Free Consultation,25,July,2012

BUILDING PERMIT IN PANCHAYATH AREA

Query

Sir,
 
I am Esan from Malappuram district residing in panchayath area.I am making an house now in finishing stage.I did not apply for building permit yet.what is the formalities to get it?
 
Expecting your kind help
 
Esan

My reply

As per present Building rules,for commencement of building construction,you do not have to get prior permission or permit from Panchayath by submitting plan of the house.But construction will have to be done as per Building rules of Kerala

You can now approach Panchayath for getting building no.If there is any violation of building rules,you may have to correct those mistakes

SOILD CONCRETE BLOCKS and PREMIX PLASTERING

Query

Dear Sir,

Sub: Premix Plastering.

My house construction almost done (second floor concrete done) 2900 sq. feet, now in the plastering stage.  So I would like to know about new premix plastering system.  Is it cost effective and what is the advantages and disadvantages? 

Also we have used solid bricks for our first floor as non availability of the Vettukallu.   but, there is talk that the solid bricks are not good for house construction, please advise.  Is there any disadvantages with that?

Thanks and regards,

Rahmath

My reply

There is nothing wrong in using premixed plastering material.But cost may work out to be higher.

Solid concrete bocks are manufactured using 1/4 inch metal,M sand and cement.If manufactured using hydraulic pressing and if materials in correct mixing is used  for manufacture,there cannot be anything wrong with solid concrete bocks when compared to brick.Also being concrete material proper water curing before construction has to be taken care of.Vettukallu is not that good for building construction except in case you get very good quality material (mostly available only in northern Kerala).It has a tendency to get deteriorated by pests.

House Construction with Rs.8 lakhs

Query

Rateesh has left a new comment on your post "Answers to queries-House Design and construction":

. I have 3 cent house in Pandanad.I want to use the space with maximum utilisation and the budget is around 8 lakhs.Planning for an interlock construction.Please reply me

My reply

You can build a house with Rs.8 lakhs.But try to get professional design and guidance so that  an experienced professional can help you get maximum facilities within your budget limitations.

CHECKING PLAN PREPARED FOR HOUSE

Query

Dear sir ,

Please find the attached pdf file of my house plan,

Please check the room setout is as per Vasthu.

My main Gate of plot from southeast .and how much will be the cost for this house

Thomas Mathew

My reply

On quick checking following are the defects

Vasthu aspects

1.For East facing house,Car porch,Main door and Gate should come at Northern half of the frontage

2.North East is Esaana Konam ideal for Pooja and not for Kitchen.There is no need to put Kitchen in the front side and create inconvenience.For this house,better keep Kitchen at North West as Agnikonam (South East) is also in the front side

Architectural aspects

Light and Ventilation in dining area is poor owing to placing Stair close to light passage wall thereby  preventing light and ventilation to that space

As per Vasthu Master bed room should come at South west.But this is far away from Kitchen which will be inconvenient

There are several inner spaces like Foyer,Wash  which are completely dark during day time without light and ventilation.A good Architect would have avoided such dark spaces

In view of the above I feel a total revision of plan is required before going in to Construction

PLOT WITH LESS WIDTH(FRONTAGE)

Query

Dear sir,

I have plot with 7.5 cent in Thalasseri  municipality. plot width 8.20 meter and length 38 meter.with small house, now i want re-construct the house, side of residence there is small foot  path with foot path with drainage,

Can you help me about this matter,

Hope hear from you soon!

Aslam

My reply

It is always better to get a plot with wider frontage or width of the plot for construction.Here even though plot has a depth of 38M,it has only 8.2M width with a private road on one side.As per KBR you will have to leave 2M clearance on the side having private road  and 1M clearance on the other side leaving only 5.2M width for construction

To give a proper advice,I may have to visit site.Try to get the matter clarified with your local authority office or by a qualified experienced professional in your area

IS THERE NO LOW COST CONSTRUCTION?

Query

Dear Sir,

When I discussed about construction of house with some of my colleagues, i understand that low cost houses and modern houses doesn't make significant difference money-wise.  I just dropped my plan and shall contact you if i need any assistance.

Varghese Thomas

My reply

Look.Everybody claims to be an expert in house construction and people are ready to accept opinion of any one  as “ expert” opinion!

Quite a few years back,renowned Architect Mr.Larry Baker(who lived and worked In Kerala) introduced a low cost building concept where saving material even at the cost of increasing labour was considered 'Low cost".That low cost model is no more low cost as labour has become costly in Kerala

But appropriate design and careful selection of material and labour with professional guidance can bring down cost of construction and it can give you better utility for space in building.It also can avoid wastages in construction which is the major cost of cost increase.

So, low cost construction is still very much valid.But you should be willing to have services of an expert from beginning to end of house design and construction.

Free Consultation,21/7/2012

I get quite a few requests for clarifications,enquiries and other queries by way of comments typed in blogs mostly without indicating any information on the sender of message.So they reach me as comments in blogs from “Anonymous”.

I will not be able to directly reply to them.I also do not publish those comments in my blogs.If you really need a quick reply from me please ensure to send an email to me at following id.You will definitely get a faster response from me directly to your inbox.My email id is

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

Construction of commercial building in 2.5 cents land at Cochin

Query

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Free Consultation":

Hello sir
I am planning to purchase a small plot 2.5 cents at Cochin having a dimension 6.5x15 m. I want to construct a three story residential building using RCC frames leaving a car park space for 3 cars on the ground floor. What will be the cost of such a structure only. ie without any walls, flooring and other interior work. And also if you are undertaking such work, please let me know.

Manu

My reply

One of the dimensions of the plot,6.5M is too narrow.It is not clear whether the plot is facing which type of road.You will have to first check up with concerned local authority office how much clearance you will have to leave from the road and other sides.

You have to get services of a qualified experienced Architect to design the building meeting your requirements as well as statutory restrictions.Only after preparing and finalising a plan,cost expected for building can be estimated.Also soil nature of the plot will have to be checked by conducting soil test to check whether concrete piling will be required for foundation,if the Architect call for such a soil test.

Since you are yet to buy the plot,before buying the plot please ensure to check with local authority office concerned whether you will be allowed to construct a building in the plot and if so clearances required.

NEED FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES IN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS

Query

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

Dear Mr. Thomas Viruvelil,
This is a small suggestion which may benefit you ,

In every reply you emphasize on ’ for professional design ‘ ,does this professional design comes from only people with civil engineering back ground ?

Our country has been building houses for thousands of years ..,

I would say readers or the people would appreciate your honest answers / opinions .No one is asking for a research report on building a dam or nuclear power plant .
If you keep on stressing only a professional design can make a good house and not really helping in your reply , it shows that you are not thinking from a middle class person’s side
but these replies shows you are just trying to mint money on design , plan etc..

My reply

This Anonymous writer is very much disturbed by the prospect of me minting money by replying to queries here.So far I have not got even a single paisa as remuneration for replying to queries here.

In our state of Kerala more than 95% of houses are still built by non professional contractors without availing professional services in design and construction of house.I doubt whether even 5% avail professional services.Such a practice cause lots of wastage of money which I am personally seeing during my consultation visits.

People avoid getting professional services in design of house thinking that availing services of any one who can draw a plan of house that too with very little fees will be the most ideal way of reducing cost of construction!

After completion of structure of such houses,several people call me to suggest what can be done to increase utility of spaces and avoid wastage of spaces where it is of no use.But at that late stage I or anybody cannot do much to improve the wasteful work done on the building with huge loss of money.

Owner of the house who could not understand defects in plan of the house in the initial stages,is now able to understand where and what has gone wrong.But it will be too late to do anything

No one is going to loose anything by availing qualified experienced professional services in design and construction of a house.Amount of fees to be paid to a professional will be negligible when compared to cost saving and better facility for each built up area of the house.

Knowledge in latest architecture,Structural Engineering,Vasthu aspects and wealth of knowledge obtained by designing and building hundreds of houses can definitely make a lot of difference to your house design and construction.You need the assistance of the expert not only for the plan stage but from beginning to end for each and every aspect of building construction.

Non professional contractor who may talk nicely and advice you against availing professional services is interested only in maximising his profit and in the process he do not know or care the least about quality of construction and structural stability of your building.You need an expert to make him do the construction with quality and structural stability

Purchasing Teakwood.

Jerry George has left a new comment on your post "Teak wood-use in Kerala house construction":

That was a great piece of information Mr. Thomas. Where can we get good quality teak around Ernakulum? Can we take part in auction conducted by forest department?

My reply

If you are planning to buy teak wood for your house construction,you may not require that much quantity of wood to go through the process of taking part in government auction from forest depots.You can buy teak wood from those who take part in auctions.

Basically you have to understand that there are several varieties of teak wood.Hence you need professional guidance even during purchase of wood for your building .Your Architect can be the right person to guide you on this

What all services we give?

Query

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

sir
i have a plot in Mavelikara where i want to make a budget house , how low can this cost be . a hall , sit out bedroom and small kitchen please reply .
please reply do u renovate house ? and do interior design ? and modification

My Reply

We undertake every type of work related to a building right from land purchase assistance to landscaping of building surroundings.Details of what we do is explained in our websites

http://www.viruvelil.com/

www.keralaarchitecture.com

https://www.facebook.com/#!/ThomasViruvelil

For more details write to me

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

Interlocking bricks

Query

Hi,

My name is Jibin Thomas. I am planning to built a home in cost effective way.
Please share your advice regarding interlocking bricks (not the concrete one. Is building home with interlocking bricks is safe just like building the conventional way?
Request you to provide the contact detail of any contractors in or near cochin who deals with interlocking bricks.

Thanks and Regards
Jibin Thomas

My reply

Just like any other building material interlocking bricks also has got advantages and disadvantages.When you go for non conventional building material and building methods,you will need expert workers well versed in such type of construction.

Your house construction starts with getting the most appropriate design for the house.That is the most critical area of construction of house.First start working on that.Your Architect will advise you on building materials suited to your place and budget