Cost guide
What actually drives
the cost of a home.
No specific budget numbers — we don't publish those, and any firm that does should be questioned. Instead: the line items that move, the line items that hide, and what should always be itemised in writing before you sign.
The line items that drive cost.
- Structural design and engineering. Number of floors, span between columns, soil-bearing capacity, seismic zone, water-table considerations. A coastal site, a sloping site, or an expansive-soil site can change the foundation cost by an order of magnitude.
- Built-up area + plan efficiency. Two homes with the same built-up area can differ by 25% in cost based on the efficiency of the layout — how much wasted circulation space, how many bathrooms per floor, courtyard vs corridor patterns.
- Material specification. Brand and grade matter — and these should be in the contract by name, not "good quality." Cement (OPC vs PPC), TMT bar (Fe 500 vs Fe 550), bricks (clay vs AAC vs concrete block), windows (Fenesta vs uPVC generic) — each is a real cost lever.
- Finishing standard. Flooring (vitrified vs Italian marble vs engineered wood), kitchen cabinetry (modular, brand, finish), sanitaryware (entry vs Kohler/Grohe), painting (3-coat vs 5-coat, exterior weatherproofing system), false ceiling (gypsum vs designer). The same shell can be finished at 1× or 4× depending on choices.
- Site logistics. Site access for ready-mix concrete trucks, distance from material yards, presence of municipal water/electricity at site, and labour availability all affect cost.
The line items that hide.
- "PC sums" for fittings and fixtures. Many quotations include "provisional cost" placeholders for items the builder hasn't actually scoped — bathroom fittings, kitchen, light fixtures. These are designed to be revisited mid-build with an upward number. Demand brand-and-model specification in the contract.
- External development. Compound wall, gate, driveway, landscaping, water tanks, electrical mains, generator — often quoted "separately." A complete quotation includes all of these in the base price.
- GST and statutory. Should be itemised on every invoice. Construction services have specific GST rates that depend on whether you're a registered builder or a contractor and whether the project is residential or commercial.
- "Extra material" calls mid-build. The classic. Avoid by demanding a complete BoQ (Bill of Quantities) before signing — and a clause that variations require a written, signed Variation before any work changes.
A complete quotation has zero "PC sums" and a complete BoQ. If yours doesn't, you don't have a quotation — you have a guess.
What we put in the contract — by name.
- Total price, in writing. Not a range. Not an estimate.
- Brand, model, and grade of every structural and finish material.
- External development scope — compound wall, gate, driveway, landscaping, mains.
- Milestone schedule with money against each milestone.
- Variation procedure with written-Variation-before-work clause.
- GST itemisation methodology.
- Dated handover with delay-consequence sum.