aasog: [b]Land issues won’t be treated as our prestigious one and only Lawyer here has been so very invaluable on the topic; just the technical part of how homes are been built and cost of building materials and labor within the country will be discussed; so when the estimate comes from your contractor, you should expect what to see and what to question.
Most importantly after securing your plot, you should get the following things done.
- Select the Right Building Contractor when Building Your Own Home
- Having a good plan that’s achievable. Meaning: your plan must comply with the measurement of the land, if you want a 5 bedroom duplex, with a small BQ at the backyard, and a good swimming pool, a tennis court, and basket ball courts, then you definitely need more than a plot of land.
- Have a good architect or contractor who can give and advise you on a feasible and nice plan, and who can make positive contribution, and get the plan redesigned if there be any need with all the dimensions outlined.
- If the construction will be more than a bungalow, the service of an engineer is vital. (In Lagos, a registered or certified structural engineer is required to make structural calculations after the plan and survey of the property is ready. The engineer would also acknowledge the structural drawing with his official stamp or seal).
- Create exclusivity: fencing your property is expensive, but it will also keep several unwanted attention away from it. Like the thugs, and area boys who collect illegal tolls from workers and from the land owners whenever work commence. If you fail to do this, you spend roughly half of what you would have spent on a good fence getting rid of touts and trouble. A good fence and a gate keeps a lot of stress and delays away.
- Making up your mind about the time frame, the length of the project, and discussing it with your contractor and working out an agreement that should be signed.
- Most importantly, it’s much more advisable to build during the dry season than during the wet season.
- Don’t cram too much structure on a your land, as this could always lead to problem in the future as the cases with some partially demolished houses with shops or their fronts extending to the road in Lagos. Allow your architect to include parking space, if your street doesn’t have a gutter, have it in mind there would be one in the future, and consider the space for it. Don’t overbuild.
- Listen to experts and don’t go against their advice.
- If you can’t afford a structural engineer fee, and your plot of land is close to a train station, or a place with heavy duty machines that causes serious vibrations, please build a bungalow with solid foundation, as strong vibrations are majorly the reason for house collapse.
- If you are building on a muddy or swampy land like in Lekki, a raft foundation with higher PVC of about 5/6 feet is necessary in case of flooding. Where the soil has a high consistency of clay or water or salt, enough filling will definitely be required after the raft.
- If your house won’t be a bungalow, you are going to spend plenty on steel.
- Cements: it’s unprofessional to give a tally on how much cement should be used on a project so don't grumble over this, but keep accounts, and tell your contractor to keep the bags of the used one for you. Cements shouldn’t be spared for any construction, as the ratio of cement to water should be 5:1. The more the cement, the lesser the water, the stronger the house. Dangote Cements are about the best in the market, and it’s proudly Nigerian.
- You spend double if building on a land with a recently demolished property as you spend more time on clearing out the old foundation first.
- DIY: Do it Yourself always leave several mistakes that always translate into more bigger expenses in the future. Find someone with building experience and skills to build for you.
The Process:
Building a home could be an adventure or a nightmare. It depends greatly on you, and the person handling the construction. Good contractors usually start with identifying key problems that needs to be solved before starting any building. First and foremost, there’s the problem of budget. Quality greatly depends on budget. Meaning: a simple gate of a residential home could cost #100,000 to #2,500,000 as it all depends on the taste of the owner. Meanwhile, some extremely low budgets are just totally out of the question. Patience could be meaningful if the funds can’t get the work done. You can get the foundation done, or the fence done, and take your time. Whenever another boon comes, you can proceed from the foundation to the lintel, to the roofing, plastering, etc. Building is about the easiest engagement. You need to rush as long as your land is safe. So don’t engage in DIY because of low funds, or go to the extent of managing materials, as some contractors might not care and encourage this. This usually lead to future dilapidation and quick collapse regardless if the home is bungalow or going up.
Estimate:
So, after getting the above steps checked, you proceed with getting a total estimate of the building from your contractor.
The function of an estimate is to give a reasonably accurate idea of the cost of a desired building. And there are 2 types of Estimates:
1. Approximate estimates: An approximate estimate is an approximate or rough estimate prepared to obtain an approximate cost in a short time. For certain purposes the use of such methods is justified.
2. Detailed estimates: A detailed estimate of the cost of a project is prepared by determining the quantities and costs of everything that a contractor is required to provide and do for the satisfactory completion of the work. It is the best and most reliable form of estimate.
When planning to build, it is advisable you get a detailed estimate from your contractor. Most detailed estimates usually have (a). Unit quantity method, and (b). Total quantity method. The quantity method usually include a detailed list and explanation of (I) Materials (II) Labor (III) Cost of transporting materials (IV) Cost of Service Including Contingency. (V) The total cost outline.
A detailed estimate splits the building into steps:
1. General Construction: Building from foundation to roofing.
2. Site Work: Clearing, digging of foundation, filling, the plumber and electrician laying piping and floor plugs for water and conduits respectively. Etc.
3. Carpentry: Rough carpentry and smooth carpentry (furniture work): doors, cupboards, etc
4. Utilities: Tiles, Plumbing (taps, toilets, sinks, etc), Electrical work, pole fitting, plastering, painting, etc.
5. Landscaping: planting of flowers, interlocking stones, etc.
6. Total Work Estimate: total amount for materials required for all work, and labor including supervision and administration (S&A).
And the estimate should outline the materials required for all this processes and the units, and cost per unit, and the total amount need, and the total cost.
Materials:
- The best blocks to use should be 9x9’ blocks since most 6’ in blocks aren’t strong, in most cases where people use 6’ blocks, they end up using several columns/pillars for reinforcement. 6' blocks are fine if the supplier is reliable, but in most cases, its more encouraged to add a lot of pillars to your home regardless if you are using a 9' or 6' blocks. Block makers in Nigeria should be subjected to ISO (International Standard Organization) rule like the ones in India, Dubai, China and other developed countries. But right now, the Nigerians block makers are not. So, get plenty reinforcement for your home regardless if it’s a bungalow. A good contractor will encourage this. Some dont simply care.
For 1 unit of a 2 or 3 bedrooms flat, 6,000 to 7,000 pieces of blocks will build the entire house. Kindly note that the 6,000 or 7,000 don’t include the fence. A fence tends to require x2 of the amount of blocks spent on building your home. Why? Check a fence and see if there’s any window or door.
- 12 MM steel remains the best for bungalows. If your house is going higher, it’s advisable you use 16mm. Some engineers go as far as advocating 20mm, it doesn’t hurt to be extra careful, but 16mm will hold anything like 3-4 story building, if its going higher, then higher options aren't bad. If you are building a bungalow on a solid ground, you will never go beyond 1 tons of steel. If you are building a 2 units of 3 bedroom flats, you won’t use more than 3-4 tons. The reason you might go beyond 3 tons is simply if you are adding some extra touches to your windows fenestration and fence.
When it comes to using steels, have a sharp eye as a ton of 12mm alone cost a whopping #100,000 or more depending on location. Take time to visit your site, meet the welder and have a little chit chat and learn things from him.
- Rings & Binding wires: The 12 or 16 mm steel purchased will be cut into different shapes and lengths, the rings and binding wires are the materials used in holding them together. For a bungalow, you will never use more than 5 dozens of both.
- (Woods): The second best woods for rough carpentry is Abara. The best is Afara, but it would be insane for any contractor to advocate such quality, since its senslessly expensive. Its about the 2nd most exported commodity in Nigeria as Americans swoop on it. They call it Mahogany. In most cases, it’s advisable you get plenty of Abara instead right away, because they can be reused for fenestration, pillars, etc. Abara can be used for two to three different building constructions if well kept.
- Buy a Geepee tank on the site so you won’t spend double on getting water. The Geepee would eventually be used as the water tank for the house.
- Digging a well doesn't come cheap, and its never a contracted thing. You keep spending as long as the digger hasn't reached water. Your well will serve much longer than boreholes. Boreholes sooner or later develop lots of problem, and alot more difficult to maintain than fixing your water pumping machine inside the well. Digging a well shouldn’t go beyond a #100,000 on a soft land or location like Lekki.
- For a 2 units of 2/3 bedroom flat, if you are using aluminums or slates from Nigerite, your carpenter won’t go beyond using 350 sheets of slates. The normal calculation is 300 sheets of slates, but its advisable to include a 50 extra because of the fragile nature of slates.
- Roofing a double unit of 2/3 bedroom flat shouldnt take more than 3 tons of steel. Question any request for extra. You should have some left to take care of the stairways.
-You can always check your building plan to know how many doors, window frames, etc you will need. So the utilities estimate can be scrutinized if over blown.
ROOFING:
Asphalt Shingles - A typical asphalt shingle roof may last about 20 years. It’s the most attractive so far.
Metal Roofing - Reflects heat very well, and last longer than any known roofing materials, unless you are want to cover your roof with concrete.
Tile Roofing also called Step Tiles- Made from clay or concrete, tile roofs are extremely durable with warranties typically covering 50 to 75 years. Tile roofing is heavy, so if you are replacing a lightweight material with tile, be sure that your roof supports are strong enough to bear the weight. If not, reinforcing your roof structure can add significant cost to installing a tile roof. Tile roofing are incredibly expensive as covering 2 units of 2 bedroom flat would cost about 1.2 million naira. Usually, the costs are measured per sq ft.
Slate Roofs: Easy and cheap. Nigerite and some other Chinese manufacturers are mass producing this, and the amount you would use for a 2 units of 2 or 3 bedroom won’t exceed 300 slates, or at most, 350 because of cracking. Slates have their limited strength, but they could go as far as 40 years or more. Please, buy from authorized dealers as some fake slates are known to cause poisoning. So when purchasing, go with your carpenter or contractor.
PS: Don’t allow either an orange or a mango tree to grow beside your roof or above it. The dropping fruits measure about 2 ounce or sometimes a little more. The constant landing of these fruits on the roof tend to damage them considerably . Especially slates.
This little tips is strictly for residential and small scale commercial construction only and should never be applied to other lines of construction like civil or industrial. It isnt perfect, but only intended as an intro to the uninitiated.
Good questions would be entertained. There are several professionals here whose further contributions would also be welcomed. Happy Building everyone to those planning or currently doing so.[/b]

spyder880: Today is the first time of my meeting the gentleman that owns this house I am building. He has always been sending money from the diaspora and I have been building this block of flats. Such a handsome young man, may the lord continue to fill your pockets in 2014 till forever. It shall be well with you.

We are busy hanging on top of this block of flats doing the roof of this house. I have with me about 6 carpenters plus labourers lifting wood from the ground.

We intend to start the plastering works in this house sometimes next week. Some beautiful designs of wall edges et all playing in my head already. More pictures later tonight.

spyder880:

My man, I am sorry for not coming when you wanted me, but its not too late as I still hope to work for you in future. Welcome.


@ lawali, esorita, Diordaves, Fhemmmy, Jam04, Degis etc. Thank you for your nice words. May God add blessings to your blessings in 2014 and forever.

Brabus NG: APOLOGIES

While not shying away from the issues and problems on ground, I will like to apologize one again to everyone for falling short of your expectation on the chateau and other projects. I'll be back on this thread again to share the good news that all issues have been resolved.

Madam Gabby, DUNKA, esoorita, daroseconcept, Hajji, Neophyte-Mason, vimo3, love-tosin, dayoagboola, lawyer, gtrust, jaydacorsia, spyder880, diordavies, sagewood, kuntash, kopell, olubuffet, blank, blink32, seun, deebabe, Qc-1, segcy.moor, chekitaut, aventures, junapril, sandee575, helpee, ahonohia, TBrownauto, Demain-man, whitecat007, benimegou, oseun001, Jamesqu, Fhemmmy, rotecch77, borisgbenga, Wede3, Jussi, floridarcar, Degis, amicdan, Ricky_olu, eghosa_johnny, Timmi, orepe, Farm+, goride1, defashan, akeweje, raqueal, oilsubsidy, kolamilan, onuokwu and all other silent readers.

I'm very sorry.

greatgilbert: Very interesting.
So Brabus has not been unbanded
Brabus is now Brabus NG!

Hope the owner of the chateau was able to move in on Dec 15th as they had planned!
Best wishes to ALL!

Shollydriv: Happy christmas nairaland

spyder880: Christmas is in the air!

Its that time of the year when we must pause for a few days and savor the blessings of the almighty, a time we are supposed to slow down from all our rushing and toiling and join the rest of humanity as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I am using this opportunity to wish you all a the merriest Christmas ever, and a 2014 filled with bountiful blessings and favor. May your blessings become so much that you will make others rich just by the small you give out.

It has been a very challenging year for us at the Spyder building enterprise, we expanded the scope of our operations and completed some beautiful projects, but this is just the beginning. We plan to spread out more in 2014 and build an even greater number of houses. Building houses by bringing out beautifully drawn plans to stand magnificently is our passion, but we also try to something else. We put ourselves in the shoes of our client and try to have a feel of what he desires to achieve. We then work hard to bring his thought to reality by working round the clock to build his dream.

It has not been rosy all the time, we have had to go to extra lengths to do our work, sometimes we do what might seem too difficult, skipping meals and sleep, standing under the rain and sun, screaming and fighting with troublesome workers, traveling at odd hours, and at dangerous speeds through dangerous zones.

But the lord has been good to us, it was not just because we were very strong, or efficient. It was because the lord wanted to favor us by enabling us to stay strong.

"If I have seen any farther, its because I have been sitting at the shoulders of giants"

Let us appreciate these giants, Oga Fhemmmy, Oga Hajj Mufutau, Remcoface, Brabus, Diordaves, Twinskenny, High chief, Jussi, Afam4eva, Gabbytabby, Okija-juju, Lawali, gtrust, Benimeogu, Megainvest, Osama10, Demain man, baby123, Zuby77, Emperor1, otokx, Degis, achi4u, sayso, NL1960, Mr Everest, plasgidy, Emperor, ashaju33, VIPICO, jites, blink182, chinoxl, prince-onx, tlops, od31, stsoul, jam04, sagewood, kkonsult, ogaibe, all4naija, dnative, chizatara, chidexy, elvis07, esorita, bugmenot, Jerryben10, youngbrain, natudu, Marpol, Muyesky, kostadinis, Dayoagboola, deesnipes, Ihebrooke, dude22, blackchief, frodobee, Maxndu, whirlwind7, Janykute, Femonjay, GentleCID, olubuffett, kopell, StainlessH, pdude, Checkitout, Segzy-moor, azora, Ricky olu, Junapril, (I will expand this list till I remember all my friends here)

I could have loved to give all of you a bottle of wine, but since it may be very difficult to do that, you can select a bottle from my e-shelf I have Seamans here, I have St. Remy, Don Perignioni, Amarula, Moet, Hennessy, Belvedere, Absolut Mandrin, Vodka, Smirnoff, Pink lady, Ciroc, Grey goose, Chelsea, Squadron, kai kai, Burukutu, Palm wine, Sapele water, Monkey leg

meritocrat: ^^^

You are yet to answer my pertinent questions.

1. Is Toyota Avalon 2000 model 1.260m?(remember that I added extra 9k due to change in exchange rate)

2. Where is the car receipt from the car dealer in Cotonou?

3. Can you post all the receipts of the transactions you made in Cotonou?

I will post the car pics after you have done this.
I would have kept silent over the whole transaction, but you are trying to play smart and cover the obvious. It's very annoying when you assume such posture. Mind you, I can go into more detail if you are not accurate enough in your description of events.

spyder880: When the owner of this house first invited me to come and join in the building of this mansion, I had a fairly good idea of how the final product will look like. But I never thought it will be as beautiful as it turned out to be. It was challenging from the first day till even yesterday, but we all fought the war till the end. All glory be to God for giving us the power, we thank the landlord for giving us the opportunity to serve, and for being very supportive through the ups and downs of this project. As this project is coming to an end, we want to thank everybody.

We thank all the members of my team both the inner and fringe members who worked tirelessly to make this possible, we thank the community of people we met here, we thank the suppliers and contractors who helped us arrange everything. And finally I thank you all of you for being here for us. I will mention names later but una sabi unaselves sha May God bless all of you. We will continue to post here but this is to officially bring all updates on this thread to an end. I am bringing the costs together and will reveal a rough final figure for everything.

Lets do this again in another site, we are always ready to serve.

whitecat007: Why am I being singled out here when my post is not the worst. Who died and made you lord here? Knock yourself out, ban me. I know you are watching your meal ticket here, and brabus is one of those who has not pay the day. Little wonder you can't make it in the court room.
[quote author=whitecat007]Good to know that the property section is the cult section of nairaland. Been wondering all along about where the ogbonis of the forum are, I seeee!!!!!!!

I have contacts of those who matter here the power drunk lawyer can ban now.

helpee: Rather with people like you who believe their opinion is the only thing that is right then we have a long way to go as a nation. Infact, with people like you that always take divergent opinion to be wrong, we can't have good governance in nigeria. So u think I must follow ur bandwagon approach to crucify? Who told you he didn't deliver @all. The client can't wait and he had done it so what do u want brabus to deliver other than to refund? If the client that complained about chekinaut decided to source for the granite elsewhere cos she couldn't wait and now decide to ask for a refund, will you conclude that it is a case of no delivery @all. Pls, don't ever tell somebody he can't differentiate between what is right and wrong...it is an insult. U believe ur opinion is right and I must accept it else I am wrong and u are complaining that we don't have good governance. Imagine if we have ur kind as a governor, you will throw everybody in opposition to prison cos u are the only that is right

helpee: You are still not getting it. You have made up your mind that brabus must be crucified cos of his antecedence. But life is not that straightforward. Nobody is saying that brabus is right but this same guy built this chateau with 25million and didn't run away until they gave him a 750K and he couldn't deliver on time. So he must be a thief and anybody that tries to reason out the situation must be standing logic on its head. Nope! I stand to be corrected...contractors world over sometimes collect money from client and are not able to deliver on time. That doesn't make them to be fraud. U quoted chekinaut but few weeks ago, a lady came to lodge complaint against chekinaut cos after collecting money, he couldn't deliver the granite and the workers were left idle on site. Must we now conclude that chekinaut is a fraud . So don't be pre-judgemental. Unless u want to deny an obvious fact, the two of them are @fault and they must find a way of resolving it. Even if the client approach the police, as along as he is ready to refund the money, no show! This is my candid opinion and u are entitled to yours

gabbytabby:

For those going on about windows this is example of the prices

Farm+:
Did I just read that Neophyte-mason claimed he made all the windows for this massive chateau for 500k? Did I also read that brabus planned to do all the whole windows for N750k?

If my observations were right, then I can simply say I know why you both run into trouble waters.

Whilst preparing to screed my building, someone gave me a ridiculously cheap price, I knew it will be the 8th wonder of the world if he was able to execute the project with the rates he quoted... I simply refused to give him the job.

It's easier to crucify Brabus because of his antecedents but if the truth most be told, both Neophyte-mason and Brabus are at fault. Their greed and lack of respect for due process marred this project.

I'm sorry to say that you don't know what you are talking about because I believe that N500k is even too much to pay for windows of a 4 Bedroom house. You should do a thorough price research before you make a comment about the reasonableness or otherwise of the price.Do you expect the client to spend 1 Million Naira on the windows or what? An average casement window of the Ile Oluji project costs about N30K each maximum. The client pointed out the fact that he could have got it cheaper had it not been that he was desperate at the point of negotiating the price due to the limited time he had as a result of Brabus' cock up in supplying the ones he originally paid for through him. I don't know the cost of the project but I fervently believe that Brabus has a right to refuse to take on the project if he's convinced that the cost of the project is unrealistic. You don't need to rub salt to the injury of the poor client who believes that he's been stitched up by Brabus

Farm+:
Did I just read that Neophyte-mason claimed he made all the windows for this massive chateau for 500k? Did I also read that brabus planned to do all the whole windows for N750k?

If my observations were right, then I can simply say I know why you both run into trouble waters.

Whilst preparing to screed my building, someone gave me a ridiculously cheap price, I knew it will be the 8th wonder of the world if he was able to execute the project with the rates he quoted... I simply refused to give him the job.

It's easier to crucify Brabus because of his antecedents but if the truth most be told, both Neophyte-mason and Brabus are at fault. Their greed and lack of respect for due process marred this project.

I'm sorry to say that you don't know what you are talking about because I believe that N500k is even too much to pay for windows of a 4 Bedroom house. You should do a thorough price research before you make a comment about the reasonableness or otherwise of the price.Do you expect the client to spend 1 Million Naira on the windows or what? An average casement window of the Ile Oluji project costs about N30K each maximum. The client pointed out the fact that he could have got it cheaper had it not been that he was desperate at the point of negotiating the price due to the limited time he had as a result of Brabus' cock up in supplying the ones he originally paid for through him. I don't know the cost of the project but I fervently believe that Brabus has a right to refuse to take on the project if he's convinced that the cost of the project is unrealistic. You don't need to rub salt to the injury of the poor client who believes that he's been stitched up by Brabus

NextHome: The Chateau






Thank you.

July 6


We need the following items for the foundation works. However, please note the last quote needs to be thrown away because its not going to work.

EXTRA MATERIALS FOR THE FOUNDATION WORK ONLY

1. Cement - 40 bags - N64,000 (We reduced it the original quote to 170 bags from 210 bags of cement)
2. Sharp Sand - 3 trips (lagos size) - N120,000 (Original quote was reduced by ½ load but we need 2 ½ more)
3. 6 filling sand (lagos size) - N72,000 (Original quote was reduced by 2 loads but we need additional 6 loads)
4. ½ ton of 12mm iron rod - N52,750 (Original quote was reduced by 1 ½ ton but we need ½ ton more for the base)
5. 5 Wheelbarrows - N50,000 (We need it for the movement of materials to the building are throughout the project lifetime.)
6. 5 Shovels - N5,000 (same as above)
7. Extra Labour
    - Movement of materials to the site - N60,000 (estimated sum for the movement of all sand to the building area)
    - Casting of the DPC - N40,000 (original quote was reduced by N40,000 but we need it now considering the workload)
    - Sand filling labour/compacting - N20,000 (original quote was reduced by N20,000 but we need it back now)

Please, I'll to plead that you don't micro-manage me on this project especially at this stage for us to deliver a quality job. I really don't need to collect any of this monies, the materials can be made available as at when needed so that we can all see where the monies is going into. Please take note that I'm not charging any special sum for my supervision work and that I didn't make provision for any miscellaneous. 

Total sum - N483,000:00

I've never had to review my quotes this early in a project before but this has to be because of what I'm seeing. However, I'd advice we keep to the initial quote to avoid cost overrun because the project isn't a small project at all. Also, the logistics and the challenges we'll have are too enormous to have a small budget. Please kindly consider my plea to raise the budget as we can't make any savings on the project other than lower than the initial budget. We are determined to keep our side of the bargain.



1. Site Clearing (Actual sum paid) - N25,000
2. Stumps and Roots Removal (Actual sum paid) - N35,000
3. Packing of the woods from the site - N5,000
4. Chainsaw to cross cut trees fallen in the foundation area - N5,000
5. Chemicals/Sprayer to kill roots - N8,000
6. Clearing of the side we are keeping materials when the road is unusable - N3,000

Site Clearing (total money spent) - N81,000
Total Number of Days that I spent supervising the clearing works - 5 days

________________
Setting Out (total money received) - N20,000

10 Pegs @ N500 - N5,000
6 planks sawn into 1 x 2 - N6,000
Nails - N500
10 Lines @ N150 - N1,500
Transportation of woods to site - N1,000

Setting Out (total money spent) - N14,000
Total Number of Days that I spent setting out - 1 day

________________
Excavation (total money received) - N66,000

Hiring of Digger, Cutlass etc - N3,000 x 2 days = N6,000
9 labourers at N2,000 per day = N18,000 x 2 days = N36,000
6 Shovels = N6,000
Digging of 42 column base @ N400 per base = N16,800

Excavation (total money spent) - N64,800
Total Number of days that I spent supervising the excavation - 2 days


I'm sorry I don't know a better way to let you know this is not good enough for me than to show you the real figures which can be verified from --- and his mum because I paid all the workers 80% of the monies through them.

This is not one of the project where I can make huge profit. Everything is too tight for us. We also need to know that the logistics of getting water to mix is also there. We had to get a pumping machine (minimum cost is N25,000) and a long hose (the minimum cost for a hose is N15,000) to pump water from the stream. Just yesterday, we started carrying stones to the road to make way for small trucks that can deliver filling sand to site. Of course, that shouldn't be my headache but we have a work to do and we need to do it fast so that we don't overrun the budget. Every day/hour spent on the site is so precious. The earlier we can get things done, the better for us. Hence, the reason I chose to have as many materials on site for the project. Handling of the job is never a challenge but accessibility is a great concern that is hampering speed now.

Na beg, I dey beg o. In less than 2 week into the project, I'm already ageing.

Thank you.




Just for reference, here's my email before we finally moved to the site on Tuesday 2nd July. I'd already envisage all this challenges and have advised accordingly.


July 12


Dear Sir,

I've tried speaking to my guys about digging of the ground to get filling sand but it seems to me they are not willing to do it and you may not going see any savings if I go with their cost and Ile-Oluji labourers are not cheap at all. Infact, they are evasive. Based on experience, once they get paid, the run away the next day.
However, I'm ready and willing to explore all other options.

The only available option right now is to buy the sand and push from down the hill into the foundation. And there's also an extra cost to that option (the cost of moving the sand to the building site). We'll need 14 loads of Lagos-sized tipper (which I used to prepare the quote) to fill the foundation and not the small Ile Oluji tippers. A single tipper of sand in Lagos is times four of Ile Oluji tipper.

In the meantime, the iron bender will continue bending the rods for the decking stage as he has already completed the reinforcement for the lintels and columns for the ground floor and we've already erected the columns for the ground floor as shown in the pictures sent.

I plan to leave the site by 12:00 noon today to return by Monday. Hopefully, we'll have completed the sand filling work before then to move on to casting of the DPC the next day.

On the issue of savings, I think you've already make enough savings on the project because the building is 2 times bigger and the challenges are so enormous. I should be the one looking for profit now cos even if I paid everybody (14 people) on the site including myself N1,000 per day for the past 10 days, that's N140,000 excluding all the expenses that goes into logistics. I still cannot make N5,000 profit. Of course, the least paid person on site takes N1500 per day.

I just need to cut my losses now, so I've changed term of engagement with my guys to 'no work, no pay'. Otherwise, I'll be messed up in no time. The earlier we moved past this stage the better for me now.

The activity on site today is to continue digging the septic tank, fill the foundation and move granite (using wheelbarrow) from down the hill to the building area.

Thank you,


July 12

Sir and Madam,
>>
>> I honestly doubt there's going to be any savings on a project of this magnitude without compromising quality.
>> Considering all the challenges, I won't mind signing a pay-as-you go contract for labour only with you and hopefully there may be savings if you supplied all the materials. That way I don't get to be standing in as a middleman eating all the monies meant for the project because it seems to me that you think I'm only after making all the monies from this project. The bribery allegation came to me as a shock.
>>
>> I'm not always happy when I get impression that my client thinks I'm ripping them off when I'm the one loosing so much.
>>
>> As at this morning, there's no work to do on site 'cos we are only sand filling and there's no material to use.
>> The hardest part is how to tell people who left Lagos to work in Ondo that they won't get paid cos there's no work.
>>
>> My professional advice would be to watch it before buying the filling sand from Ile-Oluji as that will further increase our cost by another N300,000 if not more considering the following:
>>
>> 1. Cost
>> 2. The size of the truck used in Ile-Oluji for material delivery
>> 3. The condition of the road
>> 4. The cost of moving the filling sand from down the hill
>> 5. The volume of space left to be filled.
>> 6. Time (until we finish sand filling, nothing else can be done)
>>
>> We need to decide on what to do early so that we can proceed.
>>
>> I'm planning to touch Diamond Estate today to check xyz's project as we've commenced the pre-plastering works.
>>
>> Regards,
>>



July 6


We need the following items for the foundation works. However, please note the last quote needs to be thrown away because its not going to work.

EXTRA MATERIALS FOR THE FOUNDATION WORK ONLY

1. Cement - 40 bags - N64,000 (We reduced it the original quote to 170 bags from 210 bags of cement)
2. Sharp Sand - 3 trips (lagos size) - N120,000 (Original quote was reduced by ½ load but we need 2 ½ more)
3. 6 filling sand (lagos size) - N72,000 (Original quote was reduced by 2 loads but we need additional 6 loads)
4. ½ ton of 12mm iron rod - N52,750 (Original quote was reduced by 1 ½ ton but we need ½ ton more for the base)
5. 5 Wheelbarrows - N50,000 (We need it for the movement of materials to the building are throughout the project lifetime.)
6. 5 Shovels - N5,000 (same as above)
7. Extra Labour
    - Movement of materials to the site - N60,000 (estimated sum for the movement of all sand to the building area)
    - Casting of the DPC - N40,000 (original quote was reduced by N40,000 but we need it now considering the workload)
    - Sand filling labour/compacting - N20,000 (original quote was reduced by N20,000 but we need it back now)

Please, I'll to plead that you don't micro-manage me on this project especially at this stage for us to deliver a quality job. I really don't need to collect any of this monies, the materials can be made available as at when needed so that we can all see where the monies is going into. Please take note that I'm not charging any special sum for my supervision work and that I didn't make provision for any miscellaneous. 

Total sum - N483,000:00

I've never had to review my quotes this early in a project before but this has to be because of what I'm seeing. However, I'd advice we keep to the initial quote to avoid cost overrun because the project isn't a small project at all. Also, the logistics and the challenges we'll have are too enormous to have a small budget. Please kindly consider my plea to raise the budget as we can't make any savings on the project other than lower than the initial budget. We are determined to keep our side of the bargain.

We also need to know that business survive when friends and relations are kept out of business. Of course, you know we could have sourced our materials locally if we aren't getting any special recommendation but we had to work with the people recommended so as not to make it look as though we are looking for ways to cut down on cost and quality. 
I need to remind you that the project is bigger than XYZ project (250 sqm) with lesser challenge, which I charged N17m for the shell and we never had to complained about the budget.

A simple mathematics for the project we are doing now will be as follows:

Foundation - N2,500,000
Block work ground floor - N1,500,000
Decking - N3,000,000
Block work upper floor - N1,800,000
Parapet - N800,000
Roofing - N3,000,000

If we got it cheaper than this, then we need to check the integrity of the structure.



Just to let you know where the money has been going. So far, there's no area where I haven't offshoot my budget and its painfully to state that there's no single area where I'm getting paid for my supervisory role.
_______________
Site Clearing (total money received) - N60,000

1. Site Clearing (Actual sum paid) - N25,000
2. Stumps and Roots Removal (Actual sum paid) - N35,000
3. Packing of the woods from the site - N5,000
4. Chainsaw to cross cut trees fallen in the foundation area - N5,000
5. Chemicals/Sprayer to kill roots - N8,000
6. Clearing of the side we are keeping materials when the road is unusable - N3,000

Site Clearing (total money spent) - N81,000
Total Number of Days that I spent supervising the clearing works - 5 days

________________
Setting Out (total money received) - N20,000

10 Pegs @ N500 - N5,000
6 planks sawn into 1 x 2 - N6,000
Nails - N500
10 Lines @ N150 - N1,500
Transportation of woods to site - N1,000

Setting Out (total money spent) - N14,000
Total Number of Days that I spent setting out - 1 day

________________
Excavation (total money received) - N66,000

Hiring of Digger, Cutlass etc - N3,000 x 2 days = N6,000
9 labourers at N2,000 per day = N18,000 x 2 days = N36,000
6 Shovels = N6,000
Digging of 42 column base @ N400 per base = N16,800

Excavation (total money spent) - N64,800
Total Number of days that I spent supervising the excavation - 2 days



July 12

Sir and Madam,
>>
>> I honestly doubt there's going to be any savings on a project of this magnitude without compromising quality.
>> Considering all the challenges, I won't mind signing a pay-as-you go contract for labour only with you and hopefully there may be savings if you supplied all the materials. That way I don't get to be standing in as a middleman eating all the monies meant for the project because it seems to me that you think I'm only after making all the monies from this project. The bribery allegation came to me as a shock.
>>
>> I'm not always happy when I get impression that my client thinks I'm ripping them off when I'm the one loosing so much.
>>
>> As at this morning, there's no work to do on site 'cos we are only sand filling and there's no material to use.
>> The hardest part is how to tell people who left Lagos to work in Ondo that they won't get paid cos there's no work.
>>
>> My professional advice would be to watch it before buying the filling sand from Ile-Oluji as that will further increase our cost by another N300,000 if not more considering the following:
>>
>> 1. Cost
>> 2. The size of the truck used in Ile-Oluji for material delivery
>> 3. The condition of the road
>> 4. The cost of moving the filling sand from down the hill
>> 5. The volume of space left to be filled.
>> 6. Time (until we finish sand filling, nothing else can be done)
>>
>> We need to decide on what to do early so that we can proceed.
>>
>> I'm planning to touch Diamond Estate today to check xyz's project as we've commenced the pre-plastering works.
>>
>> Regards,
>>


July 18

Dear Sir,

I'm happy to formally inform you that we have completed all works for the foundation stage and we are taking a day off to cool off for the next stage which is Block Setting to Decking Level. However, I'll need to express my concern on this project as I'm seriously been affected by the labour fees. In the early hours of today, we had heated argument over what the labourers wanted to receive for the work done so far and what was collected for the project. I'm completely at loss and that's the reason I've not pushed forward my request for the 2nd stage because I cannot continue to work without making money.

Here are my actual labour cost so far excluding all other sum paid for hiring of tools, transportation of workers (10 men) from Lagos to Ondo, feeding, welding of wheelbarrows, and other logistics.

Iron Bender - N43,000 (Reason: the cost of moving iron rods from where it was packed to the site was factored in as he has to employ a labourer to assist him)
Carpenter - N25,000 (Reason: the magnitude of the project and carpenter's union fee paid)
Foundation Excavation/Blinding - N86,600
Block Setting/Casting of the Foundation Columns - N70,000
Sand Filling - N80,000
Casting of the DPC/Slab - N85,000 (N55,000 in the daytime and N30,000 in the night)

Going forward, I will be pleased to work on a 'work and pay' arrangement. I won't mind receiving whatever amount you deem fit for the supervision of the project per stages to supervise the workers then we put the workers on a daily pay arrangement. That way I won't have to come back to you and ask for more money.

As at this morning, I've sent 4 of my men back to Lagos as their labour cost is N500/N1000 more than the locals and it is overreaching for me, I can no longer bear it. I will also drop 2 others (my PA and brother) so that I can keep my expenses lower. I'll be pleased if you can grant my request to change my terms of engagement to work and pay. 

Block Setting Update

900 blocks are been delivered to site to complete 4,000 blocks delivered in total for tomorrow's work and we will need additional 1,500 blocks more for the ground floor works to decking level. A load of sand has also been delivered and we are awaiting the 2nd load this afternoon. Also 60 bags of cement has been delivered to site for the ground floor block works, the welder has prepared the rings for the lintels and also the decking beams. We are fully ready to start the 2nd stage tomorrow. However, we need to pay for the materials which has been delivered so far. I'll send you pictures of activities in preparation for stage 2 from the site shortly.


Thank you sir,


August 16



Sir,

The easiest way you can find out if I'm making money from you is to try out the roofing stage. You arrange the materials and pay the labourers.

It's already looking like Sangotedo project already and I won't allow a repeat. I'll rather beat a retreat.

Once the parapet is done, I can go and spend 2 weeks at home with my family while the roofing woodwork is ongoing so that I don't get to collect more money from you sir.

The truth be told. I'm loosing big time.

vimo3:

So your claim is not that there was a cost overrun. Rather your claim is that we underpaid or even did not pay!!!!....you were FULLY mobilized for each stage. So at what point did we "under pay" you or "not pay" you?

Nairalanders, you see the confusing deceit and lies we are dealing with here??

He has ofcourse been promising to deliver the windows which by the way is quoted well above market.

Anybody who can give Brabus/Next Home a contract should please do so, so that he can raise funds to refund me or deliver the above market quote windows. I am fine with recommending him to those who believe his account over that of 5 aggrieved clients.

brabus: Dear Sirs and Madam,

I would like to express my deep regrets for falling short of your expectation and apologize for my actions. It was inappropriate, disrespectful and lacked the professionalism that you expect from me.

While I cannot alter what has transpired, I sincerely apologize for the shortcomings on this project.

Please bear with me. I have no intention of defrauding those who put food on my table. Not even at the tail end of the project.

Sincerely,

Brabus.

sandee575:

You will do well to hire someone to write for you.

Primegold: Who you buy from matters!

THE MARKET IS SATURATED WITH FAKE PRODUCTS & LOADS OF PASS-OFFS!

But when you from us, you are not just buying an appliance, you buy peace of mind.

We offer warranties on all the Air Conditions we sell, from 12 months to 24 months depending on the brand.

Call 0808 585 0838 or send us a mail today.

segcy.moor:
@esoorita, on behalf of nairaland builders I have to say this. We are real and visible. The first step is to visit the office of the builder in question to know him better just like my client does ..Now back to issue at hand .I have a strong feeling something wrong somewhere because one can't do a project to stage and fumble

brabus: Dear Sirs and Madam,

I would like to express my deep regrets for falling short of your expectation and apologize for my actions. It was inappropriate, disrespectful and lacked the professionalism that you expect from me.

While I cannot alter what has transpired, I sincerely apologize for the shortcomings on this project.

Please bear with me. I have no intention of defrauding those who put food on my table. Not even at the tail end of the project.

Sincerely,

Brabus.

neophyte-mason:


Readers beware! I'm the owner of this project and I don’t want to subscribe to Brabus deception here. I met Brabus on Nairaland and I think providing feedback is good for this platform.

Just to give you an idea of my frustrations on this project, Brabus collected money for Windows and for over two months he did not supply the windows. The windows in the pictures he post here are replacement that I contracted, delivered and installed after many attempts to get him to supply what I paid for has failed. It is painful to see him post pictures of the house after he diverted my money for his personal use and delayed my project. An honorable man will not use the same job for advertisement!

In addition to the disappointment on the Windows, he also supplied only half of the tiles that I paid for and supplied Chinese instead of Spanish tiles. I have had to spend N600,000 for additional tiles and those tiles in the pictures were the tiles I just bought last week.
I paid for him to connect electric feed to the house and he is yet to do the work after two weeks. The borehole system for which he has been fully paid is yet to function.

He is aware that we need to move into the house on or before Dec 15, but does not care if my plans are disrupted. Right now he has collected more than N1.7m for jobs not done and all I get is a promise to repay me in January, as if I’m a bank. He owes many of the workers on site for many weeks of hard labor.

I'm posting this here so that others can benefit from my experience.

ykmotors: Happy Sunday to you all.
@bodeface: thanks, 2008 toyota highlander is 3.7m without duty and 4.1m with duty. 2008 honda pilot is 3m without duty and 3.5m with duty.
Exchange rate is #343 to 1000k cefa on friday.

@
esoorita: 2006/2007 with all spec you request for will cost you 2.9m landing to Lagos with original custom duty.