Constructing a home in
Costa Rica
From an
architecture’s or a civil engineer’s point of view, the word “construction”
refers to the building or assemblage of any infrastructure on a specific
location or site. Although the term construction seems to be a single activity
but the real fact is that it is a multitasking job which is usually managed by
the construction manager and the project manager, project architect as well as
the design engineer supervises the whole process. Every construction project
requires a huge number of laborers, tradesmen as well as carpenters to carry
out the job properly. Before any construction, a planning needs to chalked out
in relation to the designs, budgeting, execution of infrastructure,
environmental impact of the construction, site safety, logistics, availability
of raw materials, etc.
Let us
now have a look at the house construction procedure in Costa Rica. Lots of
housing units are being sold these days due to the extremely high profits in
the real estate market in Costa Rica over the past few years. After buying
lands or housing units, the customers might get involved in the construction of
a new home. As a matter of fact, most customers are reconstructing their houses
in order to give it a more modern and trendy look.
Implications
of constructing home in Costa Rica: -
To be
brief, the process is very easy and can be discussed under the following
headings:
- You may choose an architect
and start creating your home designs as well as side layout.
- After finalizing your plans,
your architect must submit the plans to different regulatory organizations
in order to start the permitting process.
- Select a suitable contractor
who can actually perform the job of construction of house.
- Once the construction process
has started, make sure that your architect supervises the progress of
construction on a weekly basis and maintains a record of every little
detail related to the construction and its costs.
- After the construction of
home is finished, a final inspection should be made after which the keys
of the house are handed to you.
These are
basic guidelines of house construction in the beautiful country of Costa Rica.
However, there are many other features included in the construction process.
The
payment for building construction in Costa Rica follows certain guidelines
which can be discussed under the following points: -
- About 10% of the cost is paid
while signing for contract with the contractor.
- Around 30% of the total cost
is at the beginning of construction.
- About 30% of the total cost
should be paid during roof installation.
- Approximately 30% is paid at
completion of the whole building.
The
timeframe for construction of houses is a variable one. However, a typical home
can be built within a period of approximately eight months. Similarly, the
building costs also vary according to the materials, square footage, type of
raw materials as well as the additional amenities like decking, pools and
landscaping options.
In Costa
Rica, although the cost of labor is much less as compared to the labor charge
in the United States, however, the cost of raw materials for constructing a
building is quite high. The reason behind this is that most of raw materials
for building construction are imported from other distant countries. Most of the
Costa Rican houses use durable concrete blocks for the wall construction. Wood
is rarely used in the construction because of insects. The door and window
frames are, however, often made out of wood. The cement and rebar made houses
in Costa Rica are soundproof, earthquake resistant as well as durable and of
high quality. Recently, however, Styrofoam blocks and insulated panels are also
used in construction.
|
