₦airaland Forum

Phylife:
And this is a unregulated public forum, expect anything.

I don't know what you meant by "not the lion of your own tribe", make me understand.

It’s nothing bro. I actually mean “maybe you’re not the vocal type or the type that try to find a needle in a haystack”

Phylife:
The caveat should be "don't patronise who you can't physically control and physically confront/rub mind with."

With all the back-and-forth tales of woe on this [fake] platform I wouldn't dare engage anyone. Playing safe. There are many fish in the river! I could go get someone out there and bear the full consequences should anything go amiss rather start a faceless war of words here.

Good morning fellas!

NB: Forgive me if I have misfired this morning - don't take it to heart.

I guess you’re not the lion of your own tribe

Some situations can be managed. It’s just a matter of one person playing the matured one.

The fact that the recommendation even came from THE MOST RESPECTED MEMBER of this forum makes it even easier to resolve the conflict. But what do we see...

It’s already becoming a tradition. Any small thing, we talk talk talk talk... 20 pages, 30 pages. Then it die down without a concrete solution to prevent a reoccurrence in the not-too-distant future.

Some few months ago or even a year, I can’t really tell because I didn’t follow the the event (wasn’t even on Nairaland then), something happened on Nairaland and one of the foremost member on this platform had to reach out to me for help that his image is being tarnished on nairaland blah blah....

I just asked him “How can I come in?” He requested for a token to manage his immediate issue and I send it to him.

Till date, I’ve not even bother to read the bullshit stories because I knew he has been here for year and shit can happen to anyone.
I offered help and he managed to resolve his problem. I wasn’t out there to castigate a man who has been managing to build his business for years just because everyone else is doing it.

That’s why I asked how many problem have we solved with naming and shaming on the platform.

______
I have my evidences to show how a major problem that nearly throw this thread upside down was solved without noisemaking.
I’m a talk-and-do
I’m glad to see the guy is doing well in his business today and none of the cock-and-bull stories could stop him.
He’s still on this page and he’s doing great

Sigh! There was a country mehn!

_______
The good guy today will definitely become bad if we continue the way we are going.

_______
If we truly have professionals and experienced people on this platform, we’d build systems to prevent all these issues.

Well, I forgot we are all Nigerian.

.

Since we’ve been naming and shaming on this platform, how many problem have we solved?

Yesterday - architectgate
Weeks ago - suppliergate
Months ago - buildersgate
Years ago -

The last time I checked “The people you’re firing shots at are still your brothers and sisters - Nigerians.”

We can make a difference or make an excuse, you can’t make both.


_____
Peace!

n3xt:
I’m working on a project right now and the terms were clearly stated “POD.”

Benefits:

- No upfront payment frauds.

- No risk of loss of money. The customers get to check our products and see whether everything is perfect before paying for it. In the event some of the product are defective or a less standard has been delivered, the customer can always return it without paying.

- Fewer competition.

————-
But we (the service providers, vendors) had Advance Payment Guarantee to protect ourselves.

2. Know What To Ask For

In case of service providers (especially architects), I always ask for the dwg file just in case I don’t want to continue with him/her.

Even the best of architects in here knew I always request for it.

I always spell out the format of the drawings in most design contracts and there is always an “obligation clause” to provide drawings in CAD format.

E get why

If the relationship didn’t turn sour, what if the architect fall sick, die or relocate abroad?
Will I be fighting dead body for my money?

With an editable file, you can move on to someone else for corrections or further edits. Without one, you’re stucked with him.

Know what you’re buying and what you’re getting. - Get the important stuff.

Even with Escrow, there might still be situations where you’d need a design review or modification during the construction of the project. Eg: New Additions, Reconstruction, Remodelling etc.

It’s impossible to delay the architects’ payment till after the construction has been completed unless you had such agreement.

_________
Even my in-house architect knew I don’t joke with dwg files of my projects.

_________
I did a small job for someone here few weeks back, I sent him the dwg file first before delivering the pdf and hard copies.


Pic 1 - conversation btw me and my architect who sent in dwg file instead of drawing.

Pic 2 - conversation with my client who cannot open a dwg file

Access14:
Is it possible to have an Escrow in this group to avoid too much tense of Disappointment from Clients, Contractors and Vendors ?

The Elder's in the house, Pls advice

I’m working on a project right now and the terms were clearly stated “POD.”

Benefits:

- No upfront payment frauds.

- No risk of loss of money. The customers get to check our products and see whether everything is perfect before paying for it. In the event some of the product are defective or a less standard has been delivered, the customer can always return it without paying.

- Fewer competition.

————-
But we (the service providers, vendors) had Advance Payment Guarantee to protect ourselves.

Chekitaut:
4/11/2020
Client: Nairalander
Consignment: Granite 30tons
Size: 3/4
Location: Awoyaya
Price: ₦230k as at time of order

Sweet

yangniuyan:
CDC researchers analyzed the genetic code of virus samples collected from three dozen infected New Yorkers in early March, and found that most of those early cases of the coronavirus could be traced back to Europe. It also confirms what many researchers have already said: That widespread community transmission was well under way in New York City by the time mitigation measures, such as the travel ban, school closures and stay-at-home orders went into effect.

How much is a bag of cement in China?

One4me:
At the bolded:

Which Architect in his right mind, l mean an Architect that really finished School and Completed his training will draw a Plan with the Porch facing the back of the House, when it should be facing the Front? I am sure that even the worst Architect on Nairaland will not make that kind of professional error. How is that the MISTAKE of the Client?

1. Is it that he did not see the layout of the Land from the Survey paln, with the front Road properly described or he wants the Client to be looking into the Bedroom of the people on the other street, when he comes out to have a look at the environment or scenery ?

As a seasoned Professional, there are certain "BASICS" of your Profession that the Client will not be aware-of but you are expected to know, that is why you are being paid for your services. if the Archy dont know such things, then he needs to change Profession.

Imagine employing a Driver and he does not know how to change the gear when climbing a Hill, only to end-up burning the Clutch or making the vehicle roll back and crash!
What would anyone here do, if the Driver's response was: Oga, you should have told me to change to a lower gear, at least you are sitting right behind me or if he says: Oga, you did not ask me whether l can Change Gears when you were interviewing me for this job.
Does that kind of Driver not deserve to pay for any damage, from his salary and does he not deserve to be sacked, before he kills himself and the vehicle owner?

That a Client looked at the Plan and missed certain VERY IMPORTANT BUT BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ARCHY, does not take away liability from the Architect who drew the Plan (I am talking about basic principles of Architecture like Putting a Staircase where there is no Entrance/Exit Opening leading to the Stairs or a Bedroom Door without Door or even not putting any window in a bedroom , only to turn around and claim that since the Client did revisions on the Plan, he should have seen and mentioned it, therefore he is not at fault

Again, imagine if someone claims to be a Builder and he takes a plan and build a House whose floor is lower than the surrounding land in a swampy, flood-prone area, then turns around to tell the Client that: You saw me building the house and should have told me to raise the floor by two boards or more, that was your mistake, not mine!
Why is he an Engineer/Builder if he does not know the BASICS that says the floor of a House/Compound must take into consideration, the level (and even anticipated increases) of the road and surroundings, otherwise the Building will become a Dam for the neighbourhood?

Every 'Professional' is trained and that is why you are better than the ordinary layman (Client), that is why you are to being paid for your Services.
The Client revising the Plan is just to ensure that his 'specific inputs' are also incorporated into the plan, not to take away from the professional input of the Professional Archy. For example he might want a secret door that leads from his bedroom into his wife's bedroom because he does not want the Children to know when Arsenal will get beaten by Man-United (apologies to Arsenal fans, no be my fault that they get beaten often! ) that sort of 'out-of-the-way', non-standard requirement has nothing to do with an Archy, but putting the Porch facing the backyard of the neighbour when it could have been at the front of the Flat, facing the main Road? Abeg, tell me something else.

Thank you for your input Bros.

There's nothing else to say Baba.

Just like we didn't wait to hear the whole story of what really transpired between the client and the architect in the reported case before judging the case, I think we're making that same mistake here once again.

There was no where in my post where I wrote or claimed "The architect placed the porch at the back of the house." It was at the front but the approach wasn't facing the roadside.

In response to the your number 1 question above, I'm the one who even corrected the surveyor. The numbering on the pillars were wrong. My friend was just busy calling the shot from his couch in UK thinking everything can be remotely managed.

For me, when there's conflict, I always focus on what went wrong and not who went wrong.

How can anyone blame the architect here? It took my visit to the project to detect that the pillar numbering was wrong and I had to call the surveyor to come and correct the error.

Come to think of it, 99.9% of most houses in naija are designed by architects without conducting a physical survey of the site.

Baba, I dey feel your vibe but I think it'll be nice if we focus more on what went wrong and not who went wrong to help many other people using this forum.

_____
I didn't listen to any audio release because that's not how they started their relationship. Something happened in between.


_____
Abeg, let's digress! Who's winning between Trump and Biden?

[quote author=Jasobry post=95679517][/quote]Very simple and nice plan.

Kestar12:
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Also to Individual or Companies that are interested in hiring Trucks and Vans for their projects or Company's distributions.

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2. We will make accommodations available for all the Drivers and Motor-boy (Trucks)

3. We will handle the provision of supervisors for the Trucks/Vans for a proper monitoring of their operations.

4. We will handle the Drivers and Motor-boy's daily allowances(Trucks)

5. We will handle the monthly maintenance of the Trucks/Vans by changing the oil and the oil filters, monthly.

What the Trucks/Vans Owners will Handle in this Partnership:-

1. They will be in charge of employing their Drivers and Motor-boy(In case of Trucks).


2. They will pay their drivers monthly Salaries.
.
3. They will be in charge of handling the major maintenance of their Trucks/Vans .

4. They will handle all the government paper works on the Trucks/Vans.

5. They will be responsible for the registration of insurance and trackers(optional) for the Trucks/Vans.

6. They will handle the purchase of their Trucks/Vans.

Everything was fine until I read the bolded part.

What if I don’t want to deal with the recruitment of truck driver or motor-boy?

Some few weeks back a friend almost ran into a similar issue with his architect if not for timely intervention.

The building plan has been approved and the project has been built up to lintel stage before he noticed the porch wasn’t facing the front of the land.

He was going to collect his money back from the architect and do all sorts and I ask him “Gbenga, did he send you the plan before you paid him his balance? Were revisions, corrections or adjustments made to his initial submission or not?”

I told him “You don’t know how to interpret a building plan and you want the young architect who has never visited your project to take responsibiliy for your mistake. I hope you learn from this.”

He has started spewing words “Nigerians ”

I don’t know the architect but I’m not going to stand and watch my friend rubbish an innocent guy.

_________
There’s a project I did on this forum some few years back designed by one of the foremost contemporary design architect in Nigeria. The drawing alone cost about N2,000,000.

When the revisions and back and forths got too much, the architect back out and the client decided to engaged me to redraw the plan. We ended up using Nairaland architects to draw a new plan.

Guess what? The main architect has delivered his job but the clients failure to get the estate’s deed restriction across to the the architect during the design phase messed up the whole job.
The client loved the design, everything was perfect but the estate rejected it.

Was it the architects fault?

Was the N2m a waste? No! Even though we had to redraw the plan, we only effect change in few areas to meet the estate’s requirement - the concept remains the same.

Guess what? No noise!

The guys are all here - the architect, the client and the man in between

An 85-year-old primary school in Shanghai has been lifted off the ground — in its entirety — and relocated using new technology dubbed the "walking machine."

https://cnn.it/2HFzf40

Our actions and words should always agree with each other.

Let’s not be quick to show the impressive things abroad and do things anyhow when we’re back home. Change starts with me.
Let’s begin to teach ourselves to do the right thing.

- Use professionals.
- Pay for their service.
- Encourage younger ones to up their game.

Someone here explained he had to pay for a foreign plan he asked his local architect to modify for him. That’s the right thing to do!

EgunMogaji2:
We both haunt most of the foreign sites where architects share floor plans and even dimensions.

How are they keeping alive then?

I saw the plans for my courtyard bungalow on eBay complete with dimensions.

I bought it and had Darenyx on here make some modifications for me.

I innocently share with the original architect, who I paid for the plan, that I made some changes.

A week later I got a letter in the mail from his lawyer advising me that I’m in violation of the plan ownership/purchase. That the only one allowed to make changes to it is his client.

My savings grace was that the build was happening in Africa. That was the loophole that it was not happening in North America but I still paid him a modification fee. Imagine if I didn’t actually buy the plan originally.

Long story short, architects can lawyer up too in Nigeria.

All I can say with certainty is that people are frequently extremely inconsistent.
We’re worried about global warming and yet drive around in heavy trucks.

________
If you saw what’s obtainable on eplans.com and other online house plan websites, and still felt the standard should be different in Naija, you’re part of the problem of this country.

Here’s what’s obtainable in saner clime (see the attached below)

Some minor changes can be done onsite without modifying a plan at all. But to a novice, everything is a big deal!
Changing the room space or door location, changing interior walls, eliminating or changing windows, changing the facade and reconfiguring the kitchen but what do I know - in a jankara market “anything goes.”

There’s never a perfect plan. Things do change on the project site.

It’s pretty simple and not something to make a big deal of.

megacontrol:
So you want to go about collecting floor plans for free?
Then tomorrow we complain when they ask the next client to make commitments to avoid doing osho-free work from the experience they had with you and the likes.

What you should do is brief the architect on what you want and agree on payment plan. If you don't have a unique design and you request from one of his previous works then they are at the discretion to charge a fee for it.

Its their work, or how else are they suppose to make money?

This is how we do it!

When I see a good design, I pay for it. It’s their intellectual property.

AltMon1:
Here is the moment The Managing Director of Lekki Concession Company, Abayomi Omomuwa, submitted the video footage recorded by its surveillance camera at the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of October 20, 2020 at the #EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry.

Abayomi Omomuwansa, said the cameras stopped working from 8 pm on the night of the shooting at the Lekki tollgate.

“I can confirm that inside here is the video footage that our surveillance camera was able to record for the 20th of October,”


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_icSk2IGCXc

#WATCH: The Managing Director of Lekki Concession Company, Abayomi Omomuwa, submits video footage recorded by its surveillance camera at the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of October 20, 2020 at the #EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry. pic.twitter.com/znIPejNfe1

— P.M. NEWS (@pmnewsnigeria) November 3, 2020

I think LAGOS state is a mumu state governed by mumus.

Any stupid person will accept that piece of thrash he’s holding as evidence but not me.

I want to see what happened on the camera 48 hours before and after the event.

Leave the rest of the story for me.

Dennis3D:
We all have an image to protect. It pays no one to be rude as people would say, it pays no one do do evil or bad to anyone who has done them good.

Bro, you need to be ‘calming down’ tho and know when to embrace peace.

When you work with clients, you want to do everything you can to ensure they are happy with your services.
If for some reason a client becomes unhappy with your work, then you should send him or her an apology note and offer ways to make things better.

Try as much as possible to avoid any such problems in the future and try to maintain a strong working relationship with everyone who have entrust their job into your care. E get why

I like what you’re doing but here are the attributes that’ll help you excel in a typical naija business environment:

- You must be Hungry
- You must be Humble
- You must be Smart

You can’t have only two. You must possess all the attributes.

If need be, you can engage someone to help act as a bridge between you and your client when receiving clients’ brief and learn to do more of emails and less of chats.
I do that - acting as a bridge - very often on my projects for all the tradespeople to prevent avoidable conflicts.


Finally, ”Grow through what you go through.”

______
I’m pretty sure you know the next thing to do.

_____
Pic 1-3 - A typical transaction with a Nairaland architect on behalf of a client in diaspora. I’ve done nothing less than 30 buildings with this guy and I don’t even know what he looks like or where he lives.
We don’t get to start anything until everything has been clarified.

Though it’s a premium service

Needed Urgently: Half Bag Concrete Mixers

I am looking for used or refurbished concrete mixers to buy.
Qty - 5 pcs

Please kindly tag anyone who have this.

Ibk2020:





The other guy in the same estate that used this plan has one of the best structure in the estate. So I guess Ilorin architect are not up compare to lagos architect.

Biko let me live lagos building structure in Ilorin ooo...

Good morning @ibk2020

If people ask questions on this platform and building professionals chose to stay silent, we feel bad.

What did you do to the architect who draw the initial design that you condemned despite all the advices given to you? He’s not a nairalander right and he has nothing to lose.

Whatever you’re doing right now say a lot more about you than Dennis?

Even if Dennis is wrong and you are right, I think you should counsel the young guy and not expect someone like me to clap for you for trying to bring down a young and promising guy - that’s if you know better than him. I noticed even Hajj mufutau55 stepped in.

I chose to go silent on you when I saw your approach. That’s the mistake Dennis made.
Instead of a confrontation, next time spell out terms and condition of your service before going ahead with any client. I repeat ANY

Good to see your project is advancing. More brick and mortar to your project.

Edit: My post is in no way trying to defend Dennis (I dont even know him). I just believe we can do better as human.
_______
For those who’d pick on me, I’m not well o and I can take Nairaland vacation for you to sooth yourself.

egoldi01:
The price of cement in Ilorin is N2900/3000 per bag and I want to do some work on my abandoned project with some hundreds of bags. Pls is there any possibility of drop in prices soon because this has really affected my budget. I engaged some cement dealers here and was told there is a major repair on Dangote's plant in Ajaokuta that soared up price in this axis but the price will still reduce with time. Please I need your advice on this.

I think the prices will definitely come down.

I’m currently working on a government project in Sagamu, Ogun State and all the contractors/subcontractors are currently buying #2450 / bag directly from Lafarge.

I can buy you cement at that rate if your project is within the area.

michlins:
from Nnewi to Ogun reach like that for kilometers?

Yes it’s up to 420km minus the bad roads.

micgray100:
bro... I need the steel brown door at Mosimi, shagamu side of ogun state.

No of Unit.. 6 units

sizes.. 6 inches wall frame

dimension.... 3 feets..

you said the price is 18k ...

call me... 0703272894one

He’s about 420km away from you baba.

UK Trained SARS??

It better not be true.

n3xt:
Thanks for sharing. Renting props in some cases can also cause this.

One site engineer decide to rent props from a carpenter for his project. The headroom was at 3m but the carpenter was only able to supply a 2.75m bamboo. So he decided to join the props.

The rest was history. The slab came down.

I mentioned this during that discussion.

EgunMogaji2:
Actually a very good price if the details are close to 90% of in the picture.

I’m sure it’s only N75K in other parts of the country though

It’s a WYSISWG job.

All wrought iron works are hand forged by master blacksmith.

kopell:
You're them right, no any worst SARS then government officials any little position the fine themselves the became god.

Those ones are the biggest problem of this country. They’re the F-SARS

Aforxzy:
Nice pic. But the cantilever span is the shorter span not the longer (8m) span.

Ma’am, I know o and I know you know that I know. but I always value your contribution any day, any time.

You sabi the job

Focusmind:
Bro, like how much would this gate cost? We are kobo kobo team

If it's kobokobo, you'll be working directly with the welder. I think it should be around #220. If I'm involved, it is 250k pere.

___
Price Ex Works
2mm thick plate
Matt black finish

michlins:
I have to give it to you but you know your onus when it comes to these things. You really do understand the difficulties I face when working.

Do I do something strong and simple or do I do something fancy and good.

Do something strong and you don't know what the homeowner intends to do at foundation.

If all clients will be just like you who understands that it takes more than strong materials to work

I think it should be this way "All clients need to know that a house is a sum of its parts. Beautiful gates deserves a solid foundation."

The thing dey pain me you no dey Lagos

abdulwastecx:
When I'm around my friend?
You wouldn't have waited for that long if you get in touch. Just playing pranks.

It's good to place emphasis on structural integrity and general wellbeing of the building.

Respect to all the structural engineers in the house. You're the reason the world go round!

That period of waiting taught me a lot. I understand that film-faced plywood is better than timber if you want your concrete to achieve maximum strength.

michlins:
when you say 3mm, do you mean complete 3mm pan or 2.5mm cause I know what the weight of 2.5mm pan is alone. Add all those things and it becomes too heavy for some pillars to carry. Then imagine what 3mm will be like.

But it's always a bliss working with 2.5mm pan cause you don't have to worry about the smoothness of the work.

Here’s the thing, many homeowners want to spend their more on buying beautiful gates – the first thing you’d see on any project - but spend less on installing the gates.
Of course, no one is going to see foundation and the supporting columns.

We are quick to search for latest designs online and work with our local welders to come up with our dream gates but give not much consideration to the foundation. (I think I shared something on gate installation weeks back).

Just like we have In every house, the foundation remains the most important part of any project - even foundation of a gate.

Beyond having good foundation, it’s also advisable to introduce wheels at the end of heavy gates to take the weight.

Using lighter gauge materials does not make a gate stronger, it makes it weaker.

I have a gate that’s almost 3 times heavier than my neighbour’s gate. He has repaired his gate 3 times in 5 years. I’ve never had to do anything.


________
One other thing is gate design. An open gate will always be lighter than a fully-covered gate especially when there’s wind sail.