POST CONSTRUCTION PHASE MAINTENANCE

DEDICATION
FLOORS & FINISHES
ELECTRICALS
CONSTRUCTION PHASE
PLUMBING
FIXTURES
WALLS ROOF
FOUNDATIONS & PLINTH
SITE APPROACH
MATERIALS LABOUR
CONTRACTING
DESIGN

SANITATION PRE CONSTRUCTION PHASE

ENERGY
WATER
LAND
1- Land:
1. Buy land with lots of money at prevailing market rates = Freehold Property

2. Lease land with some money at market rates for a limited period of time = Leasehold
Property!

1. Occupy puramboke land(common lands) with the permission of local elders. Build on it.
Apply for Patta(land ownership documents). = Common Ownership to Freehold Property.

2. Request land to build on from a friend! = Friendhold Property

1. Seek Priority Land Parcels from City Development Authorities. Once allotted, seek subsidies for water,
electricity and sanitation = Conditional Leasehold Property
2. Seek Work-Exchange on land. Build on a farm in exchange of a few hours of farmwork or any other work.
Get paid for building services.= No ownership. Employer Freehold
3. Steward lands at the behest of a land-owning organisation in exchange of certain services to the
organisation. Get paid for infrastructure + some running costs= Organisational Stewardship
4. Create an innovating project surrounding your house, say like afforestation of degraded lands and/or
restoring local biodiversity. Your regional planners may approve govt lands to such projects for free. The
catch is that you have to be truly dedicated to the core-mission of the project.
5. Conduct a long BuildFree Skillshare in “Regenerating land, water and biodiversity” for a fee.
6. Conduct a short BuildFree Skillshare in “How to choose the right site for your net-zero investment house?”
2- Water:
1. Get a permanent water connection with the city development authority

2. Dig an on-site borewell and pump water up to overhead tank

3. Plug into a neighborhood water system run by the neighborhood.

4. Collect rainwater in large storage tanks and pump up to overhead tank.

1. Share water with neighbor who has an existing water system.

2. Collect and store rainwater in an ad hoc manner in existing site-based water
storage.
3. Restore natural water sovereignty of the site through water conservation and
rebuilding traditional irrigation systems over a long period of self-build.

1. Water collected by gravity from local stream or river. Also runs mini-grain
mill and/or micro-hydel electricity generator.
2. Water sharing with neighbor along-with irrigation work-exchange on farm
3. Conduct a long BuildFree Skillshare in “Rainwater Harvesting Design &
Construction” for a fee.
4. Conduct a short BuildFree Skillshare in “The Economics of RWH” for a fee.
3- Energy:
1. Hook up to the electricity grid
2. Buy off-line solar installation

1. Buy online rooftop solar installation with net metering, no batteries, the grid
works as the battery!
2. Buy a share in a wind turbine system and free-wheel power to the site,
completely offsetting bills and making a surplus to offset the capital
investment over a long-period of time.

1. Perform energy audit of current home. Minimise on all additional use, reduce and replace
domestic consumption by converting certain appliances to solar thermal ( geysers, ovens,
cookers). Then build a standard online rooftop solar system. As local use is very low, most
of the power goes to the grid and the household becomes a net producer of power getting
paid for energy produced.
2. Conduct a short BuildFreeSkillshare in “Radiation Free Wiring” for a fee.
3. Conduct a long BuildFree Skillshare in “Home-Energy-Use Planning to Convert your
Home to a Net-Producer of Power”
4- Waste / Sanitation:
1. Water based WCs interconnected and hooked up to municipal sewerage
system.
2. Water based WCs hooked up to site-level decentralised water treatment
system (DEWATS).

1. Low-flush toilets connected to bio-gas plant. Loops cooking gas to kitchen

offsetting cost of sanitation over a period of time.
2. Dry Composting toilets where compost is used on-site. Cost saved on
fertilizer offsets capital expense of toilet.

1. Low-flush system connected to neighborhood-cluster-biogas-plant mixed with crushed food-waste

from houses generating gas for distribution to a few houses.
2. Dry composting toilets with quality monitoring and standardisation to sell bagged compost to
gardeners. Bottled urine also to be sold to farmers.
3. Conduct a long BuildFree Skillshare on “Dry Composting Toilet Design and Execution” for a fee.
4. Conduct a short BuildFree Skillshare on “Troubleshooting common issues with Dry Composting
Toilets?”
5. Conduct a long BuildFree Skillshare on “Building a home biogas plant”
5- Design Drawings:
1. Hire an architect to make professional construction drawings.
2. Hire a civil engineer to make professional construction drawings.
3. Adapt an existing house plan available with a builder/contractor to suit your
specific needs.

1. Blindly follow a building plan proposed by a builder/contractor.

2. Take a set of building plans from a friend or the internet.
3. Draw the building on 1:1 scale on the site using the sticks and stones drawing
approach.(works for ground floor low-rise structures)
4. Switch to intuitive design approach and sketch the design yourselves. Whet
the construction details from an experienced builder.

1. Draw the building on 1:1 scale on the site using the sticks and stones and combine with
point# 2.
2. Conduct a long BuildFree Skillshare in “Intuitive Design for Home building” for a fee.

3. Conduct a long BuildFree Skillshare in “Regenerative Design for your Home?” for a fee.

4. Conduct a short BuildFree Skillshare in “How to make construction drawings with sticks
& stones?” for a fee.
6- Contracting of Works:
1. Hire a works contractor for a significant fee= Labour & Materials Contract.
2. Employ a head-mason team for labour works. You maintain control of
procurement of materials= Labour Contract.
3. Employ a site supervisor to oversee the works, quality and transparency.

1. Become the builder to your own house. Buy materials, organise labour and
run your construction project.

1. Become the builder to your own house and combine with point #2 and #3.
2. Run a long BuildFree Skillshare on “Self-build Techniques for Cheap
Home-Building” for a fee.
3. Run a short BuildFree Skillshare on “The Economics of Self-Build” for a fee.
7- Materials Procurement:
1. Buy industrial materials like cement, steel, aluminium & glass at high prices.
Stock them in a specially constructed shed on site.
2. Buy natural materials like crushed stone. Stock them onsite in the open.

1. Harvest natural materials like earth, stone and local

wood/bamboo/grass/creepers from the site of construction.
2. Collect waste materials like tyres, styrofoam, tetrapaks, construction &
demolition wastes from the surrounding areas of your site.

1. Accept free delivery to the site by waste dealers & other builders of specific
materials like C&D waste, broken mirrors and other buildable materials not
accepted in Municipal landfills.
2. Conduct a short BuildFree Skillshare in “How to choose the correct materials
palette for your BuildFree home?”
3. Conduct a long BuildFree Skillshare on “Ultra-low Carbon Materials for Home
Building & How to Procure Them?
8- Labour Assignment:
1. Employ a works contractor under a Labour Contract. Allow him to hire
workers and take a commission for his work.
2. Employ a head-mason. Allow him to choose his team.

1. Take on the construction of your own house as a Self-Builder.

2. Employ volunteers and students of Natural Building. Ask them to pay for
expenses (food & accommodation).

1. Build your own house and combine with point #2 & 3.

2. Conduct a long BuildFree Skillshare in “How to become a Self-Builder?”
3. Conduct several short BuildFree Skillshares on “The Economics of
Self-Build”.
9- Approach To Site:
1. Build the maximum permissible Building Footprint on the land.
2. Take over the entire site for construction activity.
3. Build storage and other support functions in the non-building areas of the site.
4. Landscaping starts only after building construction finishes.

1. Build the minimum needed Building Footprint.

2. Avoid construction activity on non-building areas.
3. No construction of storage rooms. All materials stored in the open.
4. Landscaping starts before house construction.

1. Build the minimum needed Building Footprint and combine with point 3 & 4.
2. Avoid all construction on non-building area.
3. Conduct a long BuildFree Skillshare on “Regenerative Site Development for
Home Building”
4. Conduct several short BuildFree Skillshares on “How to Plan Your Garden
Alongside House Construction?”
10- Building Foundations & Plinth:
1. Build RCC isolated or spread footings connected by grade beam.

2. Build load-bearing stone/brick foundation with stepped spread footing.

3. Build raft or pile foundations for unstable soil settings.

1. Build on hard soil conditions preferably rock!

2. Use Rubble Trench Foundation with free rubble delivery by the demolisher or demolition
agency.

3. Rubble Trench Foundation excavated soil to be used for premium wall building.

4. Build your house on the roof of an existing structure suited for further loading.
1. Plinth serves an alternate service to the land owner or organisation you’re stewarding land
for. For example: storage of farm produce and/or tools, protection for water pumping
system, storage of solar system batteries and controllers. Organisation pays for foundation
and cost of upkeep.
2. Conduct a long BuildFree Skillshare on “Rubble Trench Foundation- Design &
Construction” and charge a fee.
3. Conduct several short BuildFree Skillshares on “Simple Insect Barriers in the Plinth” and
charge a fee.
11- Building Walls:
1. Make an RCC frame structure and fill in the concrete frame with bricks or
lightweight framing material..
2. Make a load-bearing wall with brick, concrete and/or stone.
3. Make load-bearing walls with earth and/or wood/bamboo technologies

1. Self-build walls with excavated earth from foundations.

2. Self-build walls with waste materials like C&D waste set in earth mortar.
3. Self-build walls with loose stone from the site set in earth mortar
4. Self-build walls with bamboo harvested from the site or nearby areas.

1. Self-build walls with natural and upcycled materials combining with

point#2-5
2. Run a long BuildFree skillshare on “Wall-building with Raw Earth”
3. Run a long BuildFree skillshare on “Wall-building with Waste Materials”
4. Run a long BuildFree skillshare on “Bamboo Wall Construction”
5. A short BuildFree skillshare on “Walls with Natural & Upcycled Materials”
12- Building Doors & Windows:
1. Buy premium forest wood and employ carpenters to make frames and
shutters.
2. Buy local plantation wood and employ carpenters.
3. Buy old Doors and Windows from demolition contractors or antique shops.

1. Accept donated doors & windows from demolition sites.

2. Convert walls to jaali-work to eliminate the need for windows.
3. Accept donated waste like tyres, shelves, boxes, heavy duty rubber, petrol
hoses and packing cases. Upcycle the material into doors, windows and
frames.

1. Accept door-window donations, convert to jaalis and combine with points

2-4.
2. Run a long BuildFree skillshare on “Making creative jaaliwork for rooms”
3. A short BuildFree skillshare on “Wall design with assorted sizes of doors &
windows”
4. A long BuildFree skillshare on “Out-of-the box doors and windows with
Upcycling”
13- Building Roof:
1. Pour concrete on steel reinforcement to make an RCC roof.
2. Make domes and vaults with bricks and blocks.
3. Make light-roofing with metal profile sheets on metal or wooden trusses.
4. Make composite roofs with wood beams and brick infill (Madras Terrace)
5. Make vaults with mud pots and ferrocement + broken tiles top finish
6. Make shallow domes with donated construction debris and lime mortar
7. Lay recycled terracotta tiles over old-wood rafters and purlins.
1. Self-build a roof with site-harvested palmyra, coconut leaves or reed grasses
supported by site harvested round-wood.
2. Self-build a roof with roofing tiles donated by demolition sites.

1. Self-build a roof with site-harvested leaves and run a long BuildFree

skillshare on “Roof-building with local Thatch”.
2. Self-build a Madras Terrace Roof and run a long BuildFree skillshare on
“Madras Terrace Design and Construction”
3. Self-build a lime concrete roof and run a long BuildFree skillshare on “Lime
Concrete for making water collecting roofs”
14-Fitting Fixtures:
1. Buy expensive fixtures from the market to fit your bath, toilet and kitchen.
2. Hire an expensive plumbing team to fit them.

1. Self-build fixtures from locally available waste bamboo, mud pots and the
like.
2. Eliminate unnecessary fixtures (like shower-heads and bath-tubs)
3. Self-harvest fixtures from demolition sites.

1. Self-build with locally made fixtures and demolition harvested fixtures and
combine with point #2 & 3
2. Run a long BuildFree skillshare on “Make your own bathroom fixtures from
mud pots and bamboo cutting-waste”
3. Run a short BuildFree skillshare on “Finding and harvesting good-quality
fixtures from demolition sites”
15- Building Plumbing:
1. Buy PVC, UPVC and GI pipes from the market and use a licensed plumber to
fit them.
2. Buy PVC, Ferrocement or Concrete water storage tanks from the market.

1. Self-build a water delivery system using on-site high-ground open storage

tanks water fed into open channel pipes made of site harvested bamboo.
2. Self-build basic plumbing using reclaimed pipes from friendly demolition
sites.
3. Eliminate need for water-based systems using dry composting toilets.

1. Self-build a basic plumbing bathroom with ecological sanitation and combine

with point 2 &3
2. Run a long BuildFree Skillshare on “Basic plumbing techniques to fix
yourselves a bathroom, toilet and kitchen”
3. Run a short BuildFree Skillshare on “Designing an eco-bath/toilet to
minimise on plumbing”.
16- Building Electricals:
1. Buy quality tested MCBs, ELCBs, Switches, Lighting fixtures, PVC conduits
and copper/aluminium wires from the market and use a licensed electrician to
install the electrical system.

1. Self-build external wall mounted free caping/casing from dismantled office

interiors.
2. Salvage good quality wire from office shifting operations and use for external
wiring. Use along-with ELCBs.

1. Self-build external wiring with salvaged wires and combine with point 2 &3
2. Run a long BuildFree Skillshare on “Basic electrical techniques to fix
yourselves a home electrical system”
3. Run a short BuildFree Skillshare on “Designing rooms to minimise on power
consumption”.
17- Building Floors & Finishes:
1. Buy vitrified tiles and fit them with a skilled tile-mason.
2. Buy wooden parquet flooring and fit them with a carpenter/tile mason
3. Buy terracotta tiles and fit them with a tile mason.
4. Buy Athankudi tiles and get the craftsmen to fix it.
5. Pour cement layers to make a layered Indian Patent Stone floor

1. Self-build a stone floor with salvaged stone cutting waste from a friendly
demolition site.
2. Self-build a mud floor with layered ramming with site earth, cowdung and
water-repellent oils.

1. Self-build a basic mud/stone floor and combine with point 2 &3

2. Run a long BuildFree Skillshare on “How to make a simple earth/stone
floor?”
3. Run a short BuildFree Skillshare on “Diverse designs of earth/stone floors”.
18-Heating & Cooling Systems:
1. Buy air-conditioners and room heaters to achieve indoor climate control in
specific rooms.
2. Plan a central heating/cooling system into the entire building.

1. Self-build a passive solar design for the windows, walls and roof. The 3 work
in unison to trap solar heat in the winters, store them in walls making them a
thermal battery. In the summers, the 3 work together to vent the hot air out
from the house and bring in the cooler air from the garden.

1. Self-build a passive solar wall, window and roof and combine with point 2
&3
2. Run a long BuildFree Skillshare on “How to make a simple passive solar
wall, window and roof?”
3. Run a short BuildFree Skillshare on “Designing passive solar systems in
small homes”.
19- Building Dedication:
1. Call a lot of people. Throw a big opening day celebration. Puja. Meal. Gifts.
2. Call only the people involved in the construction and the close family. Have a
puja with gifts.

1. Invite the self-build volunteers to have a collective meditation at the house

2. Quietly move into the house without any ceremony knowing that building a
home is a long-process and the physical structure of the house is only a small
part of it.

1. Dedicate the building to the divine by having a collective meditation, potluck

and chanting session with all your friends who helped build your house.
Know that building the home is still an ongoing project.
20-Building Repairs & Maintenance:
1. Repairs and maintenance of the RCC/load-bearing building to be done with
contractors and engineers, at times with the involvement of the original
architect.

1. Self-repair and maintain your natural building using site based materials.

1. Self-repair your natural building and combine with point 2.

2. Run a short BuildFree Skillshare on “Maintaining your Natural Home”