General Building Question

[scott h]

Would anyone know a ball park figure about how much per square foot it costs to build a house in the RP? I realize it will vary from the city to the provience. Just trying to get my head around our project. thanks

[Garpo]

That is so hard to answer because of the number of different types of materials that can be used. Thickness of brick, type of tile, roof, etc. etc. etc.

[Bruce]

Labor costs are the real savings. I built a place out on Samar and 11 men cost me less than $60 a day! Depends on what you want to build. Nipa house can be less than $2000. A concrete block house can be built for less than $25,000 with hot water and air con.... If you are on a budget, assess the lot size and then design a building you can add on to later. Build with you can and then as money is available, add on rooms or floors. If you are thinking of living there. Build a 3-4 story building and 1 floor is for you. The others make rooms for rent and this will supplement your income and your grow older.... PLAN!

[Geoff Thomas]

For a reasonable quality build in a city about Php 20,000 per square meter. Average cost now. You can of course go cheaper or more expensive. Mostly depends on the number of floors because multi floors require more steel strengthening than single floor buildings then of course the biggest money burner is the quality of the finishing, fixtures & fittings.So! as a good ball park figure the above is pretty much on the button.

[Jeff Zack]

I built a place out on Samar and 11 men cost me less than $60 a day!

Bruce,May I ask which area in Samar? My wife is from E Samar and we will be investigating building soon. Any good contacts for architect or contractors appreciated.Jeff

[Bruce]

I built a place out on Samar and 11 men cost me less than $60 a day!

Bruce,May I ask which area in Samar? My wife is from E Samar and we will be investigating building soon. Any good contacts for architect or contractors appreciated.Jeff

I am in Catbalogan. I can't recommend any contractors since my people here supervised the work. I can say I have dealt with 2 architects and the first was for a house renovation. He was supposed to do the job and drew up plans with no rebar in the floor and stole about $1,000 usd off the job funds. I finished up anyway and used plenty of rebar in the floor, which came off his profit I assume.... I took him to court and won 75,000p and he disappeard. One other guy was also ripped off and got a court order against him. This guy was a local draftsman for the government and now has also lost his job.The 2nd deal was for a boarding home that the architect simply tried to adapt plans for a much larger building. But he was also in charge as the head architect for the government here, that helped with any permits. Not a bad experience, but we needed to change the plans to fit what we were doing.The actual workers helped a lot. Maybe they can not read, but they do have experience in building and saw what was wrong with the plans and were able to do the changes on site. Doing it this way worked out very well.

[Jollygoodfellow]

I am in Catbalogan. I can't recommend any contractors since my people here supervised the work. I can say I have dealt with 2 architects and the first was for a house renovation. He was supposed to do the job and drew up plans with no rebar in the floor and stole about $1,000 usd off the job funds. I finished up anyway and used plenty of rebar in the floor, which came off his profit I assume.... I took him to court and won 75,000p and he disappeard. One other guy was also ripped off and got a court order against him. This guy was a local draftsman for the government and now has also lost his job.

WowHope we dont read about another foreigner shot by two guys on a motorbike. :thumbsup:

[Bruce]

You never know about these things but I refuse to be an ostrich. Just don't know how to 'act' I guess. At least in the US (where I am NOT now) I have my trusty G23C on my hip..... But on the positive side, People here think my name is Tom and I am from Australia! G'day mate!

[Dzighnman]

Would anyone know a ball park figure about how much per square foot it costs to build a house in the RP? I realize it will vary from the city to the provience. Just trying to get my head around our project.thanks

Scott: As one that is nearing the final stages of my own house design (I am an structural engineer and designing this myself), I have searched the internet extensively looking for others that have shared their experience.. .as I searched, I came across this page: http://myphilippinelife.com/category/our-philippine-house-project/ Here is the link to the final cost report: First to remember though, this guy was not a contractor/engineer by trade, as a result overkill was a common practice to ensure the results were as expected in many areas of his design and build. I consider his costs to posess a TON of overages due to material oversizing, rework, investing in equipment (though he details this for factoring it out), plus, he went with really high end in many areas some may choose to not.. .so again, tons of variables to consider, but here you go: http://myphilippinelife.com/final-house-construction-expense-report/ I started following his site as he was starting out and now that he is finished, it has been, and continues to be, updated, including cost data for you. As Bruce correctly states, there are SO many variables to consider in the Philippines that a Sq. Mtr cost, without all the detail is not as useful as it is in the western world where you usually are working from a baseline understanding and more uniform material costs. That said, what I feel is a more significant contributor to the end cost is the BS factors [ theft, work ethics, subpar performance, etc ] as others have related... I will be my own GC, lead builder everything, as I am not on a race with time to complete. I will be capturing all costs associated, keeping a journal and uploading to a blog periodically so if you are looking for this info in say, the next year or so, I will have another version of the experience well documented and likely be a better source, than I am now, for all things construction in the Carcar, Cebu area. If you check this site out, it is alot of reading, but take particular note to the mentions regarding the undesireable construction habits of the local "skilled" labor and the specific details that he caught and corrected... ie: rebar sizing, splicing techniques, concrete mix ratios etc... the troubles you will have if not in the know, are that you will depend on trusting that the inside of a column/beam is as good as what they might make the outside look like... and judging by some of the outsides when forms are removed, I would have trouble sleeping at night knowing the floor over me was not done or supervised by me or someone I absolutely knew I could trust. Good luck in your search for info and I hope this link helps out. :thumbsup:

[Art2ro]

If I have the chance to do it over again in building out true "Dream Home" it would look like the picture below and the building materials would not be made from hollow blocks, see link below of my alternative building method I would like to use, but it may cost a little more! http://www.sibonga.c...es_concrete.htmPanels of Light-Weight Concrete; InsulatingKeep Noise Outside Your Home -- Cool House Without Airconditioning

Electricity rates in the Philippines are at least 100% higher than in the USA

( perfect for steep hills or when there are soil- or foundation problems )

Walls hard as granite

Or maybe when Jake gets to the Philippines and we both get in trouble with the wives, we can share expenses on a duplex dog house! :thumbsup:

Edited February 2, 2012 by Art2ro