Building cost

An Overview About Low Cost Housing Low cost housing is a new concept that deals with effective budget and use of techniques which help in lowering the cost of construction through the use of locally available materials and improved skills and technology without sacrificing performance and life of the structure. There is big misconception that low cost housing is suitable for only sub standard works and they are constructed by using cheap building materials of low quality. The fact is that low cost housing is done by good managing the resources, well.

Building Cost In a low cost housing, building material cost is less as you can make use of the locally available materials and also the labour cost can be reduced by properly making the time schedule of our work. Cost of reduction is achieved by selection of more efficient material or by an improved design.

Areas from where cost can be lowered are:1) Lower plinth area by using thinner wall concept.

2) Use locally available material in a new form like soil cement blocks instead of burnt bricks.

3) Use energy efficiency materials which need less energy like concrete block instead of burnt bricks.

4) Use eco-friendly materials which are substitute for conventional building components like the R.C.C. Door and window frames instead of wooden frames.

5) Pre plan every element of a house and logically sketch the design procedure for lowering the size of the components.

6) Each component shall be checked whether if it’s necessary, and then the component would be used.

Cost reduction through adhoc methods Foundation Usually, the foundation cost comes to about 10 to 15% of the total building and the foundation depth of 3 to 4 ft. is adopted for single or double store building and also the concrete bed of 6″ is used for the foundation which could be avoided.

It is recommended to adopt a foundation depth of 2 ft. for normal soil like and use the uncoursed rubble masonry with the bond stones and good packing.

It is further suggested adopt arch foundation in ordinary soil for effecting reduction in construction cost up to 40%.This kind of foundation will help in bridging the loose pockets of soil which occurs along the foundation.

In the case black cotton and other soft soils it is recommend to use under ream pile foundation which saves about 20 to 25% in cost over the conventional method of construction.

Plinth It is advisable to adopt 1 ft. height above ground level for the plinth and might be constructed with a cement mortar of 1:6.

The normal plinth slab of 4 to 6″ could be avoided and instead brick on edge could be used for lowering the cost. By adopting this procedure the cost of plinth foundation could be reduced by about 35 to 50%.

Walling Wall thickness of 6 to 9″ is suggested for adoption in the construction of walls and 41/2 ” for inside walls. It is advisable to use burnt bricks, after being immersed in water for 24 hours and then used for walls.

Rat – trap bond wall It is a cavity wall construction which has an advantage of

thermal comfort and lowers the quantity of bricks required for masonry work. By adopting this method, it is possible to lower in the material cost of bricks by 25% and about 10to 15% in the masonry cost.

Concrete block walling Using concrete block masonry the wall thickness could be reduced from 20 cms to 15 Cms. Concrete block masonry saves consumption of mortar, speedy construction of wall results in higher output of labour, plastering could be avoided thereby an overall saving of 10 to 25% can be achieved.

Soil cement block technology It is an alternative method of construction of walls using soil cement blocks in place of burnt bricks masonry.

Doors and windows It is suggested not to use wood and instead concrete or steel section frames are suggested for saving in cost up to 30 to 40%.

Lintals and Chajjas The traditional R.C.C. lintels are very costly and could be replaced by brick arches for small spans and save construction cost up to 30 to 40% over the traditional method of construction.

Roofing Normally 5″, thick R.C.C. slabs is used for roofing of residential buildings.

Filler slabs They are normal RCC slabs where bottom half are replaced by filler materials like tiles, bricks, cellular concrete blocks, etc.

These filler materials are so placed as not to compromise structural strength result in replacing unwanted and nonfunctional tension with concrete, thus results in economy.

These are safe and aesthetically pleasing pattern ceilings and also don’t need plaster.

Jack arch roof/floor They are easily constructed, saves cement and steel, are more good in hot climates.

Finishing Work The finishing cost for sanitary, electricity, painting etc., varies depending upon the kind and quality of products used in the building and its cost reduction is left to individual choice.

Conclusion The above list of suggestions for lowering construction cost is of general nature and it varies depending upon the nature of the building to be constructed, owner’s budget, geographical location of construction, availability of the materials, etc.

But it is necessary that a good planning and design methods must be adopted by utilizing the services of an experienced engineer or an architect for supervising the work, to achieve overall cost effectiveness to the extent of 25% in actual practice.

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