Why should we hire a construction company to build our house?
One of the most frequently asked questions by homeowners is why they should hire a Construction Company to Build Your House rather than manage the construction themselves.
What will be the financial benefit of doing so?
What other benefits are associated with getting your work done by professionals?
In this article, we will briefly explain how a professional team can help you build a technically sound home while keeping costs down.
How Construction Has Changed Over the Years
Over the years, construction has changed dramatically. Houses built before were simple and of somewhat similar design and category.
Old Construction
The issues that we face today were not entirely present at that time. The quality and availability of construction materials have changed significantly. As the demand for materials increased, maintaining the same level of quality became more challenging.
There are also technical differences. Houses built in the past did not generally require structural drawings or the level of technical expertise that we need in today’s buildings.
Modern houses are more complex, and building them requires the right expertise and time.
Modern Houses
Modern houses are more complex, and building them requires the right expertise and time. Homeowners should ensure that the professionals involved in their project have the appropriate technical qualifications and credentials. The Pakistan Engineering Council provides information about engineering professionals and registration in Pakistan.
Why Hire a Construction Company to Build a House?
To build a house, there are three main things that we need to consider:
- Good-quality material procurement – approximately 70% of the total cost.
- Good and skilled labour – approximately 20% of the total cost.
- Professional supervision – approximately 10% of the total cost if you are getting the house built by a professional company.
These percentages are used as an example to explain the overall concept.
Material Procurement
Let us discuss material procurement first.
Suppose a company procures your material for Rs. 70 out of Rs. 100 for a particular quality, brand, and price range. If you procure the same material of the same quality, brand, and price range yourself, it may cost you more than Rs. 70.
The main reason is that a client purchases material for their house only once or perhaps twice, whereas a builder purchases materials much more frequently.
Professional builders may also receive special discounts because of bulk buying and their regular relationships with suppliers.
However, let us suppose that the client is able to purchase the same amount of material with the same quality for Rs. 70, exactly the same price that the builder paid.
Skilled Labour
Then we have skilled labour, which we have assumed will cost Rs. 20 out of Rs. 100 for the builder.
Again, skilled labour may cost the builder less compared to the client because builders work with labour teams more frequently. However, for this example, let us suppose that the labour costs both the builder and the client the same amount.
Therefore, it will cost both the builder and the client Rs. 90 to cover material and labour.
Can You Build a Cheaper House Without Compromising Quality?
Now, if either of them wants to build a cheaper home, they would have to compromise on the quality of the house, as there is no other way to reduce these essential costs significantly.
The right quantity and quality of material will cost a particular amount, and the same applies to skilled labour.
Therefore, if there is a way to save costs by reducing the required amount or quality, the quality of the house will ultimately be compromised.
For instance, if the steel required for a house is 5 tons, costing approximately Rs. 500,000, and instead of 5 tons, only 4 tons are installed at a cost of approximately Rs. 400,000, then Rs. 100,000 is saved on steel.
However, the quality and structural integrity of the house may be compromised.
Likewise, there are many ways to save money, but the more you reduce the required quantity or quality of materials, the greater the potential compromise in the quality of the house.
The Impact of Cheap Labour
Similarly, cheap labour is also available in the market, but the quality of work provided by less-skilled labour can be far inferior to that of skilled workers.
Selecting cheap labour may result in:
- Poor-quality finishing
- Inferior workmanship
- Construction mistakes
- Rework
- Delays
- Work that does not meet the required standards
Therefore, choosing labour solely because it is cheaper can ultimately affect the quality of your house.
The Importance of Professional Supervision
From the discussion above, we can conclude that we cannot save money on the procurement of materials and labour without potentially reducing quality.
We will now move on to our final point: supervision.
You can save money on supervision by building your home yourself. However, the issue a client may face is that they may have little or no experience in procuring construction materials and managing construction work.
This can result in:
- Expensive material purchases
- Poor-quality material selection
- Material wastage
- Poor labour management
- Technical mistakes
Why Hiring a Labour Contractor Alone May Not Be Enough
It is a common practice to hire a labour contractor (thekedar), hand the maps over to him, and ask him to start the construction.
This approach can create problems.
Over time, construction has been vastly revolutionized. Long gone are the days when houses were built using the same methods, techniques, and designs.
Home designs have evolved, but not all contractors have adapted to these changes. Some still rely heavily on conventional construction methods.
To implement modern construction methods correctly, the client should either have sufficient experience in house construction or hire a professional company to manage the work.
How Professional Expertise Can Save Money
If you secure the first two steps — procurement of materials and hiring professional labour — within the same price as the contractor, you still need to manage the remaining Rs. 10.
In order to do that effectively, you need experience in building a house and the expertise to guide the labour through the proper methods and processes.
Knowing the proper steps and techniques of house construction can actually save money through:
- Better financial management
- Faster construction
- Reduced material wastage
- Better labour coordination
- Fewer technical mistakes
- Improved construction quality
Benefits of Hiring a Construction Company to Build Your House
By hiring a professional company, you can improve your material purchasing and potentially save through builder discounts.
You can also improve the quality of work by using skilled labour and protect yourself from many technical mistakes.
The main responsibility you will have is to carefully review and cross-check the contract or agreement that you have with the professional company.
Save Time by Hiring Professionals
In these times, when life moves at a rapid pace, it is very difficult to spare enough time from work to manage house construction and oversee all the related matters.
Trying to manage both your professional work and house construction can cause considerable discomfort and stress.
We would strongly suggest that you understand how to make a proper contract with a builder, as explained in our videos and articles, and then hire a good builder or professional construction company.
This can allow you to build your dream house using the best available materials while reducing the burden of managing every construction detail yourself.
Why You Should Prioritize the Grey Structure
As we have repeated multiple times, the grey structure is the backbone of the house.
Therefore, we strongly recommend that you strictly build your grey structure with premium-plus-quality materials.
The finishing materials of a house can generally be replaced or upgraded later, but the structural components form the foundation of the building and should receive particular attention during construction.
Final Thoughts
In the end, we would again stress that the contract you make with your builder should be comprehensive, written, and legal.
Please make sure that your market research is complete before finalizing the builder.
Choosing the right professional construction company and having a clear agreement in place can help you avoid unnecessary discomfort and problems during the later stages of construction.
