Building Costs in Brazil

Get an appraiser with an Civil Engineering Degree.  You need a replacement cost analysis, not a Comps based analysis ( the latter can't be done by a RE Broker, btw ).

That Licensed Civil  Engineer will cost you a fee ( usually on the R$ 3,000- R$ 5,000 range ) ,but these are the folks who actually have cost figures at the tip of their fingers, stashed into some spreadsheet.   Sometimes, even an Architect will do.  Just make sure they can supply you with their CREA ID number.

That cost varies, depending on the choice of materials, complexity of the project, land topology, local labor rates, your cost of getting permits through a licensed Architect. So they are not a straight estimate.

And you folks should stop this " Because I am a Gringo I get charged a lot more" nonsense! You want to get the bottom line, you hire the right people.  Stop whining!!!

@sprealestatebroker

I meant the former ( Replacement Cost Analysis ).

And you should be able to source it on Salvador, rather.

Also, if you want to keep contractors honest, you do not want to use a General Contractor.

Go make a run to Home Improvement Centers ( Lojas de Material de Construcao ), from the mom and pop, through large ones ( Leroy Merlin ). Get your materials list all sorted and stored, because this is a huge source of embezzelment by contractors ( through theft and over charging ).

Then visit construction sites, and get estimates on how long it takes to setup a wall, plumbing, electrical wiring, tile setting, roofing, concrete pour ( including the making of concrete forms, iron works ), windows, doors, porcelain, fixtures ). 

Gates and garage doors are another area of concern. My linear 10 meters, with two electric garage doors, just cost me, R$ 20,000 and I still have to do the stripping and painting ( we reused an older wrought iron fence and bought  the galvanized structure for the frames ). 

Get all of the design and planing done upfront. An architect should be able to draw floor plans, get the electrical wiring diagrams sourced, and provide you with an accurate list of materials. 

For everything you do, get at least three quotes from separate sources.   And make sure to visit their finished projects elsewhere. 

When contracting for labor, get independent and insured contractors, or else you are liable for accidents on the job site.

    A friend just received a substantial increase in the cost estimate to build a 210 m2 house in an AlphaPark development in Ilhéus. He thinks the big construction company that has their own engineers are taking advantage of the gringo. He asked me about building costs. I'm clueless. Any suggestions for my friend?
Thanks.

Alan
   

    -@alan279

I am sure your friend has all the right contacts and experts if he is thinking to construct here. It would be very foolish to try without an attorney, architect, engineer, project manager, etc. Some of this may be included in the quotes, but he needs to verify...

I have built and renovated several projects over the past 17 years, and one thing I can guarantee - no home construction project here has ever been completed within budget or on time! That is just the Brazilian way, but your friend needs to know this before starting, so there are no surprises down the road. And it makes no sense to go round getting quotes and just go with the cheapest - this will probably just be the lowest quality or the most underestimated of them all...!

That said, it is almost impossible to give an exact number, since quality of construction and, more importantly, finishes, are key here. Lets take out the cost of the land (as this varies everywhere), pool, gardens, etc and try to offer some numbers. It is possible to construct for about R$2500-3000 per square meter, but this will be for very basic construction, cheap tiling if any, bathroom fittings, etc.

For a better quality home he should allow R$5000 per square meter, or even more if he wants nice marble finishes, top quality fittings, taps, tiles, etc. All of this is WITHOUT furnishing, or course, which is purely down to personal preference and taste (and budget),

So, for a 210m2 house the absolute minimum would be around R$630,000 for a basic house - which I do not think your friend will want, and for this price it will involve a lot of personal work and supervision to save money. I would suggest a price of between 1.1 and 1.6 million reais to get a reasonable quality finished house - but really the sky is the limit... It would be easy to break 2 million reais, without going over the top.

A good way to get comps is to research prices for new build houses in a similar area. Most construction companies here work on a 20-30% gross profit margin (depending on the size of the project), so tell him to find a house that he wants that has just been constructed, then figure he will need to spend at least 80% of that price to construct. However, if he is going to want to employ a construction company to do the work (rather than manage it himself), it will not be a huge amount less, as they will still want to make profit, and they have huge economies of scale... This makes construction of bespoke homes even more expensive!

Good luck - this is not for the fainthearted!

@alan279

One other comment for your friend - it is much, much cheaper to find a house he likes that needs work, and renovate it...

   
When contracting for labor, get independent and insured contractors, or else you are liable for accidents on the job site.
   

    -@sprealestatebroker

That is simply not true. Certainly if an injury occurs as a result of not following all relevant health and safety laws. etc, then you can be held responsible. And there are a lot of these laws! But if you adhere to all of them you cannot be sued if an accident occurs - this is Brazil, where criminal laws prevails, not civil law as in the US.

Let me try to explain with an example. I jump in your pool, and there is a broken tile on which I cut my toe; this subsequently gets infected ending up with the amputation of my leg. In the US I can sue you, correct?

Not in Brazil, unless you criminally intended for someone to injure themselves, by, for example, knowing about a hazard but deliberately not doing anything about it, with the intent that someone would be injured.

Thanks for all the good info.

A neighbor told me 2,000 to 3,000 reais per m2. He just completed his new home. He managed the project. It took much longer than he expected. Amd probably went over budget, I would guess.

I've been watching the construction of a small apartment building across the street from my apartment. It looks to have stalled out after completion of the garage and a small apartment on the ground floor.

I have learned that I don't want to be involved in a construction project here.

Alan

        When contracting for labor, get independent and insured contractors, or else you are liable for accidents on the job site.        -@sprealestatebroker

That is simply not true. Certainly if an injury occurs as a result of not following all relevant health and safety laws. etc, then you can be held responsible. And there are a lot of these laws! But if you adhere to all of them you cannot be sued if an accident occurs - this is Brazil, where criminal laws prevails, not civil law as in the US.

Let me try to explain with an example. I jump in your pool, and there is a broken tile on which I cut my toe; this subsequently gets infected ending up with the amputation of my leg. In the US I can sue you, correct?

Not in Brazil, unless you criminally intended for someone to injure themselves, by, for example, knowing about a hazard but deliberately not doing anything about it, with the intent that someone would be injured.
   

    -@Peter Itamaraca

If you hire someone and that somone is under your employ, not only you are supposed to pay for salary and fringe benefits, you are on the hook for accidents on the job. Even with SUS coverage.

Here we have the equivalent to  OSHA's jobsite guidelines , which is called CIPA.  Which makes the employer liable to provide safety gear (often dimes discarded by workers as being too uncomfortable ).

And there is an army of Labor Attorneys out there rubbing their hands for situations like that , the equivalent to America's Ambulance chasers.

And God forbid your journeyman pays dues to an Union, he/she gets hurt, you are fair game.  They are after you.

if you hire a construction crew, you need to make sure you are hiring them as a company where you pay for contracted work.  You need the crew's gang boss, here called "Mestre de Obras". 

Maybe on the boondocks you can get away with these improvised setups. Out here on large cities, you certainly can't get away wih it.

    Thanks for all the good info.
A neighbor told me 2,000 to 3,000 reais per m2. He just completed his new home. He managed the project. It took much longer than he expected. Amd probably went over budget, I would guess.

I've been watching the construction of a small apartment building across the street from my apartment. It looks to have stalled out after completion of the garage and a small apartment on the ground floor.

I have learned that I don't want to be involved in a construction project here.

Alan
   

    -@alan279

R$ 2,500 to R$ 3000 per built square meter  is what a renovation cost, assuming non landmarked structure, where architectural detais and materials need to be as close if not equal to the original structure. .

In places like Bahia, or other remote locations in the Northeast, , you might get away with these figures,.  Not Rio-SP.

@sprealestatebroker

If you employ anyone legally in construction, and pay them properly, pay taxes, etc, then you are halfway to covering yourself from any liability.

The next part is to follow all the laws relating to Health and Safety at work, and provide them with all the right gear - called EPIs - then you cannot be held liable for any accidents.

There are numerous examples where this has not been followed, and this is what the 'ambulance chasers' are after - proving that you broke the law, in essence.

Often, for small jobs, nobody does all this - in these cases of course you can be held liable, but in this case we are talking about a house construction, not a few days of work...

Workers do often remove safety gear, as it can be uncomfortable or simply too hot. To avoid problems make sure you give it to them, they all sign to say they have received the gear, and that they have been fully trained how to use it. Then you cannot be held liable for any accidents.