Tips to save money during construction

Constructing your own home needs lot of effort and knowledge. Most of the people build their home first time in their life and they end up spending more money in the whole construction process than what they have planned to spend, due to inexperience and lack of knowledge.

On the basis of the practical experiences we have summarized below few tips which can help you in saving your hard earned money.

• Hire an Architect: In general practice homes are designed by the local masons. But it is always advisable to hire an Architect for such services, because an Architect is not only a technically sound person who knows what will be good for your home but also can design your home most economically, saving you a lot of money. He can design your home in a best possible manner without wasting the space of your land.

• Hire a Contractor: Most of the people hire skilled artisans’ e.g. Masons, Carpenters, Painters etc. separately, which can cost more. Hiring of Contractor will provide you these persons at one place and also provide you guarantee of best workmanship at your own terms. This will not only save unnecessary wastage of materials but also in return save your hard earned money.

• Conduct surveys: Either it be hiring Architects or Contractors or Skilled/unskilled labours or purchasing materials for construction and decoration, it is always good to conduct surveys regarding their availability, price and performance. Survey can save your time and money both and give you a better experience during construction.

• Procurement of materials: Prefer to use locally available materials which are available within the range 30 km. If the material is not available within the prescribed range, consult your Architect or Engineer for an alternate. For example, in the areas where Sand is transported from far flung places, it can be replaced by stone or marble dust which is available at no cost for making cement mortars. This will reduce the overall cost of construction.

• Quality of materials: Don’t use inferior quality materials. It may sound odd because superior quality materials generally cost more. Actually, it is seen that inferior quality materials don’t last for long periods. They need frequent repairs and in some cases total replacement of the material, which can lead to the increase in the cost of completed structure.

• Storage of materials: Proper storage and stacking of materials is a very important part of the construction process. If care is not given during storage, wastage and theft of materials can increase the total cost of your dream home.