Checking building quality in Bangkok's upscale condos
By Jon Fernquest[Introduction|Article]
[Reading Questions|Answers]
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Today's article gives you nitty gritty details about an important business in Bangkok, the condo construction business.
Wez Barber, a home repair and renovation specialist in Bangkok, shares his knowledge in an interview. (See photos on right)
Caveat emptor [Latin: "let the buyer beware"] is the main gist of the article, a legal maxim stating that means the buyer takes the risk regarding quality or condition of the property purchased. (Source)
Buyers may not be aware of all the issues they should be aware of before buying.
This article also has more general applicability. Whatever service or product a new company sells, it can usually differentiate itself from the competition by quality and customer support.
nitty gritty - the most important and basic facts and details about something
renovation - repair and improve a building
caveat emptor - means "let the buyer beware" in Latin, means the buyer takes the risk regarding quality or condition of the property purchased
a maxim - a rule for sensible behaviour
Reading Questions
Here are some questions to guide your reading (See answers at end):1. What is a good point about the quality of construction work in Thailand?
2. Why are finishing standards in Thailand not up to standard?
3. What kind of attention to detail is important when doing a paint job?
4. What is the major difference between construction worker in Thailand and more developed countries like Singapore and the West?
5. Are quality problems just a problem in less expensive condominiums?
6. Is it materials or installation that is at the root of quality problems? Why?
7. How can a buyer avoid getting stuck with defective workmanship?
8. What are some things to check out before transfer of property?
9. What are the two most difficult problems to fix?
10. What kind of plumbing problems can occur?
11. How does the construction of buildings in Thailand differ from the West? What are the advantages of each method?
Bangkok Post Article September 24, 2007
Building quality is in the details
Home-care expert says buyers of upscale property should be more picky about finishing workNINA SUEBSUKCHAROEN
Qualifications of Construction Workers
While the quality of construction, particularly structural concrete work, is generally quite good in Thailand, finishing standards leave much to be desired, according to Wez Barber, managing director of Bangkok Home Services, a local home repair and renovation specialist.
As he sees it, the problem is that workers have not been trained properly and real estate development in Thailand is still a young industry compared with countries such as his native Britain.
Mr Barber observed that the biggest weakness of Thai workers is that they go straight ahead and do a job without making sufficient preparation to make sure that the job can be done to a good standard.
"For example you would think that doing a good paint job is very simple, but actually it's not ... preparing walls and masking things off, for example masking window frames off so you don't get paint all over the window frame when you're painting the wall."
Attention to detail is also a shortcoming. "In more developed countries construction or renovation staff are qualified in the fields they are working in, whereas in Thailand that is not the case - any guy from upcountry can come to Bangkok and find a job on the construction site."
The poor wages that construction workers earn provide little incentive to develop a trade, though his observations in Singapore have shown that Thai construction workers there can meet high standards.
upscale - high quality for rich people
picky - demanding certain things inflexibly when choosing
finishing - adding the last details to a room being built (like painting, adding shelves, a finishing carpenter usually takes care of this)
renovation - repair and improve a building
masking things off - covering with tape to protect while painting
a shortcoming - a fault, imperfection, less than ideal
an incentive - a reward to make people do something
Inspecting for Quality
Luxury condo buyers and owners might not like to hear it, but in Mr Barber's opinion, the finishing work in 50% to 60% of so-called grade A buildings is not up to scratch. "There are only a couple of developments where you can walk into a new development and look around the units and not pick any faults."
With grade A condominiums, the buyer is paying for very good construction materials, most of them imported at prices several times those of local products. But in most cases the people installing these pricey materials are the same ones installing generic products in cheaper buildings.
The best solution for condominium buyers, says Mr Barber, is to take an expert along to pre-inspect the unit before taking transfer. The expert would prepare a report that could be submitted to the developer to fix defects before the unit changes hands. This applies to those buying a unit in an older building because a pre-transfer check would pinpoint the flaws that could be fixed. "It's the same that happens back home in the West, so a survey is done before a house transfer."
grade - level of quality
grade A - of the highest quality
up to scratch - does not meet quality standards
generic products - a plain version of a product without a special brand or features, usually less expensive
changes hands - sold from one person to another
pinpoint - locate precisely
flaws - faults, undesirable qualities
Speaking from a personal perspective of having bought property elsewhere, Mr Barber noted that in some other countries a lot of checks are made before the transfer actually takes place, notably a title check. "But here in Thailand people don't seem to be as cautious," he says, noting that even many foreigners seem to abandon some of their scepticism. "Or property here is not as expensive as what they would buy back home. Back home it's the biggest outlay of money you will ever spend in your life."
Easy things that an ordinary buyer could check out on his or her own include whether the floor and wall tiling is done properly. "I walked into a development to do a pre-transfer inspection yesterday, knocked on the wall tiles and they were not installed properly, falling off the walls, and walls that don't line up, things are out of plumb, things are not square."
title check - checking to make sure a land owner actually owns the land (maybe a bank can take the land if a loan is not paid back, maybe a nearby monastery actually owns the land)
scepticism - not believing, doubting
outlay - spending a large amount of money
line up - in a straight row or in the correct position
a plumb line - a string with a weight at the end, used to check whether walls are actually vertical or floors are actually flat
out of plumb - a wall is not vertical (for example, the famous Tower of Pisa in Italy is "out of plumb," when a carpenter says "plumb up that wall" they mean make it vertical)
not square - two walls are not at 90% angle (right angles) to each other
Plumbing Problems
Mr Barber added that plumbing is a nightmare to fix, especially with older buildings because in general nobody has access to the original plans, so one does not know what has been changed.
"If it's a 10-year-old room that you are buying and somebody has been living there for the last 10 years you don't know what problems they have had and what has been changed from the original design," says Mr Barber.
"So in general plumbing jobs and roof jobs are the two biggest nightmares. It can take you two days to find the location of a leak and then you may fix that leak, but because the piping is old, where you repaired is now good and strong, the rest of the system is weak so you end up chasing the leak around the unit It's very, very difficult."
For this reason, Mr Barber advises those facing this problem to dig up the whole bathroom and run a completely new pipeline. "That is a very extreme way of doing it but it's the best solution."
Blocked drains are a very common problem in a new building, especially since construction workers generally don't take care to cover drains while continuing with other work. "So they will install the floor drains and continue working on the walls with cement and rubble falling down the drain and the new drain is blocked."
One method to unblock a problematic drain is to run a snake through it but if that does not work then one needs to ask the downstairs neighbour for permission to open up his ceiling and install a new link.
rubble - pieces of brick, stone and cement that remain after a building is destroyed
run a snake through the drain - putting a long metal cord through a drain pipe to clear out something that is blocking it
Different Construction Techniques
However, while finishing work could improve in Thailand, construction is mostly up to par, especially high-rises, even given Bangkok's land subsidence challenges. "If things are piled properly and it's going down to bedrock then we shouldn't have a problem, but I am not a structural engineer."
Construction techniques also differ with houses in West often having supporting walls. "Here everything is column and beam, in the West we have supporting walls. So here you could walk into this building, buy this row of shophouses and knock out all the walls and leave the columns and have a nice big room. You can't do that in places back in the West - you knock the wall out and the roof falls down, the wall is supporting the roof."
This technique means sometimes buildings in the West are sturdier than those in countries such as Thailand. "The walls of my house in England are three feet thick, so as it's 400 years old already, you know quite well that it will be standing there another 400 years."
On the web: http://bangkokhomeservices.com
up to par - achieves a quality standard
high-rises - very tall apartment buildings
land subsidence - when sinks down over time (because for example because the land is an old canal in Bangkok filled with dirt)
bedrock - solid hard rock under dirt and supporting the dirt
a column - a vertical cement post holding a building up
a beam - the horizontal supports for building floors
sturdier - stronger
Answer Key:
1. What is a good point about the quality of construction work in Thailand?
Structural concrete work.
("...construction is mostly up to par, especially high-rises, even given Bangkok's land subsidence challenges. "If things are piled properly and it's going down to bedrock then we shouldn't have a problem...")
2. Why are finishing standards in Thailand not up to standard?
a. Insufficient preparation to meet standards.
b. Workers not trained properly.
c. Real estate development is still a young industry in Thailand.
3. What kind of attention to detail is important when doing a paint job?
Putting tape over important part of the house like a metal window frame when you paint near the window, so that you do not get paint on the metal which is difficult to remove.
4. What is the major difference between construction worker in Thailand and more developed countries like Singapore and the West?
Construction workers are specialised in certain tasks (carpentry, plumbing, electrician) and get paid well for this specialisation. In Thailand constructtion workers are hired on a temporary basis and do not earn high wages so there is no incentive towards specialisation and excellence.
5. Are quality problems just a problem in less expensive condominiums?
No, up to 50%-60% of the work in the highest quality buildings ("grade A") does not meet quality standards. In most developments you can pick out faults.
6. Is it materials or installation that is at the root of quality problems? Why?
Installation. Materials are usually imported but the same workers are used whatever the quality grade of the contruction is.
7. How can a buyer avoid getting stuck with defective workmanship?
Hire an expert to check the construction before paying and taking possession.
8. What are some things to check out before transfer of property?
a. A title check.
b. Whether tiling on floor and wall is done properly.
c. Whether things line up or not square.
d. Whether walls are out of plumb.
9. What are the two most difficult problems to fix?
a. Plumbing problems.
b. Roof problems.
10. What kind of plumbing problems can occur?
a. When drains are not covered during construction, cement and rubble can fall into them and block them.
b. There are no plans.
c. No one knows how the pipes are laid out under the floor
d. You end up chasing a leak around until you find it.
e. You end up digging up the whole bathroom floor and installing a whole new set of pipes.
11. How does the construction of buildings in Thailand differ from the West? What are the advantages of each method?
Thailand uses column and beam which allows you to knock out walls without the building falling down.
The West uses supporting walls which is usually sturdier and lasts for longer.
