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Seek Professional Advice 

Many builders in Ghana are not getting value for their monies in the construction of their real estate properties.  The list of abandoned projects in the country is endless and some of the causes include high cost, time overruns, underestimation, overestimation and cash flow problems.

If only these people knew the worth of building professionals such as Architects, Structural Engineers and Quantity Surveyors, they would make huge savings on their properties and put up buildings that would surely outlast their lifetime. 

There is a lot of misconception that employing a professional will be expensive and of little benefit to the project. This is entirely misleading - for example, an architect will provide you with an imaginatively designed building, save you time and money as well as making the whole building process less stressful to you, your family and/or your business. 

It has been observed that most individual residential developers neglect the services and advise of these building professional and rather rely on the services of masons, carpenters and other artisans on the choice of building materials and decisions on the construction of their real estate properties.  

Why use Architects? 

Architects are very influential in building projects and they are your first point of call before construction.  Architects are involved in the planning, design and oversight of building’s construction.   The Architects would act in your interest to provide cost effective options in the planning process based on your requirements.  However, there is a growing trend in the country whereby home owners only seek the services of architects to put together drawings to enable them secure building permits. 

 The selection of an Architect deserves time and effort  - thus one should start by asking others to recommend an Architect from their own experience or if there is a building similar to your project which you like, find out the name of its Architect. 

 The Ghana Institute of Architects keeps a database of fully registered members on its site. http://www.arcghana.org/memberlist.htm. Equally important, he or she must be one whom you can get on with at a personal level.   

Structural Engineers can also help reduce cost

 After the Architect’s drawings, a Structural Engineer will come in and see how best the design can be transferred from paper to the ground and they will provide further advice on the structural strength and the types of materials needed for the construction.  The Structural Engineer would certainly minimize your maintenance cost even years after your building is finished because you would have used proper materials to fortify your property. 

Costing your Project by the Quantity Surveyor 

The Quantity Surveyor will also come in and provide the quantities of the various products and materials for your particular project.  The role of the Quantity Surveyor is, in general terms, to manage and control costs within construction projects.     

Your plumbers, electricians, masons and carpenters play an important role in your project but you should not leave all the decisions to them.  Solicit the advice of the Architects, Quantity Surveyor and the Engineers before you make crucial decision on your project.         

Seek professional advice prior to the building project and during the actual process of construction because it would certainly save you some cash and give you a durable property.  Your best friends when building should be Architects and Quantity Surveyors  – you will never loose. 

  The AuthorMr. Kwame Nyanteh is the head of Builders Accessories Ghana Ltd a company which offers a variety of decorative and durable building materials.  He has been involved in the building industry in Ghana for over six years.  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it http://www. http://www.baghltd.com/about.php