Our House Construction

[Dave Hounddriver]

4 hours ago, Gary D said:

The builder will buy from his favourite supplier, what you don't see are all of the discounts and freeby's. And they won't appear on the receipts. Even if you use your forman to buy the materials he will be getting a finders fee, that's how the Philippines works.

That actually works better in some cases.  When I contracted out the work on my house I had a choice.  The contractor gave me a list of what he said he needed.  I could add to it or subtract from it as I saw fit.  I could buy it myself if I thought I could get a better deal or just thought I wanted better quality and he took my receipts and calculated 40% for the labor.  In some instances it worked out cheaper for me to let the contractor go get some supplies and get whatever deal he could arrange.  If it was cheaper for me and I thought the quality was sufficient I had no complaints on the contractor getting an extra peso on the deal.

So I was thrilled with this method of doing things as it worked in my favor.  If I was building a Western type house, as Jack built, I would not like it one bit.  So "one size does not fit all" is how I would describe construction in Philippines.  Engage brain before opening wallet.

[Dave Hounddriver]

10 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

BUT why should we allow any Profit on materials

I answered this in a round about way in my previous post but let me say it outright.  If your contractor can get a better price than you can then he is entitled to keep the excess.  Otherwise he should just say:  "Well you go buy it then"  and let you go pay more rather than let him make a bit by having good contacts.

[sonjack2847]

1 hour ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I answered this in a round about way in my previous post but let me say it outright.  If your contractor can get a better price than you can then he is entitled to keep the excess.  Otherwise he should just say:  "Well you go buy it then"  and let you go pay more rather than let him make a bit by having good contacts.

I don`t think anybody could get a better deal than Jack`s wife Azon.

[Jack Peterson]

10 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

 "Well you go buy it then"  and let you go pay more rather than let him make a bit by having good contacts.

 Never happened,  and as you will know, this is why   

 

 

 OH OH! nearly Forgot

Morning All

Edited July 4, 2017 by Jack Peterson
added a little

[RBM]

11 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I answered this in a round about way in my previous post but let me say it outright.  If your contractor can get a better price than you can then he is entitled to keep the excess.  Otherwise he should just say:  "Well you go buy it then"  and let you go pay more rather than let him make a bit by having good contacts.

It's my understanding contractors in every country try make some profits on materials, why shouldn't they?  They buy in bulk and hold stock, it's their entitlement.

I agree entirely with the method Intrepid has used, Jack not all contractors are rip offs. In your backyard my friend in Valencia is screaming  the praises of his contractor resulting in another project.

We had bad luck as our smooth talking engineer was a rip off, from what we went through I wish I had done more home work as Intrepid did and found the right engineer. 40% labour sounds slightly high how ever knowing the stress involved and reading his posts it definitely the way to go. 

 

[Jack Peterson]

16 minutes ago, RBM said:

It's my understanding contractors in every country try make some profits on materials, why shouldn't they?  They buy in bulk and hold stock, it's their entitlement.

 Bulk Buying was not in order for our Build, any profits came back to where they belong, Our Pockets for our use, Is it any wonder people get ripped off, we only have ourselves to Blame, not Supervising the whole Project. Buy a spare part for the car and we are the First to moan about the Cost YET we allow the Mechanic to profit plus labour, it can, as I said go either way but on this issue I know we did the Right thing, look at those Door Figures for one,

 Good Luck to those going either road but.................. Buyer beware is a common statement that if left to fester can cost a lot.

 A little Story about a Guy here in Dumaguete that paid over 10.000,000 for a House Build and Lot was 2.000.000, the builder owned the Lot (Well overpriced) House build was 3.5 and wall 1.8 he made a Fortune and was only really caught out when the guys accountant wanted to look over the Build balance sheet. Yep overcharged by something like 1.65+ mil. We (Who have been in business) should know where the leakages can arise and if we want to stay in business you plug the hole, Want to build at value for Money follow the same route.

I am all for giving that Bit extra but it has to be earned somewhere along the way.

About all I can say on this, We all were happy, my men earned their wages and a build end Bonus and we saved in the End (I was Told last night)  nearly 500.000 peso  on the Finished Build 

[scott h]

7 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

 Bulk Buying was not in order for our Build,

Unless you are using a large, very large construction outfit I just don't see where the bulk buy comes into play. During my daily walks I have seen many construction sites over the years. With the exception of condo, casino or hotel build almost everyone I see has the deliveries made as the material is needed. I base part of my assumptions on our own construction and just by the number of smallish construction supply outlets. I have 5 of them with in a 5 minute walk of my house, they all have delivery trucks and always seem busy. As I pass by houses being built I never see more than maybe a days worth of block or sand laying around.

I just don't think most small construction outfits have the capital laying around to stock material and save it for their next job

[virginprune]

We bought all our own materials, we shopped around for the best deals and discounts. In another thread I mentioned about the engineer ordering us to buy more than required so I sacked him. We had a great foreman/tradesman who told us what was required and when, there was no waste or materials left over. I actually enjoyed the challenge of getting the materials at the best prices, with help from family and friends. Our total cost for the build was P1,700,000 inclusive of fixtures and fittings and labour. Which was very reasonable considering the quality I demanded. 

A German guy building opposite us is going the engineer route, without the interior finished as yet, and to my eye lesser quality. His house is not much bigger than our's but has already come in at P5,000,000.

[Jack Peterson]

13 minutes ago, scott h said:

As I pass by houses being built I never see more than maybe a days worth of block or sand laying around.

 I should think not as it will go missing over night, I had a locked Lot and a watchman each night and still little things went missing not enough to disrupt the work in the Morning but enough for a "Ghoster job" maybe, I changed the Watchman quite regularly word got around and it stopped, well almost

13 minutes ago, scott h said:

I just don't think most small construction outfits have the capital laying around to stock material and save it for their next job

Quite so and I for one, was not in the game of helping the next Job get started. Selfish? Yes!

While here I might add that that is another reason i don't like the "Contract" Road, there always seems to be 1. 2 or 3 men even, on another Job and I was paying 

Edited July 4, 2017 by Jack Peterson
added a little

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

We all were happy

   That sums it up!  I was happy with what I got done and you were happy with what you got done and if someone else is happy even if "they got done" then its all good