CONSTRUCTION BUDGET/ESTIMATION

Check out the 'construction cost and potholes' thread on this forum.

I posted a link from 2016 indicating cost per sf to build here and having completed my house in the campo here in late 2020 can confirm you can build for 30 usd per square foot for a single storey 3 bed 2 bath masonry house with concrete roof and decent finishes and some external works. I employed maestros on a labour only basis negotiating packages and we bought all materials directly. The land price is separate and varies significantly between locations. Very high and often inflated in resort areas and quite low in rural areas. My land cost (29 tareas) was within my total cost being rural land.

With recent inflation, my guess the square foot cost would have risen to 35usd/sf. 10 to 15% based on rises in cement, block, rebar and aggreagate rises. Plumbing and particularly electrical components have risen the highest.

Depends where, depends on the land depends who you hire and depends on the quality.

Count on Lennox to keep you on track when needed

You might be able to get a good estimate per square meter for the gray work (concrete), but once you start talking finishes, there is so much variation!

Just a few things

Windows - will you have just openings, iron bars, wooden jalousies, glass (standard, hurricane, double pane, UV), mosquito screens?

Finishes - will the floor be concrete, ceramic tile, coralina, marble, travertine? Will countertops be wooden, ceramic tile, quartz, granite, concrete? Will your plumbing fixtures be the less expensive and often replaced chrome that is readily available here, or will do you want stainless steel with brass workings?

Kitchen - typical small Dominican kitchen without an oven, exhaust system, and microwave? Or a more American kitchen with upper cabinets, exhaust fans, ovens?

Appliances - will you have US-style appliances, European, or smaller Dominican style?

Even with the basics, like the foundation, there are considerable differences in how you build near the beach versus farther inland or up in the hills.

With a rise in materials as of 01 Jan 22, my costs have gone up - for example - the wall around my lot is now $11,000 vice $8650 (Cdn)......Seems high but all my relatives knew it was coming & I couldn't get enough funds there in time to pre-pay in late Dec. I figure this is part of the Continental prices increases being passed on. While material increased are dropping here in Canada, materials being shipped are still in the higher price bracket - so it'll likely take a while to slide back down - if ever.....due to other domestics plans/polities...

Big uplift so not good.

I decided to look back at material prices I paid back in 2019/2020 and compare with block and cement I ordered in November.

Cement, block and aggregates are made/sourced in DR.

Most of my house was built with 8 inch Khoury blocks for which I paid 38 pesos per unit. I bought 6 inch block at that time for some internal walls at 27 pesos per unit. A bag if cement in 2019 cost 290 pesos. A wagon 20 cyd of gravel cost 20,000 pesos.

In November, for a small extension work, a 6 inch non Khoury block cost 38 pesos, a bag of cement 395 pesos and a wagon of gravel 27,000 pesos. 41%, 36% and 35% price increase respectively over 3 years. More than I had factored into my thinking.

I read today a bag of cement was costing 450 pesos in Santiago.

Well the 30usd per sf I spent is more likely 40 usd per sf now. 25% uplift in total cost or more potentially. That will destroy anybody's cost planning.

Contractors and developers will want to pass on their extra costs or stall projects as was stated as happening in the article I read today in relation to high material costs. Labour costs will be on the rise too with the formalizing of Haitian labour and the agreed national wage hikes.

Cement manufacture is high energy derived and the raw materials extracted using heavy fuel driven plant. Ditto gravel and sand production and delivery and blocks coming both. High oil costs are probably in play here so the prices may stick.

Unfortunately the biggest cost increases have shown up in electrical wire and components.

With these large inflationary construction costs in play, I was wondering how this will play out on assessed property value in relation to annual property taxation?

I believe 6.8m pesos is the starting point for annual property tax?

Any tax experts?

thank you so much for the feedback. So $35 (2100 pesos) per/sf = $350 per square meter. Unfortunately I do not have the luxury of living here full time yet so I am at the mercy of the locals. But i will take your advise and purchase the materials directly.

Agree. Perhaps I need to hold off construction till prices settle   - just as in the US. Then again with this covid still lingering how long before things do really settle? Catch 22 situation.

Again thx. One way out will be to scale down the building size to stay within budget.

Does it make sense to ship in fittings/finished for electrical and plumbing?

Plumbing here appears a problem two fold: poor installation - I have yet to meet a good plumber here - and the quality of locally made fixtures. You need to be selective when buying at the builders merchants.

Building by work packages and buying your own materials will be difficult to manage if you dont live here during the construction period.

Yes you need a cost plan built around what you need and can afford with a decent contingency for changes. Have a basic plan with ability to expand perhaps?

I think difficult inflationary forces are here for as long as covid is in play on an international stage, but also will arise due to local factors such as the abysmal labour wages needing to rise as the economy develops. Sustainable issues will also be latent factors in above average inflation going forward imo.

Whilst prices may stabalize, they wont be going down imo.

GRAWUKU wrote:

Does it make sense to ship in fittings/finished for electrical and plumbing?

We brought all 95% of our plumbing fixtures with us from the US in suitcases. We each had one trip back to the US in 2021 and we booked business class on American to get two free checked bags up to 70 pounds. We pretty much maxed those out each time with items we ordered and had shipped to the friends/family we were staying with.

We wanted good quality, stainless steel faucets and we could not find them here. We also could not find decent quality shower heads that weren't rainshower. Rainshower shower heads have been touted as "luxury" for so long, I don't think the industry wants to admit that they are impractical and no one really likes them for showering! The guy at Marmotech looked at me like I had three heads when I asked if they had any showers that were not rainshower!

We also brought in the four pendant lights for our kitchen, carefully packed in my carry-on suitcase. The rest of our lights have been shipped in - our LED recessed lights were fairly light weight so shipping didn't hurt too much, but we didn't feel confident in the quality of what we were finding locally. We had one light fixture shipped in because we didn't see anything here that we liked for our open stairwell. We had to pay over 50% import duty, and shipping was steep.

GRAWUKU wrote:

thank you so much for the feedback. So $35 (2100 pesos) per/sf = $350 per square meter. Unfortunately I do not have the luxury of living here full time yet so I am at the mercy of the locals. But i will take your advise and purchase the materials directly.

35usd per sf is 375 usd per sm. Mindful you most likely will be building in a so called resort area or where expats prefer, not having Spanish as mother tongue nor a Dominican wife to negotiate, and based on the basic material price increases mentioned, I believe a budget of 450 usd per sm will be a better marker for your initial cost planning assuming the package and direct material purchase route.

You will need to add a contingency of perhaps 100usd per sm for enhanced finishes, add more for external structures, walls or pools and perhaps a further 25% plus if you employ a single general contractor to cover his overheads and profit.

So 375 usd per sm can quickly become nearer 800 usd per sm usd plus land cost.

With typically stagnant and low resale property values, you need to think hard if you are in this for the long term.

Locals build for less per sf than I did by using 6 inch block, thinner roof slab and less reinforcement etc. So the odds are stacked against expats building at low cost with increasing value of investment in mind rather than rental investment.

DR remains a buyers market with over capacity of mid market property.

Perhaps reassess buying in one more time and remodelling?

Rises in materials affect construction

https://www.elcaribe.com.do/panorama/pa … struccion/

The Association of Promoters and Builders of Homes of Cibao (Aprocovici) expressed its concern about the constant and unjustified increases in construction materials and warns that this threatens the continuity of projects and others to start.

Landy Colón, president of the entity that brings together more than 200 developers and builders, reported that 2021 was a year of constant increases in the main components of the works and when they thought that real estate projects would have a break, there is an increase in the price of cement.

As an example, he cited that in the market the cement bag is sold for RD$429 pesos per unit. The increases have touched each of the construction materials, among them, glass, wood, steel, aluminum, finishing products, electrical accessories and natural stones, are some of the materials that have increased the most in the last 12 months, which it raises the cost of projects in execution and the total amount of the work.

all expensive

Colón said that today we cannot talk about increases in the dollar or an increase in freight rates. The leader of Aprocovici expressed that, if the increase in cement, steel and other materials continues, they will condemn the sector to death.

“The construction sector endured a full year of increases, which stopped hundreds of real estate projects in the country. We are concerned that the unjustified increase in cement will collapse the progress that is being experienced and that supports the sectors that make a great effort to prosper,” said Colón.

Currently, in Santiago alone, there are more than 200 projects under construction. The majority of purchasers of the infrastructure works are Dominican families residing in the United States and Europe.

High costs impact ongoing projects

According to the engineering professional, the improvement in habitability is threatened by the high costs to develop and complete real estate projects, which means a serious danger for the continuity of ongoing projects and the start of those scheduled for this year. The situation also affects those who have made plans to acquire a home

There are wide implications for these price rises and it isn't just the Cibao.

With recent inflation, my guess the square foot cost would have risen to 35usd/sf. 10 to 15% based on rises in cement, block, rebar and aggreagate rises. Lumber Takeoffs and particularly electrical components have risen the highest.

Everything is up these days.

that is great information.  I do import building materials and the world price increases congruent here in the DR.  Obviously I will not import all the building materials, so did you call the block, rebar, cement distributors to get prices?

I am in the process and prices for just my property wall rose from just over $8500 CDN to $11670 CDN - as an example......(larger than most city property)...

can anyone please help me im trying to build a fence and a house by Sosua and every quote ive got is just crazy. Does any of you know the price per meter for a fence and also square meter of building I just fell like they are trying to make the year with me is so crazy

can you please specify details & plan of house

I just want to do a 4 feet tall block wall around the property for now is 170 meters long my plan after that is a 250 to 300 square meter home

@ddmcghee How did that work out in customs when you bags were scanned? I suspect you brought all your receipts. We have really good restores where we live and I buy a lot of stuff slightly used, light fixtures, Facebook marketplace is also good for finding accessories for a home, taps lighting, So when we buy something used, to bring in can we generate our own receipt. I'm a plan ahead guy and I watch for clearance sales at my local hardware stores, and have already complied a lot of stuff for an addition I was going to do which I decided not to and build here instead. I guess bringing an electrical panel and breakers is a good idea as well? I'm not a fan of the stuff I have seen in the homes I have rented, a spool or 2 of various wire would also be smart. Do you any other suggestions what can be carried in?

We've never had an issue in customs. We have residency, so they understand bringing in items for personal home use. On this latest trip, (arrived 3/15), I had an entire lightning protection system in suitcases! 315 feet of cable, copper plates, connectors, etc.

While we've never had to show receipts, I've always had them.

@ddmcghee Lightning protection,,, never would have thought of that!

@michael7014 We took a strike in September, just before a direct hit by Hurricane Fiona, but we were lucky that it hit a column and went to ground! Some cracked stucco, but no other damage.

We sit on the top of a hill with nothing around us, so the lightning rods are needed!

@ddmcghee we will also be up pretty high up in Cadrera Montana Y Mar near Loma Alta! Where are you?

We're in Las Terrenas. We're only at 400 feet, but our roof is the highest point for hundreds of meters behind us, going up the hill, farther than that to the east and west, and nothing even close to as high as us between us and the ocean!

Hello Home builders, we made it back to snow in Canada sadly I am missing the DR already! We are working on budgeting for our build in 2024 -25. does anyone have the ruff  cost per sqm or sqft cost for a 4" patio slab?

Thanks

@Guest6873

When you say 35$ per SF that's only for labor costs ? Did you hire a contractor or did you create your own construction team? I'm in Las Terrenas and planning to start my construction project shortly. We plan to buy our own materials so we got quotes done for labor only. I've received on average 250$/m2 for labor costs but I find that expensive. If you're in my area could you recommend reliable builders please ?

Hi everyone,

Can someone recommend a builder that does quality work at a fair price in the Sosua area. I need to redo what my previuos builder did wrong and then finish our house.

Thanks,

I might have a guy… he was doing the house next to mine and he did a nice job , so i hired him  to do some work for me ( a cistern )

12' x12' x10' and it turned out well , the first man i hired couldn't figure out how to get past the ground water level @4'  , he knew how , a matter of fact im going to hire him again to change one of the bathrooms  . I'm in PP but i know he does work in sosua

Jason (sorry I don't have his last name) resides in Cabarete & owns a company his father started when he moved from the USA to the DR. The company is Paradise Pools, been in busines in the DR for over 25 years and does work all over the DR. In the US they built houses then moved to pools just prior to moving to the DR and in the past 5/6 years they started to building homes here in the DR. He is very good and does excellent work. You'll have to look up his number

@Tippj

Thank you for the reply. The work I need to have done is pretty substantial, but I would be interested in getting his info.

@2VPsoldier

thank you for the reply, he sounds like he might have the capabilities I am looking for.

@Expatlife4us You're very welcome. I think you might reach him here:

info@dominicanpools.com

@2VPsoldier

Thank you, we were able to Google his number then connect on WhatsApp, nice guy, but he is tied up for a while on projects. Thanks for the referral !

@J3nifer0224

Same for me. It's impossible to get accurate and fair rates !

@Expatlife4us

Glad you were able to get holdof him. Too bad he's busy because I found him extremely good at cost projections and very concious of building to last. He definitly is more than local builders on the houses and appears to have very reasonable prices for pools - but he tells his clients exactly what is what and keeps his employees on track to his standards...