Independent building supervisor

Metter

Ok, have taken the plunge and hired a contractor. Advice I have been given from multiple sources is to hire an independent person to keep an eye on the build. I will also be doing this but I am no building Technician who can check foundation prep or other things. I have someone in mind who works as a on site supervisor for another company. If they needed to travel 30 minutes each way. Spend 1-2 hours on site maybe 4 times a week. What would be a realistic wage? I don't want to grossly overpay but don't want to insult either.

sakumabali

Just wait & see how much they asking. If you ask 2-3 persons (or companies) you have an idea. Hint: if the contractor is planning to walk all over you he might offer the "independent" person a share :) Re: my first project was 2 villas on one plot. My ex mother in law afterwards had suddenly money to build herself a house as well. My new contractor was wondering why I paid so much for building materials....

Metter

sakumabali wrote Just wait & see how much they asking. If you ask 2-3 persons (or companies) you have an idea. Hint: if the contractor is planning to walk all over you he might offer the "independent" person a share :) Re: my first project was 2 villas on one plot. My ex mother in law afterwards had suddenly money to build herself a house as well. My new contractor was wondering why I paid so much for building materials....

Thanks Sakumbali, Yes I have already approached other companies. I feel quite good regarding the builders. I have inspected several of their properties and have 3 other builders quotes so I know they are in the right ballpark. Being a contractor build I am obviously overpaying compared to hiring the labour myself but life is too short for me to have that hassle. the independent inspector is to help make sure things are as they should be and I will be onsite most days also to check - I hope there are no back handers but you never know of course.

Markit

Metter wrote Ok, have taken the plunge and hired a contractor. Advice I have been given from multiple sources is to hire an independent person to keep an eye on the build. I will also be doing this but I am no building Technician who can check foundation prep or other things. I have someone in mind who works as a on site supervisor for another company. If they needed to travel 30 minutes each way. Spend 1-2 hours on site maybe 4 times a week. What would be a realistic wage? I don't want to grossly overpay but don't want to insult either.

In for a penny.... Why have you hired a contractor? Do you live here? It would be worth your time (and it's fun!) to be here for the build and oversee all the buying yourself. I hired a architect to help design my first and second houses but with the first house I organized the builders (not contractor) myself with a tendering out for each stage of the build, then examining the previous work done by the various applicants, comparing their prices and then deciding on that basis who I would have for each stage (surrounding wall, foundations, second floor, roofing, finishing off). I bought all the stuff myself and there is a huge variation in pricing of everything depending upon where/when/from whom you buy anything. You will get shafted if you get a contractor, full stop! If you are here maybe not so deeply. If you hire someone to check up on him he will shaft you too! As deeply as he can. Get a old bule that has built and lives here to help if you can't do it yourself - why old bule? cause if he's old he prob won't need your dosh and bule for the same reason and he's got experience too. Will probably work for beers. My architect didn't shaft me but I found out afterwards that he took a percentage from all the builders from the list above - 5 to 10% That's Bali. He did a good job though but I had to tell him what to do quality wise since their idea of quality you can see all around you - falling down. Back in the day (2009) there was maybe one or two cement vibrators on the island and spend days finding a working one that I had to hire with operator to come on my "pour" days to do the job. And oh how they laughed at me behind their hands but oh how I laughed when my build stayed together during the 2018 earthquakes that killed thousands on Lombok and not a few here too. And I paid him the grand sum of 5 million a month for him to rock up every day for an hour or two and see if they'd done good work since his last visit and discuss what they would/should do before his next one. My heartfelt advice? Buy an existing villa - the prices will never again be so cheap!!! Do not build - no matter how you do it, it's a headache and will cost a fortune you could easily use to modify an existing build to your idea of Zanadu!

JackStraw

tel522 wrote In south bali property is dropping like a stone , or remaining unsold and slowly falling down , ya probably 70% are junk construction , when it drops a further 50 % I might risk it .

If I wanted to live in South Bali I would absolutely risk that. Seems a lot better than buying land and building a house. The problem is I have no desire to live down in the city and the area I want has fuck all for real estate options so I'm not left with much of a choice.

JackStraw

Markit wrote I've never heard anything good about contract managers here, never. And lots of bad, sorry. Where are you going to build? Thanks for the offer but I doubt it would be as much fun if I was doing it for someone else - more like work (worst 4 letter word in the English language).

I was half kidding about hiring you as a building manager but hey, if you change your mind your wisdom is always welcome. I'm building near Tampaksiring.

harryopal

JackStraw wrote I was half kidding about hiring you as a building manager but hey, if you change your mind your wisdom is always welcome. I'm building near Tampaksiring.

And when it is completed will there be a pakai masker, jarang jarak house warming party?

JackStraw

harryopal wrote And when it is completed will there be a pakai masker, jarang jarak house warming party?

Absolutely! 4 vaccine jabs minimum to attend ;)

Markit

JackStraw wrote I was half kidding about hiring you as a building manager but hey, if you change your mind your wisdom is always welcome. I'm building near Tampaksiring.

Many thanks for the kind offer but the commute from Amlapura to above Ubud would be too much. I would love to come and see it being done so when you've reached a stage where you want to show it off a bit please let me know - consider doing it with bamboo, you're in the perfect place for it!

Mark

Metter wrote Wow, I'm not that stupid ( do people really fall for that.). I haven't seen the standard contract yet but I think 30% up front then a payment at different stages. The final 5% is held till 30 days after hand over to make sure any issues are fixed.

My building contract had a 20% down payment, then periodic payments based on documented progress (each payment reduced by 20% as a credit against the deposit). Retainage was 5%, half released after 6 months, and the remainder after 12 months. Initial defects liability period was 12 months after handover, with a warranty on the structure of 5 years.

Metter

Markit wrote My heartfelt advice? Buy an existing villa - the prices will never again be so cheap!!! Do not build - no matter how you do it, it's a headache and will cost a fortune you could easily use to modify an existing build to your idea of Zanadu!

Thanks Markit, I am too far in for this advice. Already leased land and built the wall. I considered your way for tendering for each phase but I didn't have confidence in my abilities for that. I think you are probably right regarding the risk of getting shafted and luckily for me even a 100% blow out won't break the bank - although I will cry a lot. The contract build itself is very detailed including all materials which are costed by a unit price. Any Price fluctuations are absorbed by the builder ( more profit it they come down, less if they go up). I am relatively confident in the process I have undertaken and will be reviewing the contact with a good local friend ( Indonesian who lived most of their life in the UK). .I would love to say your just a cynical bastard but I agree with most of the things you post if not the way you word them . I will let you know when I get shafted or I will gloat of it turns out ok .

JackStraw

Markit wrote In for a penny.... Why have you hired a contractor? Do you live here? It would be worth your time (and it's fun!) to be here for the build and oversee all the buying yourself. I hired a architect to help design my first and second houses but with the first house I organized the builders (not contractor) myself with a tendering out for each stage of the build, then examining the previous work done by the various applicants, comparing their prices and then deciding on that basis who I would have for each stage (surrounding wall, foundations, second floor, roofing, finishing off). I bought all the stuff myself and there is a huge variation in pricing of everything depending upon where/when/from whom you buy anything. You will get shafted if you get a contractor, full stop! If you are here maybe not so deeply. If you hire someone to check up on him he will shaft you too! As deeply as he can. Get a old bule that has built and lives here to help if you can't do it yourself - why old bule? cause if he's old he prob won't need your dosh and bule for the same reason and he's got experience too. Will probably work for beers. My architect didn't shaft me but I found out afterwards that he took a percentage from all the builders from the list above - 5 to 10% That's Bali. He did a good job though but I had to tell him what to do quality wise since their idea of quality you can see all around you - falling down. Back in the day (2009) there was maybe one or two cement vibrators on the island and spend days finding a working one that I had to hire with operator to come on my "pour" days to do the job. And oh how they laughed at me behind their hands but oh how I laughed when my build stayed together during the 2018 earthquakes that killed thousands on Lombok and not a few here too. And I paid him the grand sum of 5 million a month for him to rock up every day for an hour or two and see if they'd done good work since his last visit and discuss what they would/should do before his next one. My heartfelt advice? Buy an existing villa - the prices will never again be so cheap!!! Do not build - no matter how you do it, it's a headache and will cost a fortune you could easily use to modify an existing build to your idea of Zanadu!

Buy an existing villa? Are you insane? Have you seen the market for existing villas? The prices are through the roof (even now) and they all need lots of work done. The ones that are cheap are dumpster fires. I've done a good amount of research on this myself and just had a friend find an amazing house for a fair price but it was not easy and he still needs to put some work into renovations. When you build your own house, you get to pick the land, pick the architect and pick all the finishings.The house I designed is my dream house and it's much cheaper than anything I found for a similar size in an area I like by billions of rupiah. And while I praise you Markit for having the time and California-know how to comb through every detail with your tukangs to get the desired end result, there is absolutely nothing wrong with hiring a good contractor to do the dirty work for you. In my opinion, time is more valuable than money. I work full time as is and prefer to keep my free time free and pay my contractor extra to manage it for me. I'm aware I'm paying more than I need to but for me, the lack of stress is worth it. That being said, if you want be my site manager for some bintang, you've got the job mate :)

spicyayam

I would give the independent person a trial. If doesn't report any problem after a few weeks or so, whether small or major then he probably won't be worth it. I think you probably know most Balinese try to avoid confrontation. He might be reluctant to report problems if knows the contractor will be upset with him. I don't know the solution other than having a great builder with an excellent reputation, not paying too much up front as others have said and a watertight agreement, with repercussions if the agreement is not followed, which is registered with a notary.

JackStraw

Markit wrote Many thanks for the kind offer but the commute from Amlapura to above Ubud would be too much. I would love to come and see it being done so when you've reached a stage where you want to show it off a bit please let me know - consider doing it with bamboo, you're in the perfect place for it!

haha unfortunately the bamboo style just isn't for me. I'm going with good old fashioned semen and steel. And no, I don't mean cement.

tel522

JackStraw wrote Buy an existing villa? Are you insane? Have you seen the market for existing villas? The prices are through the roof (even now) and they all need lots of work done. The ones that are cheap are dumpster fires. I've done a good amount of research on this myself and just had a friend find an amazing house for a fair price but it was not easy and he still needs to put some work into renovations. When you build your own house, you get to pick the land, pick the architect and pick all the finishings.The house I designed is my dream house and it's much cheaper than anything I found for a similar size in an area I like by billions of rupiah. And while I praise you Markit for having the time and California-know how to comb through every detail with your tukangs to get the desired end result, there is absolutely nothing wrong with hiring a good contractor to do the dirty work for you. In my opinion, time is more valuable than money. I work full time as is and prefer to keep my free time free and pay my contractor extra to manage it for me. I'm aware I'm paying more than I need to but for me, the lack of stress is worth it. That being said, if you want be my site manager for some bintang, you've got the job mate :)

In south bali property is dropping like a stone , or remaining unsold and slowly falling down , ya probably 70% are junk construction , when it drops a further 50 % I might risk it .

Markit

Metter wrote Thanks Markit, I considered your way for tendering for each phase but I didn't have confidence in my abilities for that.[COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)] That's what you have your architect for![/COLOR] The contract build itself is very detailed including all materials which are costed by a unit price. Any Price fluctuations are absorbed by the builder ( more profit it they come down, less if they go up). [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]Care to share the "price" list? [/COLOR] I am relatively confident in the process I have undertaken and will be reviewing the contact with a good local friend ( Indonesian who lived most of their life in the UK). .I would love to say your just a cynical bastard but I agree with most of the things you post if not the way you word them . [COLOR=rgb(226, 80, 65)]I am a cynical bastard but wasn't born that way, luckily :)[/COLOR] I will let you know when I get shafted or I will gloat of it turns out ok .

Just make sure you don't pay fuck all up-front.

Markit

JackStraw wrote Buy an existing villa? Are you insane? Have you seen the market for existing villas? The prices are through the roof (even now) and they all need lots of work done. The ones that are cheap are dumpster fires. I've done a good amount of research on this myself and just had a friend find an amazing house for a fair price but it was not easy and he still needs to put some work into renovations. When you build your own house, you get to pick the land, pick the architect and pick all the finishings.The house I designed is my dream house and it's much cheaper than anything I found for a similar size in an area I like by billions of rupiah. And while I praise you Markit for having the time and California-know how to comb through every detail with your tukangs to get the desired end result, there is absolutely nothing wrong with hiring a good contractor to do the dirty work for you. In my opinion, time is more valuable than money. I work full time as is and prefer to keep my free time free and pay my contractor extra to manage it for me. I'm aware I'm paying more than I need to but for me, the lack of stress is worth it. That being said, if you want be my site manager for some bintang, you've got the job mate :)

I've never heard anything good about contract managers here, never. And lots of bad, sorry. Where are you going to build? Thanks for the offer but I doubt it would be as much fun if I was doing it for someone else - more like work (worst 4 letter word in the English language).

Metter

Markit wrote Just make sure you don't pay fuck all up-front.

That's what you have your architect for!

The architect has set the standards, I don't feel confident in ensuring foundations match the plan. The use of an independent inspector will be as reliable as the architect and hopefully better in other ways. Care to share the "price" list? Whilst I won't post the full RAB here is some examples: 142,800 - m3 fill and compaction 1,012,970 - m3 k300 ready-mix with M6 mesh 142,192 - 10cm Hebel block m2 315,000 - Serenity tiles 60 X 60 Prices are including fitting and flues etc. So whilst I can get times for 200k - 250k a Meter square. The price above includes fitting of course.

Just make sure you don't pay fuck all up-front. Wow, I'm not that stupid ( do people really fall for that.). I haven't seen the standard contract yet but I think 30% up front then a payment at different stages. The final 5% is held till 30 days after hand over to make sure any issues are fixed.

Markit

You guys all act like the building process is really complicated and a scientific endeavor. It really ain't. 1)You dig a hole put some metal bits in it then fill it up with concrete = foundations 2)You then stack a few breeze block on top of each other with some nice hole in it = walls with windows and doors 3)You then build a bunch of stuff to hold the next bit up above the walls you've build and fill it with more metal bits and concrete = second floor 4)Repeat step 2 5)Put some wood on top of your upper walls then tiles on that = roof 6)Smear the whole lot with nice concrete and stuff the holes with windows and doors = house The builders and architects want you all to believe it's some kind of voodoo shit. Just get a copy of the program "Sketchup" do your 3D modelling to construct the house you want and get the architect to clean it up and make it so it probably won't fall down and then get some locals to follow the works schedule I've shown above and you're done. P.S. Use more and thicker steel than they advise - their shit fell down in 2018, mine didn't even get a crack.