₦airaland Forum

Hello,

If you feel the Labour Cost is too much, you should renegotiate.

Standard practice in Our Organisation ( We help Nigerians in Diaspora to design,build,buy, verify,document and manage Real Estate at any location in Nigeria) is to Prepare a Free Detailed initial proposal based on the Client brief, that Includes plans,BOQs and Schedules.

The Schedule will include a Material Schedule and a Labour Schedule for the whole work.

The material schedule wil state all the specific materials to be used for any area of work, the quantity that will be needed and its unit price.

The Labour schedule will state the specific number of artisans to be used for any specified area of work, the amount of work they will do per day , and their cost per day.

Our profit is never part of the labour cost, our profit is just 15 percent of the overall cost of the project.

so if your house will cost 10 million to build, our fee is 1.5 million.

Full disclosure and giving complete information is very crucial to clients not living in the country due to cost sensitivity issues.

We have attached a sample of a Material/labour schedule so you will Know exactly what it is.

for more information on us, check http://artizanni.proposalist.com/let_us_help_you_develop_or_buy_property_in_nigeria

Onion16:
Thank you so much for your advice. Are you saying it would cost at most 9m to complete this 16 room self contain hostel? With this plan below...

We will Recommend that you get a Professional Quantity Surveyor to Give you the Exact Costs. All We give here are Estimates Based on the First quarter of 2015. It is supposed to guide your decision making process.

Yes, for the Type 1 Finishing, IF THE SQM of that Building is 100sqm the Cost Should not exceed what we calculated. Please note that THAT is the HARD CONSTRUCTION COST for the Building.Kindly refer to Our Previous Posts to NOTE the CAVEATs we gave regarding the Accuracy of Our Estimate as at Today.

Kind Regards.

Hello,

Therefore, based on the Information above, if for Example your Hostel Building is assumed to be Totally 100sqm., and you want to build in Ogun, which is in the southwest, and Finish the Building to Type 1 Specifications, It follows that Your Cost RANGE WILL BE, from the table above:

1.Total Sqm= 100

2.Location= Ogun, Southwest.

3. Finish= Type 1.

4. Rate for Ogun,under Type 1 = 94,714

5. Total Estimate= 100 X 94,714 = 9,471,400................Assumed Upper Limit.

6.40 percent discount = 0.4 X 9,471,400 =3,788,560

7. least Cost will then be = 9,471,400 - 3,788,560 = 5, 682,840.............Assumed Lower Limit.


The above means that as at our April Price Intelligence Database Records, a 100 Sqm Hostel of Type 1 Finish in Ogun state will cost you at least 5, 682, 840 or 9,471,400 at most.

A BOQ prepared by a Professional Quantity Surveyor will be able to give you precise answers as at today. The above is just an Estimate for taking action.

Hello,

Unfortunately, the Table did not come out properly, so we have taken a screenshot of the Table,and have attached it here. Kindly refer to it.

Onion16:
Thanks for your input but can you kindly state the estimated cost here as im sure other people would be glad to learn too. Thanks.

Hello,

Though the Information below is Proprietary Information, for the sake of Transparency we will follow your advice. Please note the Caveats.

ARTIZANI BUSINESS SERVICES LTD, ABUJA APRIL ,2015.
CONDITIONS FOR APPLICATION
NB:
1)
Rates are based on first quarter 2015, and therefore represent the average expected building cost rates for 2015.

2)
The unit rates reflect hard construction costs, including general requirements and excluding fees,
excluding site works and tenant improvements. Variances in unit rates and escalation will occur due to
the remoteness of some regions and prevailing local market conditions. Construction costs can also be
affected by a multitude of factors that may not be limited to market conditions.

ARTIZANNI LTD strongly recommends that readers seek the advice of a Professional Quantity Surveyor (PQS)
prior to establishing a budget for their specific projects.

DEVELOPMENT COST PER SQUARE METRE

DEVELOPMENT COST RATES
This section provides a list of approximate inclusive building cost rates for various building types in Nigeria.
appropriate, as defined in the New Rules of Measurement produced by THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF CHARTERED SURVEYORS, UK
Its emphasized that these rates are of indicative nature and only should be used circumspectly as they are dependent upon a number of assumptions.

You can ask for "inclusive rate estimates". The area of the building expressed in m2 is equivalent to The "Construction area" where appropriate, as defined in the New Rules of Measurement produced by THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF CHARTERED SURVEYORS, UK.


RESIDENTIAL LAGOS SouthWest SouthEast (Delta,River and AkwaIbom States) North Abuja & North Extreme
BUILDINGS (Incl.Edo State) (Inc.Cross River State) (Sokoto, KebbiAnd Yobe States)
#/m2 #/m2 #/m2 #/m2 #/m2 #/m2



Hostels(Type1) 99,700 94,714 117,646 129,610 119,639 124,625


Hostels(Type2) 104,832 99,590 123,702 136,282 125,798 131,040

Hello,

Please send your email to kola@artizanniltd.com.

We will send you a database of Cost/sqm of any building at different locations in Nigeria, Multiply the cost per square meter of Hostel buildings by the Sqm of the Hostel Building you have in mind, then discount it by 40 percent. This will give you the minimum cost. the maximum cost is the initial value you get.

If you need more information, we are here to serve you.

Hello House,

We have been going through several posts on Nairaland, and have come across several stories of Construction projects Transactions with some allegedly ''Fraudulent'' Contractors that did not ened well for the client.

As a result of this,and due to our speciality in this area, we will like to advise clients on what to do and how to do anything relating to construction projects in Nigeria if they dont want to get burnt.


For Clients:

1. Please, never ever ever do business with a Contractor who is not professionally indemnified for professional services malpractice by an insurance company. This seemingly negligible point is very vital if you hope to ever get redress if and when a Contractor fails to do as promised. A professional indemnity means that the insurer of that professional will pay up if anything untoward happens to Your Project as a result of the dishonesty,incompetence or negligence of the contractor that was indemnified by the Insurer. This is very very crucial, especially if you are hiring a contractor from an online platform like Nairaland.

2. We have also observed instances on this platform where potential clients will just state the dimensions of a particular building project they have in mind or even upload such and then implore certain ''experts'' to come up with possible estimates for constructing the building. This is one of the easiest ways to get burnt on a project, and while it is very possible to get estimates that are within range of implementing the project, it is very very risky in most cases, as most potential contractors will just underestimate to trap you in, then renegotiate once you commit financially to the project. this is a leading cause of most projects that end tragically for clients.

The smart thing to do is to contact professional quantity Surveyors and Estimators, or Construction Firms, who have a database of cost.per square meter of various building types across the country, that is reviewed periodically. They will usually give this out to you for free. once you get this rate, multiple it by the total square meters of your building floor plan, then discount what you get by 40 percent. That will give you the lower range of what it is likely going to cost you to build that house, and the initial value will be the upper limit. If you feel comfortable about the Price Ranges, you should then ask your Quantity Surveyor to prepare a Priced Bill of Quantities for you, and also a material schedule and a labour schedule.

Now,some people think a BOQ is useless on small projects,we disagree. A BOQ contains all the work that is to be carried out, this will guide you on what you can remove or not remove, because it will contain everything, including some that may not be necessary. ONCE YOU IDENTIFY SUCH,you can remove it and get a lower cost, but that wont be possible f you do not have a view of the whole picture,and a BOQ gives you the whole picture of the project. Of more importance is the Material and labour schedule that is based on the BOQ, these documents gives you the EXACT number of artisans you need per work type, or the exact quantity of blocks you for example need to build a wall, all down to the cost per artisan or item. Once you have this information, you can decide to use 3 artisans instead of 5 stated in the schedule, and save cost there, or even find a way to achieve cost savings on materials BECAUSE you now have the COMPLETE picture of what you need to achieve your project,and where you can save cost. Avoid guesstimates.

3. Contract agreements: Please in all and every case, never commit financially on any project no matter how small if you do not have a contract agreement with the contractor. there is nothing complicated here at all, a Quantity Surveyor can prepare that for you in a jiffy, and all the project terms and conditions are specified and laid out in clear terms here. This document is particularly important if you need to resolve troublesome issues with a contractor that is failing to do what he agreed to.

4. Payment: If you live abroad, never pay your contractor directly, appoint a trustee, pay the trustee, tell the trustee to pay the contractor if and only if you instruct them, and after they have verified that the contractor is executing the project according to the contract terms and conditions.

5. Quality of construction: Please always involve a professionally registered Architect when planning your project, he will ensure that detailed Standard Specification documents are produced, specifying the quality of materials to use on the project, the construction method to adopt and the quality of construction acceptable and quality control checks that must be put in place. This may seem too academic to some people, who think small projects dont need these sort of arrangements, but from experience a project is a project, and it is better to err on the side of caution. this architectural specification document is part of your contract agreement,and the contractor is liable if he fails to stick to the specification.

6. Time: It is a Myth that you cannot state precisely when a project will be completed. As long as Funding is in Place, and BUILDING permits and approvals have been received beforehand, and there is no Force Majeur event, it is only the ineptitude of a Contractor that will result in any delay on your project.

7. Best Practices: Please, never ever instruct your contractors to flaunt building approval requirements and laws because you want to maximize space or save space or materials. True professionals will not even agree to do such in the first place, but if you end up with a crook, you may regret it at the end of the day because you may never be able to get building permits, approvals or go-aheads, and your building may end up demolished. Always follow best practices.


There are many other points that we ll cover in subsequent topics, but the moral of our Advice is always involve professionals on your projects, because if push comes to shove, you can make them lose their practicing licences.

Kind Regards.

Hello House,

While not trying to denigrate any of the Parties, We will like to Point out one or two things.

1. The Customer is always right.

2. Always spell out the details of the project very very clearly.

3. AVOID ROUGH ESTIMATES. It is crucial that a Registered Quantity Surveyor Prepare a BOQ, and Material plus Labour Schedule for the project. Please do not try to bypass this.

4. Have a very clearly detailed Architectural specification document, complete with pictures, specified quality, where to buy etc..

5. For the Client, always do Fixed Cost Contracts, no matter what.

6. For the Client, always make sure your Contractor is Professionally indemnified, so you can always sue for malpractice.

7.Agree upfront on all project terms and conditions, all of which must be in a contract agreement, prepared by a professional quantity surveyor.

8. Embrace cost saving plans at the pre-contract stage, but avoid all corner cutting.

To Contractors: Be very professional. let the Client be aware of all Conditions. Discuss estimates beforehand. Agree on a prepared BOQ. Decide if the BOQ value should be tied to inflation or Fixed. Always give precise Estimates. It is a Science, not an art. It is possible to give precise estimates about time and Cost. If a potential Client feels your Estimate is too high, state your Particular Profit percentage on that estimate, and negotiate that lower. If The Client will not budge. Please move on. It is bad practice to start renegotiating on a project after the Client has commenced it. It is very unprofessional.

These are just some points you can adopt as best practices in building construction in Nigeria....