Construction Cost

Factors Which Affect The Construction Cost Of Your House

We often hear of people building houses cutting corners on not being able to cope with the rising cost. Almost always, we hear of escalating construction costs which outstrip budgets. Interestingly, it is not always the rising prices of inputs which are to be blamed. More often than not, the fault lies with inefficient planning. Organized planners always factor in inflationary trends in inputs, so there is no issue of overshooting the budget.

If you are planning to build for residential or commercial purposes, you should keep in mind certain aspects which may influence the construction costs:

• Area (square footage) of the building. Select buildings similar in size to the one you intent to build. Take estimates of the costs of the properties; subtract the land cost to arrive at the approximate total cost of building the structure (if it has similar features). This, divided by the total no. of square feet of built up area, yields the cost per square foot. Now you can arrive at the building cost for the structure you intend to build. The more the built up area, the higher is your cost.
• Remember, the cost per square footage goes down for very large buildings as the costs for the more expensive areas such as bathrooms and kitchens get spread out. It is important to select buildings of similar size to get a fair estimate.
• Generally, the more corners in the house, the more expensive it is. Simpler structures with rectangular or square shapes cost less. Again, domes at the top are the more cost effective.
• Estimate the cost of preparing a site for construction. Do you have to clear trees? Haul dirt and debris from a previous construction? Blast rocks to access the area? All these add considerably to your cost.
• The more you deviate from your original plan, the more changes you incorporate, the higher overshooting of your budget.
• On an average, you can add 3-6% to your construction cost for every year of delay. If your construction is slow, factor in addition in costs. Again, add a similar amount to your estimate if you actually construct a while after drawing the estimate. Similarly, account for this inflation when you set up an estimate using costs of other buildings. Try to only study buildings constructed in the last six months.
• Be prepared to count costs for building permit fees, insurance, financing fees, architect's fees etc, which add up to a sizeable chunk escalating your total costs.

If you are careful about drawing up an intelligent estimate, you can stick to your construction cost limits very easily.