Rebuilding Journal

[DaddyJP 1]

Dear All,

Bought an interterrace house last year. As newbies to the rebuilding process, we are feeling our way through the unknowns and challenges.

At every cross road of choice, trying to make "sound" decision and move a step at a time forward through this expensive and lengthy journey.  😁😁.

Intend to share our experiences here in this forum, will find time to update as regular as I can. 

So here goes... 

Decision No. 1 : Rebuild or A&A

It was a rather old 2 stories house, build in 1986. Although the ex-owner had maintained it well but the build-up area was just 2000+sqft, layout and design were pretty old fashion. Upon closer inspection also found signs of water stains on wall line, terminate treatment holes on the floor and cracks. Original plan was to do A&A, but soon we decided to change plan from A&A to rebuild 😅. Another reason was to make sure we maximise the economic potential of the land so that when needed we can sell the house at a higher possible price in future.

Decision No. 2 : Architect or Design&Build Contractor

Explored both rebuilding paths. Finally decided to go with D&B contractor for the following reasons:

a. Price : On top of all the costs required to build a house, was told to pay 10 to 15% more for the architect fee... Money not enough. 😅

b. Waiting time : Visited quite a handful of houses done by both 3x Architects and 3x D&B Contractors. Although we liked the design from one of the Architects, the waiting time was very long for him to complete the design before tender, up to 6 months wait... Time too long. 😅

c. Tender process : All architects we engaged indicate that they would invite the contractors that they have worked with to come for the tender, or we could invite our contractor to bid... but we are newbies, no idea about contractors. Need to interview the participating contractors, see more houses to check for quality and workmanship.... but again, we are newbies, no idea how to differentiate between good and bad contractors. If don't like any contractor, need to start all over again. The whole tender process too troublesome for us 😅

Finally selected one of the 3 contractors whom we felt most comfortable with and has provided an acceptable balance between price vs design & service provided. Since then we have completed topo survey, soil test, and successfully obtained the demo permit and approval for the layout and structural plans from BCA/URA. Actual building work can finally start. 😁

... that's all for now... Next update... will share our Decision No 3 : D&B contractor selection; Decision No 4 : PE selection; Decision No 5 : Lift or no lift?

[IceEyez 4]

2 hours ago, DaddyJP said:

Dear All,

Bought an interterrace house last year. As newbies to the rebuilding process, we are feeling our way through the unknowns and challenges.

At every cross road of choice, trying to make "sound" decision and move a step at a time forward through this expensive and lengthy journey.  😁😁.

Intend to share our experiences here in this forum, will find time to update as regular as I can. 

So here goes... 

Decision No. 1 : Rebuild or A&A

It was a rather old 2 stories house, build in 1986. Although the ex-owner had maintained it well but the build-up area was just 2000+sqft, layout and design were pretty old fashion. Upon closer inspection also found signs of water stains on wall line, terminate treatment holes on the floor and cracks. Original plan was to do A&A, but soon we decided to change plan from A&A to rebuild 😅. Another reason was to make sure we maximise the economic potential of the land so that when needed we can sell the house at a higher possible price in future.

Decision No. 2 : Architect or Design&Build Contractor

Explored both rebuilding paths. Finally decided to go with D&B contractor for the following reasons:

a. Price : On top of all the costs required to build a house, was told to pay 10 to 15% more for the architect fee... Money not enough. 😅

b. Waiting time : Visited quite a handful of houses done by both 3x Architects and 3x D&B Contractors. Although we liked the design from one of the Architects, the waiting time was very long for him to complete the design before tender, up to 6 months wait... Time too long. 😅

c. Tender process : All architects we engaged indicate that they would invite the contractors that they have worked with to come for the tender, or we could invite our contractor to bid... but we are newbies, no idea about contractors. Need to interview the participating contractors, see more houses to check for quality and workmanship.... but again, we are newbies, no idea how to differentiate between good and bad contractors. If don't like any contractor, need to start all over again. The whole tender process too troublesome for us 😅

Finally selected one of the 3 contractors whom we felt most comfortable with and has provided an acceptable balance between price vs design & service provided. Since then we have completed topo survey, soil test, and successfully obtained the demo permit and approval for the layout and structural plans from BCA/URA. Actual building work can finally start. 😁

... that's all for now... Next update... will share our Decision No 3 : D&B contractor selection; Decision No 4 : PE selection; Decision No 5 : Lift or no lift?

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.

[DaddyJP 1]

Hi Ice,

I also don't know why the architect fee quoted is so expensive. Asked 2x Architects, one quoted at the lower range, the other one higher range of the 10 to 15%. So did not bother to ask the 3rd architect. 

We asked a hypothetical question to one of the Architects.... what if we don't like any of the contractor after the interview or the quality of the work. He replied would need to call for another round of tender again.😓

5-6 contractors, that's quite many. Was told only 3-4 contractors would be invited for tender. Was told also tender price can range wildly between contractors due to covid... anyway the archi path is just too ex, too long, too many unknown for us. 😓

 

[snoozee 98]

8 hours ago, DaddyJP said:

Hi Ice,

I also don't know why the architect fee quoted is so expensive. Asked 2x Architects, one quoted at the lower range, the other one higher range of the 10 to 15%. So did not bother to ask the 3rd architect. 

We asked a hypothetical question to one of the Architects.... what if we don't like any of the contractor after the interview or the quality of the work. He replied would need to call for another round of tender again.😓

5-6 contractors, that's quite many. Was told only 3-4 contractors would be invited for tender. Was told also tender price can range wildly between contractors due to covid... anyway the archi path is just too ex, too long, too many unknown for us. 😓

 

pricing can also swing wildly without COVID. If the contractor is not interested in taking up the job, the pricing can be quite high. I think the contactor would rather quote high and not get selected rather than reject to quote the architect as this may mean the architect may not invite the contractor for future quotes anymore.