IceEyez

Cost for Architect can differ a lot - think award winning Starchitect versus your just start up Architect. Realistically, you can expect probably expect around 4% to 9% of your total construction costs - $100k - $250k. It also depends on how fancy a design you are expecting, whether you happy with simpler house or you need an award winning design haha. Yes snooze is right - go find an Architect first and he can advise in more detail how much the other consultants might cost based on your requirements.

Are we talking about a "renovation" scale project or are we talking about construction that requires BCA submission? If it is the former, than either way can be done. Like the rest has said, even if they pay for it, they will factor that inside their cost submitted to you anyway. However, if it is a project that requires BCA submission for Permit to Commence Work, then it is a regulation that the contractor has to apply for a commercial account as the place is officially considered a worksite. Residential rates are subsidized which is why they are supposed to apply for their own account. Sometimes, (note this is actually illegal), but contractors will offer you a more attractive overall price to secure the job but ask you to pay for your own electrical bills using your own account. They take this risk - if SP ever does a spot check, they will be trouble and could be fined etc. Sometimes they will smoke their way saying that they are "in the process of applying for own account, so are just temporarily using the existing electricity" 🤣. Well, rightfully they are supposed to use diesel generators before their account is active lol.

Hi Snozee, Just FYI, it is no longer a requirement to provide noise level reports for A/C compressions to NEA for CSC clearance since 2019.

Hello! Maybe it was already resolved, but do note the implications of changing to a 3 flight thing - the position of the door at the bottom room? How are you going to access it if there are steps in front of it? Also, the width of the remaining space for the pantry area does not look like it is sufficient. Its probably 600mm now? Need to crab walk inside? 🤣 And your tread width is actually very big @ 275mm. You could be saving space with 250mm. The min BCA standard is 225mm only.

hahah snozee yeah you are absolutely right. Thats how/why the initial quotes are always so attractive! 🤣

Eh? Yup there are different types of foundations. Just wanted to clear up the point and hope whoever reads this understands that plate load bearing test is necessary for normal shallow foundations (footings/raft foundations) and it is not for testing of piles (deep foundations). Testing of piles is through PDA/ULT and is of a different cost category.

10-15% Architect's Fee? Perhaps only the top famous star architects can charge such rates 😅. Even then, it rather unlikely, as if you are hiring such a star architect, the expected design and construction budget would already be much higher. As a proportion of the construction cost, the percentage of the fees also won't be that high. The realistic typical Architects fees for inter-terrace house new erection you can expect it to be 6-9% of the TOTAL construction cost. Aside, it is also the architect's job to lead the process of calling for tender - they will be interviewing the contractors on your behalf, advising on each tenderer's workmanship when viewing the completed houses etc. Based on their professional experience, they will tell you what to look out for. Typically, 5-6 shortlisted contractors are invited to participate in the tender. The Architect will already vet their portfolios before even inviting them and based on the submitted price and client's feedback about their workmanship/vibe, they are further shortlisted. Not sure what is meant by this "don't like contractor, so need to start all over again" though. You don't restart the whole tender process. The tender process is meant to make sure that ALL contractors are pricing for the exact same design/specifications, so that there is a fair apples to apples comparison. No guessing game as to what is included/not included inside the quotation. Going the architect route does take a longer design period before construction as they actually come up with a finalized design and produce a full set of tender drawings before asking for construction quotes. On the flip side, it is true that D&B is a faster route, but its always a big question mark as to what exactly are you are even paying for when the contractor submits the initial quotation. Different routes for different people with different needs though! So, wouldn't say one way is better than the other.

This is not entirely correct. Plate bearing test is always done for houses that utilize raft or footings as their foundation design. Example of plate bearing test being conducted from one of my current projects. The weight used is the weight of the excavator itself. $2k for such a test is reasonable and is necessary. It is a BCA requirement to do so. PDA - (Pile Driving Analyzer) test is actually more when piles are the foundation type. And if necessary, they will conduct the ULT (Ulitmate Load Test) using the gigantic rocks like in the photo below:

500k to rebuild? Rebuild back into a single storey house maybe hahahhaa 😂 Or perhaps what he meant is 500k budget + another 500k worth of variations/extra hidden costs after you sign the contract. Harsh reality is that current construction costs for new erection you can expect minimally $325-$350/psf worth of GFA (note i'm not referring to "built-up" because that is a meaningless marketing term). If you are saying 500k to A&A, that may be possible, but it still depends on what the scope of work is. For A&A works, expect around $275-$300/psf and above (assuming total redo of all interior+facade, and adding extra GFA). Could be lesser or could be more depending on the final scope within the A&A.

Typically, it is unlikely that the cost of rectifying the defect is same or more than then remaining retention sum. For example 2.5% of a million dollar project is $25k. Unless the issue is something extremely major (e.g. entire ground slab water proofing failed resulting in ground water seeping in and say staining the entire living room/dining room marble which require them to hack away all the finishes and redo waterproofing/slab + finishes, it is unlikely a contractor will just give up on the 2.5%. After they have already spent so much time/money to construction the house, only to destroy their reputation (and thus future potential profits) to avoid doing some minor rectification work? In the context of calling for a proper tender where there are 3-5 contractors bidding for a project, it doesn't work in their favor to "mark up their pricing so that they don't need the remaining 5%". Actually tender is a interesting game - contractors are all trying to guess the sweet spot of maintaining profit margins, while being cost competitive enough to get the job. If the tenderer enters the tender with that mindset, do you think they will be competitive? Unless of course their intention is to just get the job first, cut as much corners as possible and build it at the extreme low price, leave the project full of problems and defects and abandon it after completion hahaha 🤣. These guys can expect to do just a single job and close down their company, destroy whatever reputation built up over the years, which doesn't make sense. Anyway, 10% monthly retention per progress claim (up to max of 5% limit) is the standard amount recommended in the industry. Yes it is possible to increase it, especially if in lieu of performance bond etc (example to 15% per month to max 10% cap). But by increasing the retention sum, you are limiting the contractor's cash flow, which in turn they balance out by quoting you an overall higher figure to maintain profit/risk ratios.

Retention sum is not released upon TOP. Half is released upon issuance of Completion Certificate and the remaining half upon maintenance certificate. Just to clarify, TOP and completion certificate are completely different things. Issuance of TOP is determined by BCA while Completion is certified by the Architect. It is possible for the house is completed, but TOP not obtained and also the other way around (i.e TOP obtained but house not yet complete). Upon issuance of completion certificate, half of retention sum has to be released to the builder. There is a stipulated time frame for owner to pay up according to the SOP (Security of Payment Act), once the Architect certifies the release of the money. It is a binding contract between owner and contractor. The bank cannot insist that contractor not be paid. Where the money comes from, whether from your own pocket first or to be directly disbursed by the bank through the loan is a separate matter.

It doesnt matter whether it is a full demolition or a partial demolition - you still need to declare it to IRAS and you will be charged higher property tax rates once demolition is completed and construction commences. So it is treated the same - once the house obtains TOP and it occupied by the owner itself, remission is applicable.

When calling for tender we typically advise to do the following: 1) Request for the audited financial records to see their financial health. 2) Ask them to submit their company portfolio/resume showing how many jobs they are working on and their list of completed projects. 3) Arrange for viewing of their completed projects - best is if the house owner is around. You can then speak with them to get a sense of how the contractor is like. 4) If you know what other projects they are working on - you can try calling the Architect-in-charge to get a sense of how they are. Are they endlessly delaying the project? Are they responsive? As for what kind of protection there is. Assuming there is a standard form of building contractor (E.g SIA building contract), there should be a few things that can protect you: 1) Rentention sum. This means a certain percentage of the monthly progress claim is withheld (e.g 10%) and not paid out. Half of this retention sum is only paid out when construction is certified to be complete. The other half is released upon end of the 12 months maintenance period (a period where contractor is liable to make good any defects that surface). 2) Performance bond - this is like a insurance purchased by the contractor from insurance companies or banks. Contractors charge a cost for this which pays for the premium chaged by the insurance company. Typically the performance bond claimable amount is based on 10% of the contract sum. If the contractor defaults (terminates contract, goes bankrupt etc.), you can call the bond. This is a on-demand bond meaning that the insurance company has to cough up the cash without any questions asked upon demand by the owner. How the insurance company settles/sues the contractor it is between themselves. If it is a design and build project/contractor where you've already paid up front a large deposit amount, without any proper building contractor then your options are limited. Make sure you select VERRYYY carefully!

According to URA guidelines yes you can build all the way to the boundary line for the basement for any type of landed typology. But in reality, due to technical and practical concerns, you will almost certainly not be able to unless you have the best neighbor in the world who actually allow you to excavate into their own private land for you to do the temporary earth retaining structures there while you construct your basement retaining walls at the boundary line 🤣. Expect to leave minimum 1-2m away from your boundary line, depending on how deep the basement is/how high the adjacent neighbor land/ soil condition etc.

Yup! Asbestos was banned for usage in construction since the late 1980s. Almost certainly if the house was built after 1991 there should not be any asbestos.