The first question I get asked when somebody enquires about building is: “What is your cost per square meter”. Would you walk into a Mercedes dealership and ask the salesman how much is the blue ML per square meter? I don’t think so, because prices vary from model to model, extras, engine size etc. You get my drift, so in short, the same applies when building a house. I just cannot believe that people still see this as the basis to determine whether you can or should built and then contract based on it.
Man, this cost per square thing just freaks me out, as you have probably noticed if you read the other entries in the blog. You enter a period of darkness, where you have no idea where your money goes. Do you pay the actual cost of the items you receive? Are the items, e.g. bricks, cement, concrete, of the quality that you agreed upon and paid for. There is no chance of you knowing unless you have access to the actual invoices and delivery notes, which very few contractors makes available. It thus becomes an exercise in trust and in the building industry that is dangerous.
Did you know the Patron Saint of builders is ...” St Greed”
You really want to pursue other alternatives to gather realistic and accurate information regarding the actual cost of your building project. If you want to save yourself money and get good value for money, you want to know what the actual cost is of the bricks that goes into your house, how much the electrical contractor actually charges per point and so on and soon.
What I am getting to, is that using a contractor that gives you detailed access to the information and use a transparent system will definitely save you money and lots of it. So use a contractor that can do that. Good luck finding one.
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