Module 5 of 10
Project Budgeting and Cost Planning
Turn an estimate into a budget the owner and the bank can actually track: per-sq-ft sanity checks, stage-wise cost plans, cost breakdown structures, contingency and escalation provisions, and a monthly cash-flow projection.
After this module you can
You can produce a stage-wise budget for a residential project with a defensible contingency, an escalation provision computed from duration and inflation, and a monthly cash-flow projection mapped to bank disbursement stages.
- 5.1 Per-Sq-Ft Thumb Rules: Useful, and Where They LieThe per-sq-ft rate is the most quoted and most misused number in Indian residential construction. Learn what the thumb rule is genuinely good for, the indicative mid-2026 bands, and the ten ways it quietly understates your real budget.8 min read
- 5.2 Stage-Wise Cost Plan from Foundation to HandoverA total budget cannot be tracked; a stage-wise one can. Split the construction cost across ten stages with indicative percentage ranges, align them to bank disbursement milestones, and get the plan that catches overruns while they are still small.7 min read
- 5.3 Cost Breakdown: Material, Labour, Services, OverheadsStage totals tell you when money goes; the cost breakdown structure tells you what it buys. Split the budget into materials, labour, plant and overheads, cross-check the shares, and gain the second axis of control every serious budget needs.7 min read
- 5.4 Contingency and Escalation Without GuessworkEvery project carries two invisible costs: the things you cannot foresee and the prices that will not sit still. Learn to size contingency from a risk table instead of superstition, compute an escalation provision from duration and inflation, and write the clause that decides who pays when cement jumps.7 min read
- 5.5 Cash Flow and the S-Curve for a Residential ProjectA correct budget can still kill a project if the money arrives in the wrong months. Convert the stage plan into a monthly outflow projection, read the S-curve it draws, and find the peak-burn months your financing must survive.6 min read
- 5.6 Worked Example: Budget for a G+1 DuplexEverything in this module, assembled into one artifact: a complete, bank-ready budget for a 1,600 sq ft G+1 duplex — from thumb-rule sanity check to sanctionable total, stage plan, cash flow, tranche mapping and the tracking rules that keep it honest.6 min read