Before you collect that plan from your architect.

It is unfortunate a lot of people find it hard to separate dreams from reality, This is the bane of many "could have being landlords" still tenants. when you are requesting for a plan, is pertinent to be aware of the purpose the house will serve, Is it for commercial purpose, residential or just simply to show off to your village kinsmen that you have arrived.


Before calling that architect, get a biro and paper juts down what are your housing priorities, you know your capabilities, start from the primary to the secondary and so on.

It is good to crave for good things in life but not at the detriment of your love ones that are depending on you (children and family members).

Getting that plan set require you to have a reasonable budget that you can easily expend for one to ten years without serious direct impact to your family. The terrible things you see around is someone trying to make his house the most beautiful in the vicinity just to show off, but he easily forgot that whatever is built today and consider to be the best building aesthetically around is always one of the worst buildings around in just few years to come. No matter how you try you can't have the most beautiful building around, because somebody is already seeing that your building as a benchmark to beat and that he will do, the arc. are always available to carry out his instructions.
To start criticising your arc. check the ingress and egress to the site,when your site is directly opposite a major expressway, does it give room for adequate manouvering of your vehicle?Do you have adequate buffer zone ( a left over space or setback from the road).
It is good you have a route that can easily be plied from the side of your building if it is a corner plot.
The setback from building line to fence, is there enough room for vehicle parking? what of the window and fence are they spaced apart to allow for good ventillation? You should leave a minimum of 3meters from your fence to end of building at the back,the two sides, and 6m from the fence line to building line in front, this is the minimum the town planners requires, however you can decide to go a little less during construction but it shouldn't be much.
Another thing that can affect your setback is a situation whereby rainwater from your building roof is falling into the compound of your next door neighbour.
The drainage pattern of your site is also important, how does your septic tank/ soakaway able to take advantage of it.
Is everywhere going to be paved? you need to have a green area at least to bring life to your building and make it more relaxing and aesthetically pleasing. Totally paved round buildings usually conducts a lot of heat to the building,when it is sunny it absorbs the heat, and when is night fall it begins to conducts to the inside, a lot of people thinks the best way to easily drain your site is to pave everywhere, this is not true, you can have green areas well landscaped building that will drain water easily from your site in seconds, it only depends on the designers dexterity.
What of the placement of generator and water tank, can vehicles easily goes in to the site and service/supply them with fuel and water.
It is important your kitchen has a separate entrance from outside so that you can easily carry in your foodstuffs without necessarily going through the living area.
Can the design be categorised this way, Private area, Semi private and public. A sound architect should have it in mind when designing your residential building, someone should be able to access the kitchen from the bedrooms without necessarily bumping on the visitors in your living room.
A back entrance is also needed to be able to enter from behind and for security reasons as well.
Minimum size for any bedroom should be 3m x 3.6m or 10 x 12 ft anything less is not too good though we have people constructing 3m x 3m bedrooms.
A modern kitchen minimum should be at least 3m x 3m,but for a small structure,3m x 2.4m can still be used.
Your toilets minimum can be 1.8m x 1.2m or more depending largely on the owner,taste and size of adjoining bedroom. For one with bath tub then expect minimum of 1.8m x 1.8m.It is important you get an explanation for the design of your roof, a complex roof can be a problem if not well designed and executed in two to three years time.
More on this will be discussed with you as you go with me.