The general trend may be to build a house when one has the funds without properly investigating the right time, but because of this, construction of some buildings are required to be halted mid-way for various reasons.

Ramesh Prasad Singh, deputy director general at Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, says, “The best time to begin construction is in the month of February because of easy availability of raw materials, work efficiency, quality and skilled labourers.” According to him, the months of December and January are suitable for planning and gathering raw materials.

Although construction goes on throughout the year, Singh terms June and July inappropriate to start the work because of the rain, which can lead to leakage and seepage problems. Agreeing with Singh, Susan Vaidya, an architect at Team Consultant, says, “Unavailability of labourers, monsoon disturbance, lack of raw materials like sand and pebbles and extra costs are other hassles that house owners have to face if they commence construction during the monsoons.” The reason
for difficulty in finding skilled labourers is attributed to the fact that most of them are primarily dependent on agriculture and take up construction work on contract for additional income.

However, Bijay Rajbhandary, chairman of CE Construction, says, “We don’t have any specific time to start our projects as we are able to acquire the necessary raw materials and workers through contractors without any problems. Seasons do not affect our projects, although February and March are the appropriate time to start construction.” Although power cuts and shorter days create problem in work during the dry season, Vaidya says they are negligible compared to the hassles that occur in the monsoon season. He strongly advises property owners from deferring to begin foundation work in the monsoon season as they may face numerous problems like mud slides, water overflow, disturbance in digging, et cetera, which increases the running cost.

“The rain not only hinders the work going smoothly, the quality of building is also compromised if the soil mixes with concrete. Moreover, with additional time spent due to various delays, the running costs are hiked by up to 10 per cent,” he explains. Hence, he suggests those planning to undertake any kind of construction to first consult professionals — architects or engineers — before starting for better planning and effective results.

According to Singh, the cost of construction differs by 15 to 20 per cent, depending on when it started. “Quality, time, cost and handover are the things that need careful planning before construction. As it generally takes minimum of six months to build a house that began construction in February will get natural curing in the months of June and July, which will result in a strong and sustainable house. Also, home owners will get enough time to furnish the house and be able to shift into the new building for the festive season,” says Singh.

According to him, 60 per cent of houses begin construction in the months of February and March. Stating that individual house makers seek an auspicious time to start, Rajbhandary maintains, “House owners wait for an auspicious time, which mostly falls in these two months.” Revealing that the season also guides the trend of purchase of property, he explains, “People want to acquire new property after Dashain and Tihar and in the New Year. So construction work automatically grows during that time.”