The successful construction of a house depends on various factors, a house plan, a builder, a budget and the close monitoring of the owner from its inception until the final completion of the project. Each and every factor cited is interrelated with each other and the success of the dream project hinges on every function of each factor but most important of all is the hands on participation of the owner.

The project would never be started without the idea of constructing a house and in most cases; the owner initiates that idea of building his house. He will start to put together his ideas of a dream house and he is the character who would supply the size of the rooms, their specific locations in the floor plan, the floor and ceiling heights, roof designs, finishing materials to be used, the color swatches for every room or of the entire house, electrical, sanitary and other specifications and if he is technically qualified to make an estimates, the estimated cost or his budget for his house is also given. Inversely, if he is not knowledgeable, this task is shifted to the builder if it happens that he is also rendering service for drafting plans for which of course he qualified to and if not an Architect is the right person to do the job.

In both cases, whether the builder or a separate architect would do the preparation of the house plans, still the inputs of the owner is of utmost importance as he would be the final inspector of the building to be constructed. It would be very important that he participates in the planning and drafting of the plans so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding while the project is in progress. The house plans when about to be finalized must be approved by the owner with his signature affixed on it and a detailed estimates covering all items of work to finish the project must be reviewed and approved also by him so that his budget for the project is finally identified and would be the basis in drawing up the construction contract if the house construction would be done by the builder under contract.

The builder is limited on the items of work on the contract as identified on the well drafted complete in details house plans with technical specifications on how to do it and the materials to be incorporated in the house project which are all covered in the construction agreement. No other works outside the contract could be implemented by the builder without the approval of the owner because this entails additional budget which would be a problem to the owner if he is on a tight budget.

Additional works which were not expected when drafting the house plans are nightmares to owners during the progress of construction and these are sometimes the cause of disagreements between the builder and the owner and when it is not settled properly would result to work stoppage that will not permit the final completion of the project. In which case, a keen monitoring eye and a well studied idea of a house with all possible details in mind must be crafted by the owner before finalizing the house plans. Make some research on how to build a house if you are entertaining the idea of building one!