Recommended duration for building a house

Fed up with paying rent and the constant demands from his landlord, in 1999, Jonah Tusiime decided to take the “best decision” of his life by building his own house.
With Shs4m on his bank account, a piece of land inherited from his father, the 34-year-old then started purchasing materials for the construction of his house in Nkumba on Kampala-Entebbe highway.
“I wanted it to take only six months, but I had to wait for two years due to lack of resources.” Today, he owns a three-bedroom house constructed in two years.

“I had good and reliable builders. They knew exactly what to do and I could have finished the house in five months if I had all the resources that I needed at my disposal. I would visit the site almost every day and this helped me to follow through on quality. My house still stands and I am very proud of it.”
Tusiime says to build a similar house now with all the resources he needs readily available, it can take nine months. “
This is because I pay particular attention to what goes on any house that I build and I will take any steps to ensure that I get the best.” That not being the case he argues, a three-bedroom- house should take at least five months to be completed with all the resources available.

Recommended time
Julius Semanda, a civil engineer and lecturer at the Department of Construction Economics and Management, Makerere University says:
“On average, it should take about seven months from obtaining a building permit to completing a new single-family home but the time to acquire plans and get all the materials cannot easily be zeroed in on because of the delays often associated with such activities.”
He adds that when all those formalisations like plan approval are done and materials purchased, “it can take three months to put up a bungalow. But if you don’t have the materials on site, they always cause a delay.”
He further adds, “for a storeyed structure, it should take nine months if there are no issues like a client wanting change of design or even making other demands.”

Considerations when building
Semanda explains that any building needs a solid foundation and this cannot be rushed. “We take time to study the nature of the soil and if it is clay or sand, you need re-enforcements like a ground beam or a mesh.”
For the super structure (the building or shell), he says it can be hurried and built in the shortest possible time as long as the right materials are used by technically qualified people because they use the right material and mix it consistently.
When it comes to the roof, he says it has to be done commensurate to the building you are putting up and this is often decided during the planning phase.
He adds that this is another phase which does not take a lot of time but he warns that one needs to be careful about the quality and strength of the roofing materials they employ.
“If you are building a storeyed structure, there are things that cannot be compromised like drying the slab, quality and strength of the materials you are going to use. These three cannot be compromised when building a storeyed structure because any mistake in these three stages can compromise the strength of the building.”
Additionally, Francis Ssali Ssebutinde, an engineer says if the construction rules and regulations are followed it can take between two to three months to build a bungalow.

For example, he says it should legally take 21 days for a slab to set but says after three days, the construction can go on provided professional people are handling the work. He advises that in case one is faced with no option but to complete a house within the shortest time possible, then you can opt for shifts during day and night such that instead of taking three months to do the construction, you take one and half months. “Clients are advised to hire consultants to continue monitoring their work,” Semanda explains.

Determining of time frame
Financial component
Experts suggest that the financial component is very key when it comes to the time a house will be completed. But projects that have ready financing are likely to register the shortest time from planning, getting permission from the relevant authorities to completion in comparison with those that don’t have ready resources to finance them.

Supervision
Another critical element is the person doing the job. In Uganda, owners like to directly supervise their residential house construction which often includes single-family houses, multi-family dwellings and this causes delay but using specialised knowledge can be very beneficial, since experts in various specialties can provide accurate estimates.

Bureaucracy
Ssali attributes bureaucracy especially in the process of acquiring an approved plan, bad weather during the rainy season, unreliable suppliers as some of the factors that can delay the process of completing the construction of a house on time.

Delayed payments
An Investigation into the causes of delay in the construction projects in Uganda identified delayed payment to contractors, poor monitoring and control and high inflation and interest rate and ignoring technical advice as some of the factors that drag on construction projects.

Finishing
Ssali emphasises that finishing on a house should not be rushed for whatever reason because it requires extra care; otherwise the person doing the work will not do an excellent job if they are under much pressure to finish.
He says even if it means going beyond the recommended time, all the necessary precautions must be taken because a house which would have last 50 years ends up standing for only 30 years.
“Take the necessary precautions and time and compare your work to producing a child. Even if you have a billion shillings, you can’t have a normal child before the nine months period elapses,” Ssali explains

Tips when building
•Frequent progress meeting and supervision. Frequent supervision will help you catch mistakes before they are covered up.
• Use of experienced subcontractors and suppliers. Using experienced contractors not only assures you of getting a good job but you can easily sue the company in case something goes wrong especially if you signed a contract with them.
• Accurate initial cost estimates. This helps you know the exact amount of money you will need at every stage.
• Use of appropriate construction methods. If you are required to use a certain gauge of material for example iron bars but decide to use one of a lesser gauge because it is cheap, you will be affecting the strength of the building.

What could go wrong
• Collapse of the building. There are recommended standards when building a house and these mainly come in with the material used and the consistence in mixing the material. However, if these are not met chances are the building may collapse.
• Shoddy work. Supervising workers is an important element when it comes to construction. Therefore, to avoid such cases, there is need to have an informed person on site as often as possible.