The Construction Of Your Dream Home – Part 2

In first part of this series we discussed two major steps of construction of a home.

• The selection of Housing Society to buy the plot and
• The process of getting possession of plot.

THE THIRD STEP of construction process is MAP finalization. This is a major decision so proper research and planning should be made. First of all one should be clear about budget, family requirements and future needs. It is better that all of these points are written which are important for you and your family. You may visit the homes of your plot size. There is a large variety of under construction homes in newly developed society. Bahria Town is the best choice to visit where 100s of new homes of all sizes are in process of finalization. Generally owners or contractors feels honored if you visit their work and do not start pointing out the short comings of their construction.

When you will meet an architect for a map designing, he will ask you for your requirements. He will show you few layouts and plans which are close to your requirements. You are supposed to either accept from any of those layouts or will ask for some amendments in it. The architect will provide you all the related drawings related to step by step construction, electrical, plumbing and sewerage work. The architect is supposed to be aware of by laws of construction in the area. Its worth mentioning that you can not avoid changes in the finalized map during construction. Bahria Town has its own design wing which provides all this facility. If you are constructing your home in Bahria Town then it is recommended to get their services. You may keep seeking their guidance as and when needed. 

There are some set map standards of different plot sizes which architect of that area knows very well. These standard are set due to material available and cost control so a map should be consulted with the architect who is practically involved in his profession.

A family shifted from USA constructed its home in Bahria Town Sector A. They got the services of an American architect (family friend) and after making bit changes the concerned authorities approved it. When their home got ready they needed to go back to USA due to . Their home was not being sold on half cost of the construction as the cost shoot up too high due to technicality of the map.

If you did not have done proper home work then a map finalization may take one month or so. A map approved by you and finalized by the architect is called SUBMISSION drawing as it is submitted for approval from concerned authorities. In all private Housing Projects it is also necessary to get approval of it.

The cost of construction is generally estimated from your submission drawing which shows the COVERED AREA of a home.

When finalizing map of your home please consider following points. The readers are requested to add more points to consider (if any):

1. Make clear on which side your gate and dead walls are decided by the Housing Project. As cornor plots on the lanes have their gates on outer side so you can calculate it from checking these plots.
2. Decide how many bed rooms, kitchens and washrooms you want to have in your home. What will be the acceptable size of kitchen, bed rooms and washrooms etc. Preferably visit few houses which have almost same specifications which you want to have in your home.
3. Also think about the cupboards i.e. where these should be installed. In the washrooms or in bed rooms. What should be the height (wall to wall or not)?
4. Generally people do not care much about kitchen. Ladies are very much concerned about it so please involve "queen of the home" in these matters.
5. If you think that you will be needing to rent out your home in future or it will be used as a double family unit then stairs should be kept in the lobby for going upstairs. In this case a kitchen on upstairs is also needed.
6. Would you prefer to use wooden CHOKHAT or the iron one.
7. Front elevation, pergolas and colour schemes are also decided at the time (though you may change little bit of every thing). In Bahria Town you can not construct a room on car porch.

After finalizing the Map you are supposed to submit the drawing (5 blue print copies of tracing) in concerned authority office along with the copies pf ID Card and possession letter or allotment letter (or the final document of property showing ownership). In Lahore Govt. fee is Approx. Rs.2/= per square foot of the covered area and processing charges are Rs.1,000/=. There should be a stamp of an Approved/Registered architect on submission drawing. Generally the process does not complete in suitable time so it is common practice that an ASSISTANCE of some agent is required. Nowadays it is usually finalized within two months with the assistance of an agent.

When a submission drawing is submitted following works should be started without any further delay.

• An application for gas connection should be submitted as soon as possible. With a specified form, a copy of ID card and allotment letter is needed in this regard.
• An application for electricity connection should be submitted (in Bahria Town it is not needed to apply as they have already got it before starting working on map and it will be installed on same day when you want to start work on your site).
• Start researching about material, its price and quantity of requirement. This exercise will help you to make an estimate or budget of your project. (For the area close to Bahria Town, I will give some detail about material, its prices and dealers in my next post).
• Decide how will you proceed with the project. Whether you will manage labour by your own or will hire a contractor for labour or contractor with material. Start meeting and exploring the contractors to understand the market of your area.
• Order few loads of RORA which you will need to put in the foundation. Start "RORI KUTWAI" according to the need.

In next part of this series we will discuss the practical steps of constructions, Contracts and Contractors, foundation, material availability and its prices etc etc.

Friends are requested to give their input to make the information more better and useful.

```It's all knowing what to start with. If you start in the right place and follow all the steps, you will get to the right end.```

============= For More information, Please visit the following Links ===============

The construction of your dream home – Part 1

Tips and Guidance for Construction of your dream home in Lahore Pakistan
What does Gray / Grey structure mean in construction? What is included in GRAY STRUCTURE and what is NOT?
Latest House Construction Cost, Rates and Estimated Time of Completion in Lahore - Pakistan (Updated on November 05, 2014)