Where To Start Before Building A New Home

          Written by Peter Otieno

Want to build your home? As we grow older, reach ages thirty, forty and fifty, building and owning a home does comes as a goal to achieve whether you live in the city or village.

Moreover if you plan to live in an apartment, bungalow, villa or mansion.

Where do you start and do you have money? Yes, besides planning, finances are vital in your home ownership journey hence whenever this topic is brought up, money is always cited.

As a matter of fact, you must have a budget for this endeavor and it will vary bearing in mind the location, size of land, design of the house and cost of building material used.

To emphasize, please cut your coat according to your cloth.

When you are ready use the resources you have to build your dream home. After you've bought land or plot and received a title deed for it, these to do list will be the basic preparation steps towards building a new home.

Legislation - The first step is to obtain a construction or building permit and countries have different laws and regulations concerning this.

In Kenya you are required to:

-Obtain a survey plan from Survey of Kenya or County Survey Office. 

-Obtain approval from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) on environmental impact study which is based on a project report done by an environmental expert.

-Get county approval on architectural and structural plans, then

-Apply and receive project registration certificate from the National Construction Authority (NCA)

During this process, you will incur fees such as application fee, inspection of building fee, construction signboard fee, building plan approval fee and occupation certificate.

This will take about one to two months.

Hiring Professionals - Please do factor in hiring the right people for your project that is a quantity surveyor, contractor, engineer and architect.

Further, conduct a background check to ascertain they are registered and practicing professionals with past work projects.

This gives you confidence and trust in people handling your project hence avoiding quacks who might not deliver on their part.

Lastly hire a foreman you trust and he or she should have a background in construction.

Land Clearance - To have a level ground, clear vegetation, remove small trees and shrubs, cut large trees on construction area and dig up rocks and stones then place them at a designated area.

This will take a few days to complete regardless of the size of plot as people are always looking for work, so get people to help you and pay them.

Location and Accessibility - Take into consideration the condition of the road leading to your land as most of our countryside roads are dilapidated.

For those residing in the city, delays will be minimal as roads are accessible.

Location is subject to preference and circumstances. One may prefer a natural,  serene, quiet place away from busy streets and another may prefer location near place of work, school, hospital and other social amenities.

Water Availability - Water will be essential right from the onset of construction. You can either dig a borehole or get piped water from a water company.

Fencing - This can be done using a chain link barbed wire, wooden poles, iron sheets, a perimeter wall or a natural fence(using hedge plants).

Home perimeter wall

Fencing provides a boundary setting for your plot and creates privacy in that your workers will not be distracted by outside events. It also secures your property from stray animals and intruders.

Building A Store - A place to keep tools and building materials before commencement of project and during construction progress.

One way to do it is by building a temporary ironsheet house to store materials and it should be spacious enough for your foreman to live in.

The other way is buying a ship container where you keep equipments and materials then build a separate house for your foreman.

Planting of Trees and Hedge Plants - First, buy tree seedlings then plant each 2metres apart along the fence and around your compound. Gravelia and Pine are my preferable tree species but you can go for a another specie you like.

Plant hedge plant seedling of Kei Apple  commonly known as 'Kayaba', Euphorbia and Duranta pant. Plant them outside your fence whether its barbed wired or perimeter wall.

Tree and hedge plant seedlings are bought at a botanist's nursery.

Natural Fence built with
Duranta plant

This will give your house a decorative, amazing and finished look once its completed and the trees and plants have reached abuilttain height.( See above picture)

Purchasing Building Materials - These include cement, ballast, sand, stone and bricks that will be vital as you commence construction.

Since you are the one paying for the materials conduct your due diligence, that is, get to know, find out and understand where they are sourced, how they are made, their quality, inorder to have a bargaining power with sellers.

Further more do input the help and advice of your professionals.

One can cut costs of materials and transportation for a home being built in the countryside as materials are found within the area as opposed to home within an urban neighborhood.

Ballast and sand 

 

County Notification - Finally, notify your County Council of the commencement of construction work then request and receive a set out inspection date thereafter you can kick start and lay foundation for your home project.

My Summary

Its written that there comes a time when a man has to live his father's house and go build his, likewise it will come a time when you stop paying rent and either go for a mortgage, buy a home on cash or build from ground up.

As the owner, it is advisable to physically and regularly visit the site regardless of your schedule as it helps you know actual progress of construction and additional requirements that may come up. 

Let this be a part of your plan as you build a new home.

For more articles check 

peterotienokodory.blogspot.com