Guidelines to follow before you put up a commercial structure

Commercial structures, just like non commercial ones, need a lot of attention when planning for construction. We share guidelines to follow before you embark on the project. Judith Mukisa, a property manager, says construction materials are the first thing you have to look at before construction.

You have to ask the builder to draft the budget for the materials needed.
Also, ask them to do site preparation and foundation in time. If the site is not levelled, they have to get time and put in place what is required.

“You have to provide whatever is required for the ground levelling, if it’s a hilly place, they have to hire a bulldozer to level the ground, and for a wetland, you have to get stones for the foundation to be secure and if you need an underground tank, they have to plan for it at the beginning ,” she says.

She adds that if you have material in place, it helps you to finish the construction in a short period. Buying in installments may mean incurring more costs in transport and sometimes paying higher prices due to price fluctuation of material.

Inspection
Mukisa says you have to inspect the site several times before construction so that you can get to know the right property for your space.

You can also take a tour around the neighbourhood to know the kind of buildings set up in that area.

“It’s advisable to hire experts like environmentalists and surveyors or planners. They help you to know what you can afford and suits the space you have depending on their expertise instead of doing it yourself,” she says.

Mukisa adds that inspection helps you know the foundation components of the planned structure with quality and quantity of the material needed for the foundation.

“Inspection can be done on several occasions depending on what you want and this helps you get the right plan for the structure you want because even the direction it faces matters,” he says.
Paper work
Ibrahim Nsubuga, a property manager, says after receiving your land title, you should process paper work which gives you permission to start construction. This can be done through the local leaders and government authorities at the division.

“Paper work involves environment permission, licence and other permits, because failure to have permission may affect your work and you end up in jail because you have breached the laws of construction,” he says.

Nsubuga says paper work helps you to know the future plan of that place so that you can leave reserve space for any development; it can be a public road, utility pipes or any structure, to void losses.

Qualified constructors
Nsubuga says you have to screen several companies before hiring one for construction. Screening helps one to know genuine constructors , the work they have done before and the time they take to finish projects.

“You have to take your time before hiring a company because failure to get a genuine contractor, you end up making losses when shoddy work is done. Some contractors are unreliable and take on several contracts at the same time,” he cautions.

He adds qualified builders also helps to buy genuine materials which also saves money and they can give you options on what you want then you decide on your own in terms of plan and designs.

Why construction delay?

Lack of paper work
Failure to process work paper in time delays construction work because the authorities will stop you from construction until you process the permission, in the right way.

Hiring fake construction company
You have to make sure you hire a genuine company to avoid shoddy work, which ends up in double work and losses.