How to build a house in the Philippines

So we have the lot and now its time to look for the right contractor.  Building a house seems easy to some  people,  it took us  a lot of time finding the right builder for us. We seearched online for builders, had a meeting, ask for quotations yet we can't seem to find the right contractor. Being witth a white guy do not help at all because as soon as they see my Billygoat its $$$$ right away.

Here are the reasons  why we get turned off with a contractor:
1. They readily see my husband as white thus giving a higher quotation. (they think we are dumb or something?)
2. We get quoted for a higher  LABOR cost if installing an expensive material than a local one when all the while the procedure is the same. A good example of that is installing an Italian Granite as oppose to China.  Can't get the logic there. It should just be same labor cost for both.
3. We get disappointed with the materials being used by contractors.  CHB breaks easily,  rebars are undersized, laying of chb is not clean or some have hollow spots. ( you ever encounter drilling a hole to hang a frame and the drill goes in easily well, that is the reason its hollow. Had experienced that in our previous house which was built by developer.
4. Most engineers/Architect are not at the site during construction, we so want one to be there everyday to overlook since they should know better. Besides I am paying him to be at the site.
5. Their finished projects have some issues, so if the homeowner is not happy and have problems with her house in a few years because of problems, its a good sign for us to not waste time with that contractor.

At first we thought we have the right one so we started our blue print, paid him 30,000 for it and after a couple of floor plan presentation and house design he can't seem to get what we want so we draw what we want and ask him to do draw it. What we want is a Mediterranean house and Mr Google is a big help we put together ideas and designs to come up with our house design. That solves our Floor plan and house
design.  nest is the quotation or Bill of Materials (BOM) We are being quoted for a house with no septic tank etc. ( digging of Septic tank is in the first phase not the finishing). Then most are over priced, that time we still we still give him the benefit of a doubt until I personally went to the city hall to apply for my building permits to save up since the quotation is too high just for permits. Lo and behold, according to the Engineer there are posts that are in the wrong place and so I look at my blue print and that is where I found out he is not an Architect nor Engineer just a contractor since he is not the one who signed my Blue print and his name only appears as the contractor. I wonder why he is being called an Architect if he is just a contractor. Its two different things, well who knows. To top it all according to the Engineering office my papers are not complete since there is  no Structural computation which is supposed to be included if you pay for a blue print package.We asked him to explain and correct our blueprint and give us the Structural computation and right there, we end our deal with him.

 Here are the list of requirements to apply for a Building Permit

• 5 copies of blue print signed and sealed
• Structural computation
• Bill of materials
• Approval of Subdivision (1 blue print to be given)
• Approval of  Barangay  (1 white copy to be given)
• Copy of TCT with updated receipt of Property tax

To some, we may seem to be a perfectionist but we are just careful after all its a lifetime investment and we want quality and value for our money.  After a few months of searching and looking around we found one who uses  good materials and was always at the site. My husband was always observing the crew and the way the house was built during his walks. The contractor is a licensed Architect which is a plus. So we talked to him and talked to the owner of the house. It seems pretty good. We agreed on materials to be used and structural will be labor and materials then finishing stage will just be labor since we want to bring in and choose our own fixtures, flooring, water proofing etc.

Our house plan started with 340 sqm and an estimate of 5-6m. House will be constructed using I beam method and he will be there daily to supervise.

Construction started November 2011, we didn't pay the usual 30% down since at this stage there is
nothing much going on just enclosing the  construction site, digging etc. We go to the site everuday to monitor the progress and just to see if the materials are of good quality.

After digging the Architect asked us if we want to pour blood or do any rituals, we followed some rituals or beliefs by the old people. There is no harm to follow it. They killed a goat as opposed to chickens because the lot is 450 and house is a bit big so they need more blood and our Architect suggested the goat. That was not included in the package deal  since its our option to do it or not. So an extra money was given for that. My husband being of different culture have other rituals as well, lucky we found a Greek Orthodox Church to get some holy oil. With the coins, blood and holy oil ready we say a prayer and put it in the footings or columns. I think they also pour the oil all  over the site.

We also have a Termite control company to spray to prevent termites. Every foundation and cement are being treated. With just the string and digging to distinguish the floor plan, everything looks small. So my Billygoat wants the comfortable life he has back in Canada so he decided to make some areas bigger. And boy oh boy,  from 340sqm the house became  double. Whew, only realized it when everything is up. We also did change the plans since we wanted a separate living and reception for the maids quarter (not inside the house), a mud room, an exercise room an office inside the Master's bedroom small revision that made the house bigger than what was planned. Every addition we would be quoted for additional price as well. 

 

Things are pretty smooth sailing and my in laws flew from Canada to visit. They were amazed on how house are being built here

                                    

After 5 months I noticed the materials that are coming in are less but he had asked for the money for it. So my husband being a good hearted trusting guy always gives money despite my reminders that the progress and the money do not tally. We went out of the country to buy faucets and fixtures and when we came back, there was very little improvement.

The progress is brutally slow, my husband and I would at times argue cause he will not understand that in the Philippines there are some people no matter how educated still scams other people. So I did ask around and found out that he have not paid the materials so no deliveries, our roof was not paid off with the money we gave him only a quarter of the payment was paid to the sub contractor. So I did pay the suppliers and talked to the roofing contractor. This time I did not give the money for materials to him instead I paid it directly and deduct it from our contract price. 

Days go by, roof has started and progressing but he keeps asking for money and he had taken more than the contract price and Structural phase not yet done. Unable to sleep for almost a month I finished off my bookkeeping for my husband  to see and I can also confront the Architect. End of June 2012, I asked him to stop construction early morning.

I live nearby so I surprised him with a call. I gave instruction to the guard not to let anybody in and not to let anything out of the site without my approval. Call it paranoia but these people are capable of destroying the house like putting holes in the pipe, stealing small materials (our faucet was there and its a bit pricey to lose) or just do some crazy things if instructed by their Architect. So during the meeting he presented his papers and we asked him about the money missing with a total of almost 1m. that he had taken yet house is not done. His words are only "SORRY". He can not come up with the answer so the construction stopped nobody goes in and nothing gets out. Filed the complaint at police station surrendered the tools he left signed and witness by his timekeeper and trusted people. We have to buy our own tools to use to continue the construction like mitre saw, electric drill, grinding machine, cut off etc.Next step was to meet with the laborers, contractor didn't pay them as well. Meeting went well we told them  they can leave or stay. They stayed some of the labors I find doing nothing and wasting materials I sent home, we also had an agreement that they should do quality work and if mistakes are done they will not be paid to do it again. Its almost the finishing stage so its going great. We became close to the crew and we really trust them. During the phase they slowly told us what was wrong with the house which were done intentionally so during finishing stage it will cost us more labor and more profit to the Architect. My husband would always tell him its wrong but he would always convince him its the Filipino way of construction. Holy cow, so disappointing to think that Architect was like a family to us. We drove him home, helped him financially, "WOW REALLY"'  is all we can say. We have to correct things so it delayed us a bit. We also found out that he bought a house with the money we gave him thru our employee who is his sister in law. What a bag of garbage!
I hired my own time keeper to release materials and tools to the crew. Roof is almost done, finishing going smoothly, and we were really buying straight from manufacturer or dealer to get discount. Its a good and nice feeling to build and see the progress yourself than be stressed out by a person asking for money, fearing if you confront him they might do stupidity with the house, well who knows right? If he was able to ask the crew to do it the wrong way to gain for sure he is capable of more. I have heard more horror stories. Just thankful it happened earlier.

Less and less laborers are needed as we come to the end of construction. We do want to keep all the crew cause they were all good. We know its their job to do it right but we really appreciate how they built our house and decided to stay with us, as souvenir we gave them some tools and whenever we need them to do something they are just there no matter if they have work they would come. For us these laborers are not just an employee but a gem to treasure. So if anybody will ask me, would you recommend your Contractor? I would say, "Just the crew no need for a Contractor they are diligent and hardworking people that need little supervision."

Here is the link of photos on how we built our house from Day 1 to finishing stage. Photos


This is our home sweet home.