Cost of draftsman and connecting power and water

[Ynot]

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

Edited May 28, 2020 by Ynot
spelt wrong

[AusExpat]

4 hours ago, 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

Not what you're asking but we converted some large old houses into apartments. Did the "plans" myself my girl translating and chalk lines to make sure, told the foreman what to do, and then WATCH then every step, don't go for lunch they'll brick up the window you told them about 5 times - "Oh, sorry sir, we'll make a window in the brick wall"

Works out much cheaper if you control it though, much cheaper.

A cautionary tale: a lady we know in a far flung province had her Aussie BF build an Australian spec house, very nice place, something happened with him, he never moved that and she can't afford hte upkeep, she was trying to sell it for a million peso which was a good discount already, last I heard she's trying to sellit for 250,000P - seeing as where it is even though it is fantastic value, it is only fantastic value if you can sell to a foreigner who wants to live there. I can buy a local style "holiday house" there for 50,000P

This may not be advice suitable for what you want but future readers will find the title and may benefit?

Anyway that's my 2 sentavo, collect 98 more and you can buy a piece of candy :)

[Ynot]

Thanks for the advice 

 

[Huggybearman]

29 minutes ago, AusExpat said:

Not what you're asking but we converted some large old houses into apartments. Did the "plans" myself my girl translating and chalk lines to make sure, told the foreman what to do, and then WATCH then every step, don't go for lunch they'll brick up the window you told them about 5 times - "Oh, sorry sir, we'll make a window in the brick wall"

Works out much cheaper if you control it though, much cheaper.

A cautionary tale: a lady we know in a far flung province had her Aussie BF build an Australian spec house, very nice place, something happened with him, he never moved that and she can't afford hte upkeep, she was trying to sell it for a million peso which was a good discount already, last I heard she's trying to sellit for 250,000P - seeing as where it is even though it is fantastic value, it is only fantastic value if you can sell to a foreigner who wants to live there. I can buy a local style "holiday house" there for 50,000P

This may not be advice suitable for what you want but future readers will find the title and may benefit?

Anyway that's my 2 sentavo, collect 98 more and you can buy a piece of candy :)

As you were converting an existing building you may well, and clearly did, get away with what you did. We are at the initial design stage of a house construction and the detailed (and very comprehensive) construction plans had to be submitted to the local authority for building permits etc. I would think photographs of a ‘few chalk lines’ of the proposed layout on the floor probably wouldn’t cut the mustard. But we are in the Philippines, so who knows? 

[Jollygoodfellow]

5 hours ago, 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

I am guessing you are looking at a ballpark figure but wouldn't it be easier to get your wife to ask at water/power places and to search for draftsman in your/her area? There could be big differences from one person's experience to another such as who knows, for your lot they might have to add extra pipes or something.

Don't forget internet and TV if you need it.

[Mick]

When I built a couple of houses around 6 years ago, I met with 3 builders, showed Them a house on the internet I liked. And told them to do a preliminary design and floor layout, and price psqm, with breakdown, to include all permits, including electric, water connection, and sign off for deposit back later, all 3 around the same price, depending on type of fittings and fixtures, worry and stress free, and no drama, I did go there once or twice but nothing to concern me, and we had agreed payment structure with last payment once all signed off. And our government deposits back, I think we paid 18,000 peso a sqm, each house 2 level 120sqm. 

[AusExpat]

1 hour ago, Huggybearman said:

As you were converting an existing building you may well, and clearly did, get away with what you did. We are at the initial design stage of a house construction and the detailed (and very comprehensive) construction plans had to be submitted to the local authority for building permits etc. I would think photographs of a ‘few chalk lines’ of the proposed layout on the floor probably wouldn’t cut the mustard. But we are in the Philippines, so who knows? 

I don't doubt it, it depends where you are building I guess, you'd be in a "nice" suburban area?

No one in the poorer areas we own have those issues. No reason you couldn't spend a week learning autocad and submit your own plans either though, I'm sure you can find it around somewhere less than the $2000 asking price, most of us have a ton of free time anyway. The one thing I like most about Filipinos is they don't act like a one way automatons reading what is written back to you mistaking the letter for the intent of the law.

I'd lay a bet most Filipinos don't submit detailed engineers/draftsman plans ;)

EDIT: I think I just answer my own query - a full blown Western style house will need detailed plans, a simple Filipino cinder block house less so.

Edited May 28, 2020 by AusExpat

[carbpow]

My advice is free, worth every peso and from experience here in the Philippines. Use the same precautions you would use anywhere when investing. A house is a decent size investment and in most places here there are regulations as to permits, taxes etc. Best to find out the rules and abide by them. In the Philippines a builder who contracts must be registered but not a lot are, they get a registered engineer to sign off on the plans. That is fine and there are some very good unregistered builders.Anyone can draw your plans and submit to an engineer or you can skip the middleman and go straight to the engineer. Before you build write your own contract and be very specific about what you require, materials for finishing and quality  thereof etc,  and how much you will spend. Then take it to an attorney to put the finishing touches on it. Both you and your builder sign it, you then make legal recourse much easier if you have problems later. I initially hired a guy who said he was an architect and advertised himself as such on Facebook and in public. He seemed like a nice intelligent guy. Turned out he was not a registered architect and as time went on was constantly asking for advance payments. When we finally consulted an attorney he advised us to not pay any more in advance as we had already over paid. When we told the "architect" we would not pay any more money in advance he stole all the materials we had paid for to finish the house and left town. Criminal and civil charges are pending but meanwhile we are out of quite a bit of money. We later found some excellent craftsmen who are finishing our house and doing a good job. They are very amenable to adopting proven methods of construction, like using enough cement, proper termination of electrical components etc. The Philippine building code is actually quite good but a lot of builders do not know it exists. 

There are some great craftsmen in the Philippines but there are also an inordinate amount of crooks and the legal system to hold them to account is expensive and SLOW. I was warned by Filipino friends who had been ripped off by their countryman and I was cautious but not quite cautious enough.  All that being said I would build here again and probably will. With the right guys and a clear legal understanding of expectations it is rewarding and fun.

Edited May 28, 2020 by carbpow

[intrepid]

21 hours ago, carbpow said:

The Philippine building code is actually quite good but a lot of builders do not know it exists. 

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?

[graham59]

Connection of 'services', IF you are next to a road carrying such , is peanuts compared with the overall construction costs of building a house (which I have done). 

If you are a long way from a road and existing services.... of course, going to be expensive, but if you are in a city, that's unlikely I suppose.

ASK your local electric and water companies....how much ?  

Edited May 29, 2020 by graham59