Cost of draftsman and connecting power and water

[carbpow]

1 hour ago, intrepid said:

Yes it is.  However, during our entire construction there was never one inspection until construction was complete and then it was only a walk around the outside to make sure our construction was only on our land.  From what I have learned, construction inspections are very rare to never.  This includes plumbing, electrical, and building inspections as well. 

This has got me wondering if any members know of any inspections during their constructions?

In my case there was not any inspection during construction. There were inspections after the construction was completed though.

The inspectors didn't look at much. I was told to have the required fire extinguishers and smoke detectors. They did check those but never looked in a breaker panel or at any plumbing except to turn the water on in one toilet.

It's a shame there are no inspections during construction. The code for concrete reinforcement is very good and the method of bending the still for stirrups is especially good for earthquake damage prevention. But, I have only seen two houses using the method and one of them was mine.

[Tommy T.]

On 5/29/2020 at 9:35 PM, intrepid said:

This has got me wondering if any members know of any inspections during their constructions?

No inspections at our home site. The contractor informed us that there would be one at the end of the project and then an occupancy permit would be issued.

[intrepid]

Yep,  that was the same here.  If not watching your builder anything could be done and corners cut and no government inspections to confirm all rules followed and completed correctly.  Overall that is not a big deal to me as I watched and confirmed daily the supplies and methods were applied correctly.  Only issue we now have is some sections of the gutters have rusted holes from the bottom up through.  My builder thinks it must have been a bad batch of metal and the roofer has inspected and is in contact with the supplier.  This all happened just before the lockdown so I'm sure it may take a while to sort out.  If they don't cover it I will shoulder the expense myself.

 

 

[Mike J]

58 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

No inspections at our home site. The contractor informed us that there would be one at the end of the project and then an occupancy permit would be issued.

I can hear the inspector now.  "Yep, still standing.  Good to go." 

[hk blues]

On 5/29/2020 at 9:35 PM, intrepid said:

Yes it is.  However, during our entire construction there was never one inspection until construction was complete and then it was only a walk around the outside to make sure our construction was only on our land.  From what I have learned, construction inspections are very rare to never.  This includes plumbing, electrical, and building inspections as well. 

This has got me wondering if any members know of any inspections during their constructions?

Our house is on a sub-division so the developer's engineer did perioduc inspections at various key stages - not as often/stringent as I'd have liked but at least to a minimum standard.

Despite my misgivings, we haven't had any real problems with plumbing or water and block work is fine except in one room where it seems they didn't tie well enough in 1 corner. It's our closet room and 3rd bathroom so not a big deal really.

 

 

[carbpow]

Unfortunately without proper inspection during the early phases of construction the strength of the structure won't be known for a few years or until the first strong typhoon or earthquake. So, its best to educate oneself on concrete building construction and watch closely. Proper steel tying and joining is critical. A good beginners handbook is free at

https://www.unisdr.org/files/10329_GoodBuildingHandbookPhilippines.pdf

Page 65 shows the ends of steel bent at 135 degrees for earthquake resistance. This is a common practice in most countries prone to earthquakes but was a entirely new concept to the Quezon builders I talked to but once the got used to it they liked it as it is easier. They even bought into the idea of buying small enough gravel to fill the gap in the bend. The proper concrete mixture? Well that was an adventure in quality control. I knew I was in trouble when I unpacked my trusty concrete slump cone and the "architect"  said, "What's that?

[RBM]

Always the unexpected that one can reasonable expect.

From memory one that still looms large from the build of 5 years was the roof suffits. We had one of the largest roof providers in Philippines quote us. The came and spend a half day measuring up and later we accepted the quote. They sub contract out the labour.

Job was done nicely, problem was there was an over supply of material which they would not take back, our progress payments were credited to the company and the money we were holding was for the innocent sub contractor. This was a complete mess and took a long time to sort. 

just another pit fall to be aware of.

[Huggybearman]

On 5/28/2020 at 2:10 PM, Ynot said:

The wife is looking at building a house in Dipolog, she already has the land and is now looking at building a house.  Can anyone advise what it would cost to have a draftsman draw up a house plan even if its an hourly rate or day rate, and the cost of having water connected to a house and power connected to a house. I understand that different regions may charge different amounts but at least having some figures available would be handy.  I would expect connection costs in Cebu would be higher than Dipolog, but I may be wrong there.   Any help in obtaining some idea of costs for engaging a draftsman and having an idea of connection costs would be handy.   The land is only about 5 minutes from the largest hospital in Dipolog  and not far from the airport, so we are within the Dipolog city area. Not in the rural area.

Thanks for your help

As I mentioned in a previous post, we have now just completed the design for our new build construction. As for costs,  I guess a lot will depend on how far you wish to go regarding the complexity of the design, and compliance with building regulations. The lot we will be building on is on a ridge location, literally above a 200’ cliff. If last October’s events are anything to go by, it is also subject to earth tremors, which originated some 200 miles away to the South.  We felt it prudent to ensure as best we could that the design was sound and would be constructed to withstand any possible earth movement. We have employed a well respected local firm of building architects and engineers, who have built many local buildings including a hospital, condo units, a San Mig brewery, as well as many individual houses. The complete design runs to about 75 pages of plans and structural computations. The cost of the design came to just under 200,000php. The Soil Plateload Test, which tested the load bearing strength of the Lot itself was an additional 25,000php. We had enquired of several building firms prior to engaging the one we chose, and their design fee ranged between 5% and 6% of the estimated build cost, which would be considerably more!

As for connection of utilities and services, ours are already laid on, but clearly would depend on how far your lot is away from these.