Building your house in Ghana can be a challenging task if you have no experience: From buying the land securing it, and organizing the resources to starting the project. This article with guide you through the quick and easy steps
If you are looking for quick and easy guide to building your first house in Ghana this short summary might help you.
- Why Listen To Me
I have designed and helped build various projects in the residential, commercial, educational, religious, and hospitality niches. On this note, I believe I’m qualified to give you some hints on building your house in Ghana. You can find some of my works here
By the end of this post, you will get some ideas and know-how to give you the confidence for your building project.
In a nutshell, these are the various stages :
Step #1- Buying The Land
First of all, you need to acquire a piece of land, legally.
Buying land in Ghana can be a cumbersome process.
There are two main ways to buy land in Ghana.
You can buy land from:
- Families
- Real estate companies
Step #2- Protecting The Land
Secondly, you should protect your land as soon as you buy it.
You can do this by fencing the site with a wall and fixing a temporary gate.
This secures your land and makes it less likely to be encroached on by unscrupulous persons.
However, no amount of walling can secure land that has been wrongfully sold to you.
Please make sure the land you are fencing is legally yours.
Step #3-Designing and Document The Project
It is advisable to get an architect to lead the design and documentation of your dream house.
Architects and other building industry professionals are relatively expensive.
However, you will get so much more than your money’s worth.
On the contrary, if you don’t care about the quality that an architect or a professional designer can bring to your project, you can engage the services of a draughtsman.
It’s your choice to make.
Step #4- Getting The Building Permit
All buildings in Ghana require a building permit to allow the construction to begin.
It is unlawful to start a construction project without authorization from the necessary municipal authority or district assembly.
Most noteworthy, owners who flout this process will be required to pay a penalty fee in addition to the regular permit fee.
I recommend that you commission your architect to follow up on the issuance of the building permit for your dream project.
You will be glad you did.
Step #5- Starting The Foundation
The foundation stage begins with setting out, digging trenches, binding iron rods for columns, casting concrete for the base, laying the foundation walls, casting the columns, filling and compacting, and casting the final slab on the foundation.
You have to take care to get measurements and levels right during the setting out process.
A little error at this stage will affect the entire project on all other stages. It is very important to get it right before your progress.
Step #6 – Putting Up The Main Building
This is the main job of the group of masons that you may employ. Make sure that you have a competent foreman to judge, critique, and correct errors in works.
Step #7- Roofing The Building
There are a lot of roofing types when it comes to roofing your building.
Make sure to understand the roofing options with your architect at the design stage.
The roofing stage involves building the roofing structure and fixing the roofing sheets or roofing tiles on the roof.
A large part of your construction cost will go into building the roof.
Consequently, make sure to get quotations from various roofing companies to get the best deal for your roof.
Step #8- Electrical Works
Electrical wiring is one of the critical stages in building your dream house in Ghana.
Make sure to choose the right brand of electrical wiring products to prevent any problems in the future.
Bad electrical wiring products can cause residential fires. Insist on the best from your contractor.
Step #9- Plumbing Works
Another critical stage is plumbing products.
A great plumber will use durable pipes for your project.
Most importantly, make sure to understand the levels of quality on the market when shopping for plumbing products for your project.
Step #10- Finishing
The finishing stage involves choosing the type of windows, doors, and door handles, tiling, sanitary ware, and many more.
This is where you choose the best artistic elements to put some sweetness into your dream house.
This level is a matter of personal taste.
Do well to make the best choices for you and the family.
Step #11-The External Works
First of all, organize the compound to add more value to your dream house.
Also, define access ways from lawns and pavement.
Plant some beautiful shrubs and flowers and get some large boulders and stones to enhance your lawns and gardens,
Another exclusive way to spice your landscape is to build some water features. Water features include fountains, water walls a beautiful swimming pools.
Furthermore, you can get some exotic fire bowls to enhance the natural ambiance.
Above all, make your external environment a sweet place people would love to hang around forever.
Step #12- Moving In
Finally, you now can call yourself a proud owner of your property.
You are living the life most of most Ghanaians only dream about.
Final Thoughts
Finally, you have some ideas about how to to build your house in Ghana. If you already have your land you can follow these steps to put up your building. If you have any questions about the details of building your house, you can contact me here.
Click Here to learn about the artisans you need to build your house in Ghana.
This is good, thanks
Happy to help Essel.
Very insightful. Thanks.
Hello,
Please could you contact me to design some plans for me?
Hello,
Please could you contact me to design some plans for me?
This was very helpful! May Gods bless you
Hello,
Am thinking of building my house. A five bedroom to be precise and am almost through with land acquisition. I need a professional advice from the above steps you have outlined and roughly how much it will cost me to build that house. Am giving myself maximum of 2 years. I want to take my time and move gradually. I have 2 plots and whats to use one plot for the building and develop the other side later.
Please i need your number
Call 0268248970
Hello Gab, Please can you give me a rough estimate of a 2 bedroom bungalow with 2 big master bed with walk in ward ropes, big hall ,big dinning room ,big kitchen with a store room,
utility room, guest toilet and a garage. how much will this design also cost? hope to hear from you. Thanks
Hi John…thanks for you query. I think this article should help you.https://ghanainsider.com/estimate-for-a-2-bedroom-house/.With an actual design you could get a more accurate estimate from us. Hope this helps John. Let us know if you need anything else pertaining to building your house in Ghana.Thank you.