First time building advice pls

[davo2212]

Hi all, am planning on building a house in Thailand do I need the land surveyed or any council approvals?

What is the first step after land is purchased.

Thanks

Dave

[eyecatcher]

If you have the land togrther with the chanotes identifying the boundaries then you need to get someone to draft out your building plans and get them approved at the local Or Tor Bor ??

Our approval was only for 12 months so had to seek aproval yet again a month after we started!

[davo2212]

Thanks eyecatcher

[colinneil]

Depends on where you live.

Many homes in Issan built without any formal permissions.

In the cities yes you need permission but in the sticks people just build.

[davo2212]

ok thanks. My land is in issan

[thailand49]

Depends on where you live.

Many homes in Issan built without any formal permissions.

In the cities yes you need permission but in the sticks people just build.

This is very true, but with so many regulation being purpose like the property tax for homes if you have the money should do it right. If your contractor isn't one of those without a license etc.. he should not only drawn up a plan for you but do it with all the codes and blueprint to submit for approval which should be included in the price to build.

[MaeJoMTB]

ok thanks. My land is in issan

Her land is in Issan.

[catman20]

ok thanks. My land is in issan

Her land is in Issan.

many a true word spoken in jest

[Goanna]

Isaan is a big place. If it is in a villge, or even outside, you could ask the village headman. If you are in a city, you may need approvals. Ha. Just look at the thai homes around your area. Do they look like approved dwellings.

[cooked]

We rebuilt one house here in a small village in Isaan, and built extensions to two others. no permits, no chanotes (I built a wall to sort that problem out).

[bankruatsteve]

In Isan you probably won't get any plans/drawings from the "builder". They just want to know how many poles.

[Crossy]

Yes, puyai baan (village headman) is your first port of call.

If approvals are needed it's still pretty relaxed even nearer to Bangkok. We used one of the pre-approved government plans as a basis then modified to suit Wifey's requirements but the planning chaps basically told us that as long as we don't go (much) outside the envelope of the approved plans almost anything goes. I later discovered that our building permit actually specified a 1 floor wooden house despite the stamped and attached plans for something rather bigger.

The plans we used are here http://www.crossy.co.uk/Thai_House_Plans/index.html handy to get you started. If you go to the source site there are BOQs and costings, but the costs are well out of date.

[davo2212]

Thanks for everyone's help

Cheers

Dave

[Liquorice]

I've just started building a 2 bedroom extension with en suite onto my g/f house in Isaan.

I drew up the plans myself. The local Amphur weren't interested, just a wave of the arms and carry on.

[AlQaholic]

Get an Thai engineer that can draft the house plans for approval at the local land Office. Then you have 12 months to start building.

Build structure first all the way up to where the roof is going to be, preferably during dry season. Then install roof and voila you can work on inside under the roof.

It is worth it to make a detailed BOM (Bill of materials) regarding Reinforcements, concrete, bricks and all other material needed. This can be done easily with modern CAD 3D tools such as Revit, however you will find it difficult to find a Thai engineer with 3D skills. Anyway those CAD 3D tools will automatically generate BOM for all building material, you will also get a bending schedule for all the rebars, so some can be pre-fabed, especially the stirrups. In this way you can get a precise budget and purchase all material yourself, so you will not get stiffed.

Mind, if you pre-fab you have to keep a close eye on the fabrication to ensure it is done exactly to spec. and using the correct material.

Remember that the by-far biggest cost for building in Thailand in single house projects is the labor cost! why one might ask, even using Cambodians they work extremely slow and inefficient, especially the form work and rebar bending. That is what takes time and money. Day after day go by waiting for this or that to complete before they can go on with the next step, for example curing of concrete or doing the form work and so on. In a mooban (village) project with multiple hoses under construction this is not a problem, the crew can move from house to house, but a single house project the crew can only wait and do nothing.

Always use a same standard size for all columns and beams, even if the requirement at a particular location calls for a smaller column or beam, use standard size for all, this will minimize the amount of form work needed and one can even prefab a set of forms to be used.

Also you might look into the new pre-fabbed wall sections now on the market, haven't used them myself so far but next project definitely going to look into it.

You have to educate yourself bit on such things as concrete quality, brick laying and so on. Very often your Thai foreman or the Engineer you are working with will collude with a corrupt concrete supplier in using sub standard concrete for the structure.

Spend a lot of time thinking about windows and doors too...

Edited February 2, 2016 by AlQaholic

[Muhendis]

My house was built around six years ago. It's on farmland and constitutes a farm building so at that time no planning permission was required however my builder/architect got the building inspectors involved basically to cover himself and me in the event of and upcoming change in the regulations.

[roiethome]

Just finished building my second house in Thailand. You might find Sweet Home 3D a useful program for designing your house, as it allows you to 'walk thru' the finished design and look at the design from all angles. My home finished exactly as it looked in the plans. Very intuitive to use and takes about 10 minutes to learn.

To control the costs, I purchased all the materials direct and engaged labour on a daily rate; labour was 22% of the total build cost and took 5 months for construction.

Myself or my wife were on site every day to manage the build.

PM me if you have any particular questions.

[MRH1959]

Be sure to have the land checked for stability as hopefully save from ground/building cracking.

Don't take shortcuts, as not worth the headaches.

Do what 'you' would do usually.

[davo2212]

Mrh1959, who checks the land for stability?

[Muhendis]

Mrh1959, who checks the land for stability?

That is the responsibility of the builder/architect or you can organise it for yourself but be aware that the tests may suggest foundations deeper than you actually need.

[sipi]

We drew our house on the back of a napkin. The builders were more interested in tying a bunch of flowers to the first pole for luck than getting permits or whatever. We are happy with the finished product.

[Mr Money Bags]

Mrh1959, who checks the land for stability?

I'd surely like to gain this piece of knowledge, too, please!

Hope it's not inconvenient to ask......

You're Welcome!!

[jacksam]

Build cheap. Less tears when you leave.

[TheCruncher]

If you have the land togrther with the chanotes identifying the boundaries then you need to get someone to draft out your building plans and get them approved at the local Or Tor Bor ??

Our approval was only for 12 months so had to seek aproval yet again a month after we started!

I think if your approval is only for 12 months, that mean you have to start within that period, no need to have it completed.

[MRH1959]

Mrh1959, who checks the land for stability?

I'd surely like to gain this piece of knowledge, too, please!

Hope it's not inconvenient to ask......

You're Welcome!!

[MRH1959]

Friend's house was built on 'raised land with concrete footings' over settled land, by people that believe wetting the clay and taking time will settle it enough.

The cracks prove wrong thinking.

Too many Thais take shortcuts, do don't pay for bad thinking.

[NoshowJones]

Depends on where you live.

Many homes in Issan built without any formal permissions.

In the cities yes you need permission but in the sticks people just build.

I live upcountry, not Isaan. I had an extension built on my, sorry, my wifes house.

She did not ask permission, why should she? It's her house, not anyone elses.

As long as you are not affecting anyone else in a negative way.

That's a positive about living in Thailand, people are left alone to live their lifes, not like the UK

who will use every excuse to get money from you.

[davo2212]

Thats why I'm asking, here in Australia there is so much red tape for everything its great to hear I can build a house without permits and surveyers and engineers and the oh&s mob showing up to check everything and also work cover

[Cereal]

Make sure, then double sure, then triple sure, the quadruple sure.........that the wall you build around your house is entirely on your land and not even close to be scrutinized as perhaps, maybe, somewhat, possibly,a tad, a little bit, might be....encroaching on a Thai's land or you will get screwed at some point.

It happened to a friend of mine who had bought a house on Phuket. The title and deed were all in proper government stamped order. When he went to sell it, his neighbour and friend of many years checked the deed and found that my friend's wall was entirely on his (the Thai guy/friend) side of the property line. He demanded my friend tear down his wall. My friend said the entire wall is on your land, keep it, congrats you have a free wall.

The Thai guy just wanted to be a <deleted> and refused and demanded my friend tear the wall down. The stupidity of some of those people knows no bounds.

My friend managed to sell to a Thai couple and left back to Canada. He packed up, took his wife and kids and after 12 years of being a good neighbour - he had lots of cash and lived in a rural area surrounded by normal Thai folks: ie not a lot of money - they all turned on him. He treated them all to BBQ's and Christmas/weekend Parties etc etc for 12 freaking years and when he wanted to sell they all came out of the woodwork to show their true Thai colors.

So, my advice, make sure you get many documents of proof that your house and wall and property line are 100% legal and no problem. If you're wall is 1 millimeter on the neighbour's property they will dick you around. Count on it.

[georgemandm]

Hi all, am planning on building a house in Thailand do I need the land surveyed or any council approvals?

What is the first step after land is purchased.

Thanks

Dave

You can never ever own it so why do it just rent you will be a lot better off in the long run .

No you don't need council approval if in a thai village just build it .