No one wants to pay more than necessary when building a home. But only the experts know how to save money on construction, right? Not necessarily. Here are some tips that may help keep your building budget within reason, without compromising on the home you want.

1. Try to buy a larger plot with a friend or family member that can be split into two or more smaller plots. Price of larger plots may be less than smaller plots.
2. As far as possible try to get a rectangular plot, with almost level ground. The plot shall as far as possible be a little raised from the adjoining properties, so that drainage will be easy.
3. As far as possible, go for rectangular rooms, as irregular buildings costs more.
4. Consult a qualified and experienced Engineer /Architect and take his advice to reduce cost.
5. Use only a certified general contractor. The experience of a well-qualified contractor is invaluable to the home-building process. In addition, seasoned professionals have established relationships with suppliers and subcontractors — something you cannot possibly hope to get without years of experience in the business.
6. Use materials that will last long and have low-maintenance. Even if they are somewhat more expensive at installation, they will pay for themselves in the long run as you won’t have to repair, replace, or repaint.
7. Making use of locally available materials for construction will lower the rate of construction.
8. For a double storied building, the cement mortar for basement and super structure  need to be 1:8, the foundation shall even be constructed in mud mortar.
9. It is recommended to adopt a foundation depth of 2 ft.(0.6m) for normal soil like gravely soil, red soils etc., and use the uncoursed rubble masonry with the bond stones and good packing. Similarly the foundation width is rationalized to 2 ft.(0.6m).
10. Adopt arch foundation in ordinary soil for effecting reduction in construction cost up to 40%.This kind of foundation will help in bridging the loose pockets of soil which occurs along the foundation.
11. In the case black cotton and other soft soils it is recommend to use under ream pile foundation which saves about 20 to 25% in cost over the conventional method of construction.
12. For foundation beams and slabs, get economical design from a structural engineer.
13. Please take care of unequal settlement.
14. Soil Cement Block Technology is an alternative method of construction of walls using soil cement blocks in place of burnt bricks masonry. It is an energy efficient method of construction where soil mixed with 5% and above cement and pressed in hand operated machine and cured well and then used in the masonry. This masonry doesn’t require plastering on both sides of the wall. The overall economy that could be achieved with the soil cement technology is about 15 to 20% compared to conventional method of construction.
15. It is suggested not to use wood for doors and windows and in its place concrete or steel section frames shall be used for achieving saving in cost up to 30 to 40%similarly for shutters commercially available block boards, fibre or wooden practical boards etc., shall be used for reducing the cost by about 25%.By adopting brick jelly work and precast components effective ventilation could be provided to the building and also the construction cost could be saved up to 50% over the window components.
16. The traditional R.C.C. lintels which are costly can be replaced by brick arches for small spans and save construction cost up to 30 to 40% over the traditional method of construction. By using lintels and chajjas, adopting arches of different shapes, a good architectural pleasing appearance can be given to the external wall surfaces of the brick masonry.
17. Normally 5” (12.5 cms) thick R.C.C. slabs are used for roofing of residential buildings. By adopting rationally designed insitu construction practices like filler slab and precast elements the construction cost of roofing can be reduced by about 20 to 25%.
18. Ferrocement channel or shell unit provide an economic solution to RCC slab by providing 30 to 40% cost reduction on floor/roof unit over RCC slabs, without compromising the strength. These being precast, construction is speedy and due to avoidance of shuttering it is economical and facilitates quality control.
19. The cost of finishing items like sanitary, electricity, painting etc., varies depending upon the type and quality of products used in the building and its cost reduction is left to the individual choice and liking.
20. Preplan every component of a house and rationalize the design procedure for reducing the size of the component in the building. This will also reduce wastage.