Free consultation,6/10/12

Reconstructing house at Alleppey district,staying at Delhi

Query

Binu has left a new comment on your post "Building Permit":
Hi Mr. Thomas I have some land in Alleppey Dist., Kerala, It is in a Panchayat Area, 2 Cent is in my name and balance is in my mother name, that also i will get it registered in my name soon, so i wish to build a 3 BHK house at there. Right now I am staying in Delhi,I am not aware of any rules and regulations of Kerala. Can you please brief me about, what are the procedures i have to complete to build a house there? Total plot size is 20 Cent, Frontage is 43 feet, 4 meter wide Panchayat road also there at frontage. I had a house at that plot earlier.Now we have demolished that before 5 years. So please explain me what are the formalities i have to complete there?
My reply

If you have sent this message to my email id,I could have directly replied to you explaining how to go about building your house at Alleppey living in Delhi.My email id is

vhthomas@viruvelil.com

Comments posted to my blogs may take lot of time for me to notice and reply.Sometimes I will miss them for a long time or forever.So if you need quicker response,mail to me directly.

Before demolishing the existing house five years back if you have informed local authority office in writing about demolition of existing house and your intention to construct a new building,local authority would have treated construction of your house as reconstruction of existing house.In that case,you could have retained existing electrical and water connections.

Now that you have demolished existing house five years back,you have to apply fresh for obtaining building permit from local authority.If your local authority is an ordinary panchayath,you need not get prior permit for building construction.But that does not mean that you can construct house without following building rules.I cannot explain all building rules here.

Especially since you are in Delhi ,you will need services of professional oprganisation like ours who will design,supervise and construct your house in your absence.Such professional agencies will also take care of approval and other statutory formalities required for building construction.

Architectural services for Sri Lanka based Engineer

Query

dear sir,

I am interesting about vasthu system in India...I have some clients...shall we join and do it..

need 3 d views---like your photos in 60 degrees angle.. views..ok,,tell me how to pay u..and so on..after paying u duration..can i get through all email.explain...

Dayantha

Civil engineer

My reply

We can provide architectural services on consultation basis to anywhere in the world through email and other internet facilities

Guidance for Architecture student

Query

Sir

My name is Chaitanya Krishna Kumar and I am an architecture student from Manipal University Manipal. I'm currently doing research about traditional building techniques of Kerala. I came across your website for Kerala architecture. will it be possible for you to meet with me as I need info on the same.

i need info both on planning aspects such as vasthu and building construction techniques... Please let me know if you can help me out.

My reply

Please contact me on phone 9388701702 and fix up mutually convenient date and time for discussions

Side  and Front Clearances

Query

Akbar has left a new comment on your post "Building Permit":
sir,
I just started " padukam " work of our house but now it is stopped due to the problem of nearby road(panchayath).we have road on both in  front n side.we left 11m in the frontage.towards the back as plot is getting reduced we were forced to leave only 1.7 from the road on the side.Is it essential to leave 3m from road?

My reply

Normally you will have to  leave 3M ion the front side.1M and 1.2M on either side.If there is a road on side which reaches dead end at a distance not more than 75M,you will have to leave 2M on that side

Query

Shaji Peter has left a new comment on your post "Building Permit":
My neighbour had constructed his outside staircase with my backside wall. Also he had constructed a toilet near
the wall with about 30 cm gap. These were there for about
15 years.I don't know whether they had taken consent from our parents at that time. Now they are constructing roofing and its poles are on the top of the toilet (about 70 cm from our wall) and covering the sides with metal sheets. Their plan is to rent the top area after completing metal roofing and covering all sides.
Is it allowable? What can I do?

Query

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Building Permit":
Hi, I am from Surat,
My issue is : I have a piece of land at Melila Panchayat, Kollam Dt. Next to my plot, one building construction is going on and he has constructed his Car Porch in such a way that the rain water from his slop roof will fall in my land. He has not maintained the minimum distance which he is supposed to. I have already approached the Panchayat and a civil court to stay his further construction till the panchayat takes corrective action. For legal advice please

My reply

Your neighbour can build external stair case in his clearance space between his building and your compound wall.But he cannot build on top of that external stair case without leaving any clearance space

You will have to give a written complaint to local authority to stop his illegal construction and to make him demolish illegal construction already done.Even if your parents have given verbal permission to him for such illegal construction,that has no validity before law and it does not absolve him of the illegal nature of construction.

Query

Dilshad has left a new comment on your post "Building Permit":
Dear Sir,
i have owned 3 cents of land in panchayat area. kindly advise me what are the concessions i do get when i am planning to construct a home especially regarding clearances on each sides.
The frontage of the plot is only 5.5 M Long.
Three Sides of the plot is closed.On frontage, have panchayat road.
Regards,
Dilshad Salam

My reply

For 3 cents and less than 3 cents plots there are allowed relaxations in clearance space to be left as per KBR.It will be better if you contact town planning dept. of concerned local authority office with Survey No of your plot to know exactly what relaxations in building rules will be applicable to you.

Three bed room house to be built in Kerala with Rs.10 lakhs

Queries

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Free Consultation-8,August,2012":
Dear Sir,
I have a plot of 10 cents in Kerala.Can I build a 3bhk house for 10 lakhs.?I need to get the details of contractors who can build it.

SANJU has left a new comment on your post "Kerala Architecture and House Construction-Replies...":
I would like to know the cost of a four bedroom house in 7 cent

Midhun has left a new comment on your post "Free Consultation,20/7/2012":
Hello
My house is a single story house and I am also looking for typical Kerala renovation of adding one more floor. I would like to know/ see the most economical designs which I can refer to.
Any help on this appreciated
Thanks in Advance for your help
Mithun

My reply

There are quite a lot of people who think that contractor for house construction should build house as per his requirements at cost decided by him.It has to be understood clearly that cost of construction goes up steadily every day in a country like India where govt is very fond of causing  increase in cost of all commodities commonly used by people for existence while giving relaxations and freebees to large industrialists and rich.

House construction involves use of hundreds of materials for which there is always cost escalation and skilled labour for house construction is always in demand thereby pushing up cost of labour also.

No contractor can bring down cost of materials or labour unless he is capable of reducing material and labour inputs definitely not by cutting down his profit but by cutting down quality of construction.

If you involve an experienced professional for design,detailed drawings,occasional site inspection and to provide instructions to contractor and workers,he can reduce cost of your construction without compromising on quality of construction.But very few people are willing to go to or obtain professional assistance!

Cost of construction cannot be calculated using professional methods without site study by concerned professional and without finalising at least initial design for the house.All other cost projections are only guesses and guess cost do not mean anything.

Design and Construction of house outside Kerala

Query

Joe has left a new comment on your post "Free Consultation-8,August,2012":

dear sir i am living in Tamilnadu to Kerala border Trivandrum high road can you CONSTRUCT home out side & border of Kerala

My reply

We have designed and built directly a 6000 sft house at Kothagiri near Ootty few years back.We have designed many houses for outside Kerala clients.Hence it is not impossible to design and build houses outside Kerala.But we will prefer to act as designers and consultants for outside state clients and for places far away from Cochin

Nalukettu house

Query

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Nalukettu type houses-Do we really need it?":
hi Thomas..am constructing a nalukettu house at Thrissur.can u please send me the various options and plans/drawings for the Nadumuttam on the first floor..prefer drawings with the sloping roofs on four sides....regards
Prashanth

My reply

Nalukettu houses were designed and constructed in earlier days to suit living style of those days.It has no relation with living style of present day.Nalukettu houses were used by Joint families with many members of a large extended family living together.Present day houses have nuclear families and it will be difficult for present day nuclear families to live in Nalukettu houses.

Basically Nalukettu houses have these essential features;

1.Central court yard usually a square area open to sky

2.Walking space around the central court yard on all four sides

3.Poomukham in the front side

4,Chuttu verandah around house connected to front side Poomukham with a seating arrangement called Charupady

5,Typically Nalukettu houses are single story

This type of construction will require lot of built space adding to cost of construction and calling for more space and plinth area for the house

Unless you are not bothered about cost of construction,cost of more land required for construction and still want a Nalukettu house,you should not go for Nalukettu type construction for your house.

We have a modified design adopted for our Cherthala house with Poomukham and Chuttu verandah for front side alone by removing Nadumuttom.Such adapted versions can reduce cost and still give elegance of earlier Kerala Architecture blended with modern architecture and technology.For your information,there are not only Nalukettu type construction but there are Ettu kettu,Pathinaru kettu  construction by increasing no of Nadumuttom.

Tiled roof

Query

Snehananda swamyhas left a new comment on your post "#Kerala House Construction-Replies to your queries...":
it is very interesting to see your interest in Kerala architectural heritage.
I want to discuss about do we have any tile roofing installation standards in Kerala.
Do you know anyone who can do the tile roofing as per the Australian or American methods like ply sheathing, under layments and so on..
I am a Professor in Delhi and fan of Kerala roofing.

My reply

I am not aware of these

Free Consultation,2/10/12

Construction of house within limited budget

Quote

Dear Sir
I wish to spend 15Lacs to construct a new house near Oachira Kayamkulam.I want 3 BR+2Bath+kitchen+Hall+sit out and verandah & Car porch-Single Story.Can you suggest a plan.
Regards
Sreelal

My reply

While planning to construct a house, there are few points you should understand clearly:

1. Cost of constructing a house goes up every day. Each day passed make it costlier as cost of hundreds of materials used for constructing a house and labour goes up making it almost impossible for you to build a house with limited budget.

2. No body can predict exactly how much a house construction will cost as the process take at least a year from date of commencement of construction and cost of all inputs for house construction goes up everyday.

3. Only option left to a wise person will be to get professional design and guidance to minimise cost and to go for only essential facilities for the house if you have limited budget.

4. A three bed room house built in two story will not cost anything less than Rs.20 lakhs going by present cost levels which can only go up.

5. You should get a good design and start construction immediately with whatever funds you have.Otherwise,house construction will remain a dream for you forever.

Construction without getting sanction

Quote

sir,
i am a resident of Kochi. four years back we constructed the upstairs without the prior approval from the corporation.there was a land acquisition by the corporation for road expansion in-front of our house. our counselor told does not to worry about the plan, that he will look upon it. so we started our construction. we gave him the plan for approval but he now says the there is no road committee to sanction it.i want to know what measures should I take to make authorize our construction.i request u to please give me an advice as soon as possible.

My reply

First of all,you should not simply start construction just by hearing promise of a councilor or any other politician or official.No politician can waive off building rule provisions.Even if you manage to get anything done by bribing an official,if some one make a complaint in writing the official who took bribe from you will not come up to help you.Violation of rules are always violation of rules and you alone will be held responsible for it.

Even if you have constructed building without obtaining prior permission from concerned local authority,you can apply for regularisation of construction done if the said construction is as per Kerala Building rules.You can contact any Architect/Licensed Engineer/supervisor to get the construction regularised.

Clearance required

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Building Permit":
dear Mr Thomas,
Please let me know the clearances required for home construction if the 4.5 cent plot is facing a private mud road of 2.9m wide.

My reply

If the private road is only 75 meters long,you need to leave 2M clearance in front side.Otherwise you have to leave 3M clearance in front.Other sides which do not have a road close by will need clearance of 1M and 1.2M

Building rules clarification

Query

Dear Sir,

I booked an apartment in Kollam. The builder is yet to get the occupancy certificate from Kollam Corporation.

Grateful for your advice on the following -

1. The fire exit staircase is not separated from the building. It's one side is open to the outside. It is not separated from the public (common) area by any door. It leads to the ground floor lobby (not to outside the building). Is this acceptable?

2. The building is on a plot away from the NH & is accessed by a 4 meter corridor that is part of the plot. It is abutted only on one side by another public road. What is the minimum width of such corridor from fire-fighting angle.

3. Is the builder allowed to have the building water supply from a bore well dug in  adjacent property, where his another project is coming up.

Thanks for your valuable advice.

Regards,

Sukhatma Nair

My reply

It will be more appropriate if you check about these with Town Planning dept. of concerned local authority office like Panchayath/Municipality as I will not be able to reply to your queries without checking up the building permit and approved plan for the building concerned

Trying to design house by yourself

Query

Dear Mr Thomas

Happen to go through some of your blog answering questions from people.

I have some doubts or rather clarifications too . The plot I have is 6.75 cents and is a rectangular one at Calicut.

39 feet width and 79 feet length which has road on front and side (both private roads within the compound of villas).

My plan is to build a two story 2000 sq ft 3 bed house. what should be my ground floor area which will have one bed

living dining kitchen , utility area and store ? I need a front sit out and dining patio. My plan is to have a sloped roof house

with big glass/metal frame windows.

I have attached an idea of my planned areas for each space in my house. I need your expert advise and also let me

know if I need you to do the plan for this house , what are your conditions. Highly appreciate

My reply

Very few people know that house design require a qualified experienced expert.Most people think that owner of the house knows exactly where each room should come and size of rooms and other living spaces.Some people who can understand need of a professional for house design think that the professional is some one to draw as he tells to him to draw a plan

House plans are available free in some magazines,Some contractors offer house plan free of cost if you entrust construction work to them.In short many people think that seeking fees for preparing plan of the house is really bad on the part of a professional.Lot of people think that any one who can draw a plan will prepare the same plan which even the reputed Architect will prepare.

Please understand that plan of your house is the most critical most important drawing for your house construction.Just any plan prepared by any body including you will not be good enough.An experienced professional uses his knowledge acquired through years of his work while preparing plan of your house.There are so many details considered by an experienced professional which can give you more value for your money and better utilisation of limited space for building your house.

From my experience of building more than 200 houses in different parts of state of Kerala and designing many more houses,I can tell you that I have learned a lot by each project handled by me as each project will bring new problems to me.So you need an experienced professional to design the only house you will build in your life time.

Practically no owner of house will be able to understand implications of a Plan of the house(both good and Bad) just by seeing a plan.Only a professional can see through those lines drawn.Even you will be able to understand advantages and defects of the plan after completion of house construction.But it will be too late to do anything at that stage.

In my opinion you should tell what all you need in the house to the Architect in detail.Better to get him to visit your plot to understand your site conditions better so that he can visualise your future house better.A good plan can save you lakhs of rupees and also can provide better utility for built up space inside a house.

As cost of construction goes up everyday,it is very important to avoid wastages in costly built up space in a house.There is no better way to reduce cost of construction other than entrusting preparation of plan to an experienced Architect.If the Architect is good in Vasthu knowledge it will be much more better as it will help you to save money and ensure your prosperity while living in a Vasthu compliant house.

Renovating old house

Query

Sir,

I have a 2 storied 2700 sq.ft. house in Mavelikara. GF built by some 20 years back. 1^st floor by 2007. It is not vasthu complaint also. I purchased an old house and used the wood for its 1^st floor. It is in 22 cents. I am working in Sharjah. Nobody is at home. Only my relatives and neighbors are around.

It is like a ‘Paniteerathveedu’. Always some changes going on. I want to put an end to this renovation once and for all.

Is it possible to finally modify the whole house and make it beautiful for ever?

Is it better to demolish the whole and build a completely new one? I am totally upset now.

Can you help please?

Regards,

Vijayakumar

My reply

Renovating an existing house is a tricky affair.Before deciding on renovating the house,always try to get a professional to assess existing building.Seek his professional unbiased opinion whether the house is worth remodeling/renovating.In most cases,no one can exactly estimate cost involved in the renovation work.Leave the decision whether renovation is good or bad to the consultant

If he  recommends remodeling/renovation work tell him frankly how much money you are willing to spend on the work.Of course you will not be willing to spend money required for building a new house on remodeling.Based on your budget limitations,your consultant can suggest what all you can do within the budget constraints