laminates to save time lost in wood polishing. PoP work for ceilings saves much time than required for false ceiling which needs fixing of GI hangers.