How to build a conceptual plan ?

So you’ve decided to manage building your dream house yourself. Lot of people nowadays do not want to invest their time or energy in managing the herculean task of house building and often think it wiser to hire the services of a reputed building contractor instead. With the entire responsibility taken up by such contractors, the owner is spared of the tasks of running around the authorities’ office to get the necessary clearances and to get his plan sanctioned, hiring labors and masons to carry out the construction work, procuring building materials from suppliers and in the end obtaining a completion certificate. The building contractor charges a lump sum cost for the entire house building work including his own profit or fees and the owner has to only compare the rates with the other contractors of his locality and negotiate a fair price. So far so good, but without getting into the details of anything other than knowing the area of your plot or at best the total floor area of your building, if any alteration or extension work has to be done during later years, even if of very small magnitude, the services of the same contractor or upon his unavailability some other contractor has to be hired, even at higher costs. Also without any idea of actual building sanctioning costs, the rates of materials or cost of labour in the market, whatever costs of work the contractor asks for has to be accepted on good faith without any ground for cross-checks. Being a manager of your house building does not mean that you’ve got to take all the pains or poke your nose in everyone’s affairs. Such interference only hampers smooth functioning of your project and makes you a rude boss. But to be an efficient manager you need to know all the building blocks, however small they are, that constitute your project, the dependencies between these blocks and the procedures to be taken by the men you’ve hired to achieve completion of these blocks. Though not being directly involved in the works, your job is to know the scope of all the works and their financial implication at every stage, long before start of the project so that you can arrange money accordingly. By comparing the actual progress of work with the initial programme given by the contractor or men you’ve hired, discussing reasons for delay and arriving at reasonable solutions to ward off the bottle-necks, you indirectly control the progress of the project; so that you not only get your dream house built on time but also get value for your money. The realization of your project involves primarily the following steps:

Step 1: Drawing a conceptual plan very carefully meeting all the requirements of the future users of your building, the number of storeys, plinth area and hence the total area of land plot you need to purchase to build your dream project, keeping of course in mind your budget.

Step 2: Surveying sites and making sketches of areas of plots with respect to geographical directions, location of access road and other important facilities and places near to site.

Step 3: Based on your local plan sanctioning authorities’ requirements, deciding whether the land plot is feasible for your project.

Step 4: After selection and purchase of the property, designing and drawing of detailed project plans, specifications of work, getting soil testing done, obtaining necessary clearances from authorities and getting your project plan sanctioned.

Step 5: Estimating the cost of your project, taking quotations from/ selection of contractors, suppliers and vendors for construction of your project, based on their experience and best prices offered.

Step 6: Managing construction work and obtaining necessary clearances from local authorities.

I’ll discuss each step in sufficient details so as to make it easier for those with little or no knowledge in managing building a house to visualize the wider picture of the job. In this blog I’ll discuss the first crucial task in house building, drawing up a conception plan. Many of us may think about purchasing a property and then going about the process of building their house. But this is wrong, as I’ve already discussed in my first blog.

The first work required to be done towards construction of your dream home is drawing up a building plan that suits your requirement and of course budget.

Many people without any knowledge in architecture or building planning nowadays build-up plans of their houses by themselves and may not find a discussion on the chapter interesting. It has to be remembered that anyone with little experience can draw rooms, walls, doors and windows, but it requires good knowledge of various codes, practices, market prices and above all, good aesthetic sense and skill to turn small spaces into units of utility, while maintaining economical prices at the same time; to become a good planner. What is the use in drawing up a plan for your project, if all your ideas get rejected at the plan sanctioning authority’s office?? Or after some progress suddenly your project is labeled as illegal or gets stalled due to lack of legitimate documents? Or if your building contractor goes on asking money from you after getting every signed paper from the authorities or with every little progress of work on the ground and at the end of the project you realize that your project cost has exceeded manifold times than that estimated by the contractor when you negotiated for your project with him? It is true that one does not have to be an architect or a civil engineer to build one’s house, but one has to understand every small task involved in the process of house-building and to have some knowhow of the branches of specialized knowledge associated with house-building in order to realize their dream project on the ground, without having to pay exorbitant, unjustified prices for it. In this blog, I’m going to discuss the fundamental principles of building planning which needs to be adhered to while developing the plan of your project:The following principles of planning need to be adhered to while developing the plan of your project:

1. Aspect: This means to direct proper sunshine and natural breeze to create a pleasant and hygienic atmosphere. Endeavor should be made to place different rooms/ apartments with respect to geographical directions and suitable doors and windows be provided at proper points inside these rooms/ apartments, opening to the external air or open verandah to achieve this purpose.

2. Prospect: It means the outside view as seen while looking through the doors and windows from inside. The prospect should be pleasant to eyes and openings towards unpleasant views shall be avoided, even if it provides good aspect.

3. Grouping: It is the linking of various rooms with reference to their function e.g. a) Living area b) Sleeping area c) Service area d) Circulation areas and e) Other areas

a) Living area – Area for general use and should be next to front verandah or near the entrance. Drawing / Guest room should not provide direct passage to bedrooms. It should be sufficiently spacious to accommodate furniture and shall fulfill the aspect and prospect requirements.

b) Sleeping area – This is the area of bed rooms and should be located so as to guard privacy. Rooms should be sufficient to accommodate beds, side tables, wardrobe, dressing tables etc. Bed rooms shall have attached toilets.

c) Service area – These are kitchen, dining room and toilet areas.

d) Circulation area – Areas for lobby, passage, corridor etc., should be minimum, but well lighted and ventilated.

e) Other areas – Study room, Puja/ Prayer room, office etc. shall be located near living room or bed room. This is an optional requirement and for practical purposes a corner of the living room is used for Puja/ Prayer purposes, while a partitioned area may be used as office

4. Economy: Economy is an important factor to consider while planning your building. While planning it

should be remembered that:

a) Shape – Square shape building is most economical as it provides maximum carpet area, with least amount of wall area

b) No. of rooms – For the same floor area, a number of rooms will be costlier compared to a single room.

c) Minimum Wall Offsets – Wall Offsets kept for architectural purposes increase the cost of building compared to straight walls, so these should be kept to minimum.

d) Common Walls – Using common walls between rooms is economical than a number of walls

e) Scattered Blocks - Building with scatted blocks costs more compared to building with large unit block.

f) Planning on modular basis - Dimensions of all rooms, door/ window openings, wall between two openings etc. should be in multiples of available brick sizes

g) Sizes of rooms – Considering the positions of doors, window and furniture, room sizes can be reduced without overcrowding

h) Min free space area – The common space area can be minimized. This comes to around 15% of the area of the building.

i) Doors and Windows – The cost of doors and windows comes to around 20% of cost of the building. So provision of these needs to be judiciously done and their minimum sizes should be adopted. Windows which are not opened e.g. beside a corridor should be avoided. Only single doors should be provided to rooms, if the rooms are not very large or if there are not more than one functional requirement.

j) Reducing structural cost – The foundation and other structures should not be designed by assuming large volume of loads. RCC structures shall not be over-reinforced.

k) Economy in use of building materials – Local building materials should be used in the construction.

5. Roominess: This means accomplishment of economy in space. From utility point of view a rectangular room is preferable to a square room. The length and breadth ratio should be from 1.2:1 to 1.5:1. If this ratioexceeds1.5:1, it causes tunnel effect. However in today’s modern planning, such tunnel effect is reduced through effective placement of furniture. For example, instead of separate drawing and dining rooms having length breadth ratio less than 1.5:1, single living rooms are provided with the demarcation of edges of rooms achieved through placement of sofa or wooden/ glass partitions. Position of doors and windows, length of bed and building height are some of the factors considerable for better utilization of space.

6. Circulation/ Free Space Area: This refers to the free space necessary for easy movement and access to different rooms, kitchen and toilet and between various floors of a building. These include corridors, lobbies, verandahs, balconies, porches, entrance foyers, staircases, mumties and shafts for lifts. Such areas should be so planned that it preserve the privacy of each room and also do not disturb any house holder.

7. Flexibility: The term means provision in original plan for its future extension or change in interiors planning

e.g. in toilets by adding / changing the positioning of partition walls.

8. Furniture requirements: Location of furniture and other utility articles should be so arranged inside all rooms so as to give maximum area for movement, convenience for operating door and window shutters and comfortable breeze to bed. Though you need not show furniture placement inside rooms for sanctioning plans, yet furniture planning is very necessary to avoid potential difficulties in placement of almirah, dressing table, TV, computer, dining table with chairs etc. in their respective rooms, after construction of building.

9. Elegance/ Façade: This means the external appearance of a building produced by elevation depending upon the proportion of width, height and position of doors and windows, choice of materials, paint etc. The architectural design is one of the most important requirements of building planning and sufficient time and care should be given towards development of practical, aesthetic, economical and visually appealing structures.

10. Privacy: Sound planning protects both external and internal privacies of all building occupants. External privacy of the whole building with reference to the surrounding buildings and road can be achieved by placing window sills at such height that cuts off vision of outsiders to the bed in bedroom or dining table top in dining room, without hampering the aspect criteria. This can also be achieved by screening the entrance or planting trees. In modern planning often a big centralized hall serves as living room i.e for drawing and dining both. Bedrooms, kitchens, toilets etc. are arranged along the periphery of the living room or in some cases kitchen, dining and living are located inside the same room itself. Room Planning has undergone drastic change today and need for economization of space has done away with much of the internal privacy once associated with Indian homes.

11. Sanitation: Sanitation means maintenance of healthy conditions inside your house and is mainly achieved through a) Lighting b) Ventilation c) Cleanliness and d) Plumbing services.

a) Lighting - There are three types of lighting, i) Natural ii) Assisted Natural and iii) Artificial

i) Natural lighting - The principle of window design is that taller windows give greater penetrations of light, broader windows give better distribution of light. For a given penetration, a number of small windows properly positioned along the same adjacent or opposite wall will give better distribution of illumination than a single large window. Windows on two opposite sides gives greater uniformity of internal illumination of daylight, particularly when room is 7.0 m or more across.

ii) Assisted Natural lighting – This is the component of daylight factor contributed by reflection from the inside surfaces e.g. floors, walls, ceiling etc. Good contrasts of colour and brightness of inside surfaces is desirable for better assisted lighting.

iii) Artificial Lighting – a) This is provided at special locations where higher level of illumination is required e.g. kitchen, dining etc. b) Provision for such lighting is also kept throughout the circulation area for providing illumination at night or at daytime during cloudy sky.

b) Ventilation – Proper ventilation of buildings is required to supply fresh air for respiration of occupants, to dilute inside air to prevent unpleasantness from body odours and to provide such thermal environments as will help maintain the heat balance of the body. Ventilation may be effected by a) natural supply / natural exhaust e.g. through windows or b) natural supply /mechanical exhaust e.g. exhaust fans, generally used in kitchens and toilets and c) mechanical supply /mechanical exhaust e.g. using ACs, Coolers etc. in numbers or central air-conditioning.

c) Cleanliness – Dust is injurious to health as it allows the growth of bacteria which spreads diseases. Ornamental works e.g. mouldings, cornices, decorative plaster at roof level are omitted in designs nowadays, where dirt accumulate the most and are difficult to clean. Vacuum cleaners, specialized mops etc. are widely becoming popular owing to their ability to reach corners of rooms easily and clean effectively.

d) Plumbing Services – Adequate arrangements for water supply, satisfactory drainage of all sewage and waste water from kitchens need to be provided in building design. Proper slope needs to be maintained while constructing toilet floors so that water does not stay. The toilet walls are provided with tiles in all toilets to facilitate their cleaning.

Minimum / Standard dimensions for Residential houses according to National Building Code provisions:

• Min. Height of all rooms* – 2.75 m

• Min. Clear Head room under a beam/ folded plates/eaves – 2.40 m

• Min. Clear Head room under lowest point of AC duct /false ceiling – 2.40 m

• Min. Area of Single room building – 9.50 Sqm, Min. Width - 2.40 m

• Min. Area of Two room building – One room 9.50 Sqm, Other room - 7.50 Sqm, Min. Width - 2.10 m

• Min. Height of kitchen - 2.75 m

• Min. Area of Kitchen with separate dining area** - 5.0 Sqm , Min. Width – 1.80 m

• Min. Area of Kitchen including dining area** - 7.50 Sqm , Min. Width – 2.10 m

• Min. Height of Bathroom/ Water Closet*** – 2.0 m

• Min. Size of Bathroom/ Water Closet – 1.50 m x 1.20 m = 1.80 Sqm

*This is measured from the top surface of the floor to bottom of ceiling slab. In case of a pitched roof, this height shall be the average height of the rooms

**In present day planning, the kitchen store is included in the kitchen and no separate room for kitchen storage is provided

*** This is measured from the top surface of the floor to the lowest point in ceiling

The idea of cost involved in the project can be had by comparing plinth area unit costs of neighboring buildings. Reliable cost info should be collected from a number of house owners or persons on behalf of same who were involved in the entire house-building job. The plinth area shall be checked from the sanctioned plan and cost for the building in question worked out on pro-rata basis. As two buildings are rarely identical, such costs are therefore for idea purposes only and detailed cost-analysis has to be done before start of construction to have more precise idea of the project cost at completion stage. After drawing of a line plan, following discussion with the users of the building, the task of orientation needs to be followed. Orientation of the building means, positioning the plan of the building with respect to the geographical directions, the direction of wind and the sun so as to get the maximum comfort in all seasons. Other than rural areas such orientation is not possible as the shape of the plot of land and facing of a building with reference to front road are fixed. Though plan of the building as a whole cannot be angled with reference to the sun, endeavor can be made to place different rooms/ apartments according to their functional requirements with respect to geographical directions to enjoy sunshine and breeze wherever required and to avoid the same where not required.

THE ABOVE DRAWINGS ARE NOT TO SCALE

LEGEND:

• Plan is proposed to be rectangular in shape

• Red line indicates Main Wall 250 th.

• Green line indicates 125 th. Wall

• Blue line indicate grilled verandah

• Pink colour indicate open kitchen

• ‘W’ denotes window openings of various sizes

• ‘D’ denotes door openings of various sizes

• ‘G’ denotes grill opening of various sizes

The Plan area to realize the above floor comes out to be 11.575 M x 6.625 M = 76.684 Sqm. Considering plinth offset of 50 mm, the Plinth area sides are 11.675 M (11.575+0.05x2) and 6.725 M (6.625+0.05x2) which gives a plinth area of 78.514 Sqm, entirely covered. In Kolkata Corporation localities, the min. front, rear and side open areas up to 7.0 M height of building are 1.20 M, 2.0 M, 1.20 M, 1.20 M, which increases the plot area to 139.694Sqm (77.92%). Since for residential buildings, max. ground coverage possible for plots upto 200 Sqm is 60%, therefore to realize the required ground coverage of 78.514 Sqm,139.694 Sqm plot area is required. To satisfy both ‘Open Space’ and ‘Ground Coverage’ criteria plot area is required to be maximum of both areas if proposed plan area is to be constructed i.e. 139.694 Sqm. Ratio of the length and breadth of plan is 11.575/6.625 = 1.75. Therefore the boundary of plot dimensions are x = √139.694/1.75, 1.75 x, which are 8.934 M and 15.635 M. The boundary wall dimensions considering 250 th. wall are,15.885 M (=15.635+0.25), 9.184 M(= 8.934+0.25). Boundary Wall area = (15.885+9.184) x 2 x 0.25 = 12.534 Sqm. This area is to be added to 139.694 Sqm which comes to 152.228 Sqm (= 1638 Sft). This means to construct your dream house of 76.684 Sqm (825.12 Sft), you need to acquire a land plot of 152.228 Sqm, roughly around 2.30-2.50 Cottahs of land.

F.A.R (Floor Area Ratio) for residential building with min. 2.40 M (around 8 Feet) road access is 1.25 for Kolkata Corporation areas. Therefore 144.75 x 1.25 = 180.94 Sqm is the total area of all floors, permissible. Now, 180.94/72.225 = 2.51. Total height of building = Room Height+ Th. of Roof Slab+Floor th. +Roof Tiles+Mumty room height +Mumty roof slab th. +Plinth height = 2.75+0.1+0.040+0.1+2.5+0.1+0.60 = 6.19 M which is ≤ 7.00 M. This means with your proposed plan, you can construct only single storey. In case you have future plans of constructing additional storeys, the width of existing road access need to be more than 3.0 Metres (around 10.0 Feet), besides other deciding factors. So now you know that if any plot of land has an access road less than 8.0 Feet, you’ll be finding it difficult to get your plan sanctioned. Similarly if you’re thinking of two storeys, the access road to the land plot needs to be at least 10.0 Feet. The rear open space to be left in this case is 3.0 M instead of 2.0 M, which marginally increases your land plot area requirement, but is still within the range of 2.20-2.50 Cottahs.

In this blog I’ve discussed the primary planning techniques that have to be practiced to draw a basic conceptual plan which serves the functional requirements of the house users. In my next blogs I’ll discuss the tasks of orientation of the conceptual plan based on the site position and various requirements of plan sanctioning authorities. I’ll be explaining the meaning of all terms and details of plan sanctioning criteria e.g. Ground Coverage, Open Areas, F.A.R etc. so that you can build up your project layout plans, all by yourself. See you till then.

Having difficulty in drawing up your project conception plan? Cannot figure out how much area of land you need to purchase to build your dream house? Contact me through this blog and I’ll answer your queries.

Want professional help in building your project? Contact us with necessary details.