Building a house in the Philippines

General info:

We build with the latest technology (solid concrete walls, 10X stronger, 2X faster) while your local contractor still use the old style hollow blocks...
Hollow blocks in combination with the ‘Post and Beam’ method of construction is NOT the best way to build a home, read here why;
http://www.sibonga.com/cement_hollow_blocks_philippines.htm

Our clients are 90% non-Filipinos ('foreigners' from Europe and USA) and we have built anywhere in the Philippines for them (Surigao City, Cebu, Antique, Iloilo, Negros, Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Pampanga, Metro Manila, Tagaytay, etc.) because they know we finish any project according to contract and on time.

The homes we build are unique; never the same, we do not offer 'model houses' but make a UNIQUE house-design for you that will fit your LOT, WISHES and BUDGET.

We offer a total package from design to construction, interior design, landscaping etc.
If you definitely want to hire your local contractor; then let us at least make a better foundation and walls with ‘solid concrete’ instead of those old redundant hollow blocks; your local contractor can do the finishing like tiles, paint etc.

We can also build insulated walls:
http://we-build.blogspot.com/2010/02/sibonga-2.html
or we use more steel or wood.


“SO WHAT IS THE COST TO BUILD?”

While other contractors probably give you 'a cost per square meter', we itemize all work items of your project and price it accordingly. That's fair for both you and us; we do not like 'guesswork'.

The construction of a house in the Philippines is a process involving more than a dozen trades, hundreds of products, and thousands of steps that must be scheduled, coordinated, and performed quickly and correctly; to give a cost for that WITHOUT knowing the following details would be GUESSWORK which is not in your advantage, nor in ours.

The cost to build your house or commercial building depends on the exact location (city or province or island?), total floor area (make the house 2x bigger and the price will become 2x higher), the logistics/accessibility (is it possible to use a truck to bring the materials or do they have to be carried?), regulations/restrictions of the local government or subdivision ('they all have their own different rules'), soil-type, site preparation (maybe your house need to be higher than the road, backfill or retaining-wall?) neighbor-buildings (fire-wall?), availability of local skilled labor, source of electricity/water etc. plus you have to select what construction methods have to be used (solid concrete with- or without insulation etc.) and we need to know exact which brand, quality and colour tiles you want or what kind of windows, doors, kitchen etc. etc.

Included in the cost are:
1. Design, Blueprints, Permits
2. Solid Concrete house (NOT hollow blocks!)
3. Plumbing including hot and cold water lines, pressure tank with pump including American Standard plumbing fixtures (operational)
4. Electrical works 220 volts. If the local electrical utility supplies line-to-line (2 lines @ 110 volts each) then you can have 110 volts without buying a transformer. Including lighting fixtures and devices (operational)
5. Embedded items for Aircon (installation and commissioning is undertaken by the aircon supplier)
6. Floor, walls and ceiling finishes
7. Roof
8. Doors and windows
9. Painting
10. Hardwares, door locks, hinges

Excluded are: (we offer this but we charge separate)
1. Deposits to Electrical and Water utilities which are in your name and will become your permanent supply.
2. Fence and gates (this is estimated separately as lot sizes vary)
3. Swimming pool
4. Aircon units
5. Furnitures and cabinets
6. Transformer for 110 volts
7. Deepwell and reservoir
8. Major cut and fill of soil (if lot is highly elevated or sloping like mountain or hill or below street level where you need to fill and compact)

Your blueprints and construction-contract will contain all final details.

Make the floor-area 2x bigger and the price will be very roughly 2x higher.
You want solar panels? Vaulted ceilings? Insulated (two sheets glass-) windows? Ceramic Roof Tiles? Decorative stones on outside walls? Higher quality kichen and bathroom? Then you pay more.


“SO WHERE DO I START?” Here!
For a small fee (deductible from future contracts) we do the following (no strings attached):

A: verify location and orientation of your house- and window positioning/alignment with the sun, shadow plus wind (this effects design)
B: verify soil-topology and neighbor-buildings (this effects design)
C: verify local government or subdivision's regulations/restrictions ('they all have their own different rules')
D: verify logistics/accessibility
E: verify availability of building-materials and manpower
F: verify source of electricity/water
G: make pictures
H: make a short report of our findings
I: make a computerized floorplan and 3D-design of your house (not yet ‘the blueprints’) which is banpaper-size (finished in 10 to 15 days); We make for you a UNIQUE house-design that will fit your LOT, WISHES and BUDGET: just tell us what it is you want to change about our design and we revise it until perfect.
J: we have the design approved by the subdivision, so that you are assured that the design we make for you is acceptable
K: we layout the floor plans on site (on your lot with some wires and lines) so that you have the physical feel of the room sizes and the house as a whole. It is better to revise the room sizes etc. on paper, rather than wait for it to be constructed…

After this we can give you a good ‘estimate’ (not the exact quote) of how much the cost to build will be, and you have the choice to continue to let us make the blueprints and construct the house.
Blueprints cost is negotiable (completed in 21 to 30 days).

Ofcourse we can also give a FREE quote/bid (not an ‘estimate’ but the exact cost to build); just show us your blueprints, all in metric and signed by a Philippine architect or engineer.
(If you are bidding-out your projects to 2 or more bidders, then you have to provide all the bidders with complete sets of plans and specifications. That practice will assure you that you are comparing apples with apples.)

We do not provide 'free design'; only companies who have problems to get clients do that. But here is a good website for getting ideas;
http://www.theplancollection.com/house-plan-styles/
and if you want a high-end first-class home;
http://www.dreamhomedesignusa.com/interiors.htm

Complete construction (including finishings) takes on average 4 to 6
months but before that we need about 6 weeks for blueprints and building
permit.
We build the ‘bare structure’ (only foundation and walls) 2X faster and
more durable than your local contractor who still builds with the old
hollow blocks.
Expect progress photos emailed to you during the construction period.