Turnkey or Labour Contract? Choosing How to Build Your House in Gurgaon

Plot owners in Gurugram usually choose between two ways of building. In a labour contract, you buy the cement, steel, bricks and sand, and a contractor supplies the labour for a rate per sq ft. In a turnkey contract, one builder supplies material and labour and hands over a finished house for an agreed price.

A labour rate looks much smaller on paper. Whether it ends up cheaper depends on how much of your own time and risk you are willing to put in.

How the two compare

Where a labour contract costs more than it looks

Material is most of the cost of a house: concrete, steel, bricks and plaster alone are about three-quarters of the structure in our BOQ for an RCC building. On a labour contract you are the buyer for all of it, and the usual losses fall on you:

• Steel bought by weight but used by length, with off-cuts nobody accounts for.
• Cement and sand over-ordered "to be safe", or short-delivered.
• Days lost when material does not arrive before a slab pour.
• Rework when the contractor blames the material and the supplier blames the work.

None of this is a reason to avoid labour contracts. It is a reason to count your time and the losses before comparing rates.

Where turnkey can go wrong

Turnkey shifts the risk to the builder, so the risk is that the builder protects their margin with your house. The defence is in the paperwork:

• A BOQ, not a lump sum. Every item with a quantity, a rate and a brand, so a cheaper substitute is visible.
• A specification sheet. The grade of concrete, the grade of steel (Fe 500D), cement brand, brick class, tile and fitting brands.
• Payments linked to stages, not to dates. See house construction stages and timeline.
• Clear rules for changes. Any change you ask for is priced in writing before it is built.

Ten questions to ask any builder in Gurgaon

1. Can I see a house you have finished in Gurugram, and talk to its owner?
2. Will you give me architectural and structural drawings before we sign?
3. Is your quote a priced BOQ, and which area is the rate on: built-up or carpet?
4. What does the rate leave out: approvals, boundary wall, rainwater harvesting, kitchen, wardrobes?
5. Which grade of concrete and steel, and will you share cube test reports and steel test certificates?
6. Who is the engineer on site, and how often are they there?
7. How will I see progress? Photos, a site log, a weekly report?
8. What is the payment schedule, and what has to be finished at each stage?
9. How long will it take, and what happens if it runs late?
10. What is covered after handover, and for how long?

A builder who answers all ten in writing is easier to hold to account than one who gives a lower number on the phone. Our site quality checklist tells you what to look at whichever way you build.

How we work

We build turnkey from drawings, a 3D model and a priced BOQ, with daily site photos in our project app. If you would rather use your own contractor, we can also hand over just the drawings and the BOQ. See how we work as a construction company in Gurgaon, or start with what a house costs to build in Gurgaon.