Building on Kalymnos island Greece

"You never get old until you built a house or marry a child" - Greek saying

Building in Greece is quite a complicated process as it requires an amount of permissions and improvements, a lot of bureaucracy and a lot of public services involved in the process. This becomes more complicated due to different building guidelines and regulations applied to different built-up and non built-up areas.  Even on Kalymnos island Greece, different building guidelines and regulations apply inside and outside of the predefined built-up areas, according to the size of the plot, according to the usage of the building, according to the building system, according to the position of the plot etc. etc.
Frustrated? Don't worry ! We Reissi-Tsigarida Architects deal with all this headache on behalf of our guests !

The building process

1. Property ownership:
   Among all you should own a plot or a building before starting the construction or renovation process. If you don't own a property we Reissi-Tsigarida Architects will help you find the right one. In the meantime check our advice on buying a property.

2. Design:
   This phase includes thorough discussions with you so that we understand your wills and transform them to plans which have and will be according to the building guidelines and regulations. This is a very important phase as among all it determines the cost of your investment and the best value for money approach. The more precise you are on what you want the sooner this phase will be finalized and the less problems you'll face later on. 
   Our advise:  Spend as much time as needed to clearly define your wills. You will save a lot of money and trouble !
   We Reissi-Tsigarida Architects will spent as much time as needed to help you for the right decisions.

3. Building permission:
   Before you start constructing you should get the building permission. To do this you should have your building plans approved by a variety of civil services and pay various taxes and fees including a deposit to the Social Insurance Foundation (IKA in Greek) and the minimum Architectural fees. 
   We Reissi-Tsigarida Architects deal with almost all the paperwork and the building permission process. You (or your rep) only have to provide us with your property's contracts and your settlement with the IKA.
   Note: The building permission is valid for 3 years and after this it is renewed on an annual basis. Fees apply for this.

4. Construction:
   You have a variety of options for your building construction which depend on your presence on Kalymnos island, your free time and the cash availability and flow:

   • Under your supervision:
     You choose individual constructors for each building stage and supervise them. We Reissi-Tsigarida Architects will help you find the constructors at no extra fee and will provide you the supervision included at the minimum Architectural fees.
     Pros: Maximum flexibility, no extra cost. 
     Cons: You must have free time to spend and knowledge to require the quality you paid for and to avoid unnecessary works and costs.

   • Under Reissi-Tsigarida Architects supervision:
     At an extra Supervision fee depending on the level of our involvement we can partially or fully replace you on the construction process described in option 1.
     Pros: Maximum flexibility, total quality control, no unnecessary works and costs. 
     Cons: extra Supervision fees.

   • Total Contract with Reissi-Tsigarida Architects:
     If you are not able or don't want do deal with the construction process we can fully construct and deliver your building "ready to use" at a predefined amount, given that we have agreed on the quality of each building material, on cash flow and on delivery time.
     Pros: Fixed cost, guaranteed quality, no unnecessary works and costs. 
     Cons: Minimum flexibility depending the agreement, contract committing both of us.

   • Total Contract with an independent constructor:
     You can follow the same process with an independent constructor as described in option 3.
     Pros: Fixed cost, no unnecessary works and costs. 
     Cons: Minimum flexibility depending the agreement, contract committing both of you,  guaranteed quality only in combination with option 1 and/or option 2.

Revision of building permission: Needed only if you have done major changes on the plans included in your building permission. New fees apply and time needed as it is like issuing a new building permission ! Avoid it. You can avoid it if you spend the time needed on the design stage.

Final autopsy and connection with electricity an water networks: This is the final stage where your building is checked by the Urban planning office before it gives you the license to get connected with the electricity and water networks. You also need to pay off the IKA and to collect invoices covering the minimum constructing cost.

What are the fees and how much is the cost to build a house ?

The fees and cost for building a house in the 1st part of 2007 were approximately the following:
Minimum Architectural fees: 70 Euro/m2. Rises every 6 months
IKA: 90 Euro/m2. Rises every little and while
Building (normal building materials quality): 800  Euro/m2. Rises every little and while
V.A.T.: 30 Euro/m2
Landscape: Undefined. Depends on the size of the plot, the topology, the configuration and the installations to be done.
Connections with the water and electricity networks: Minimum 2.000 Euro. Final cost depends on the need of network extensions.
 extra Supervision fee: 8-15% of the total cost
 
 

Terminology Explanations

Minimum Architectural fees: This is defined by the size and the usage of the building, the number of the required building studies and approvals and the size of plot. It includes all the studies and procedures needed until you get your building permission and also a typical supervision of the construction on the main building phases.

extra Supervision fees: Fees that apply whenever a more thorough supervision of the building is required. The fees depend on the time required to fulfill the requirements of the involvement. It is a matter of agreement and it can be a percentage of the building cost or a monthly fee or a fixed amount.

Social Insurance Foundation: IKA in Greek. It is the Foundation which gives the pensions and medical care to the labors. When constructing a building you must pay to IKA a minimum amount of labors workdays. Ex. for a house you pay 1.5 workday per square meter of building. Each workday costs at about 60 Euro. So for a house of 100 sq.mt. you need to pay 150 workdays = 9.000 Euro. 

Minimum Constructing Cost: When issuing a building permission a minimum constructing cost is defined, which is much less than the real cost. But before you get the final license to get connected to the electricity and water networks you must present to the Tax Office invoices that are no less than the minimum constructing cost. Thus you have to pay the V.A.T. (6-13%) to the building constructors to get an invoice of their service !