Turnkey, contractor or labour contract: how to build in Bangalore

Before you compare builders, settle something that comes earlier: how you want to build. In Bangalore there are three common arrangements, and they are not three prices for the same job. They are three different jobs for you.

Labour contract: you buy everything, they build

You buy the cement, steel, blocks, sand, tiles and fittings. The contractor, usually a mestri with a crew, supplies labour and charges by the square foot. Supervision is sometimes included and often is not.

The rate looks low because it is only part of the cost. In exchange you take on ordering, checking material when it arrives, storing it, paying suppliers, and chasing a delivery when the slab is two days away. Wastage and shortages are yours too, and so is noticing when the steel on site is not the steel you ordered.

This works if you have weekday time to give, someone in the family who has built before, and a mestri you already trust. It goes wrong quietly. Nobody is responsible for the finished wall, only for the hours put into it.

Contractor with material: you agree the list, they supply it

Here the contractor supplies labour and material, but the deal is item by item rather than one price for the house. Excavation, footings, columns, slab, brickwork and plaster are each quoted, often by measurement.

You get more control over each stage and room to change your mind halfway. You pay for that in arguments: how much brickwork was actually done, whether a change was inside the quote, who pays when the soil turns out worse than expected. Agree how each item will be measured before it starts, and keep a measurement book that both of you sign.

It suits people who want a say in decisions without buying every bag of cement.

Turnkey: one price, one party, handover

A turnkey contract covers design, material, labour and finishing, to a written specification, at a rate per sq.ft of built-up area. You hand over a plan and a budget and get a house back.

The convenience is real and so is the catch. You are buying a specification, which means the specification is the contract. Flooring allowances, the brand and grade of steel and cement, window material, electrical points and what counts as built-up area all live in that document. A turnkey quote with a vague specification is the easiest one to be disappointed by.

It suits people who are busy, living elsewhere, or building for the first time, and who would rather argue about a document before construction than about a wall during it.

Why the rates cannot be compared

A labour rate and a turnkey rate answer different questions. Take made-up numbers: a labour contract at ₹650 per sq.ft against a turnkey rate of ₹2,200. The labour rate is not the cheaper one until you add the material you will buy, the wastage, the supervision you pay for or provide, and the weeks lost when a delivery is late. Sometimes it still comes out lower. Do that sum before you decide, not after the foundation is poured.

Five questions that decide it

• How many weekday hours can you give the site, for about a year?
• Can you tell good steel and cement from poor, or do you have someone who can?
• Do you want to decide as you go, or decide once and review?
• Who should be answerable when something is wrong six months after handover?
• What does a month of delay cost you, in rent or in a loan that has already started?

What to put in writing, whichever you pick

• The scope, and the floor-wise built-up area it is priced on.
• Who buys the material, and who answers for its quality.
• Payments tied to completed stages, not to dates.
• How a change is priced and approved before the work starts.
• Who handles plan sanction and the electricity and water connections.
• What happens if the work runs late.

Where Buildryt sits

We build turnkey, in Bengaluru and Mysuru. Our rates are on the house construction cost in Bangalore page and the specification for each package is on the packages page, so you can read the document before you speak to anyone. It is not the right choice for everyone. If you enjoy site work and have the time, building with a contractor who supplies material can give you more say and sometimes a lower total.

If you land on turnkey, the next job is comparing quotes properly, which we cover in how to compare house construction quotes. For the money side, read how stage-wise payments should work, and for choosing between builders, how to choose a home builder in Bengaluru.