xienqi

Hi fcar, I had a total of 5 quotations for the rebuild of my house dated June 2013. Based on same specs, the quotations ranged from $275 to $350. The original quotation was on spec that did not include carpentry work and landscaping. It was after the contract was awarded, I made some changes to scope in the form of reduction and added in carpentry. Even then, my brother in law build his semi d with swimming pool that is bigger than mine, and his costs came to about $380 psf and it was spec on super high end materials like marble and granite flooring, and his house GFA is much larger. I have engaged another PE to assess my current defects and this is a 80 yr old gentlemen who is a accredited specialist with the insurance companies here and his services are used for legal arbitrary disputes. He told me that I have over paid for my house based on the price vs the quality he is saying. What I am saying here is that based on my personal experience with rebuild and the market rates for construction costs without land costs, bare shell vs with fixtures, the price range is between $230 to $350, with $350 at the luxury end. Do no be conned by contractors or consultants on the cost psf. It is also important to note the labor costs has increased due to the foreign worker levies by the government. I acknowledge this is very real but many contractors cut corners in other areas, and still maintain the same level profit margins.

Hi, I want to share my experience with all. Last year Feb 2013, I started my house reconstruction project. Its a inter corner terrace and I did a complete tear down and rebuild. It cost me about $275 psf based on GFA. Its 2.5 levels, 20m by1.8M swimming pool, with widening of gate entrance. Cost includes, central aircon, kitchen, sanitary ware, auto gate, flooring, plumbing works, staircase, security cctv and intercom. My house is TOP already but many things are left unfinished. The defects are many, water leaking at windows due to no waterproofing, windows seals broken, auto gate broken, painting only done 1 coat, bathrooms leaking, water heater burned, 3 years old water heater installed instead of brand new, no warranty documents provided, no verification from architect, architect / engineer caught lying on contract costing supporting contractor, ....... and the list goes on. I am now in the process of taking legal action against my architect / engineer and main contractor. I also just found out that my main contractor has been sued before in Jan this year by another client of his. Things I learnt the very very painful way. 1 MAKE SURE ARCHITECT/ CONTRACTOR and MAIN CONTRACTOR do not know each other. Its better that you find both parties yourselves. 2 When architect / engineer tenders out the project, you should on your own source for contractors to bid and if the contractors you do not know bid a lower price, you must check carefully and understand why. 3 make sure the quotations are easy to compare, meaning the scope of supply and pricing are presented in the exactly the same format. This will help you as the layman to make comparisons on the price variance. 4 read the contract prepared by the architect / engineer carefully and thoroughly. Points to note: - late completion penalty per day should be $1,000 as per industry standard. - start date may not be the contract sign date. Start date is the date whereby BCA issues the approval for project to start work. - whats is the definition of completion date. This is important because penalty starts from completion date. As much as possible, avoid certificate of practical completion as completion date. Instead use TOP, or use a fixed date based on your completion date requirement. - define what is the definition of PC sum. If PC sum is not used or 100% used up, will balance be deducted from the contract lump sum value. - if you buy PC sum items by yourself and deduct this against the contract sum, will the contractor charge you a time and attendance fee and how much. Industry practice is 5%. This is to cover the contractor to take over delivery of items and be responsible for damages if any. 5 You will need to have close supervision when the building structure is finished and the contractor starts to do the tiling. From here on, you need to be at site everyday if possible. 6 if your house already has singtel fibre optic (open net) connection in place, inform architect / engineer and contractor to protect and maintain the connection when doing the construction. This will cost you at least $5K to be paid to singtel if you asked them to come and relay the fibre. 7 make sure you are on site to check the materials being used for your house are as per contract specifications. Ask for certificates of authenticity or quality as this should be included in the contract requirements. 8 Make sure your architect / engineer present to you the certification of the progress works, material authenticity and quality is in accordance to the work schedule and contract specifications. MAKE SURE you keep a copy of this certification. 9 MAKE SURE YOU KEEP SOLID DOCUMENTATION ON ALL CORRESPONDENCES WITH ALL PARTIES INCLUDING BCA, NEA, URA, LTA. 10 When communicating with architect / engineer and main contractor, always document, especially changes against drawings, contract, costing...etc 11 Make sure your main contractor has good coordination and control over his sub contractors. This is very important and critical to your completion time and quality of finish because the house construction works according to the various trades coordination. For example, plumbing works before tiling, sanitary ware after tiling, aircon before ceiling and flooring, ceiling before wood flooring.... You will be able to know how good your main contractor is by being on site to see the sub contractors present. 12 the following sub contractors are usually involved in a reconstruct project. civil and building works, tiling, plumbing, wood flooring, staircase, windows and doors and glass, painting, auto gate, security, swimming pool, swimming pool system, aircon, kitchen, and electrician. On separate topic, renovation vs A&A vs Reconstruct. 1 Renovate is cheapest. No change in structure outside. Reshape internal of house. 2 A&A. Change in house structure but no change to super structure meaning foundation, pillar and floor remains the same. 3 tear down everything and rebuild. Differences A&A cannot change height of ceiling, and GFA remains largely the same. Cost is about 70% of reconstruct. Time to completion is faster. Reconstruct means major GFA. You can maximise this in accordance to BCA. Height of ceiling changes. More costs involved and more submissions to BCA, URA and NEA and LTA also involved if changes to gate and boundary walls. Also you will need to build a bomb shelter. If you want the names of architect / engineer and main contractor NOT TO ENGAGE, pm me.

I just checked the MOM website today and found that from April 1 2014, PMETs earning not more than 4,500 per month will be covered by the employment act. Just out of curiosity, how many people are currently unemployed and how many earning more than 4.5K. I seem to get the impression from meeting with friends, associates and search companies that there are quite a number of unemployed PMETs earning above 5K, and also that this is a common occurrence in Singapore today. is this true?

I am a above 50 years unemployed PMET, spent 12 years of my life working overseas and recently came back to Singapore. In 2013, I was made redundant due to M&A and was laid off. Though my contract was signed in Singapore, I got no help or protection from the Singapore labor law. I had worked 9 years for this company, started the business from nothing and building it up into a significant business in Asia, and though there was a precedent established that senior managers will get 2 months for each year of service, I got what my contract stated, that is the payment in lieu of contractual notice period. I wrote to MOM and got the run around, and at the end, I got the standard reply that PMETs are not covered by the labor law and the employer need only follow the employment contract. I was advised to seek legal help but this would be a financially foolish move because I will be fighting with a MNC with endless legal resources. By Gods will, I found another job almost immediately, but company downsized just before my confirmation period was due. I was 7 work days from my confirmation. I had to go immediately, and was given 2 weeks wages. Again i wrote to MOM, and got the standard reply. I also wrote to the Workers Party because I was in the Aljunied constituent, and did not get any reply from the 3 GRC MPs. My point here is that if you are young and mobile, the PMET situation is probably of no consequence but when you have worked for a long period with a company and you are in your late 40s to 50s, you will feel the pain of the lack of protection of the labor law. When you are much older, you will have more commitments like a house, children university education and healthcare. On top of this, if you have worked for an extended period with a company, you will have to start all over again with a new company and there is also an assumption that by then you would be in a senior position. So the combination of long service with a company, assumed seniority in terms of position, age and more family commitments will work against you if you lose your job, and the sad thing is that as of today, the labor law does not give you any form of protection. The MOM guideline (which is not enforceable) is that companies are encouraged to offer for each year of service some form of compensation like 2 weeks or 1 month salary. The reality is that almost all MNCs that i know will opt for the legal approach because nobody wants to be responsible for making the subjective guideline recommended. I can give you an example of how MNCs works. I had a country manager who was to be fired in Malaysia and compensated based on contract notice terms. He countered with a term called 'constructive dismissal' and cited real cases whereby the court has ruled 100% against the employer. The company in question had internal discussions and no manager wanted to make the call on how much to pay the employee, reason being that there was no legal guideline. The sad conclusion from the management was to wait for the employee to sue the company, and then let the court rule and decide the amount, and the company will pay accordingly. In this manner, no manager in the company will be accountable or need to justify for the compensation amount. The truth is that in countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia and China, the labor law is either overly protective of the employee or there is an equitable balance of protection. In all countries, all employees regardless of blue or white collar are covered by the respective labor laws. In the countries mentioned, compensation for severance for whatever reasons except for criminal reasons are based on a minimum approach of per year of service. Coming back to Singapore. If you are in your late 40s to 50s, it is very likely you are already in a senior position with a relatively high income, and will have substantial financial commitments. If you are out of a job like I am, then life will be a challenge to get yourself employed due to the scarcity of senior positions, and therefore the period of employment will likely be much longer. It is precisely people like these PMETS, myself included, would require protection from the country labor laws. I am not advocating for preferential treatment but we should be no different from our regional neighbours. So I have some advise for fellow Singaporeans. If you are in your 30s or early 40s, please save or invest your money wisely. If you plan to have children, do it as early as possible so that you can be financially free of commitments when you are in your mid 50s. Be as debt free as possible, and buy as much insurance as you can when you are young and healthy. For the late 40s to 50s, we should continue to lobby the PMETs labor law changes. Keep in mind that there are many foreign talent that are PMETs also but the senior ones will probably have a labor contract that is signed in their respective countries which will have different labor law implications. Being laid off or losing your job is becoming quite a common event in ones career. I would expect at least 1 layoff in one's career. The key is not to face such situation when you are in your late 40s to 50s. Until the PMETs are protected, the ideals of a benevolent company, company loyalty, and that company will show compassion to employees are largely outdated. I am not saying that these do not exist but these will be the exceptions.

Hi, Read my post. Approval takes in total abt 3 months. There are bca, ura and more depending on what you are doing, a&a or rebuild, widen gate, move main sewage connect point...etc Focus on architect and engineer. Get a good one, this is more important because they can take yr job including project mgmt, but keep them independent parties.

I have been working for more than 30 years since school. My experience has been mainly american and europe MNCs. I had worked in a local company earlier in my career. My personal opinion is that a good place to work is where you are happy with your compensation package and equally important, you can work with your boss. Another important consideration is mainly for the long timers, working in one company for more than 10 years and are in their 50s. You will need to seriously consider the reality of being retrenched or out of job and what protection do you have in terms of layoff packages. When you hit this age level, you need to consider that getting another job with the same conditions will not be easy, and will take a long time, and you would probably have dependents to support. This happened to me recently in that I was made redundant for no good reasons after having worked my butt off for this company for 9 years. I was a senior executive and was drawing a very decent salary, and overnight, I was without a job. I naively thought I would be given a at least 1 month for every year of service which would be quite a substantial amount for me. I was completely wrong. The people who handled my exit did not know me and went by the book, which is my employment contract which means notice period. I was SHOCKED! but that is the reality of our work life in Singapore. Professionals, managers and executives, popularly known as PMETs, are not protected by the Singapore Employment Act. Companies are not required to provide retrenchment benefits to PMETs. So if your employment letter or contract says 1 month notice, that is what you are legally entitled to, anything above this is ex gratia and at the discretion of the company. Do not assume that you will get something for every year of service. The sad thing about this is that our society from birth to school to work has been geared towards elitism. Education with the top universities in the world are the aspiration for every parent for their child. Driving this is our highly engineered education system, a institution that starts streaming of children before they turn 12 years. It is therefore no surprise that a bachelor degree is the basic goal for most if not all parents for their children. With the above, our society produces PMETs by the thousands every year. This is a very different scenario as compared to the 70s and 80s. Unfortunately, the Employment Act has not kept up with the times and demands of society. It would be interesting to know what percentage of the workforce today is made up of PMETs, and of this percentage, it would even more interesting to know the split between Singaporean and foreigners. Important facts to note : 1 The global economy is unstable and forecast for the next 3 to 5 years are not overly optimistic 2 The number of PMETs are growing and if the percentage of PMETs are high vs the total workforce, then we have potentially serious problems 3 PMETs have no legal protection and are at the mercy / discretion of companies. 4 It would be idealistic if not naive to think that companies will have compassion and provide adequate retrenchment benefits in lieu of the economy 5 Other countries in the world, Asia and SEA have some form of protection for their workforce, regardless of PMETs or not. Above are my personal experiences and opinions. Coming back to the forum question. My advise is still the following. Whoever pays you a compensation package that you are comfortable with, and you got a boss that you can work with, that is a good company. If you are late 40s or above 50s, then check with them on their layoff policy or precedents, but try your very best to get it written into your contract. Lastly, pray that our employment act will be changed to protect the PMETs soon.

Hi, The cost is based on GFA as confirmed by architect. Contractors are quoting against the approved bca submissions. Pool is about 12m by 3m. Width does not include the apron. Just enough for 2 persons swimming in parallel. Costs include all equipment. The cost being low is because its done together with the rebuild. If you do it alone which my friend did for her house, it costs about 150k. Note however 250 psf does not include professional fees and provisional sum but include gst. It is important to keep architect and contractor separate. Those one stop shop may be good for convenience but i have another friend who did his house total rebuild at a cost of 1m budget but over run to 2m. On top of this, this architect and contractor is a friend of his. However, my friend did make changes during the project and project cost and time over run was really bad. His advise to me is separate architect and contractor, otherwise expect alot of VO for your project.

I am currently doing my house project now and its a complete tear down and rebuild. I wanted to reroute the sewer IC to my house and was strongly discouraged from this by my architect in terms of cost and time. Even I brought this up several times over a month, he stood by his opinion, its not worth the trouble. The IC affected the positioning and length of the pool. At the end, I accepted and did work arounds. In terms of asset appreciation on whether to do a renovation, A&A or reconstruct, my thoughts are as follows. In the last 5 years, landed property has appreciated more than 35% which is ridiculously high and I believe this is driven by the low interest rates and the overall high prices of HDB and resale properties. If you look at a 10-13 year trend, landed homes price rise about 1.3M. I recall in 2001, the row of newly build terrace houses about 1700 sqft land in Mimosa area was going for 1.2M to 1.3M for inter and corner respectively. An old semi d in same area was going for 1.5M. Florida Park in Sunrise in 2004 land size 1,700 sqft was going for 1.75M by far East. Today, the same properties are asking for 2.7M to 3.0M as is. For land size above 3,000 sqft, whether corner of semi d, new or as is, you will not get any for less than 3.3M. Even more incredible, the recent project Haus at Serangoon Gardens which is 99 years, land size 1650 sq ft with build up more than 3,300 sq ft were sold at between 2.6 - 2.9 M. Last year, Luxus Hills, floor size 1650 sq ft, freehold or 999, build up more than 3.300 sqft, was sold at 2.45M and now reselling at 2.8M. Looking at the above data, it is hard to contain optimism that the landed property prices will continue to move up. The logic I am thinking is that if an inter terrace with land size of less than 2,000 sqft with rebuild to 3000 sqft is selling at 2.8M, then a similar inter or corner with land size of 3,000 sqft with rebuild to 4,000 sqft can be sold at 3.8M at least ? And what about semi D under similar conditions, 4.8M ???? So the question of whether to rebuild or not in my opinion is largely dependent on why are you doing this. Are you building to sell or to stay. The rule is the sell price of a house is based on land and build up, depending on the purpose of the buyer. When it comes to rebuild, the rule of thumb is to max out your allowable plot ratio. This is because if you are building to sell, your buyer will tend to look more at the build up size, location, surrounding neighbourhood, and the visual which is very important are the : ceiling height, finishing and swimming pool. If your buyer is looking to rebuild, then its land size and shape, location and neighbourhood. I believe so long as interest rates are low, and the cooling measures are not too draconian, prices will continue to move up. I believe most sellers of landed property have holding power, and so long as interest rates are low which there will be buyers, the sellers will control the prices. This means once price moves up, it will not come down. Another factor stopping property owners from selling is that there are no better investments in terms of returns and risks currently that is better than landed property. On top of all these, landed homes supply are limited and will become more scarce as population increases. Sorry for writing so much. I did alot of research before deciding on whether to go ahead with my rebuild project. I checked up on historical trends of interest rates vs landed house vs condo pricing. I also consulted various old timers property investors, agents, developers and banking friends. It is difficult to predict the future but the consensus is that interest rates trend will remain as is for the next 3-5 years, but the condo prices will slide downwards over the same period. The biggest discussion is that salary / wages have not been keeping up with costs, and this means the current level of consumption is fuelled not by real earnings but cheap money and savings.

Hi, Moving the gate pillar is part of my current reconstruct. This is a real headache because normally the PUB meter is inside the pillar. Anyway, you will need to have to submit for special approvals and I did this through my architect and this process takes the longest time. The rules are setback from the road and pavement and drains, and also your neighbour pillar and boundary. If everything ok, then start work and when done, you will need to get the relevant authorities to certify. For mine, these were LTA, NEA and PUB, and I was told that this period of certification can take 6 to 9 months because the 3 groups are not necessarily coordinated and have different requirements, and all 3 will not come together to certify as they are independent bodies. In fact, I was told by my architect of all the troublesome matters in any A&A or reconstruct, the widening of the main gate is the top of the list. Please note the above applies to my experience only. It may be different from others and I am not an architect or engineer.

To clarify my earlier email, CSC can take 6 to 9 months after TOP. So if your bank only accepts CSC, this will mean you will continue to pay 5% interest until you get your CSC. This is a big cost item. Also the legal fees to disburse the construction cost is not cheap, 5K at least.

Hi, I used rentokil for mosquito fumigation. Cost me 80 over per service. Service was professional and prompt. No problems but expensive. Would like to know if anyone tried the Mozzie photocatalyst devices advertised in the ST classifieds. Does it really work and how reliable is the claim on the space coverage? I saw one that says it covers up to 5000 sqft using the CO2 and UV lighting heat to trap the mosquitoes.

Continuing on. I decided to go for rebuild vs A&A because A&A would constraint the build up floor size due to the restriction on the existing structures. The most important restriction of A&A would be the ceiling height. You would not be able to achieve a high ceiling based on the older house designs in the before 90s. You will also be restricted on the building swimming pool due to the existing location of sewer piping. The main reason for going with full rebuild is really to increase the build up because the value of newly build landed is in both the land size and and shape, and more importantly the build up. A good rule of thumb is 250 psf for the build up space for rebuild costing, and time period from contract signing to TOP will be 8 to 9 months. A&A would normally be about 60 to 70% of the rebuild cost and take shorter time. This does not include basement. Normally basement construction will cost alot more. Swimming pool surprising does not have a large impact on the overall cost, about 50K. The real cost is in piling vs footing and quality of materials used. If you are taking a construction loan and then remortgage your house when its completed, then it is very important that you lock down in your contract with the builder on the handover date to be based on TOP or CSC certification. This is a critical cost depending on what your bank accepts, because the loan conversion is dependent on the certification. Construction loan is at 5% vs mortgage loan at 1.5% interest. A good PE and architect is super super critical for the owner in terms of timely and correct building approvals, cost estimation, project control and contract management. IDs are not in the same league as the PE and architect. Do not go through an ID for a rebuild. Deal direct with the PE ad Architect, the contractor and if you have an ID, then also direct dealing would be the best way. Doing a project like this would require your personal time and effort, and also you will need to balance the relationships between all parties, not to speak of your neighbours also. You will need to work with all parties in a amiable manner if you want your house to be completed on time and on budget.

Hello all, I posted this in another sub forum here and copied my post and repost here instead and I hope this would be more helpful. First time posting. Would like to share my experience with my house project with ID. I have a landed property and was looking for a minor reno which changed to A&A and now reconstruction. I am living in China and therefore this was made more complicated due to the distance and use of emails. I first engaged an ID to start wit. The first sign of trouble was the first agreement which was provided by the ID. The agreement was one sided written in complete favor of the ID. I proposed using a RADAC agreement which the ID agreed. Then the ID sent me the RADAC version with her prices inserted. It was a good thing I read the agreement because the ID amended major parts of the RADAC agreement in favor of the ID. I objected and stated we should stick to the original wordings of the RADAC agreement. At the end, we used the original RADAC version but now the ID attached the quotation with a contradicting set of terms and conditions. Again it was fortunate that i read the final version and amended accordingly. I should have known something was wrong with the integrity of this ID then but for the sake of time, I continued with her. When I decided to change the scope from a reno to an A&A, I asked the ID to recommend her architect and engineer. Her recommendation gave me a quotation of 74K for the standard work scope of architect and engineer for an A&A job. I decided to check around and got 2 other quotes, both of which came in at 25K, and their work scope had additional items included as part of the 25K. In between, there were dissatisfaction with the quality of the drawings and her availability and at the end, I terminated the ID services by serving notice and asked for refund of my money, an amount of 7.4K out of 9.9K paid. This is catered for in the RADAC contract which states that cause must be given for termination, and work already done to notice of termination date to be paid. The work done then by the ID was for about 15 drawings of which some of which was hand sketched, and also not drawn to scale. The drawings were revisions of the 2 initial versions. For your information, the agreement was signed in Sept 2012, and I terminated the ID in March 2013, and the house project as of today has not been started, other than the architect design and approvals, all done by the architect and engineer. The ID did not refund me the money and claimed that she had done work that is worth about almost 9K based on the drawings. I am now seeking legal recourse to get my money back. I also went to CASE which was a complete waste of time because all CASE did was send 2 letters to the ID and acted as a postbox for me. Lesson Learned Here. Always read your contract / agreement and ensure the T&C are fair and balanced, not in favor of either parties. If one party is seen reluctant to change or acts in a underhanded manner, drop the deal immediately. Always check your quotations prices. Make sure you are able to benchmark. Do not assume word of mouth is good, always check and double check your contract. As I am seeking legal means to get my money back, I will not reveal the ID name but you can send me an email. Also, for those who need more information on the process, parties and cost involved in a complete reconstruction of a landed property, I will be more than willing to help.

Hello all, First time posting. Would like to share my experience with my house project with ID. I have a landed property and was looking for a minor reno which changed to A&A and now reconstruction. I am living in China and therefore this was made more complicated due to the distance and use of emails. I first engaged an ID to start wit. The first sign of trouble was the first agreement which was provided by the ID. The agreement was one sided written in complete favor of the ID. I proposed using a RADAC agreement which the ID agreed. Then the ID sent me the RADAC version with her prices inserted. It was a good thing I read the agreement because the ID amended major parts of the RADAC agreement in favor of the ID. I objected and stated we should stick to the original wordings of the RADAC agreement. At the end, we used the original RADAC version but now the ID attached the quotation with a contradicting set of terms and conditions. Again it was fortunate that i read the final version and amended accordingly. I should have known something was wrong with the integrity of this ID then but for the sake of time, I continued with her. When I decided to change the scope from a reno to an A&A, I asked the ID to recommend her architect and engineer. Her recommendation gave me a quotation of 74K for the standard work scope of architect and engineer for an A&A job. I decided to check around and got 2 other quotes, both of which came in at 25K, and their work scope had additional items included as part of the 25K. In between, there were dissatisfaction with the quality of the drawings and her availability and at the end, I terminated the ID services by serving notice and asked for refund of my money, an amount of 7.4K out of 9.9K paid. This is catered for in the RADAC contract which states that cause must be given for termination, and work already done to notice of termination date to be paid. The work done then by the ID was for about 15 drawings of which some of which was hand sketched, and also not drawn to scale. The drawings were revisions of the 2 initial versions. For your information, the agreement was signed in Sept 2012, and I terminated the ID in March 2013, and the house project as of today has not been started, other than the architect design and approvals, all done by the architect and engineer. The ID did not refund me the money and claimed that she had done work that is worth about almost 9K based on the drawings. I am now seeking legal recourse to get my money back. I also went to CASE which was a complete waste of time because all CASE did was send 2 letters to the ID and acted as a postbox for me. Lesson Learned Here. Always read your contract / agreement and ensure the T&C are fair and balanced, not in favor of either parties. If one party is seen reluctant to change or acts in a underhanded manner, drop the deal immediately. Always check your quotations prices. Make sure you are able to benchmark. Do not assume word of mouth is good, always check and double check your contract. As I am seeking legal means to get my money back, I will not reveal the ID name but you can send me an email. Also, for those who need more information on the process, parties and cost involved in a complete reconstruction of a landed property, I will be more than willing to help.