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House construction time calculator
How long a house takes to build in Pakistan, from the drawings to handover: the months on site for your covered area, storeys and finish, a stage by stage timeline, the month you can expect the keys, and the money each stage needs.
- Build times as of September 2026
- Answers as you type
- Free, no sign-up
Calculator
Plan your build
Give the plot size and storeys, or the covered area from your drawings, then the finish, the crew and the month you start.
Time to build
- Grey structure
- 4 to 6 monthsexcavation to plaster
- Handover
- Sep 2027 to Jan 2028drawings from November 2026
- Before work starts
- 1.5 monthson site from December 2026
- Money needed
- Rs 1.95 croremiddle estimate, Lahore
The concrete and plaster work misses the monsoon (June to September), the best way to keep the grey structure on time.
Money stage by stage
- Excavation and foundationsDec 2026 to Jan 2027 · 10%
- Rs 2,020,000
- Ground floor frame and lenterJan to Feb 2027 · 10%
- Rs 2,020,000
- First floor frame and lenterFeb to Apr 2027 · 10%
- Rs 2,020,000
- Brick wallsFeb to Apr 2027 · 10%
- Rs 2,019,000
- Pipes and conduitsFeb to May 2027 · 7%
- Rs 1,346,000
- PlasterMar to May 2027 · 7%
- Rs 1,346,000
- RoofApr 2027 · 2%
- Rs 449,000
- FlooringMay to Aug 2027 · 11%
- Rs 2,145,000
- Wiring, tanks and pumpsMay to Aug 2027 · 6%
- Rs 1,155,000
- Doors, windows and woodworkJun to Sep 2027 · 14%
- Rs 2,640,000
- PaintAug to Nov 2027 · 5%
- Rs 990,000
- FixturesSep to Nov 2027 · 7%
- Rs 1,320,000
- Total
- Rs 19,470,000
See the month by month timeline
Build times from builders' published timelines, the same as the house construction cost calculator. Money at its middle estimate, rates as of September 2026, without the land, approval fees and utility connections. A typical order of work, not a builder's programme.
Your build
Month by month timeline
A 10 marla double storey (3,300 sq ft covered) with a standard finish, starting November 2026: each stage at the middle of the range, overlapping as it does on site.
| Stage | When | Takes |
|---|---|---|
| Drawings and map approval | November to December 2026 | 7 weeks |
| Excavation and foundations | December 2026 to January 2027 | 3 weeks |
| Ground floor frame and lenter | January to February 2027 | 6 weeks |
| First floor frame and lenter | February to April 2027 | 6 weeks |
| Brick walls | February to April 2027 | 2 months |
| Pipes and conduits | February to May 2027 | 2.5 months |
| Plaster | March to May 2027 | 2 months |
| Roof | April 2027 | 3 weeks |
| Flooring | May to August 2027 | 2.5 months |
| Wiring, tanks and pumps | May to August 2027 | 3 months |
| Doors, windows and woodwork | June to September 2027 | 3.5 months |
| Paint | August to November 2027 | 3 months |
| Fixtures | September to November 2027 | 7 weeks |
| Snagging and handover | November 2027 | 2 weeks |
The shaded months are June to September, the monsoon. Bars show when a stage is under way, not that its crew works every day of it: the frame, for one, spends much of its time waiting for concrete to cure.
Reference
House construction time by plot size
Months on site from the first dig to handover for a double storey with the covered area a house on each plot usually has, worked out the same way as the calculator.
| House | Covered area | Grey structure | Complete | With a large crew |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 marla | 1,200 sq ft | 2 to 4 months | 6 to 8 months | 5 to 6 months |
| 5 marla | 2,000 sq ft | 3 to 5 months | 7 to 10 months | 5 to 8 months |
| 7 marla | 2,650 sq ft | 4 to 6 months | 8 to 12 months | 6 to 9 months |
| 10 marla | 3,300 sq ft | 4 to 6 months | 9 to 13 months | 7 to 10 months |
| 1 kanal | 6,000 sq ft | 5 to 8 months | 12 to 16 months | 9 to 12 months |
Standard finish, no basement. Add 1 to 2 months before work starts for the drawings and the map approval, about 1 month for a basement and about 2 for a premium finish.
Stage by stage
How a house is built, in order
Each stage as it runs on a 10 marla double storey with a standard finish, about 5 months for the grey structure and 6 for the finishing. Stages overlap, as they do on site.
Drawings and map approval
The architect's plans and the structural drawings, then the approval of your society or development authority: usually 1 to 2 months before any work on site. DHA Lahore's 2026 regulations give it 21 working days to check the drawings, and the clock starts again if they are sent back.
Excavation and foundations
Digging, the footings, the plinth and the damp-proof course: about 3 weeks.
Frame and lenter, floor by floor
Columns, beams and the slab (lenter) over each floor, about 6 weeks a floor, most of it waiting for the concrete to cure before the next floor goes on.
Walls, pipes and conduits
The brick walls start once the ground floor lenter is cast and take about 2 months. The water, drain and gas pipes and the electrical conduits go into them before they are plastered.
Plaster and the roof
Plaster inside and out takes about 2 months and completes the grey structure. On the roof, the mumty, the parapet, the insulation and the waterproofing take about 3 weeks.
Floors and wiring
Floor tiles or marble, and the bathroom and kitchen walls, about 2.5 months, while the electrician pulls the wires and fits the tanks and pumps.
Doors, windows and woodwork
Made in the carpenter's shop from the start of the finishing and fitted over about 3.5 months: doors, windows, grills, the kitchen and the wardrobes.
Paint, fixtures and handover
Putty, primer and paint over about 3 months, then the sanitary ware, taps, lights and switch plates, a snag list, the cleaning and the utility connections.
How it is worked out
From covered area to months
The months on site are the ones builders publish for houses they have built, set by the covered area: every floor, measured to the outside of the walls. A 5 marla double storey takes 7 to 10 months from the first dig to handover, a 10 marla 9 to 13 and a 1 kanal 12 to 16, with the grey structure taking 3 to 5, 4 to 6 and 5 to 8 months of that. Sizes in between are drawn along the same lines. These are the same figures as the house construction cost calculator, so the two agree.
A basement adds about 1 month, because the digging, the retaining walls and the waterproofing come before anything else can start, and a premium finish about 2 more for imported materials and detailed woodwork. A large crew, about half as many workers again with a second set of shuttering, cuts the grey structure by about 20% and the finishing by about 25%: concrete takes the same days to cure however many hands there are.
The timeline lays the stages out in the order a Pakistani site works, with the overlaps a real site has: the walls rise once the first lenter is cast, the pipes and conduits go into the walls before the plaster, and the doors and cabinets are made in the carpenter's shop while the floors are laid. It is drawn at the middle of the range. The months for the drawings and the map approval come first, if you give them.
The money for each stage is its share of the house construction cost calculator's estimate: the frame and slabs are the biggest part of the grey structure, the woodwork and the floors the biggest part of the finishing. Leave the budget empty to use the middle estimate for your city, or type your own figure or a builder's quote to split that instead.
Weather
The monsoon, the heat and the best time to start
June to September is the monsoon. Rain stops concrete pours, washes fresh plaster and mortar, and leaves a site too wet to work for a day or two, so builders plan the grey structure outside it where they can. The calculator checks which months your concrete, plaster and roof work fall in, and adds about a week to the high end for every month of it in the rains.
A start on site in any month from October to January gets a 10 marla double storey's grey structure up before June. For a 5 marla house the window is October to February, and for 1 kanal, which takes longer, October to November. The finishing can carry on through the rains, because most of it is indoors.
May and June bring the other problem: heat. Concrete that dries too fast loses strength, so slabs and columns need to be kept wet for longer and pours are best made early in the morning. Winter is the easiest season for concrete, and fog holds up little but the deliveries.
On site
Terms you will hear
- Grey structure
- The house without its finishes: foundations, frame, slabs, walls, plaster and the roof treatment, with the pipes and conduits in the walls. The first half of the build, and the part the weather can hold up.
- Lenter
- The reinforced concrete slab that roofs a floor, cast in one go on shuttering. A double storey has two, and a small one over the mumty.
- Shuttering
- The formwork of steel plates or wooden planks, on props, that holds wet concrete in shape. It stays under a slab until the concrete can carry itself, which is what sets the pace of the frame.
- Curing
- Keeping fresh concrete and plaster wet for the first days, so they set strong rather than dry out and crack. It cannot be hurried by adding workers.
- Snag list
- The list of faults and unfinished bits walked through before handover, from a door that sticks to a missing switch plate, that the builder puts right before handing over the keys.
Questions
Construction time questions
Still have a question?
Ask our team during Pakistan business hours, in English or Urdu.
+92 333 2466662Chat on WhatsAppHow long does it take to build a house in Pakistan?
From the first dig to handover, a 5 marla double storey takes about 7 to 10 months, a 10 marla 9 to 13 months and a 1 kanal 12 to 16 months with a standard finish. Add 1 to 2 months before that for the drawings and the map approval, about 1 month for a basement and about 2 for a premium finish.
What is the construction schedule for a 10 marla house?
About 9 to 13 months on site. Excavation and foundations take about 3 weeks, then each floor's frame and lenter about 6 weeks, with the walls, pipes and plaster following, so the grey structure is up in 4 to 6 months. The finishing takes the rest: floors, then woodwork, paint and fixtures, with a snag list and handover at the end. The calculator draws the whole timeline month by month from your start month.
How long does the grey structure take?
About 3 to 5 months for a 5 marla double storey, 4 to 6 for 10 marla and 5 to 8 for 1 kanal, from excavation to the end of the plaster. Most of it is the frame: each floor's lenter has to cure before the next floor goes on. A basement adds about 1 month, and a monsoon in the middle of it can add a few weeks.
How long does finishing take after the grey structure?
Usually a little longer than the grey structure: about 4 to 5 months for a 5 marla house and 5 to 7 for 10 marla with a standard finish, and about 2 months more for a premium one. It goes fastest when the tiles, doors, kitchen and fittings are chosen and ordered before the plaster is finished.
How long does map approval take?
Allow 1 to 2 months for the drawings and the approval together. The approval itself is set by your society or development authority: DHA Lahore's 2026 regulations give it 21 working days to check the drawings, restarting if they are sent back for changes, and the approved drawings stay valid for two years. The same regulations expect the house to be finished within two years of approval.
Does the monsoon delay construction?
Yes, the grey structure. Rain from June to September stops concrete pours and outside plaster, so the calculator adds about a week to the high end for every month of concrete and plaster work in the rains. A start on site in any month from October to January gets a 10 marla house's grey structure up before June.
How can I build my house faster?
Keep the money ready for each stage, choose the tiles, doors and fittings early, and agree with the builder on the crew. A large crew, about half as many workers again with a second set of shuttering, takes a 10 marla house from 9 to 13 months down to about 7 to 10 (5 to 8 for 5 marla, 9 to 12 for 1 kanal). Concrete still needs its days to cure, so the grey structure shortens less than the finishing.
When will I need the money during construction?
The grey structure takes about 58% of a standard house's cost, all in its first 4 to 6 months for a 10 marla house, with the frame and slabs the biggest single part. The finishing money follows over the rest of the build, most of it for the floors and the woodwork. The calculator shows each stage's money against its months.
Keep the build on schedule
Smart Construction plans the schedule and the milestones of every job, and keeps the work, the payments and the handover date on time.
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