Reference city. Sustained mining demand and a chronic cement shortage: building here costs more than in Kinshasa.
The sum of every storey, measured over the walls.
Stacking storeys lowers the cost per m²: less foundation and less roof.
Each additional bathroom adds to the plumbing.
Driven entirely by the ground. On sandy, sloping or low-lying sites a soil survey is not optional.
Stable bearing ground. The most common solution in the DRC.
The 15 cm block is the DRC load-bearing standard. The 10 cm block is for partitions only.
The standard load-bearing wall unit in the DRC, for one or two storeys.
A column-and-beam frame is the norm above one storey, or wherever you want large openings.
Concrete frame with block infill. The regional standard.
A ventilated void protects against rising damp, which is common in the rainy season.
Slab cast on compacted hardcore. The cheapest option.
A flat slab lets you add a storey later, but costs close to double a sheet roof.
The most widespread solution in the DRC: light, quick to fix, cheap.
Security grilles are included in every option, as they are the norm in the DRC.
Cheapest. Needs regular maintenance and termite treatment.
Double glazing only pays off alongside permanent air conditioning.
The local standard.
Under a sheet roof, the ceiling is what makes the difference to thermal comfort.
The common, economical solution.
Ceramic tiling dominates; a smoothed screed is still common in self-build.
The default choice, wide price range.
Wet-room tiling is counted separately from the general wall treatment.
The standard, inside and out.
The public network is intermittent in most neighbourhoods: plan for storage.
Full independence. The most widespread solution outside the city centre.
There is almost no sewer network in the DRC: a septic tank is the rule.
The normal solution for a house.
A solar water heater pays back quickly wherever power is dear or scarce.
Common in economy housing.
A good ceiling and cross-ventilation often beat an undersized air-conditioning system.
Cheap and very effective in this climate.
A grid connection alone is rarely enough: outages are a daily event across most of the countries covered.
Changeover, batteries and priority circuits.
Slope, water, rock and fill: the four things that blow a foundation budget.
Minimal earthworks.
If a lorry cannot unload on the plot, everything is carried by hand.
Delivery at the work face.
Self-building saves the contractor’s margin, at the cost of your time and the risk.
A single point of contact, 10–20% margin.
10% is the sensible minimum in Kinshasa, 15% in the provinces.
Tick this if you are using a formal contractor who charges VAT.
Labour is the softest number in the estimate. These three choices genuinely move it, and they compound: a site with no supervision, learning the technique, and hard to reach costs far more than the three penalties added together.
Add anything this tool does not know about: an unusual material, a firm supplier quotation, a one-off item. Your lines follow contingency, margin and VAT like every other.
The rate per m² used here already includes all four: the figures below show what it assumes. If you have a real quotation, enter it and it will replace the estimate.
The people who build it: labourers, masons, carpenters, steelfixers, electricians, plumbers, tilers, painters and the site foreman.
Enter the total labour figure from your quotation, charges included, for the whole build.
Equipment hired or written down on site, and the fuel that runs it.
Add up hire charges, fuel, and depreciation on plant you already own.
Getting materials to site, including the last kilometre, which is often the dearest.
Enter the total delivery figure from your supplier quotations, clearance included if you import.
What you pay to be allowed to build and to have it properly designed. Nearly all of it falls due before the first block is laid.
Add up signed fee letters and any charges the commune has already quoted you.
Your figure replaces the estimate rather than adding to it, otherwise you would pay for the same item twice. Leave blank anything you do not know.
Most likely budget
$120,000
Range : $81,000 – $158,000