Cost to Build a Landed House

What a headline rate per square foot covers, how to read a cost plan, and the costs that never appear in a headline figure.

Structural stair volume under construction detail

9 min · 2 articles

In this guide

5 min · 19 April 2026
The Hidden Costs of Building
The construction figure is rarely the whole number. Professional fees typically add 8 to 18 per cent of construction cost, 12 for a typical full consultancy; authority submissions about S$30,000 to S$50,000; contingency about 10 per cent; then GST at 9 per cent on top. Demolition, party-wall protection, site clearing, interiors, landscaping and two years of rent sit outside the rate as well. Budget for them at the start and the project stays calm; find them at tender and it does not.
4 min · 14 August 2026
How to Read a Cost Plan
A cost plan is a set of assumptions with numbers attached. Read the assumptions first: what specification level is assumed, what is excluded, what provisional sums and PC sums are carried, and what the contingency is. A PC sum set too low — for sanitaryware, flooring, ironmongery — makes a tender look cheaper and comes back later as an adjustment. Two plans for the same house can differ by a third and both be honest.

Seven other guides, and the rest of the writing.

Costs, approvals, timelines and the decisions that are expensive to change later.