House Construction Cost Calculator — DHA Lahore
Every field, the formula behind it, and a worked example.
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Help › The calculators › Cost of building
Plot size, how much of it you cover, how many floors, and your own rates — grey structure and finishing worked out separately.
Open this calculator01
When to use it
Before you buy a plot to build on, and again before you sign with a contractor. The two numbers are rarely the same.
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Every field, explained
| Plot size (marla) | On the Lahore measure — 1 marla is 225 sq ft here. |
| Covered area (% of the plot) | How much of the plot the building sits on. 70 is a common starting point; DHA's own by-laws set the real limit for your category. |
| Number of floors | Ground plus first is 2. A basement counts as a floor for cost, and usually costs more per foot than the rest. |
| Grey structure rate (Rs per sq ft) | Structure only — foundation, walls, roof, no finishing. Ask a contractor for this week's rate. |
| Finishing rate (Rs per sq ft) | Everything after the structure: plaster, flooring, wiring, plumbing, doors, paint. This is where quality changes the number most. |
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How the answer is worked out
- Plot area in square feet is the marla figure times 225.
- Covered area per floor is that area times your coverage percentage; total covered area is that times the number of floors.
- Grey structure cost is the total covered area times your grey rate; finishing is the same area times your finishing rate. The two are added for the total.
A worked example — 10 marla, 70% covered, 2 floors
| Plot area | 2,250 sq ft |
| Covered, both floors | 3,150 sq ft |
| Grey at Rs 2,500/sq ft | Rs 78.75 lakh |
| Finishing at Rs 2,200/sq ft | Rs 69.3 lakh |
About Rs 1.48 crore to build — on top of the plot. People routinely buy the plot first and discover this second.
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Mistakes people make
- Using a rate someone quoted last year. Steel and cement move week to week.
- Forgetting the boundary wall, the gate, the water tank and landscaping — they are not inside a per-square-foot rate.
- Setting coverage higher than DHA's by-laws allow for that category.
- Assuming the finishing rate is fixed. Between plain and high-end finishing it can double.
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What it does not do
- It does not know building rates. We do not publish them — a wrong rate here misleads by lakhs.
- It does not include the architect's fee, DHA's building approval, or utility connections.
- It does not handle a basement priced differently from the floors above.
- It has no idea what your contractor will actually charge. Get the quote in writing.
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Questions
- Where do I get today's rates?
- Is the covered area really 70%?
- Why separate grey and finishing?
A contractor you are actually talking to, or two, so you can see the spread. A rate from a forwarded message is a rate from an unknown month.
That is only a starting figure. DHA's by-laws set a maximum for each plot category, and your architect will know it.
Because many people build the structure now and finish later. Keeping them apart lets you cost the two stages separately.