SouthDelhiPrime.com suggests you talk to those people who have suffered at the hands of builders/contractors. Try to know about their experiences. Most sum theirs up as – bad.

We know this to be the general sentiment in the market regarding construction. This happens due to the last-minute increase in offers by B category builders (bidders) by a few lakhs, which would eventually lead to late delivery of projects, poor quality of work and so on. Despite your best intentions to learn from others’ mistakes, you may still end up with a bad experience.

Your task is to try and figure out how to save yourself from such a fate, here SouthDelhiPrime.com can assist and advise you through complete.

You’ll find numerous detailed points in this article to guide you towards better ways in which you can build your home. But there is one point we simply can’t emphasize enough – choose a builder who can take full responsibility for the work and at the same time provide you a guarantee towards the total cost of the project, date of delivery and quality of work. How you can safeguard these rights will be discussed further below.

Since most people have very little or no construction experience, it’s very easy to make the wrong decisions while comparing quotes from different builders. Many people think that all builders are more or less the same and therefore choose the one who quotes the highest price. They think that later they can work closely with them and ensure good quality work. But this is far from what happens.

To start with, SouthDelhiPrime.com would like to give you a general rule of thumb.

Choose a builder who provides you with in-house, end-to-end services ranging across architectural design, planning, purchasing, construction and approvals and most important has been in the business for over 10-15 years and has an established name in the market with projects and references all across South Delhi.

This ensures that builders have tight control over all the processes and you get a better overall service. It’s very important to ensure that the builder has all of the teams in-house and doesn’t get the work done through other associate companies. Please remember that after-sales service would only be provided by builders who have captive labor and site supervisors.

Some important factors to consider while comparing different builders are:

1. Comfort level with the builder :

You should share a good rapport with your builder. A standard home can take around 12-18 months to build. During this time, you will have multiple meetings with the builder. If the builder is not accessible or if you simply feel that you don’t seem to click with them then it makes no sense to shortlist them. Choose a builder who is easily accessible and with whom you are comfortable discussing your doubts. Usually, here Builders who have a team or family in place doing specific jobs are better than choosing “A single person Army” Builders (Bidders) who have offices in dingy basements with 4-5  staff.

2. A clear list of specifications :

Ask for a clear list of specifications from all the builders. Don’t just go by their word. A specification list will also make it clear why a builder is charging more or less than others. Many builders might quote a high price initially due to lower specifications and then ask you to pay more at later stages for better quality material. Do Remember it is your money which he will give to you upfront or invested in your building !!

If yes, then do understand that even if a builder has promised you a high price and delivery on a set of specifications, there are thousands of other areas on which he can cut costs, just to meet your preferred price. These cuts might just become the cause for the bad quality of construction and become detrimental to your Asset which you will build for at least 40-50 years.

Therefore, judge builders on their work ethics, quality of their team and the policies and procedures followed.

“A single person Army” running a company can diverge from his promises at any moment but a company run by established rules cannot bend them according to their will as they have to maintain their goodwill built over the past 20-30 years.

Therefore choosing the right builder and not the highest Bidder IS THE  most important decision.

The choice can impact your prices by 6-7cr!

Many builders/contractors usually recommended by CA’S LAWYERS, and distant relatives will try to convince you that they build good quality homes by showing you the pictures of their recently completed projects. Some better builders might take you to the site of finished projects. But you should not settle with just this, SouthDelhiPrime.com would want you to go one step further, after all, building a home will be one of your life’s biggest investments. Insist upon your prospective builders to let you talk to at least 2 of their previous clients. Do not choose a builder/contractor who refuses to do this. Actual user testimonial would give you more assurance about your choice.

Building a home and delivering a great overall experience are two very different things. 

Here are some questions you should ask the previous clients of your prospective builders:

1. Where there any cost overruns?

2. Were there any quality issues?

3. Was the project delivered on time?

4. How was the overall behavior of the builder? Did it change from the first meeting to the last?

5. Were the specifications delivered as promised?

6. Was the builder only your single point of contact or there were specific people assigned to advise and assist you on various stages of the construction?     

The answers to these questions will give you a better understanding of the builder and his team if any.

You need a safeguard and that safeguard is a contract. Always ensure that these four things are clearly mentioned in the contract:

1. The final date of delivery of the home and what happens if it’s not delivered on time.

2. A clear list of specifications according to which the home will be built.

3. Finalized project price with the promise of no cost overruns.

4. Warranty from builders on structure, seepage, and equipment.

Talk to your builder/contractor today, and insist on mentioning these four things specifically. Try and avoid the builders who don’t believe in signing open-ended contracts.

Home construction requires hundreds of materials to be purchased. Finding the right vendors, ensuring proper quality, bargaining for the best prices and ensuring timely delivery of all materials will leave you with little time and energy for other activities in your life. Most people think that by handling a part of the purchasing, they can cut down on costs. But they overlook the fact that professional builders have a wide network of vendors which help them in avoiding extra purchasing costs while getting them discounts which directly benefit the clients.

Basically, a builder in charge of purchasing will make life easier for you. The only thing is for you to find a trustworthy builder who actually uses the materials which have been promised and passes on cost benefits to you. Talk to your builder today to discuss this point.

This will define a lot of aspects about your home such as its structural strength, quality of finishing, the occurrence of issues such as seepage and cracks, maintenance required by your home after delivery and much more.

The best example to show the difference between factory made and made on-site products is the use of Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC) versus concrete mixed on-site during construction. Branded RMC is produced in factories using computerized machining and goes through predefined tests, thereby ensuring consistency in quality. On the other hand, just like no two people can have the same fingerprint, no two batches of concrete mixed on site can have the same consistency. Also, site-mixed concrete takes 50% more time to be mixed and used as compared to RMC.

Usually, you will find local builders bad mouthing factory-made products because they lose the freedom to lower the quality of the materials to increase their margins.

Talk to your builder today to know about other standard products which can be used over site made products like ready-mix plaster instead of mixing sand and cement on site and others.