Constructing? Make sure you get a proper blueprint

NAIROBI, KENYA: It is essential to have a good blueprint before embarking on your home building process. With the proliferation of backstreet architects offering lower rates for drafting or selling blueprints, the costs are lowered minimally.

According to Peter Mungai, an architect, some of the blueprints sold on the streets may not translate into a house of one’s specifications. This would necessitate the need for some extensions to be made during or after construction.

What may be deemed as cost cutting measures may end up costly if at the end or during the building process, additions or extensions not captured on the blueprint have to be factored in.

The architect advises builders to save first before embarking on construction. Make sure you have a good blueprint that will see your house meeting your specifications and constructed within the budget.

This is because the blueprint will guide the construction of your house. It would also pay to look around for a house similar to the one you intend to build.

Asking about a blueprint and the construction costs from a homeowner with your ideal dream house is well advised.

Ensure you budget appropriately factoring in flexible costs and inflation. For Solomon Ng’ang’a, a builder, the similarity of many house designs dotting our landscape could be attributed to a shared blueprint.

Some homeowners, he says, had to make do with borrowing a blueprint from a friend as a cost cutting measure. He adds that no individual holds the patent to a particular house design and a trend in real estate will be replicated everywhere.

“If, for example, you travel to Western Kenya, you’ll find a particular house design being the norm,” he says.

A good blueprint shouldn’t be taken as a guarantee your house will meet all construction requirements. Care should therefore be taken not to use substandard materials.