Finishing is where most villa budgets slip. Owners usually price the tiles and the paint, then discover the real cost hides in the work nobody sees: wiring, plumbing, waterproofing and the dozens of small decisions made on site. A clear plan before the first tile is laid saves months and a lot of money.
01Start from the scope, not the price
Walk the villa room by room and list every surface and every service: floors, walls, ceilings, electrical points, sanitary fittings, doors and windows. A bill of quantities built this way is the only fair basis for comparing contractors, because everyone prices the same thing.
- Measure areas on site, not from the original drawings.
- Mark which rooms are “premium” (reception, master suite) and which are “standard”.
- Decide early what you will supply yourself (lighting fixtures, kitchen, AC units).
02Split the budget the way the work happens
Finishing happens in layers. Budget it in the same order so the hidden layers never get squeezed by the visible ones. For a typical 300 m² villa, this is the split we see most often:
| Work package | Share of budget |
|---|---|
| Electrical & plumbing (hidden works) | 22% |
| Plaster, screeds & waterproofing | 14% |
| Flooring & wall cladding | 27% |
| Paint & ceilings | 12% |
| Joinery, doors & kitchen | 17% |
| Contingency | 8% |
Never reduce the hidden works to afford a more expensive tile. You can change a tile in ten years; you can’t easily change a pipe inside a finished wall.
03Choose materials in the right order
Lighting and electrical layouts come first, because they decide where ceilings drop and where walls get chased. Floors and wall finishes come next, and loose items like furniture and decor come last.
Keep 10–15% of the budget as a contingency, and protect it. It is the difference between a project that finishes and one that stalls at 90%.Eng. Hassan Abdullah, EMERGE Constructions
04Agree on a schedule with checkpoints
Tie payments to finished stages, not to dates: first fix complete, plaster complete, floors complete, handover. Each checkpoint is a chance to inspect quality before the next layer hides it.
05Inspect before you hand over
Walk the villa with the contractor and a snag list. Test every socket, every tap and every door. A good contractor will welcome it, and fixing items before handover is always cheaper than after.
