Count the cost of construction

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” These wise words of Jesus found in the bible ring as true today as when they where first uttered two thousand years ago. Sadly this important part of construction planning is grossly ignored in the current Kenyan construction industry.

Any construction endeavour, apart from building castles in the air, is fuelled by the following five vital ingredients; 
1.    Cash 
2.    Money 
3.    Finances 
4.    Legal tender 
5.    All of the above

It is imperative that counting the cost is the single most important aspect of construction planning and will ensure that your building project runs to its logical conclusion. It enables the client to be sure of exactly what he is getting himself into from the onset and to decide early enough whether to start the project with the funds available, or source for additional funds.

Primarily counting the cost normally begins by having an idea of the kind of structure that one intends to put up. Be it a three bedroom bungalow with basic amenities or a four bedroom deluxe maisonette, or the construction of a masonry perimeter wall, it is necessary for the client to visualize his needs at the beginning.

Counting the cost of a project is also important for ostensibly small renovation jobs both in the house and at the office. Such jobs could be tiling works for a kitchen or washroom, painting works or even the fitting of shelves. For small jobs or repairs, after evaluating and visualising the need, the client can engage a competent handy man or fundi to estimate the materials as well as the labour component and advise on the execution of the job.

And how can a client tell if a job is small? Any job that involves the engagement of only one tradesman like a leaking pipe, blown electrical socket, broken window panes, re-painting a room or house with the same colour paint and the like, can be described as small jobs. These jobs would require a general plumber, general electrician, window glazer and a painter respectively. The project costs involved would also be relatively small and will generally be in terms of thousands of shillings. The beauty of these is that all these handy men and listed on the www.fundimjanja.com website as a free service, complete with contact numbers and location. Furthermore, the client can just visit www.fundimjanja.com, go to the Fundi Categories section browse through the more than 40 tradesmen categories listed and get a short description of what each individual handyman or fundi specializes in.

Afterwards the client can chose an individual handyman get his phone contacts, call him up and arrange for a meeting. The handyman can do a quotation based on the materials and his labour component for the job. The client can then be able to count the cost of the entire job from the onset and decide if he is able to afford the job. A contingency sum of 5-10% of the estimated amount should also be factored in to mitigate against price fluctuations’ and transport costs.

The client can get a quote for free by engaging the handymen listed on the site although it is good practice and encouraged to reimburse them for transport costs and time spent preparing the quote.

It is also important to consult an interior designer or landscaper when doing major internal or external alterations as they can advise the client on alternative materials that can be used and thus save the client a tidy sum. Their experience allows them to foresee the end from the beginning and advise the client on the phases that the project should entail. For example before tiling a bathroom it is wise to ensure that all leaking pipes and faulty taps are repaired so that the tiles are not damaged during subsequent repairs. This will involve engaging a plumber before the mason fixes the pipes. The same applies to painting; a general electrician should be engaged to fix faulty electrical fixtures before painting. An architect or interior designer will be able to advise the client on all preceding issues and thus ensure that the client is able to count the cost of the job before commencement. Amazingly such cost estimates can be done at negligible cost by engaging professionals. The implication of charging forward and commencing a seemingly small job without counting the cost can be catastrophic and might result in additional repairs.

For larger jobs; jobs that involve many trades like office partitioning, house extension or construction of new structures , the client can do simple sketches on paper so that the mental picture is clearer to him, he can refine the sketch until he is pretty sure that what he has on paper fairly represents what he intends to build. The client should not feel intimidated to produce an accurate, scaled sketch at this stage, also no training is necessary to prepare the sketch; a clear mind and basic pen and paper literacy will suffice. The sketch should also have notes and explanations where necessary so that anything that the client is unable to sketch is put down in words. The next step is engaging an architect or a designer to translate the clients’ sketch, notes and thoughts into building plans that can be used on site for the construction. This might seem very odd for seemingly simple structures like boundary walls, pig sties or cattle pens but the advantages of translating these thoughts on paper cannot be gain said. This is the first step in ensuring that the project will be completed. Starting the construction without drawings is like embarking on a journey without a destination; any road will take there. Depending on the complexity of the project, the architect as the head of the building team will be able to advise the client on the need of engaging other professionals like quantity surveyors, structural, electrical and mechanical engineers and of course the contractors. The architect will normally negotiate on behalf of the client and thus the client can rest easy in the knowledge that they are on the same side.

The advantages of engaging an architect are that he or she acts as a neutral party to both the client and the contractor. His chief concern will be the adherence to the drawing and specifications, quality of materials on site and overall workmanship. The client on the other hand will be more conscious of controlling costs of the project, and the expediency of the job. The contractors or workmen on site would be more interested in expediting the job, so that they are paid; at times at the expense of quality. When the demands of all three of these somewhat divergent players in the project are met, the client will be the victor as he will have an enduring, aesthetic, high quality structure built within the initial budget and time frame.

Counting the cost will ensure that your construction project will be terminated because the structure is complete and not because the funds have run out, and thus ensure that the long cherished Kenyan tradition of incomplete construction projects comes to an end.

Till next time, keep well and keep safe. 
Fundi Mjanja.