Pollution Control and Safety at the Construction Site

One key point that contribute to environmental change is pollution. Day by day construction debris is the major problem that add more woes to managers and even the least of worker. There are protocols set, but these are usually not implemented religiously.

There are many sources of pollution as the building rises. It is important to designate an area where you can put your secondary contentment as part of segregation process. You can use coding for containers such as empty bottles and plastics, cartons and papers, woods, metals, broken bulbs and bottles, and rags. This segregation system may not be new and may just be a repetition, but nevertheless – it will prove useful and worthy.

Pollution control in the field of construction will not come easy as you need to set daily goals since you are dealing with it on a daily basis. In our country, it is a mandate to continually standardize pollution control systems to the point that it becomes almost like a way of life. There are existing laws that govern environmental management and the chief implementing agency / enforcer of such laws is the Department of Natural Resources (DENR). One of its tasks is to train representatives from various construction companies to develop, enhance, and apply protocol module.

Safety in construction is also important to promote a holistic approach at work. All aspects must be considered – safety of workers, equipment maintenance, and building sanitation. The occupational safety on health and standards was adopted internationally for the common good of every employee. It is usually practiced by big corporations who are ISO accredited. The common standards that are useful to site is Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Mechanical and Electrical Safety and Sanitation. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is the government agency tasked to review and check if certain provisions in Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) are properly implemented.

Finally, each worker must strive for further learning and education to maximize his potential, and perform well in his task through a full knowledge of his capabilities and limitations. Every construction company must also strive to develop each of its workers to achieve his full human potential as mandated in the labor code. (By Engr. Josifer Bejer) (Engr. Bejer has over 10 years of construction management experience in his belt through some of the foremost construction companies around Cebu)

Usual building permit processing procedure in the Philippines

The following steps in securing your building permit could take days or even weeks or months depending on the city or municipality you are in. The fees also vary.

Step 1 – Secure and Fill out building forms, sanitary permit forms, electrical permit forms, endorsement forms available at your local municipal or city engineer’s office. Have all forms signed and sealed by your architect, engineer, master plumber, and electrical engineer. Prepare the usual attachments – detailed costing analysis; blueprints 7-8 sets; building design in text form; photocopy of PRC ID’s; PTR (professional tax receipt) of your engineer / architect, master plumber, and electrical engineer; structural analysis; lot sketch plan (can be easily obtained from the city or municipal assessor); original and photocopies of your lot’s latest tax receipts, title / deed of sale, tax declaration.

Step 2 – Obtain a Barangay Resolution by submitting one copy of your blueprint and lot documents at the Barangay Captain’s office where your lot belongs. The barangay captain will schedule a site survey on your lot to make sure there are no problems.

Step 3 – Fill out zoning clearance form and pay corresponding fees at the municipal or city zoning office. The zoning office will further verify that your lot has no outstanding problems and is classified correctly as far as construction is concerned.

Step 4 – Secure and pay fees for fire clearance at your local fire department.

Step 5 – Submit all above-mentioned documents and clearances at the city or municipal engineer’s office / office of the building official. They will schedule another survey to further check on your lot and to see if you have not started construction yet. They will check if your planned structure abides by the national building code and other relevant environmental laws especially if your lot is near a body of water. Fines will be charged accordingly if you’ve started construction prior to the release of your building permit. After the site inspection, the municipal engineer will compute the fees for your building permit. The fee will be based on the size of your structure.

Final step – Secure computation of fees slip from the municipal engineer and pay your fees at the city or municipal cashier / treasury.

Please note that you will be required a building permit when you secure your water or electrical installation application. It is illegal to construct without a building permit.

Affordable yet elegant Residential upgrade project

This project owned by Ronnie Francisco at Parkplace Pueblo de Oro in Babag Lapulapu city is a good example of an elegant yet affordable residential upgrade project. 

Newly finished projects in this subdivision is far from acceptable once you decide to move in. The interior is not livable at all as tiles are missing and wall finishing are not even leveled. Basically the units are turned over to you like it is being churned out of a mindless machine.

Projects like this will always require finishing touches to make it livable.

Low cost projects, renovations, and supervision and consultation services

There is a boom in the Cebu construction scene and construction companies, engineers, and construction workers are having a great time.

Despite the steady flow of contracts and projects, there are even more of these low budgeted customers seeking to find cheap or affordable construction services so they can finally start building their dream homes or home improvements at the least cost possible.

In response, we have carefully drafted products to cater to those in the low budget spectrum of the construction market.

  1. Budget-based project management – Budget based means looking for standard designs with materials that meet the customers’ budget. Managing a budget based project also means getting workers who live close to the project site so they don’t have to commute or spend extra on food since they can simply eat at their residence nearby.
  2. Labor only contracting – Labor only means giving more decision power to the customer in choosing his materials. The contractor simply supplies labor force.
  3. Supervision services – Supervision means getting paid only for the supervision cost, all the rest is handled by the customer. All technical aspects will be handled by the supervising team.

When accepting low cost projects, the contractor is also ready to be flexible as the construction progresses since the customer will always have to make constant adjustments in the design and materials to fit his / her budget…

Affordable house designing and blueprinting for your building permit requirement

Designing your house nowadays comes with a hefty price especially if you go directly to an architect and sometimes even just a civil or structural engineer. Architects usually charge around 5-7% of your project so if your house is 4 million worth then designing – all the way to supervision could cost you 200-280 thousand or 50-70 thousand per million. Large or established construction companies usually charge the same, so the best option for new house owners looking to save on their construction expenses is to look for a smaller construction company who also does designing and blueprinting. These construction companies like us, are called “design and build” outfits.

Design and blueprinting costs with most design and build outfits for a 150 square meter house ranges around 45 to 75 thousand around Cebu. Even with that low price, there are still customers who try to haggle for a much lower price down to 35 thousand which is mostly the lowest that we can accept.

Design and build contractors are able to offer such low house designing and blueprinting because they have special deals with experienced designers who accepts designing services in bulk packages. Designing and blueprinting services offered by design and build contractors also emphasizes on the current requirements of the local Municipal engineers / OBO, further cutting the cost.

The designing process starts with your floor plans which are based on your preferences, your lot’s contour, and the Philippine building code and / or local ordinances. Once your floor plans are finalized, the designer can then proceed on your external design or “perspective”. Once the floor plans and perspective (architectural) are finalized, the other OBO required building plans are started – electrical plans, plumbing plans, mechanical plans, and structural design and analysis. To further cut on the designing costs, other detailed plans not required for the building permit such as the interior designs are provided FREE to the customer, but only after the house shell or structure is completed. Another reason the interior designs and other intricate non-standard interior plans are done after the house shell is completed, is to give the designer and the customer a more direct experience on the house and the interiors since they can actually step inside the actual bare rooms.

San Marino Condiminium Cebu City Renovations

Classy and functional new kitchenCondominium renovations are very meticulous jobs that most contractors shy away from…

Only the well-skilled contractor with high skilled fine finisher workers handle such detail oriented jobs…

Delivering a well crafted plan and a nicely done job that puts a smile on the customer’s face is the only motivation every worker needs…

Build now, pay later: Where to get funds for your dream house?

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Tamani Residence Alcoy

In today’s world of commercial sophistication and increased opportunities for the Filipinos, and as long as you have a qualified income stream, funding your house construction is no longer an impossible dream.

Your contractor should be able to help you get the needed funds for your dream home either through bank loan facilitation or through internal financing as an added service. Not all contractors venture into internal financing due to the accompanying risks when dealing with construction credit. Only the bold and the big hearted contractor go as far as helping the client find his funds.

As an added service, the big hearted contractor can help secure the needed documents and requirements for the client’s bank loan. A well experienced contractor should also be able to give guidance in securing the needed documents and requirements for the customer’s bank loan and iron out whatever obstacles or difficulties he might encounter in trying to secure the loan. If the bank loan path is not the preferred means of securing the funds, the big-hearted contractor should also be able to facilitate an internal financing or even by connect the customer to enterprising individuals looking to finance the construction using the customer’s lot title as collateral. Either way, the house construction should no longer become a far-fetched dream for the qualified customer.

We here at Fine Finish Cebu have the experience to help every customer with his loan requirements – such as design blueprints and estimates prepared by a well-experience quantity surveyor. Our long experience in the construction industry has also equipped us with the needed knowledge in ironing out the kinks in the customer’s requirements and documents. If a bank loan is not yet favorable, we can also help through our revolutionary “loan buyers system” where we connect customers with enterprising individuals (investors) who find confidence in a certain customer’s qualifications – still the main collateral is the customer’s lot title.

If you have questions and inquiries, let us know…

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Tamani Residence Alcoy option 2

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Edmonds Residence Pardo Cebu

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Lee Ann Borneo Residence Consolacion

Other projects for construction… 

Cebu Mary Immaculate College – New Branch

Ground floor plan

Ground floor plan

Building a school is so much easier than building a house since the former does not require meticulous floor planning than the latter. The same floor plan can be applied for almost all floors except if there is an office in the ground floor or a gymnasium at the top floor. Though it takes longer to build a school than building a house, the contractor will be able to give jobs to its workers longer than building a house. So, a school project is always a contractor’s favorite.

The Cebu Mary Immaculate College, one of Cebu’s best private schools, is now on the planning stage of it’s new branch in Rabaya Street. The new school is set to achieve new heights in the Cebu Educational System.

 

2nd and 3rd floor plan

2nd and 3rd floor plan

Solar Power installation in Guadalupe Cebu City: Tap the FREE power of the Sun

3 kW hybrid upgradable solar setup

3 kW hybrid upgradable solar setup

Unlike the power you get from VECO, MECO, CEBECO, MERALCO, etc, solar power from the sun does not come with a monthly electric bill…

While it is true that it may cost a small fortune to have a complete solar installation set up, your investment can return in as fast as 1.5 years, and your solar set up is guaranteed to work up to 25 years. Imagine not paying 50-95% of your monthly electric bill up to 25 years – Imagine the savings you can get from that.

Our set ups come with a compact computer system that automatically adjusts the power source between the grid and the solar panels depending on the brightness of the sun. If the sun is at it’s peak, the grid source can be totally eliminated depending on your load. During a rain, the computer will also adjust to get more power from the grid so your load / appliances will not suffer. This computerized solar set up, also comes with an online monitoring system that you can access via a mobile app.

The set ups we have are professional – not like the ones you see in CDR King. Our panels and our solar computers are the same brands used by top solar countries like Australia, Canada, and USA. Our solar panels carry at least a warranty of 15-25 years, thus it is guaranteed to work for 15-25 years.

To benefit from the unlimited power of the sun through a professional set up like the one we offer, one has to go beyond thinking of the price. One has to think not paying 50-95% of his electric bill for up to 25 years.

A typical grid-dependent set up can also be upgraded to off grid (battery aided) or hybrid (battery aided and grid tied).

Mall Cart Construction in SM City Cebu

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Mr Softy Mall Ice Cream Machine

Mall carts may be just a small project with very little revenue for the contractor but there are hundreds of small cart business owners out there.

Unlike the big new house build projects, cart construction requires a very keen eye for the minutest detail. An average cart construction will require a highly skilled carpenter, painter, graphics artist, and an electrician. If you get to contract making hundreds of similar carts, you can simply manufacture cart parts on an assembly line where each worker is assigned a specific part or task and one whole cart can be delivered to the branch outlet site as a kit and assembled there.

Assembling a cart on site will now simply require a carpenter to assemble the part and an electrician to connect the wires.