uhuns: Ho I have read alot of your mails on this and other thread .
And all infor on contractor ,relatives,baba bricklayer etc are correct.
From my experience most time the owner is to be blamed, how do you give a sum to anybody that has not seen that kind of money in say in the past one year
You guys aboard make us feel we don't have creadible guys around here !!!!!!
Mainwhile you in most cases fraternize with half baked guys during ur short stay in here.
If you guys did not see spider and coy, probably conclude negatively.

A little estimate is this----bungalow cost below N60,000 per floor area in meters may be wanting in standard .

My stake is that you look well o.
Always remember the difference in cost btw different grades of materials canbe up to 100%
This can affect your quotes . My take is that if you can buy materials yourself the better.
My studies case is benin city as a case sturdy
QED

.

My friend don't say what you don't know. Do Spyder and Brabus build in every Nigerian City? Not everyone is from Lagos/Ogun or the East. Because there might be some good people out there, I should not mention my bad experience? I couldn't care less about that.

You think all those politicians who keep stealing our money are poor? Who told you that my builder is a poor person? I can see how poor Nigerian education has become. A greedy dishonest person can be a rich person.

I have built houses for 20 years, I am not a novice in it.

InvertedHammer: Building a house is one project you do not want to delegate to anyone.
It is your house, it is your money. Treat it as such.

If you cannot leave your job to check out your site, then you shouldn't be building.
But if you do, take whatever u get.

Foundation, decking, roofing need your presence.
Plastering, windows, doors, etc. you can use trusted allies as supervisors after you contract them out.

Information is key. You don't know much about buildings? Google it, use youtube, etc. you will learn a lot.
That's the power of technology.

Keep open eyes!

Interesting topic and very interesting write-up here!

My understanding is that some people cannot leave their jobs even for one day because they will lose alot of money!
Some people live so far away from Nigeria that cost of traveling home is so so much!
Some people are happy to pay a little extra (not 60%) and I heard some say 15% more than 'standard' to get their jobs done!

Wahala here is: what is the standard
why will someone just decide to buy inferior materials
Is this because some people fear neither God nor man

Anyway, I have been in all these wahala situations and they have NOT stopped me from continuing to love my Nigeria and I will continue to invest there anytime God blesses me with money (earned from hard-work!)

My current method is:
- to trust a professional, (DEGREE, I will see your projects, you MUST still be working NOW!)
- pay adequate fees,
- monitor via emails and this has been enough besides, I don't have time. ONLY the professional is incharge and no friends, no families. Anybody you see on-site is working on that site under the professional.
I know a man who was 'monitoring' his wife and she was doing stuff right infront of his nose but he couldn't see.lol
- build within 6months (avoids grammar of Oga price increased!)

So far so good, I thank God.

I leave the rest to God!
If the 'professional' f.cks up, I move on. God DEY!

gtrust:


Interesting topic and very interesting write-up here!

My understanding is that some people cannot leave their jobs even for one day because they will lose alot of money!
Some people live so far away from Nigeria that cost of traveling home is so so much!
Some people are happy to pay a little extra (not 60%) and I heard some say 15% more than 'standard' to get their jobs done!

Wahala here is: what is the standard
why will someone just decide to buy inferior materials
Is this because some people fear neither God nor man

Anyway, I have been in all these wahala situations and they have NOT stopped me from continuing to love my Nigeria and I will continue to invest there anytime God blesses me with money (earned from hard-work!)

My current method is:
- to trust a professional, (DEGREE, I will see your projects, you MUST still be working NOW!)
- pay adequate fees,
- monitor via emails and this has been enough besides, I don't have time. ONLY the professional is incharge and no friends, no families. Anybody you see on-site is working on that site under the professional.
I know a man who was 'monitoring' his wife and she was doing stuff right infront of his nose but he couldn't see.lol
- build within 6months (avoids grammar of Oga price increased!)

So far so good, I thank God.

I leave the rest to God!
If the 'professional' f.cks up, I move on. God DEY!

.

Very good points made.

It is not rocket science. Standard is not the problem. It is nothing elusive. It is just dishonesty. If you know that 10 men can set x number blocks a day and you then tell your relative abroad upfront that you need 30 men to do it, it's just daylight robbery.

If you know that labour to plaster a bungalow is 150k and you claim it's 310k, it's not due to standard.

If you measure the surface area of a bungalow to tile to be 336sqm and you demand money claiming the size is 778 sqm, you're a rogue.

These are the kind of rip off I am talking about.

In the past, I have seen people asking for 120k instead of 105k that was actually quoted (through checks), I usually just did as if I didn't know and paid 120k.

There was even a time eons ago when I used to add 10% to every quotation I got from a close relative as commission (not agreed on, but out of appreciation).

He began well. Later, he wasn't even spending 50% of money sent on the project. He was pocketing most of the money plus commission. In those days no internet, no mobile phone. Analogue Nitel phone line was unreliable. So verifying things was hard unless you travel by yourself.

MacLovington: .

Very good points made.

It is not rocket science. Standard is not the problem. It is nothing elusive. It is just dishonesty. If you know that 10 men can set x number blocks a day and you then tell your relative abroad upfront that you need 30 men to do it, it's just daylight robbery.

If you know that labour to plaster a bungalow is 150k and you claim it's 310k, it's not due to standard.

If you measure the surface area of a bungalow to tile to be 336sqm and you demand money claiming the size is 778 sqm, you're a rogue.

These are the kind of rip off I am talking about.

In the past, I have seen people asking for 120k instead of 105k that was actually quoted (through checks), I usually just did as if I didn't know and paid 120k.

There was even a time eons ago when I used to add 10% to every quotation I got from a lose relative as commission (not agreed uopn, but out of appreciation).

He began well. Later, he wasn't even spending 50% of money sent on the project. He was pocketing ,ost of the money plus commission. In those days no internet, no mobile phone. Analogue Nitel phone line was unreliable. So verifying things was hard unless you travel by yourself.

The sheer level of dishonesty and fraud is amazing. Sometimes, you wonder if people think you plucking money from trees and not working extra hard for it.

I recently wanted to do a POP and somebody came to measure it and gave me 93 Sq. Meters. Meanwhile this is the same space i had measured to be 76 Sq. meters when i went home and had actually bought tiles for. Space to be covered for POP and Tiles are the same.

I brought in somebody else and he measured 73 Sq. Meters. I promptly gave him the job. When he finished and pleaded for a topping because of increase in the particular materials and standards that i wanted, i had no second thought in topping it for him. Just imagine the difference between 93 and 73. A whopping addition of 20 sq. meters.

MacLovington: .

My friend don't say what you don't know. Do Spyder and Brabus build in every Nigerian City? Not everyone is from Lagos/Ogun or the East. Because there might be some good people out there, I should not mention my bad experience? I couldn't care less about that.

You think all those politicians who keep stealing our money are poor? Who told you that my builder is a poor person? I can see how poor Nigerian education has become. A greedy dishonest person can be a rich person.

I have built houses for 20 years, I am not a novice in it.

My brother we no they vex
your line one says the same facts as mine
line two is not refering to my statment
line three well this yr will make me 24yr
all the same ur opinion is yours and mine is mine,but we needd to tell the truth.
my case sturdy is benin city.

Please help,I would like to know the cost of building a 4 bedroom duplex with 2 sitting rooms one downstairs and one upstairs and a library and mini theater . the masters bedroom, first sitting room and kitchen , The Land is located at Sangotedo. I dont have the plan yet , email me lawal.oluwadamilare@yahoo.com

Hi,
you will need the plan to give you a precise and good estimate.
Any enquiries you can reach us on samuelajoseengineers@gmail.com

Bumped