With the boom in real estate in Kenya and the region at large most people are more inclined to buy houses instead of build their own, this leads to people living in quarters they feel could have either been designed better to suit their needs or houses they feel were either overpriced or did not give them value for their money. Whether it is cheaper to build than to buy is a topic for another day; this article focuses more on the process of constructing your own house.
Build it in your mind
Every tangible thing starts as a thought or as a dream in someone’s mind, if you are reading this article whether by accident or as a research topic then you will agree with me that the thought of building your own house has crossed your mind a million times. The first step is to dream, think about the kind of house you would love to build, think about your daily needs, your interaction with space, and your spatial requirements of each of your daily activities; then crystalize these thoughts into your dream house, build it in your mind.
As you crystalize your dream answers like where to build your home will start to appear, always ensure you carry out a proper due diligence when buying land, con-artists have devised schemes to rip off people of their hard earned money with land transactions being top of the list due to the large sums of money involved.
Architectural Design
Design simply means putting your dream on paper with the help of a professional architect, it is common practise to evade the services of professionals for the fear of high consultancy fees, but as the saying goes cheap is expensive, I have met would be developers at the local authorities approval offices with drawings that don’t meet approval standards trying to get them approved after a quack has taken off after getting paid.
Design is not just about having a set of approval standard drawings. Design is the process of making pertinent decisions that influence the quality of space, cost of construction, construction period as well as sealing the loop hole of cost overrun during project implementation. Most new-be developers are fancied by beautiful 3d renders and forget to examine the quality of space. Poorly lit rooms, very small rooms, long and uneconomical plumbing, long corridors and complex unbuildable details are some of the resultant faults that can cost you an arm and a leg during construction and operation of the building.
Structural Design
This is usually done by civil/structural engineers; they calculate loading and works out the best structural system to support the building as designed by the architect. He specifies reinforcement bars, concrete class, roofing structure and at times advices a review of the architectural design or change of materials for a specific structural function. A good architect reviews the structural design and checks for possible overdesigning/under designing as well as alternatives that would bring down the construction cost or enhance quality of space.
Quantity survey
Most developers ignore the importance of a quantity survey in the construction team; not knowing that the q.s as commonly refers plays one of the most vital roles in the successful implementation of a construction project. In the book Luke 14:28 reference is made to the importance of cost estimation, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?”
Apart from cost estimation and preparing the bills of quantities, the quantity surveyor plays a vital role in contract administration by carrying out periodic valuations before you can pay the contractor, he also deliberates with the rest of the team and advices on cost control measures as well as the cost implications of certain changes made on site during construction.
Services engineers
To complete the design team you need to have mechanical and electrical engineers. Their role is to complement and detail electrical, plumbing and other building services. Their importance is mainly to ensure quality, convenience and cost effectiveness in building services.
Approvals
Once you are done with design work, the next step is to seek the various approvals; the reason for this is to ensure that you proposed building meets the required standards. Approvals usually range from County government approvals which include public health, physical planning and engineering. NEMA approvals which seek to demystify the environmental impacts of the proposed project and your interventions by way of an environmental impact assessment report. This is usually carried out by a registered expert on your behalf and submitted to NEMA for approval. The other approval is done by the national construction authority to check that you have involved, registered professionals and you are engaging a registered and competent contractor to carry out the building works.
Construction
Most Kenyans prefer to work with fundis to carry out their building works, you buy your materials and the fundi does the construction. This is a formal form of contract referred to as a labour contract. The architectural association of kenya through your architect offers a comprehensive standard form of contract which can be used to formalize such an engagement.
