1. Define Your Priorities and Vision

Before breaking ground, take the time to define what you truly want in a home. Consider your lifestyle, family needs, and long-term plans. Are you looking for a modern, open-concept design or a classic, traditional layout? Do you need extra bedrooms, a home office, or energy-efficient features? By having a clear vision from the start, you’ll be better prepared to communicate your goals with architects and builders, ensuring the end result aligns with your expectations for building your dream home.

2. Conduct Thorough Research

Knowledge is power when it comes to home construction. Familiarize yourself with the building process, potential challenges, and the professionals involved. Learn about zoning regulations, permits, and local building codes that may impact your project. Research different construction materials, architectural styles, and smart home technology to make informed decisions. These steps are vital when building your dream home.

3. Assemble the Right Team

Selecting a skilled and trustworthy team is essential to a successful build. Start by hiring an experienced architect who can translate your vision into a practical design. Next, choose a reputable contractor with a proven track record of delivering quality work within budget and on time. Don’t forget about specialists such as structural engineers, interior designers, and landscape architects. A strong team is your foundation for building your dream home the right way.

4. Develop a Comprehensive Plan

A detailed plan serves as the blueprint for your entire project. Work closely with your architect and contractor to create a well-structured plan that includes layout details, material specifications, and construction timelines. Having everything planned in advance helps prevent delays, minimizes unexpected expenses, and ensures that every aspect of the design complements your vision of building your dream home.

5. Establish a Realistic Budget

One of the biggest pitfalls in home construction is underestimating costs. To avoid financial surprises, outline a comprehensive budget that includes land costs, design fees, labor, materials, permits, and inspections. Additionally, set aside a contingency fund—typically 10-20% of the total budget—to cover unforeseen expenses. Smart budgeting is a cornerstone of building your dream home without unnecessary stress.

6. Choose the Right Location

Location is one of the most critical aspects of building your dream home. Consider factors such as proximity to schools, workplaces, shopping centers, and healthcare facilities. Evaluate the neighborhood’s safety, future development plans, and overall environment. Additionally, assess the land itself—is it suitable for building? Does it require extensive excavation or land preparation? Understanding these factors beforehand can help you avoid costly site-related issues down the road.

7. Prioritize Sustainability and Energy Efficiency

Building your dream home offers a perfect opportunity to incorporate sustainable features from the start. Consider energy-efficient windows, insulation, solar panels, and smart home systems to reduce energy consumption. Use sustainable building materials such as recycled wood, bamboo, or eco-friendly concrete to minimize your environmental footprint. These choices will contribute to lower utility bills and a home that remains cost-effective over time.

8. Plan for Future Needs

Think long-term when designing your home. If you plan on expanding your family, consider additional bedrooms or multi-functional spaces. If you intend to age in place, opt for single-level living or features like wider doorways and step-free showers. Flexibility is key in building your dream home that will grow with your needs.

9. Maintain Open Communication and Stay Involved

Consistent communication with your building team is crucial throughout the project. Schedule regular site visits, ask questions, and address concerns as they arise. Stay involved in decision-making and be proactive in approving materials and design choices. Building your dream home is not just about the physical structure—it’s about shaping a lifestyle that suits your vision.

Conclusion

Building your dream home is a significant investment that requires careful planning and collaboration. By defining your goals, assembling the right team, establishing a realistic budget, and prioritizing sustainability, you can create a home that is both functional and future-proof. While the process may be challenging, a well-thought-out approach will help make your dream home a reality, ensuring it remains a comfortable and valuable space for years to come.

If you need assistance in building your dream home, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

But many, unfortunately, falter in that regard in that their place of sanctuary may not be up to par with the standards. Typically, they’re not built by a group of professionals or construction companies whose bread and butter is establishing strong houses from the ground up.

Should you hire a construction company to build your home?

Hiring a construction company to build your home can be relatively more expensive than hiring a workforce unaffiliated with a company. But opting for this route is akin to getting the best possible outcome with your money.

More than that, there are also plenty of other reasons why you would want to leverage the expertise of a construction company for your soon-to-be home:

1. Reliability is the most important why it is a must to build home with a Construction Company

It goes without saying that by choosing to have a construction company build your future home for you, you are essentially paying for reliability. That is, you pay good money while having the guarantee that the project gets finished without a hitch. What you get is peace of mind, knowing that your future abode will come to fruition. Experienced construction companies especially embody this trait, which only highlights the importance of field experience in the overall grand scheme of things.

2. Providing estimations

For a group of professionals who live and breathe building houses, construction companies are familiar with the ins and outs of the home-building process. This level of experience gives them the insight to assess how much an entire project would cost. This ability to give you an idea about the expense is important in that it provides you with a critical piece of information before the start of a project. This is important in deciding whether to pursue the project or save more for another day. If you build home with a construction company you can get the exact price of your home because they are well-versed in estimation.

Related Article: 7 Qualities Of A Good General Contractor

3. Better time management

Construction companies know that they only have a limited time to finish a project. This mindset fosters the need to always be punctual and meet deadlines, saving the client the unnecessary headache of delays and further expenses. As the overall expenses of the project are directly proportional to the time it takes to complete it, this suggests that longer building time is equivalent to more cost to the client. Hence, all efforts are there to prevent it.

4. Multiple design options

Building a house can be an artistic process that has many possibilities. Construction companies know this for a fact and will not hesitate to come up with many renditions for you, as the client, to choose from. In addition to picking the style of your choice, you are also given the power to request changes and will be given feedback on whether such requests are attainable or not.

Related Article: 10 Causes Of Headaches You Can Avid When A General Contractor Undertakes Your Project

5. Less dispute

Professionals understand the importance of establishing rapport with their clients. This means that professional institutions like construction companies put the client’s interest at the top of everything, ensuring a harmonious relationship with them throughout. As such, you, as a client, are less likely to be in conflict when dealing with professionals than you are with only skilled laborers. Construction companies even, inevitably, build a culture around it to thrive in the trade. That’s why it is a must to build home with a construction company so you’ll avoid unforeseen headaches.

6. Timely adjustments

Things may not always go as planned, especially for the often intricate business of home construction. Important matters such as design, time, and cost can change at any given time. Fortunately, there is always a sense of anticipation in this somewhat fickle nature of the trade, which equips construction companies with the readiness to adapt when necessary. Timeliness, importantly, being an essential factor in it.

7. Best results

What separates the professional from the non-professional often boils down to quality and results. The same is true with the home-building business that is made by individuals whose expertise is made solely for it. They say that you get what your money is worth—and this has never been more true of a house made by a construction company. The result is that you get a house that does not only look right both from the inside and outside but also feels right in general, too.

Related Article: 17 Different Types of Houses That You Can Build in the Philippines

When you take the idea of building your shelter to be an investment, rather than simply a big, one-time expense, you will appreciate quality and results with the investment. In most cases, this is only possible when you are allowing a team of professionals in construction companies to do the work for you.

Did you like the above 7 Reasons Why It Is A Must to Build Home With A Construction Company? Do you want to build home with a construction company? Please contact us or message us on the messenger and let’s talk.

It is not a secret that building a construct from the ground up can be a time-consuming process, not to mention expensive. When the cost of the entire undertaking can be directly correlated to the time it takes to finish its construction, builders are hard-pressed to meet deadlines and limited budgets.

Stakeholders, too, are particularly keen on the idea of a shorter building time if the offer is on the table, without necessarily sacrificing quality. And this is where the use of steel fits into the overall picture—it serves as a key to faster construction, therefore demanding a relatively smaller budget than when using any other material, while simultaneously ensuring that the end result is up to par with the standards.

Without further ado, here is the “Top 10 Reasons Why Steel Structure is Best for Commercial Building Projects.”

1. Fast construction When Steel Structure is Used

Steel is a versatile resource that can easily be prefabricated in a controlled environment, driven by the streamlined process with supplies. Designed in response to the growing demand of the industry, pre-engineered industrial steel structures are easily molded to fit various designs. Depending on certain factors, the overall construction time with steel structure could be reduced to just a third in comparison to other projects that make use of completely different materials, like concrete.

2. Cost Effective

Knowing the relationship between the time it takes to finish a building project and its overall expense, a project whose development period is cut to a fraction simply with the use of steel structure is telling how cost-effective it is. As the construction finishes sooner rather than later due to the expedition enabled by the material, it also implies a faster return on investment to the stakeholder.

Related Article: 7 Qualities of a Good General Contractor

3. High Strength and Durable

The strength and durability of metal have been a topic of admiration among builders for many years. Proof of this material’s prowess includes the ability to withstand earth vibration and harsh weather conditions and its immunity to certain damages from pests, such as termites, and harmful elements. The value of metal in construction is highly-prized as such, it is praised far and wide as the most durable building material there is out there.

4. Large internal Space

In commercial and warehouse buildings which are known for their expansive, open-space design, a steel structure offsets the limits inherent to a concrete material alone. For instance, it is well-established how limited the space that a concrete material can occupy without requiring strong support columns. The limitation seemingly boils down to the weight of the concrete itself. This level of constraint is often not an issue when using a steel structure, which is known for its wider reach, without being dependent on a support structure underneath.

5. Flexibility to customize

Another advantage of using a material that can be molded to varying designs is its flexibility to take shape according to more unique customizations. This level of versatility not only paves for more complicated designs but more importantly fosters human creativity and ingenuity. While this element of steel is certainly critical in the artistic pursuit of complex structures, even seemingly customary constructs could benefit from the same to a certain degree.

Related Article: 7 Advantages on Working with a Legitimate Contractor

6. Green building friendly

Metal is a very resourceful material to use when building an eco-friendly construct, which is described as a building made using renewable materials, for its ability to be recycled and reused. Several examples of metals that meet these criteria are copper, iron, brass, aluminum, and yes, steel, which are capable of being reused many times over, essentially removing all possibility of waste.

7. High Resistance to Fire

Steel, particularly stainless steel, is very resistant to fire. Even when exposed to heat as high as 700°F (371.111°C), stainless steel is able to maintain its strength. For this reason, this particular material survives even in the most intensive cases of fires and also does not contribute to the proliferation of fires during burnout, unlike a flammable material, like wood.

8. Versatile

The use of steel as part of a strong construct began with the very invention of steel itself. For over a century, this material has proven itself to be stalwart in establishing long-lasting constructs, many of which have become landmarks and icons to this day. Whether being used as the main material or framework of the building or simply as a reinforcement to a weaker segment of the building, steel is an asset that comes with many useful advantages.

9. Available with Small Project

There is no doubt that large structures we see every day is undeniably made with metal in them. But even smaller structures, too, can inhibit metal as part of their structure. The application is driven largely by practicality. When the steel structure has proven itself up to the task of holding together large constructs, then there is no doubting its capabilities on smaller structures as well. Whether it is a large warehouse or a garage that houses stuff for keeping, there is always a metallic material that makes everything possible and safe.

Related Article: 10 Causes of Headaches You Can Avoid when a General Contractor Undertakes Your Project

10. Competitive price

The ability to save development time may be what makes the use of metal structure such an appealing option to a stakeholder with a limited budget. But the benefit to cost does not just end there as the cost of procuring metal can be relatively budget-friendly, too. Whether this may be due to the material’s recyclable and reusable nature or changing market conditions, but metal is such a valuable material that is generally worth its cost.

Knowing the advantages to using a metal or steel structure for construction, whether as the primary or as support, is it any wonder why it remains the top choice among builders when establishing commercial buildings from scratch?

Did you like the above “Top 10 Reasons Why Steel Structure is Best for Commercial Building Project?”

Do you have a commercial and warehouse project? Please contact us.

Take, for example, the disaster that was the Sampoong Department Store of 1995 in South Korea, which claimed the lives of several hundreds of individuals while leaving nearly a thousand injured when the mixed-use building collapsed due to bad construction and utter negligence.

But that is not nearly as bad as the Savar Building in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2013 when the garment factory fell into pieces and killed more than a thousand people while leaving over two thousand others with injuries because of a similar fault as the previous, albeit with greater casualties.

Though those are great examples, the same could also happen to relatively smaller-scale projects, too, like homes.

Yet, why go through such causes of headaches when building a home when it can be avoided by simply having the right partner to work with the project, which is the General Contractor?

1. When Developing the Plans for Your House or Project

It is easy for a client to fall into the trap of taking the lead in planning a house or a project, oftentimes with the aid of draftsmen who would do the full spectrum of the creative works on their behalf, which includes the architecture, structure, electrical, and plumbing plans. While this shows good initiative, in reality, finding such capable people is often difficult.

But why go through the trouble of looking for the manpower yourself, as the client, when there is a good General Contractor that already has the entire manpower needed to do the job? As such, saving you from one of the causes of headaches in building a home.

2. When Applying for the Building Permit Application

No construction project, especially if commercial by nature, ever gets done without the approval of the local government unit that has jurisdiction over the site, often signified with the issuance of a building permit. Although the process of getting a building permit has always been streamlined, it is still a process that demands certain requirements before getting approved.

General Contractors make the process of getting a building permit easier through sheer reputation paired with having the right connections in the trade, while simultaneously saving you from one of the causes of headaches in building a home.

3. Managing the Construction

So, you have gotten past the hurdle of getting a building permit, which permits you to start the project. But while that notion may be a sigh of relief for a client, the real project has not started until everything about it is panned out, beginning from the designing phase. This is a big part of the project and oftentimes comes with plenty of headaches if not smooth-running, which would be a typical problem for the inexperienced.

Yet, again, this is an issue that is easily circumvented by having a vetted General Contractor conduct the heavy lifting of the entire undertaking, essentially saving you from one of the causes of headaches in building a home.

Related Article: 8 Major Mistakes Homeowners Make When Constructing Their Dream House

4. Buying materials

While the client generally has the power to choose which materials to use for the project, procuring the essential materials to get the project going is not necessarily as simple as picking the most affordable. Even then, the task of acquiring the materials can be time-consuming.

Yet, why would the client shoulder this burden when there is a capable General Contractor that can decide on the best possible materials and where to source them at the behest of the client? Doing so will certainly save you from one of the causes of headaches in building a home.

5. Supervising the work of site crews

Having to oversee a project that often takes months at a time to accomplish is a task that is rife with issues that are at times best handled by those experienced enough to manage them. Although the client can do this, in many cases, it takes patience.

It is never easy to handle people, especially in the business of constructing buildings, and is, therefore, best delegated to someone who truly knows how to handle the task at any point—ideally, the General Contractor—thus, saving you from one of the causes of headaches in building a home.

6. Implementation of house plans

Having a well-laid-out plan to kickstart the project is one thing about the construction business. Having the know-how to read such plans and conduct pertinent actions toward their eventual implementation is another. Unless the client is privy to doing so, this activity is always especially done by people who have the skills and knowledge.

Leaving it to the General Contractor and its experienced people is highly encouraged to give them full awareness and control of the will-be-developing project while saving you from one of the causes of headaches in building a home.

Related Article: Step-by-Step Guide for Building Permit Application

7. Weather especially the rainy season

Like in any other project, there is always a degree of uncertainty when dealing with fieldwork. Although there are months of the year when a specific atmospheric condition is expected to appear, at times, there may be anomalies that defy common expectations.

When things of this sort do happen, it can be a pain to leave the project hanging on a particular day, but this is a decision that must be made. The client would do best to leave this decision to the General Contractor, if possible, to save them from one of the causes of headaches in building a home.

 Related Article: 10 Greatest Reasons to Hire a General Contractor

8. Recording the worker’s daily time

Not many people like the idea of micromanaging others, but for a project that pays a daily wage given a set of hours in a day, keeping a close look at the working hours of the workers is essential. Yet, again, this is also what a client may do.

But why carry that weight when the General Contractor is fully capable of the feat? The client will not only save themselves the time of having to micromanage but also from one of the causes of headaches in building a home, too.

9. Bale or Cash Advance of workers

Workers in the construction trade are willing to do almost everything required of them, so long as they are getting paid. At times, workers may demand cash advance payments out of dire need. Having to deal with financial matters with the workforce can be headache-inducing if you, as a client, are not used to it.

Again, you could always leave this kind of dealing with the General Contractor, saving you from one of the causes of headaches in building a home.

10. Application for the Occupancy permit

Clients who are new to the business may be unaware that the business demands more than just a single permit aside from the Building Permit. And yes, it refers to the other permit needed before the established building could be occupied—the Occupancy Permit.

Related Article: 7 Advantages on Working with a Legitimate Contractor in Building Your Project

Yet, once more, this is also a requirement that is easily gotten by an establishment that is already established in the trade—the General Contractor. Save yourself time and effort, not to mention one of the causes of headaches in building a home, by leaving this task to them as well.

With all that being said, at the end of the day, all the client would want is to get their project done while at the same time saving themselves from some of the common causes of headaches in building a home. In other words, it is all about the ease and convenience that comes with practically finding a good General Contractor to call as a business partner in the project.

Did you experience these “10 Causes of Headaches in Building a Home?” 

Do you want to avoid these types of headaches? Please contact us and let’s talk.

Image by Lukas Bieri from Pixabay

Many who share the same goal as you do reach that part of the dream process. Some even take several years. But just as when you think that reaching that point is a guarantee for success, mishaps happen—often because of shortsightedness and misguidedness—and they become setbacks to an otherwise straightforward goal: mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house.

Here are the 8 mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house:

1. DIY (Do-it-yourself)

Some beginner homeowners fall into the trap of cutting out the experts to cut costs. DIY-ers as they call themselves, they take pride in being able to do stuff with their own hands. But while they may make the best dog houses, the planning and effort needed to establish a house for human living certainly take a lot more. Often the case (as many as 99% of them), fails in this regard. Thus, making it one of the most serious mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house.

Related Article: 17 Different Types of Houses in the Philipines that You Want to Build

2. Listening to false advice

Lacking access to professional advice, some resort to becoming too “open-minded” to information where possible. This practice is not only faulty but also dangerous as well, especially in the context of house-building. Why? Because the person you could be getting the information from may not necessarily understand what they are talking about themselves. In the same manner that a blind leads a blind, listening to a layperson for a professional job is one of the mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house.

3. Mixed concepts of design

We live in an age where conceptual designs are aplenty, which serves as a thriving source of inspiration. Building a house from scratch, however, isn’t like a bowl of salad that you just mix and comes with a “palatable” result. That is unless you want to come up with something unusual—but ever heard of the Winchester Mystery House? Mish-mashing designs for a single building can be an anti-thesis to proper uniformity and good cohesion and is one of the mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house.

Related Article: 9 Different Types of Bungalow That You Want to Build in the Philippines

4. Prioritize exterior rather than interior

When someone speaks of a house, for some people it entails something that others see, not the owner. In reality, it should be the complete opposite. While a building may gather praise from other people for its external beauty, at the end of the day, the real people who ought to be cherishing the quality of the household are those who live in it. Therefore, interior design should take paramount importance over exterior design. Likewise, going for the contrary is one of the mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house.

5. Dealing with an undocumented contractor

Establishing a house from the ground up is serious business and anyone who is into such can fall victim to bad actors in the industry. By “bad actors,” we mean individuals who engage in the trade but don’t do proper documentation that is typically attributed to the job. It is your money that is largely at risk when you deal with this kind of people.

The problem with having somebody do you a major job without anything getting written is the uncertainty of how and when the project will get finished. In some cases, they do not, as the necessary funds would typically run out before then. This issue could’ve been prevented if there had been an initial agreement on how much the entire project will have cost from the beginning. Therefore, a project without proper documentation is one of the mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house.

6. Not finalizing the decision for the design (could be a waste of money)

With literally thousands of possibilities as to how a household can turn out, it can be mind-boggling to make a final design. However, this isn’t a valid reason to forego the finalization of the design process. If anything, this is a recipe for a massive waste of both time and money. Because chances are, until the design is already set and final, multiple re-designs could take place, even during the actual construction phase. Save yourself time and money by avoiding this as one of the many mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house.

7. Dealing with an unprofessional

Another “bad actor” in the construction industry is unlicensed individuals. Considering the overall expenses of constructing a house, giving an incompetent person such a serious undertaking is a disaster waiting to happen. Just consider this: if licensed professionals themselves still could commit mistakes in their bailiwick, what more is unprofessional? Lesson: Only work with professionals and prevent an otherwise one of the several mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house.

Related Article: 10 Reasons Why it is Best to Retire in Palawan

8. Not enough budget for the project

You’re probably too eager to kickstart your home-building project without the right budget. But herein lies the problem with lacking the necessary funds—you would get a grossly unfinished construct. Chance is good you would not want even to live in a house without working plumbing or lighting in place. Avoid this one of many mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house and get a full house instead.

We all fall in love with the idea of owning a house but sometimes we fall into the temptation of getting it through means that we think would cut us some costs. But only for the opposite to become true. There is nothing inherently wrong with being eager on one thing as it suggests a genuine interest. However, when you give in to the wrong practices, that is when matters become a concern—which shouldn’t be the case if you’re working with a pro and are avoiding many mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house.

Did you make the above 8 major mistakes homeowners make when constructing a house?

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Constructing your own home or project can be overwhelming as you want it to be perfect – free of flaws as much as possible. You might find yourself often asking the question, “Where and how do I start constructing my project?” In this article, I am going to show you the 15 Basic Steps of Construction.

In this episode, I will walk you through the fifteen (15) simple and easy-to-follow steps in constructing your project.

Before diving into these basic steps of construction, you should first ensure that you have enough budget for your project. A project that has been properly budgeted will guarantee that your dream house or building will be done in no time with little to no hassle. If you feel confident with your construction budget, let’s dig into the 15 basic steps of constructing your project.

1. DESIGN OF YOUR PROJECT

Find an engineer to design your house and an architect to design the architectural trade of your project.

For other important parts of your home such as plumbing and electrical plans, this must be signed and sealed by a respective and licensed professional before submitting it to the building official of your municipality in order to obtain a building permit.

If you intend to have the wall of your project to be firewalled, it’s best to ask for the consent of the neighborhood.

2. APPLY FOR A BUILDING PERMIT

After obtaining a copy of the plans of your project – from architectural, structural, plumbing, electrical, mechanical plans to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), and you’ve sought consent from the neighborhood, you should submit these documents to the building official of your municipality.

You should make sure that the lot or land where your building is to be constructed is titled. The building official will not accept untitled lot or land.

If you are holding a certificate or rights of lot or land from any homeowners association or lot or land given from the government you should consult the national housing authority or any government institution that can assist you to have your lot or land be titled.

Please note that this is one of the most important basic steps of construction.

3. MOBILIZE

Before mobilizing, you should prepare a mobilization layout plan to indicate the location of offices, stores, parkings, access roads, and the project area.

If you’re a contractor and the project awarded to you already received a notice to proceed, then this is the appropriate time to mobilize your equipment, staff, and materials to get started with the project.

4. CLEARING AND GRUBBING

After mobilization, you may now start with cleaning and grubbing. This includes cutting trees and removing obstructions inside and outside the project area.

There are a couple of equipment that you may use for this step – a dozer if there’s unevenness on the area and a backhoe if there are coconut trees or fruit trees in the project’s area.

Before you start clearing make sure you properly established the boundaries of the lot or land so you won’t get in trouble when you over-cleared and cut some trees of the neighboring property.

5. CONSTRUCT BOARD UP OR TEMPORARY FENCE

Once cleared, you may now start installing your board-up or temporary fence. This is to ensure that only official personnel may enter the premises of your project and at the same time protect civilians nearby the project area.

The board-up or temporary fence may install outside the boundary of your lot you just have to ensure that the owner of the adjacent property permits you to do so otherwise, install the board-up or temporary fence just exactly on the boundary.

6. BUILD TEMPORARY FACILITIES AND UTILITIES

To accommodate the needs of your staff, it’s ideal to build temporary facilities such as but not limited to canteens, comfort rooms, materials and equipment room.

For power and water supply, you should coordinate with the city’s respective suppliers accordingly.

7. LAYOUT

The next step would be surveying the area using total station and some are using a global positioning system or what we called Global Position System or GPS as this instrument gets higher accuracy because its data is communicated from the satellite.

However, if you find the equipment quite expensive, alternative equipments that you may use are theodolite and dumpy level.

The traditional approach in doing the layout is to use a level hose and steel meter. However, bear in mind that the traditional approach may only be used for small projects such as single storey three (3) bedroom house, small tower, and warehouse.

The surveying instruments are also required to be calibrated every 6 months to ensure no error of the survey data. The quality or civil engineer should maintain the log of the surveying instruments to monitor them.

Provide batter board for small projects, that is to be used for reference of leveling of the footing foundation and marking gridlines. The gridlines must be placed along with the batter board in order to easily identify by the engineers the location of a particular column.

The batter board should be installed either 1 or 1.5 meters around the boundary of the building.

8. EXCAVATION

Once the layout has been completed, it’s time to do the excavation. Excavating depends on your preferred foundation – from isolated footing, combined footing, to mat foundation or raft foundation.

For isolated footing of a residential house manual excavation is advisable but for those footing consisting of 5 cubic meters and above an excavator is required such as backhoe, payloader etcetera. It is best to follow the method statement for excavation and backfilling works you can not be lost when you follow this document.

The most commonly used types of foundation in building a house are isolated footing and combined footing, raft, and mat foundation for large projects such as building a 15 – storey apartment, malls, mixed-used buildings, skyscrapers. Nonetheless, the structural design of the foundation will always depend on the strata underneath it by way of soil analysis.

Some municipalities require soil analysis for a building project with 3 floors and above.

For shallow foundations such as isolated footing or combined footing, place the excavated soil 1 meter away from the batter board so that it will not create additional weight on adjacent unexcavated soil that can create erosion.

For mat foundation at depth of 3m, shoring is recommended to construct and provide concrete blocks where waterproofing membrane is to be laid on.

9. MEP WORKS

It’s required that you hire a Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (M E P) contractor or M E P engineer in the procurement of M E P materials as there will be electrical and plumbing works involved such as installation of grounding rod, grounding wire, and PVC pipes before pouring concrete on the foundation area.

At the basement area drainage pipe will be installed and the pipe should have a slope of 1 is to 10 it means that for every meter length there should be 10mm drop.

10. POURING CONCRETE FOUNDATION

Prior to pouring the soil underneath the foundation shall be compacted followed with the application of anti-termite. When application of the anti-termite is completed you should make sure it will be covered by a 1000 gauge polythene sheet.

The PCC or what we also called plain cement concrete has a specified strength of 20 Mpa shall be poured on the laid polythene sheet.

Prior to concrete pouring spot levels shall be placed at 2 to 3 meters distance with a right thickness monitored by a surveyor.

If the foundation is above the water table you may apply a bituminous waterproofing on the PCC at least two layers. The application of bituminous shall be perpendicular to its direction. Applying the 2 layers of bituminous waterproofing in a similar direction is not acceptable.

If the foundation is below the water table, it is advisable to use a waterproofing membrane 4mm in thickness. A primer shall be applied first on the PCC in order to ensure good bonding between the PCC and the membrane.

In order that the waterproofing membrane is properly protected, blinding or lean concrete with a specified strength of 25 Mpa shall be poured over it thus keeping the waterproofing away from encroaching steel bars that may damage it.

Polythene sheet can be used for protection of the waterproofing membrane only if when there is no heavier structure above it such as isolated footing, combined footing, etc.

When the installation of formworks and rebars for the foundation and starter bars for columns and walls are completed, the next step would be pouring the concrete foundation.

However, make sure that the M E P contractor or MEP engineer was able to check embedded electrical conduits, grounding rod and wire, and drainage PVC pipe when the foundation is under the parking area at basement.

11. BACKFILLING

Seven (7) days after pouring the concrete, you may start doing the backfilling. Before starting this step, make sure that there’s no wooden cut pieces, concrete debris, and boulders are mixed with the backfilling material.

Backfilling must be layered in accordance with the governing standard or specification, hence, every layer has to be compacted to 95% of max dry density.

In order to achieve the required degree of compaction, you should ensure that the backfilled soil is properly compacted with a vibratory roller of compacter or whichever is usable. Compaction test shall be followed there must be 2 tests per 500sqm of area but specifications may vary so ensure to check your project specification.

Just a tip, watering before compaction will help the soil to shrink and settle well.

12. CONSTRUCTION OF GROUND FLOOR SLAB

After the underground backfilling, you may now commence with the construction of the ground floor slab. The layers for the ground floor slab consist of MEP rough-ins such as PVC for wastewater and waterline and engineered or granular fill which should be compacted to 100% MDD (maximum dry density).

Once the degree of compaction has been reached, you may start laying either reinforcing bars or wire mesh.

In a huge project with depth foundation, when shoring is used for plot boundary protection, it should be advisable that after pouring the ground floor slab the shoring can be removed.

13. BUILDING THE FRAMING SUPERSTRUCTURE (Most important in one of the basic steps of construction)

This is one of the biggest steps in your construction journey as you have to do the following – install fabricated reinforcement on the columns, pouring it with high-grade concrete cement between 20 MPa to 60 MPa or 80MPa for high-rise buildings.

If you’re working on a project that has several floors, you should install formworks for your beam and first-floor slab or mezzanine, formworks at these areas can be installed after pouring the concrete columns.

The vertical supports underside of the slab shall be spaced at a minimum of 1 meter apart in either x and y direction. Formworks must be designed structurally in order to ensure safety, especially during pouring concrete.

Just a tip, you should spray water on the casted slab and beam for seven (7) days to improve its strength and durability.

Related Article:

1. 10 Greatest Reasons To Hire A General Contractor

14. ARCHITECTURAL WORKS

Second to the last basic steps of construction would be doing architectural works on your ground floor level. You can start with block wall installation which may consist of concrete hollow block or what we also called concrete masonry unit, wall system, or precast concrete.

You may use AAC block or Aerated Autoclaved Concrete block for your partitions because it can save your home or building when in fire due to its 2 to 5 hours fire resistance.

This will be followed by plaster works, painting, and ceiling works. You may also start working on the tile works at this point.

If your building has a mezzanine or first, second, third floor and above architectural works should progress upward successively.

15. HANDING OVER

Before handing over, the project should undergo snagging or punch listing. Once all the punch lists have been repaired and rectified, then the owner or the representative can recheck the modifications.

If the rectifications have been accepted, then the turnover will commence. By this time, a permit should be prepared – the occupancy permit – and submitted to the building official.

Of course, the construction of a project is not limited to these steps as it still depends on the type and size of the project you will work on.

However, the steps I’ve shared were the basic and common steps in the construction of a house or a high-rise building.

Do you have any suggestions or supplements to the “15 Basic Steps of Construction?: You may contact us if you need help to construct your project.