An experienced reputable builder does not go over his budget (the customer/owner does) its his job to know his costs. The demon is called change orders. Its the way the contracts are written. If I sell you a house or project for a certain price, thats what you pay. If the project goes over the builders budget, and that happens more then a few times, the builder goes bankrupt. (obviously not very experienced or reputable then)LexusSchmexus wrote:The vast majority of construction projects in the west also go over budget. Not sure why you say "professionals don't do that". Happens literally all the time in both the private and public sector.Yeah, I'm aware of that. However, the thing I find most interesting is the design aspect. I've always enjoyed drawing houses, playing with interiors and visualizing buildings in my head. Doing some construction here just made it more real. Either way, I suspect I wouldn't actually like to work in the sector, as I assume it would quickly drain any enthusiasm I have for it. The knowledge would be a great thing to have though.Jacked Camry wrote:Not sure I'd embrace it with the same enthusiasm you have, but there is an undeniable sense of accomplishment in having designed and built your own place.
Had you gone back to study architecture, you'd likely have ended up like most architects - having studied but not found any work to do. Engineering is far more useful and you can do the architecture if you want. And you can sign off on the drawings which architects can't do.
The project is deemed to go over budget because of delays, penalties, and change orders: options, incidentals and unforeseen circumstances that are written into the contract to cover the builders ass and profit margins. Governments are notorious for going over budget. I could never figure out why they didn't just write iron clad contracts, however, sometimes that is impossible. For example, say they price a building, but the contract specifies allowances for lighting, cabinetry, fixtures. If these allowances are not spec'd properly, then it may be impossible to actually complete the project within these allowances. Even still, the customer/owner may choose to upgrade these items. Then theres excavation. They will say the contract allows for normal conditions to solid undisturbed soil. Any rock which requires blasting, or sub excavation requiring engineered fill will cost more. Sometimes in remediation or renovation work, contracts will specify extras for any asbestos removal encountered ... the list goes on. Therefore, if you had to price in every possible contingency, the price would be too high, so these are set as cost plus in the contracts.
The thing is, it does come down to experience. If you never successfully built a home in the west, as difficult as that would be, it would be almost insane to try to do it here, except for just hiring a builder to do it all for you. Conversely, if you have a lot of experience in that sector, it cannot be harder in Cambodia than it was building your first home in the west. Fair enough?
Build the unknown into your budget is all I am saying. Its not over budget if you expect cost overruns and unexpected surprises. I am not naive, I am realistic. Yes, I am confident that I can do it, many have. I have already agreed it will be hard, but not impossibly hard, many others have done it with a lot less experience than I have.