You’ve come a long way as a tenant and it’s time to build your house. You’ve started searching for designs, calculating how much you need for the project. Look no further, this post is for you.
I will try as much as possible to demystify the cost of building a house in Nigeria.

A list of price of building materials will also be added. This is to help in cost estimates particularly since tastes are different.

However to help us in arriving at a good estimate, i will be taking case studies of a three bedroom apartment built in three locations which includes: Nasarawa, Lagos and Kwara. The building process will be broken into stages and the amount spent will be included.

For those intending to build sit back and relax while i totally Unfold the cost of building a three bedroom apartment here in Nigeria.

You can also contact us if you want your building project done for you from planning stage to completion stage, Or rather you need advice on how to go about your building project.

You can also ask questions in areas not cleared about. Thanks

But first, let us see what is involved when getting a land in Nigeria.

Buying a land
For Lagos residents, Omonilelawyer specifies some things to watch out for when buying a land. These are;
Certificate of Occupancy
Gazette
Deed of conveyance
Survey plan of land
The above list is so you don’t fall into the hands of land scammers. These same requirements apply all through Nigeria and it is advisable to include a lawyer in the buying process.
Land price is dependent on location. It is not out of place to see various plots of land within the same state having steep price differences. Locations on the outskirts of the city are cheaper than those in central city areas. High-brow residential areas have jaw-dropping prices while waterlogged and conflict prone areas could be cheaper. A half plot of land is enough to accommodate a 3 bedroom flat as can be seen in this project. However, we will be going with a plot of land for this post.
One plot can go for as low as ₦350,000 to as high as ₦10 million or even higher depending on the area.

Following

Drafting your building plan

Work closely with good professionals to get this done relaying your designs for implementation. For a standard 3-bedroom house plan, design cost can range from ₦40,000 to ₦300,000.
What you need at this stage is an architect.

Price list of building materials in Nigeria.
Price vary depending on location and closeness to materials. Recent increase in exchange rates has seen some prices increase over 100% of what was obtainable years ago. For materials such as cement, price is near-uniform nationwide. Below is the current price of some materials;

N.B: Materials price list depends on your location

Worker’s wages (AKA workmanship), varies with location and goes a long way in determining the difference in building costs. The price of labour in Abuja will be different from what is obtainable in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom state. In one of the projects sampled in this post, masons charged ₦50 per block laid. In another project, the charge was ₦40. Other workers such as carpenters, painters, labourers will have varying wages. For a guess on worker’s wages in your area, it is important to contact people around who have built recently.

Case studies

We will be using three real life cases for study. All projects are 3 bedroom apartments in three different locations in Nigeria. We will use actual figures (where given) from these cases to show how much was spent in each stage of the building process.


Case 1 summary
Location: Mararaba, Nasarawa State (close to Abuja)
Year: 2015
Building cost: ₦5,116,350 (80% completed).

Case 2 summary
Location: Ajah, Lagos state
Year: 2015
Cost of land: ₦2.5 million for a plot. Exclusive of other fees.
Building cost: About ₦7 million (95% completed)

Case 3 Summary
Location: Kwara state
Year: 2011-2013
Cost of land: ₦200,000 for 2.5 plots bought in 2009
Cost: About ₦8 million (Completed, main house only)

Building the house proper

For ease of explanation, I will split the process into 4 major stages;
1.Foundation to flooring + soakaways
2.Block work to roofing
3.Noggin/roofing
4.Finishing (plastering, electrical, plumbing, windows, doors others etc)
At the end of each stage, I included money spent in each case study at that point.

Foundation to flooring + soakaway

Some people advice that a soil test be done to determine the type of foundation required. This is because soils generally exhibit complex properties. For a small scale project, most engineers can estimate the best foundation to suit a soil without the need for a comprehensive soil test. More especially, if there are other houses in the area.
This first stage of the project will involve digging the foundation, laying some blocks up to floor level, and flooring. German flooring is a very popular flooring choice among Nigerian builders.

Case 1: ₦1,276,650 (foundation, German floor, soakaway)
Case 2: ₦1.5 million (foundation, German floor)
Case 3: ₦1 million (foundation, German floor)

Block work + lintel

After the flooring, the main block work begins. It is at the stage that the different rooms start to take shape. In my experience co-managing a block industry, I’d estimate a total of about 7,000 blocks for a 3 bedroom (house + soakaway + fence) on a plot of land. Could be slightly more or less. Smaller room sizes will need lesser than this figure.
Case 1: ₦1,239,450 (block work, labour, sand, cement, lintel casting, iron, wood)
Case 3: ₦2 million (block work, plastering, labour, sand, cement)

Noggin/roffing

Roofing and finishing is what takes larger chunk of the total cost of building a house. There are a few roofing alternatives and they come with their pros and cons. Asbestos was well used decades ago but is fading now due to health concerns. Aluminium roof are much more popular these days. Also there are concrete fascias and parapets added to roofing to give it a modern look.
Case 1: ₦1,506,250 (concrete fascia, wood work, aluminium roofing)
Case 3: ₦950,000 (Wood work, aluminium roofing)

Finishing

This is the final stage of the project involving plumbing, electrical, plastering, tiling, windows, doors and so on. The amount of money spent on finishing depends majorly on your taste. Someone putting metal doors and imported tiles in his house will spend more than another considering cheaper alternatives.
Case1: ₦705,000 (windows, doors, plastering, electrical, plumbing, POP)
Case 3: ₦1.565 million. (Sanitary wares, plumbing, tiles, POP, electrical, painting)

Other costs

Apart from the major stages outlined above, there are stages that are equally important. Among these are fencing, clearing/leveling of land, erecting of gates, omonile/drink-for-community-chief, water supply, development levies etc.

Cost saving tips

Sadly, it is near impossible to 100% avoid being fleeced when building a house. Some site engineers might be dishonest in their price quotes and actions. A few have gone as far as selling building materials meant for the project. There is also the danger of buying sub-standard materials at standard price.
However, and I must add, there are honest site engineers and workers in Nigeria too. Not all are bad eggs.
From research and personal experience, here are some cost saving tips;
Get 2 or 3 quotes before spending money on any part of the project. You’ll be amazed how much can be saved.
As much as possible, have a trusted family member on site ALWAYS or at least most of the time.
Visit the market to have an idea of how much materials are sold.
If you can, be present when materials are bought
Do proper stock-taking

Conclusion
From the three cases, we can estimate a total of ₦8 million will go a long way in erecting a decent 3 bedroom bungalow if well managed. This is exclusive of furniture and exquisite finishing. Factoring in land cost of ₦2 million, this brings the total to ₦10 million.
Does this mean you must have ₦10 million before building your house? Absolutely not. Building a house doesn’t have to be a sprint. The most important thing is starting and gradually building up. In one of the cases sampled, the owner started building with ₦500,000 about a year after buying the land. Start that project today and you could be a proud house owner before you know it.


Kindly, note that these figures are not cast in stone but are to serve as a guide of what to expect. With careful planning, it is possible to spend a 7th of the total given.

I hope you found this piece of information useful. And don't forget to ask your questions using the comment box below.

Cc lalasticlala

This is very expository. Could upload the pictures of the houses in your case study?

Meklex:
This is very expository. Could upload the pictures of the houses in your case study?

Here are some case study pictures as requested by you. Although it's one of our Building projects. It's a 3bedroom bungalow..

Thanks for the post.
Not sure of the time of posting, but the cement price of 1650 per bag seems erroneous....

mko77:
Thanks for the post.
Not sure of the time of posting, but the cement price of 1650 per bag seems erroneous....

Tnxs for correcting. It's actually a typo error

Please continue you doing a really wonderful work

ugonology:
Please continue you doing a really wonderful work

Thanks

Please I am planing to build 2 bedroom, six flats in ogun state . Please I need the full estimate for every stage
1 foundation
2.from foundation to dpc
3.from dpc to decking (first decking)
4.from first decking to second decking
5.from first decking to roofing
6.pop
7.plastering
8.electrical work
9.tile
10.fencing
11.etc

AsomArchitectNG:
Conclusion
From the three cases, we can estimate a total of ₦8 million will go a long way in erecting a decent 3 bedroom bungalow if well managed. This is exclusive of furniture and exquisite finishing. Factoring in land cost of ₦2 million, this brings the total to ₦10 million.
Does this mean you must have ₦10 million before building your house? Absolutely not. Building a house doesn’t have to be a sprint. The most important thing is starting and gradually building up. In one of the cases sampled, the owner started building with ₦500,000 about a year after buying the land. Start that project today and you could be a proud house owner before you know it.


Kindly, note that these figures are not cast in stone but are to serve as a guide of what to expect. With careful planning, it is possible to spend a 7th of the total given.

I hope you found this piece of information useful. And don't forget to ask your questions using the comment box below.

Cc lalasticlala

Please I am planing to build 2 bedroom, six flats in ogun state . Please I need the full estimate for every stage
1 foundation
2.from foundation to dpc
3.from dpc to decking (first decking)
4.from first decking to second decking
5.from first decking to roofing
6.pop
7.plastering
8.electrical work
9.tile
10.fencing
11.etc

Interesting

That's 2018 estimate
2021 est..will be more different due to the inflation in the country


Anyways if you need a reputable & professional roofer do well to contact imran roofing

In the thread link below they have studied carefully most of the various types of roofing sheet out there and have come up with analysis on each of them from their prices, quality and most importantly durability. You can ask any question about roofing in this thread , the person in charge of this thread is one of the most honest & reputable people we have on this forum @money121 , so be rest assured !

https://www.nairaland.com/3364135/roofing-sheets-cost-various-types


(imran roofing Is a registered company under the coperate affairs commission
www.Imranroofing.com.ng , you can also reach him
Via 08085310359

Thank me later


Don’t wait till you own a house before you save his number .

Interesting.......

K

AsomArchitectNG:
You’ve come a long way as a tenant and it’s time to build your house. You’ve started searching for designs, calculating how much you need for the project. Look no further, this post is for you.
I will try as much as possible to demystify the cost of building a house in Nigeria.

A list of price of building materials will also be added. This is to help in cost estimates particularly since tastes are different.

However to help us in arriving at a good estimate, i will be taking case studies of a three bedroom apartment built in three locations which includes: Nasarawa, Lagos and Kwara. The building process will be broken into stages and the amount spent will be included.

For those intending to build sit back and relax while i totally Unfold the cost of building a three bedroom apartment here in Nigeria.

You can also contact us if you want your building project done for you from planning stage to completion stage, Or rather you need advice on how to go about your building project.

You can also ask questions in areas not cleared about. Thanks

But first, let us see what is involved when getting a land in Nigeria.

Nice thread

With concrete or mud bricks??

Op you should have use a sample of design layout to make your assumed analysis.

7,000 blocks for three bedroom bungalow even with soakaway is very incorrect.

I'd think there should be a regulation in the platform to guide information on issue that bothers on technicality and professionalism.

Most of the information you guys put out are misleading.

Price no fit be again.
Just double the calculations up.

Damnnn niggar
Grabbing my weed to learn

3000 blocks will be enough for a standard portable 3 bedroom flat

Okay