#Kerala House construction-Replies to your queries

CLEARANCE FOR HOUSE FROM FRONT SIDE ROAD

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Krishna has left a new comment on your post "Building Permit":
Hi Mr.Thomas
Is it required to leave 5.5m in front of the house from the corporation road for constructing house in a 7.5 Cent plot

My reply
First of all please note that posting comments in blogs like this will delay or sometimes missing of my reply to you.Please send your queries to my email id

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

Even though Kerala Building rules specify clearances for leaving space on all sides of a house,local authority may impose additional restrictions /freezing of land for public  projects.Hence in your case it will be better if you make enquiries with concerned section of  your local authority like Corporation/Municipality/Panchayath

INTERLOCK TILE LAYING

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Dear Thomas,
I am looking for laying interlocking tiles in my house premises.Would
like to know about the per sq. ft. rates for completing the work..I am
looking for white and black combination of tiles..Do let me know..
regards,,
Jose

My reply

There is no point in I giving rates for both material and labour as it can vary for different  manufacturer and labour supplier and also from place to place

NEED NEW FRONT ELEVATION

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I am Adel Mzanar from Lebanon, I'm building a modern house, it's almost built but i still have to do something about two exterior elevations, i like modern architecture, i have seen several designs in your website " Kerala home" and i like to do something similar.
Could you please help me? if yes i can send you all necessary documents ( 2d and real pictures at the moment).

My reply

Generally people have lot of misunderstanding about Elevation of a building.This query comes out of such misunderstanding.

Elevation of a building will have to be planned by an Architect at the time of preparation of the plan of the building itself.For a Building,most critical most important drawing is plan of the building.Some people think that plan can be drawn by any one and all that Architect has to do is to give a good looking Elevation for any plan of the building or even for completed building like what this gentleman is seeking.

Architect is not a magician.Plan of the building will have  to be made by a qualified experienced Architect drawing inputs from his knowledge acquired through training and experience to a manner which will facilitate a good Elevation.Even if an Architect draws an attractive Elevation,without capable workers who can understand,follow his instructions correctly with skills,it will not be possible to convert that good looking Elevation to a reality

At a later stage in construction of a house without a site visit and possible interactions  with workers doing the work to assess their capability an Architect cannot find ways to make suitable changes corrections to improve upon the front view of the house attained so far.

FOUR BED HOUSE FOR Rs.10 lakhs

Dear sir,

I have a plot of 8 cents 23.7 in length and width is 10. in Karunagapally. I want to have a 4 bed room house of which 2 bed room in down and 2 bedroom in upstairs. I want to take only 600 sq. ft. in down and 350 in upper addition I want to have a kitchen and a adjacent room as a work area , a small dining hall . a sit out and a car porch. I want to restrict the expenses to maximum of 10 lacs.

I want to have your kind advice in this and whether it can be done. and if so, what i have to do to realize my plans.

Awaiting for your reply

Asok

My reply

See,without even help of an expert he arrived at plinth area of 4 bed house to be built and also decided on the possible cost.For an investment like building a house,you should not simply make guesses and decisions without professional guidance and assistance

A four bed room house with other usual features cannot be built less than 2000 sft unless you are willing to have much more smaller rooms.Making smaller rooms will only increase cost as cost is not directly proportional to plinth area of the house

For one of the most critical investment of your life like building house,please go for professional design,guidance and assistance till completion of the project

My comments on film,22FK

What promised as a gr8 film from the director of Salt and Pepper has turned out to be a film without much home work done with contradictions,scenes without any substance and above all demeaning a noble profession of caring the sick,nursing
In the beginning of film itself nurses including heroine are shown to be living in a luxury flat with one of them engaged in money making with flesh trading as if it is just another normal job for making money
Heroine who had a hurting experience in going after a married man without checking his antecedents has no hesitation to falling in to trap of a habitual girl hunter met at a visa agency which surprisingly has only one peon as the other staff even though at an younger age he could manage to live in a luxury villa in Bangalore all alone possibly to offer stay in arrangement for any willing girl and our heroine do not bother about formalities like marriage before jumping at his offer of living together.
A middle aged man ,Hegde without explaining any reason to be connected to hero simply enters the house without asking permission of any one inside house and rape heroine.Once she gets better mentally with fake consolations from hero,again offered for rape to same person and viewers have to believe all these as normal!
Now the heroine has to do revenge.An old patient of the nurse is kept ready to offer half his wealth including bank balance for this and he "conveniently" dies at right time for this.No patient in the history of any nursing experience might not have offered such a booty to any nurse!With that money she manages escape from jail on bail.But that bail condition do not prevent her from arranging visa and Canadian job and we viewer fools have to believe it.Earlier regular client of part time flesh trader nurse is ready to arrange killing operations"with the right payment plus bonus pleasures of flesh"
Viewers also had to suffer unnecessary teaching on" sex appeal of wide rear of a male".I still cannot understand why that scene is required in the film.
While killing Hegde with help of client of her nursing friend on side business by arranged snake bite,an ordinary nurse gives big lecture to him like a great orator and viewers have to gulp it down.Her sermonising goes up to a boring level when she manage to cut male organ of hero at his place without any one noticing or troubling her operation outside operation theatre.
After this cutting operation both hero and heroine jokes and smiles on "pha" joke and viewers have to take it as normal!
Story,dialogues and direction has more negative attributes than positives.
Two songs in film do not synchronize with story line and also do not touch heart of viewer.
Only plus point I could notice is remarkable improvement in acting capability of Rima Kallingal though she fails at dialogue presentation with her sophisticated accent not suited to an ordinary Kottayam girl. She might bag an award for her performance
Fahad as usual is great in acting and for the first time some .

Photography appeared to be real good with so many  heart touching visuals. Malayalam film  viewers who are cursed to watch foolish films like “Cobra”,”Mayamohini” are definitely going to treat this film as a great relief and excitement in spite of all negative attributes and flaws and thus producer of the film can hope for jingling of money in his pocket!

#Kerala House Construction-Replies to your queries

Seeking Plan of House

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Riju,  has left a new comment on your post "BUILDING YOUR DREAM HOUSE IN KERALA":

hello sir,My self riju we want make a home in 1200 sq.feet cost with in 8-12 lakh( including all the facilities and charges).we have 22 cent in land.can i get some models and further proceedings..

My reply

Getting a plan of house made for somebody which may suit his needs and site conditions will not help you.

Most important most critical factor for cost reduction,better utility of space and better use of your money will be to get most appropriate plan of the house.A person who has done just an ITI course can draw a plan of the house.Plan of the house thus prepared and plan prepared by a qualified experienced Architect will be totally different.

Apart from the technical training and knowledge obtained by an Architect,with each new project an Architect learn and experiment a lot on building design and construction.Each new building done will enhance his knowledge and capability to give you a better design.Do not miss the chance of getting the most appropriate design for your house from the best Architect you can find instead of  trying get a “free” plan from some one which will ultimately free you from quite a lot of your money without any benefit

HOME STAY COTTAGES AT MADIKERY

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Dear Mr. Thomas,
Good Morning,
Further to our discussions today I  furnish the following information :

I  have about 15 Acres Coffee Estate in Madikeri,
Recently I have constructed my Home in this very estate and have shifted here in my estate I am enjoying. The design part was my own and my friends call it a  Practical House.

Since the  view and location of my estate is very good all my friends advise ,me to start HOME STAY / ESTATE STAY business here in my estate.
In view of the above please advise me the best and the cheapest way to construct my home stay having about 4 independent units.

Madikaeri is famous for its  heavy rain as River Kaveri starts from here and a bit of  Moisture for about 6 months,
My friends who have done some BAMBOO work feel that it requires a lot of maintenance.
Please advise the best way.
Regards,
Ajay Sood

My reply

Before planning to build cottages for a resort project do not simply depend upon your common sense in planning and designing the project.You need professional guidance right from conceiving project idea till completion of the project.Architect will have to visit site,assess site conditions,visualise the project and then plan the project with his mind and drawings

We can take up the project first as visualizer and designers and later possibly as  guide for project execution.I am writing in detail to your email id about how to go about the project

BUYING LAND WHICH WAS PADDY FIELD AND CONSTRUCTING HOUSE

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Hello Sir,

I am  from Trivandrum.I went through your site and I have to say that it cleared a lot of doubts in my mind.I have to say that it is very detailed and informative.

My husband and myself are planning to buy a plot in Trivandrum.We just have a few queries regarding the same which I believe with your expertise you will be able to clarify and help us out very easily.We have a budget of around 10 lakhs for buying the plot and we are thinking about a 3 or 3.5 cent one.My family includes my husbands parents and the both of us.We are thinking about a 2 storied 3 bed house.

My queries are as below

* Is it ok to build a house on a plot which is not a 'karabhoomi' ? We recently saw a good plot but that was a paddy field.What all are the things that we need to check before we buy such a  plot?I wanted to clarify this after I read one of the queries posted in your blog about a person who bought such a piece of land but now he is having difficulty in getting permits to construct a house.

Also will it be difficult to get  a loan for buying such a plot?

I read from your previous responses to queries that you have to do filling on such a land before you construct the house.For a plot in the size that I mentioned above would you be able to advise the approximate cost for filling and will a house constructed on such a land be structurally sound?

I am not sure if you will require more details of this plot to give us a sound advice.If yes, please do let me know the details you require or if you want to see any pictures of the plot and I can mail the same to you.

Looking forward to your advice.

Regards,
R Thulaseedharan

My reply

Most of your doubts regarding  land purchase and bank loan for house construction can be cleared by going through relevant pages of our website

www.keralaarchitecture.com

Here is the link:

http://www.keralaarchitecture.com/Architectural_guidance.aspx

If the land documents show the nature of land as “Nilam/padam” the local authority which will give sanction for construction of house may refer the matter to a committee comprising of Agricultural officer and Tahsdildar concerned.They will visit the plot and ascertain whether the land is being used for agricultural purpose and will take appropriate recommendations to the local authority.

In your case,it will be better if you  can contact concerned local authority with related land documents to check whether you will be permitted to build a house in that property and steps and procedures required for getting such a sanction

PROVIDING ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES FOR SMALLER HOUSES

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Sir,                                 

I'm Joby working in Maldives.I have  two plots of land in Kottiyoor,Kannur. One is of 30 cents and the other 10. I've a plan to build a two storied 3 bed room house at the least cost. I'd like to know if you could help me construct it from A-Z. I have browsed your web pages and found that your projects are high end and in Kerala architecture.  They all look stunning but I can't afford.
I'm interested in a small (1500sqft.) contemporary design. I also
would like to know how you are going to manage it as my plot is in
Kannur. I hope you would excuse me for such queries. Thanking you.
JOBY.

My reply

First and most important part of building a house is to get the most appropriate Basic Plan from the best available expert with the right experience.That will save you lakhs and provide you better facilities for house at lesser cost.
I have designed and built houses from 300 sft to 6000 sft.More of lower cost
Are you ready to go for the most important first step?
You can get construction done by your local contractor.But he cannot get you a good design

Lot of people think that a well known  Architect will do work only for big budget houses.It is not so.Once a charity organisation wanted me to design one bed,hall,Kitchen,toilet,Sit out house with the least budget possible as they were donating these houses to poor.I have done a 300 sft house design for them which could be completed about  eight years back with just Rs.50,000/- including profit for the contractor.

For an Architect each new job gives new challenges.More than the money involved satisfaction obtained by doing a work in the most appropriate manner is the greatest reward for the work.

WATER PROOFING OF CONCRETE ROOF SLAB

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Dear Sir,

I have seen your blogs and it is very informative for persons like me.

I would like to know about water proofing of roof slabs. In Kerala, although we have rain for about 4 months in a year all we do for water proofing is apply some coatings or lay roof tiles after concrete curing. I heard of concrete admixtures (like Fosroc or Dr. Fixit products) that will be added to the concrete during construction stage (concrete mixing stage itself to a dosage recommended by manufacturer), so that permeability of the concrete shall be reduced by about 50% therefore to prevent roof slab leakage significantly.

Can you comment on this please and advise which the best product is for the purpose.

Regards,

Paulose.

My reply

In my personal opinion,there is absolutely no need of using such admixtures during concreting if only you can ensure proper roof slab concrete  starting with proper structural design of  reinforcement,proper and correct laying of concrete under experienced professional supervision.In any of the roof concrete done with my supervision,there is not even a single case of roof leakage even after years of roof concrete.

To add additional protection,I always suggest laying of clay tiles over concreted surface whether flat roof or slope roof.This will also reduce heat inside the house as clay tile will absorb quite a good portion of heat due to sun

Most of the construction of house in Kerala are done by so called “square feet rate contractors” who quote low “square feet cost” to get contract work.

Owner of the house is not bothered even if the roof slab do not have proper reinforcement design by a qualified experienced Engineer.Even if the contractor use not even half steel reinforcement required for roof concreting,owner of house is not bothered.

Even if contractor use aggregates for concrete in mix ratio convenient to him with more water for easy laying of concrete,owner of house is not bothered.What is the use of adding these admixtures if none of the professional requirements for concreting of roof slab is not ensured?

House owner want lowest”square feet rate”.Contractor want maximum profit without proper professional design and work.All that he will give to owner of the house is “big talk” of why Architects and Engineers are not at all required for house construction as they will “unnecessarily increase cost of construction”

There is no point in blaming concrete technology when you entrust concreting of your roof slab  to a non professional profit by any means contractor in the hope of extracting”lowest rate” from him.

Owner of the house take pride in his capability to extract “lowest rate”from contractor thereby ensuring that the contractor never make profit from his work.Contractor always have the last laugh as he knows how to make maximum profit without owner ever noticing low quality non professional work till he settles his payment for the work!

IS OUR SERVICES ONLY FOR RICH NRIS?

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Dear Mr.Thomas,

I did speak with my father about your company and the services offered. He was of the opinion that as you are based in Ernakulum and the work site is in Calicut, there will be a lot of logistical expenses which we can avoid if we give the contract to a local architect/ contractor. He is in the process of talking to the various local architects/ contractors/ builders.

To be frank, another concern i would like to share is that you have been working for senior NRIs who can spend extensively on their dream projects! I am a junior professional and have just started my legal career in Canada.I intend to take a housing loan and initiate the construction work of my dream house. So, at this stage i need an economical, yet sturdy construction program. When a company of your reputation and experience undertakes a project so far away, you would be looking for a huge budget and the overall cost would also multiply exponentially.With my modest budget  it would be very difficult for you to complete a 5BHK house. Whereas your rates are on the higher side to say the least.and your rates are prima facie too pricy for my modest budget.

I have elaborated so much, only in appreciation of your follow up mail when you did not hear from me again. Please understand that I am indeed a novice on the subject of construction and whatever i expressed above are only my personal concerns.Thank you for the answers to my queries and i shall surely contact you in the future when required.

Regards

Anupama

My reply

It is quite amusing to read your mail
First of all, no Architect with professional dedication will  prefer to do only high budget houses.I have done very few large houses with plinth area as high as 6000 sft and even much more smaller houses with plinth area as low as 300 sft.
My involvement has not at all increased cost of any house.In fact it has not only reduced cost and increased utility and better space management.Because of this reason I have directly built houses even in far away place like Ootty with cost saving and better design
Any person who can draw plan of the house in Auto CAD cannot design the best possible house.It require knowledge,experience and talent.You will be able to note and understand defects in architectural design only after house is completed and then it will be too late to do anything.Defects in structural design can be noticed only after few years when cracks and breaks occur.Then also nothing can be done about it
Basic Plan of the house is the most critical part of house design and construction.Going for some one who charge very little or nothing for it  in the hope of extracting more from you later can only be called penny wise and pound foolish
I do not want to do your work.But I thought you should simply do not brand me as some one who cause cost increase in designing and building house.A true professional bring in better quality and economy also.

#Kerala House construction-Replies to your questions

STAIR CASE HAND RAIL

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Dear Mr.Thomas,

Introducing myself Sunil from Trichur working in Qatar.

Regarding  Stair case handrail for my new home, requesting your help and valuable suggestion.

Which will be economic wood (Jack fruit) or Stainless steel work.

Could you give me few photos of handrail work, (wood and steel) and some info regarding this matter.

Expecting your valuable reply.

My Reply

Stair case hand rails can be made with teak wood,Mahogany wood,poopparuthy wood and may not be with Anjily or Jack fruit wood.

Basically no commercial supplier will use Jack fruit as the wood only after cutting and sawing will reveal what is inside.Some times there will be huge gaps causing heart burn for the wood working seller.If you have own jack fruit tree you can cut it and use it for door window frames using labour may be on daily wages basis.

Steel hand rails with glass is another option.It may look good.But wooden hand rails possibly with hand carving can be more aesthetic looking with traditional Kerala elements

Our blogs and Facebook pictures,websites have quite a lot of stair hand rail pictures.But just trying to copy them will not help.You need professional guidance and help

Remodeling existing house

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Menon has left a new comment on your post "Queries and replies-House design,construction ,rem...":

I am a retiree in Cochin residing in Chittoor Road. I have two houses separated hardly by 5-10 ft. I am interested in joining the terraces together and have a terrace garden and retreat with a small bed room, bath and kitchen on one so that It can be self contained also. I need someone to conceptualize the idea so that I can look at the possibilities. Can you do it please? or can you recommend someone please?

My reply

There is something funny about all remodeling/renovation attempts of old houses.

People who think of such work consider it as a way to beat higher cost in building a new house.Some modification here and there appears to be costing very little.In reality,it is the other way and in my opinion never try to remodel old buildings which has outlived its life and style.No one can predict how much remodeling/renovation may cost.

Look at these unpredictable aspects related to an old building

1.No one knows from outside about structural stability of the building which might not have been built with professional design and monitoring.Some illiterate contractor might have acted as Architect and Structural consultant for the building.

2.When you start breaking building parts,then only you get to know how they actually constructed those building parts and then your Consultant has to decide how to move about

3.How can any one estimate or predict cost of unknown work involved?So all your estimates for cost are simple guesses not worth much.

So you attempt renovation/remodeling only if the building has enormous sentimental values for you and you simply do not bother about cost in retaining the old building with  a new face lift.

I need a site visit to comment on what can be done on the building.Careful sketches has to be made on existing and modified building.All these involve more desk work than in the case of a new building

RUBBLE WORK FOR FOUNDATION

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Anonymous   has left a new comment on your post "Rubble work for Foundation of House construction":

As you mentioned above about the DR Masonry,If design having Columns in Sit out area in between rubble masonry wall, how will make the foundation

My reply

First of all such Anonymous posting of comments in my blogs will delay or in some cases avoid reply to you

I will reply to any one who writes to me to my email id

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

That is the better fastest way to get my response to your queries.

When it comes to building construction at least people in Kerala think that they know everything.All that they have is some doubts which can be cleared by asking such questions.

Right person to answer your queries on Foundation of your building is that professional who has studied your site conditions well and who have drawings of your building.I have never visited your site.I have not seen design of your building.Then how can I give proper answers on  what should be done for foundation of your building?

MY NEGETIVE REPLIES

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Anonymous   has left a new comment on your post "#Kerala House Construction-Replies to your queries...":

Why are you so negative in responding to normal inquiries

My reply

That is a good question!

What do we gain by being positive always?.When there is something to be criticised,I believe that it should be criticised without any hesitation.Without such criticism,we will never grow or improve.Apple was falling on heads of every one even before it hit head of Mr.Newton.

For the first time he thought differently and questioned it:”Why should apple fall down only? Why not up?”That made history

So we should not be hesitant in criticising wrong  habits,procedures,thinking.I am not being negative for the sake of negative.I try to  correct common beliefs which are incorrect by being little negative.

#Kerala House Construction-Replies to your queries

HOUSE CONSTRUCTION IN BANGALORE

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Hello Mr. Thomas,

I'm Ananth from Bangalore. I was going through the blogs and some of the work you have executed. Its very very impressive. Congratulations to you and your team.

I'm planning to construct a house in Bangalore. Wanted to know if you take up projects here in Bangalore and have a team that can execute it. If you don't, then any referrals will be of great help.

My reply

When thinking  of building your house,first thing people worry about is getting a contractor to build the house with lowest square feet rate. Nobody understands the importance of getting most appropriate plan for the building from the  best Architect one can find.

Most people think that plan drawn by any one for a house will be same.Most appropriate design capability comes not only from right qualifications but mainly from years of experience in designing and building houses.Right plan can save you lakhs of money as well as provide you better facilities with no wastage of built up space.This plus point of a plan will be known to a non professional only after the building construction is over.

Many people have no concept of space inside a room.They unnecessarily ask for larger dimensions of room without knowing that more than the dimensions appropriate spacing of doors,windows and other arrangements give you better space for use in a room.

Several people have called me to do something to improve utility of space in the building after completion of structure of building.At plan stage they could not understand waste of space caused by wrong or inferior design.But no Architect or Engineer can do anything about improper design after completion of structure of building

In house construction,most critical part is to get the best design for the house.Here again some people think that Elevation is the only important part.Elevation comes from plan.Without a proper plan,no one can get a good Elevation.

Please understand that no two contractor do house construction in the same manner.Then how can you compare cost quoted by one contractor with that of another?Owner of the house who bargains for lower square feet cost actually bargains and earn lower quality of construction and insufficient structural stability of the building.No contractor is going to absorb cost increases to his account.He will compromise on quality of construction and structural stability of building to keep his profit in tact when cost of inputs of construction increases as house owner will insist on paying only agreed rates.Contractor may also ask for extras and may even cheat client by asking payment for inflated or exaggerated area of construction.

In short,in house construction first get best design and then look for a contractor willing to work with design drawings of a professional strictly following his instructions on every aspect of construction.

CLAY ROOF TILE LAYING

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Hi Thomas,
thank you for sharing your knowledge via blog.  read your suggestion
to lay clay tiles on top of the flat roof to reduce heat.

http://kerala-houseconstruction-vyttila.blogspot.com/2008/11/clay-tile-laying-on-flat-roof.html

kindly send me the contact details of the factory who can deliver the
tiles and complete the paving.

regards,
Ravi

My reply

Kapindia tiles at Trichur is no more manufacturing clay tiles for flat roof due to non availability of raw material,clay

So you will have to locate clay tiles available nearer to your location

REDOING FLOOR

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Anonymous   has left a new comment on your post "Flooring for house-options":

Hi sir,
your blog is so informative...
in my home, we used mosaic for flooring, after 2-3 years the chips starts coming out and the borders of the tiles become dirt accumulated and become ugly. currently we are planning to re-floor, what material u will suggest as it mainly happens in the drawing room and living room. Also do we need to remove the existing flooring prior to re-flooring, as many of my friends suggests that need not have to done... awaiting your reply

My reply

You can lay new flooring on top of existing floor without removing existing floor by laying tiles with tile adhesive available with almost all tile shops

You can lay tiles like Naturoc tiles of NITCO or similar quality tiles of other manufacturers which are lower in cost with better surface finish and pleasing shades.Better lay tiles in consultation with an Architect for better selection of tiles and proper laying

WATER SUMP TANK

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Dear Mr. Thomas,

Saw your site. Interested in installing a tank with new pump, pipe line & v/vs etc for use as water sump.

Location:    Kadavanthra,Kochi.   For 2 storey house.

Can you give options  with cost estimate ?

Regards, PGK Nair

My reply

Some one from our side will have to visit your site to give options and Estimate.Call me on mobile 9388701702

LAND TERMED AS PADDY FILED IN DOCUMENTS

QUOTE

Respected Sir,

We purchased a land with the area of 5.37 cents on 2007 at  Karamana , Trivandrum.  We came to know that this plot was mentioned as 'Nilam' in Thandaperu record at village office. so the corporation is not ready to give permission for construction. whereas all the nearby plots had been already constructed. How to get the permission? we also heard that government had recently declared an order that land with minimum like 5 or 6 cents 'nilam' plot can be given approval. but we could not trace the government order reference of such record. Due to the word' nilam' we are suffering like any thing. kindly advise us?  If possible , could you know the reference of that Government order.

what should we do?

will you please render your suggestions on this?

we are in complete dark and have been struggling for past 2 years.

can we get any other contact details?

My reply

In a similar case one of my clients has  approached concerned Panchayath for Building permit.As the document of the land has indicated as Nilam the application was referred to Nilam committee consisting of Agricultural officer and Tahsildar concerned.They have inspected the land  and found that the land referred is no more agricultural land and given sanction for constructing house

You can adopt similar procedure

ESTIMATE OF BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

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sir,
I would like to build a home in Aleppey in 13 cents.My requirements are:
Ground floor:
sit out,Hall,2bedrooms,1 bathroom,Kitchen+Work area
First Floor:
1 bedroom (bath attached),A balcony.
Sir my budget is 15 lakhs.can u please estimate the cost.Hope your valuable comments

My reply

I get similar mails quite often.See, he has a fixed budget of Rs.15 lakhs.If you tell this to a qualified experienced Architect he will design a house which may cost around Rs.15 lakhs.Trouble is that even though his limited budget is Rs.15 lakhs,client may not be willing to restrict his requirements to  cost not more than Rs.15 lakhs

Building construction involves hundreds of materials and different type of labour.Some of these materials and most of the types of labour are fast turning out to be difficult to get.Cost of almost all materials and labour are going up everyday

No Architect can correctly predict cost of building your house which may get completed after an year or more.Any day during construction,if not you then contractor will have to buy materials like cement and steel at rates prevailing on that date.If you do not give increase in cost consideration to the contractor,he will naturally reduce use of materials to save his profit.Can you blame him for that?.Structural stability of your building will get compromised to that extent.

Even to have an approximate cost indication there has to be at least a plan of the building designed to suit your needs and site conditions.Even without that how do you expect me to predict cost?

RESORT PROJECT AT WAYANADU

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Hello Thomas,

Thanks you for the fast response. I am quite impressed that you are
making good use of social media and technology.

I have the following concerns with regards to my project:

1. How soon can you go for the site visit.

2. My idea is to develop a vacation home /  resort project.

3. The total area is around 1.25 acres, my plan is to build 12
cottages in 5 cents land each.

4. I'd like a rough costing after your site visit.

5. I have attached a few photos to give you an idea about what I'd like.

Jamshid

My reply

A resort Project can be planned only after a careful study of possible location and surroundings by  an experienced Architect with vision and talent.

Architect will have to visulaise the project in all its aspects.Of course you may be more eager to know cost.But an Architect need to do lot of home work for the project before any meaningful indication of cost can be done.

A project of this nature also has to be evaluated on a commercial angle about how far the project is economically viable to give you attractive return for your investment

Of course Tourist business can generate attractive income for resort cottages when run as a hospitality business with all necessary amenities