"Building Costs’’

The true direct cost of building a house is determined by several factors. Long before you are able to consider the actual cost of the particular house that you want to build you will need to know the approximate cost of the sort of home that you have in mind. This is essential to enable you to know the size of property you can afford. In any form of building work the labour content will form a substantial portion of the total cost. (Approximately 40% of the tender figure.) The cost per sq foot for houses are much the same providing that the buildings have straight forward foundations.

You should be able to build anywhere in Grenada for US$80.00 to US$125 per sq ft.(or more) for labour & materials. This does not include General Contractor’s Profit & Overhead or land. Land varies tremendously depending on location, location, location.

The breakdown of the selling price (market value) of a house is ideally as follows: Not including land cost, 60% material, 40% labour, builder profit, builder overhead. All builders must juggle the material, labour, & overhead costs. This is what it’s all about. If you absolutely must have a certain expensive material item or subcontractor, you have to compromise and spend less on something else. A builder does all this in the planning.

For a fee, based on your building plans the contractor would discuss the entire process and then provide you with an estimate. The estimate would take into consideration the different type of foundations, roof pitches, quality, style, tiles, windows and the quality of everything else you decide to use. (Until you actually get plans drawn, you won’t have an accurate estimate).