House Estimate in Georgia: What the Price per m² Leaves Out

The construction price in a contract covers labour and materials from the excavation to the final finish. On top of it, a client almost always pays for seven more items: the plot, surveys and design, the permit, utility connections, landscaping with a fence, furniture with appliances, and a contingency for changes. In our experience in Tbilisi and its suburbs these add 10–30% to the contract price, and several times more once the plot is counted. Below we show how this plays out on two completed builds (a 310 m² house in Mtskheta for 1,302,000 GEL and a 180 m² cottage in Batumi for 630,000 GEL) and on a worked example of a 240 m² house on a slope in Tbilisi.

What the price per m² includes and what it does not

A turnkey contract fixes the works inside the building footprint: groundworks and foundation, the concrete frame, walls, roof, windows and external doors, all services inside the house, the facade and the final finish. These are the items behind the 1,250–1,550 GEL/m² rate we break down in the article on budgets for 150, 250 and 350 m² houses. Anything outside the walls of the house, or anything that happens before the contract is signed, is not in that rate.

• Included: foundation, frame, walls, roof, windows, services inside the house, facade, finishes, clean-up and handover with a signed acceptance report.
• Not included: the plot, geology and topographic survey, design, the permit and state fees, utility connections beyond the plot boundary, fence, access road, landscaping, furniture, appliances, third-party technical supervision.
• A separate line: design changes after the start are costed by written agreement and paid from the contingency.

Plot, geology, design

The plot is the largest item outside the contract, and we have no influence on it. We do influence what comes next. A geological survey costs 1,500–3,500 GEL, a topographic survey 600–1,500 GEL. Order both before buying the land: soil type and the level difference determine the foundation, and the foundation is the first 15% of the budget. A full house design with all sections is 60–110 GEL/m² of gross area; our online calculator allows 12,000 GEL for a typical scope. Details are on the design page. In a turnkey build the design is part of the overall contract and sits in the budget, but if you bring your own drawings, an audit of them costs 800–2,000 GEL with a written report.

Permit and approvals

The building permit is issued by the city hall; for a private house you need a full package: an ownership extract, the plot development conditions, and the architectural and structural design. Preparing the package and managing the approval costs 1,500–4,000 GEL with us, excluding state fees. The fees themselves depend on the area and category of the building, and we confirm them for a specific plot. The procedure and timing are described in the article on building permits in Tbilisi. Allow from a few weeks to a couple of months for this stage before the first excavator arrives.

Utility connections: water, drainage, electricity, gas

The house budget ends at the entry point into the house. Everything beyond it (the run to the mains, technical conditions, work by the network operators, off-grid systems) is costed separately after a site visit. What we check and how we choose between a connection and an autonomous solution is covered in the section on utilities on the plot. Benchmarks from our rates:

• Turnkey water supply for a 150–250 m² house (storage tank, pump set, filtration and entry): 4,500–11,000 GEL; the run to the house: 45–90 GEL per linear metre. Borehole drilling is charged by actual depth.
• Drainage without a mains sewer: a 3–5 m³ holding tank costs 2,200–4,000 GEL, a septic tank with a drain field 3,500–6,500 GEL, a biological treatment unit for 4–8 people 5,500–11,000 GEL.
• Backup power: a UPS on critical circuits costs 2,500–7,000 GEL, a 5–12 kW generator with auto-start 6,000–16,000 GEL, a 5–10 kW solar system 9,000–20,000 GEL.
• Gas: the gas distributor's work and the boiler itself are not in the installation price; if there is no pipe nearby, we cost electric heating or a gas holder instead.

Landscaping, fence, access road

In a turnkey build, landscaping, the fence and paths form a separate budget section that we fix before the start, not halfway through the works. Its size depends on the terrain and the area of the plot, not on the size of the house. A corrugated-sheet fence on a footing costs 180–320 GEL per linear metre, a metal picket or wrought-iron fence 320–700 GEL/m, a sliding gate 2,200–5,000 GEL plus 1,200–3,000 GEL for automation. Paving with concrete pavers costs 35–60 GEL/m² for labour, the apron around the house 55–90 GEL per linear metre. A reinforced concrete retaining wall on a slope costs 380–650 GEL/m² of face. An access road: base 55–110 GEL/m², concrete surface 110–190 GEL/m².

Furniture, appliances, equipment

We hand over the house with final finishes, doors and sanitaryware installed. The kitchen, wardrobes, appliances, light fittings, textiles and split air conditioners are not in the contract. Our clients typically spend 350–700 GEL/m² on furnishing, comparable to a whole construction stage. If the house is built for letting, like the cottage in Batumi, add guest equipment: locks, Wi-Fi, appliances in every unit. We lay the low-voltage cabling for all of this at the services stage; the equipment itself is bought by the client.

Contingency for changes

The budget in the contract is fixed, and changes go through written agreement only. But changes happen almost every time: the client decides to move a partition, add underfloor heating on the first floor, upgrade the tiles. So we advise keeping a contingency of 7–10% of the contract price and not spending it at the start. If you want independent control, third-party technical supervision costs 900–2,200 GEL a month for a 150–300 m² house, and an audit of the contract and budget before the start is 400–900 GEL.

How this looks on two builds and a worked example

The Mtskheta and Batumi sums are the construction cost under the contract; both houses are completed and shown in our portfolio. The 240 m² house is a worked example at our rates. What was bought beyond the contract we list as typical items for such a house, not as an extract from the client's documents.

• 240 m² house in Tbilisi, worked example: about 345,000–521,000 GEL at the full-cycle rate plus the slope premium, 9 months. A plot with a 3.2 m level difference: typical extras for such a house are retaining walls and slope drainage, a fence with a sliding gate on an incline, and furnishing two floors with underfloor heating.
• 310 m² house in Mtskheta, 1,302,000 GEL (4,200 GEL/m²), 12 months. The client ran the build from Germany. Typical for this format are separate technical supervision, furniture designed around 22 m² of glazing and panoramic openings, and backup power equipment for the heat recovery unit and fan coils.
• 180 m² cottage in Batumi, 630,000 GEL (3,500 GEL/m²), 7 months. A short-let property: extras usually include furnishing four bathrooms and the bedrooms to Booking standard, electronic locks with Wi-Fi, autonomous drainage where there is no mains sewer, and landscaping for guest parking.

Note the rate per m² on the completed houses: 3,500–4,200 GEL against 1,250–1,550 GEL in typical budgets. The difference comes from panoramic glazing, heat recovery, an inverted roof and seaside waterproofing. The full list of rates is on the prices page.

Can the plot and utilities be included in the contract?

The plot: no, that is a deal between you and the seller. Utilities, landscaping, the fence and the road: yes, provided the plot is checked before the house is designed. Then they enter the overall schedule and budget as separate sections, rather than appearing as an unplanned cost in the middle of the build.

How much to set aside beyond the contract for a 250 m² house?

Excluding the plot: design and surveys 15,000–25,000 GEL, permit with support 1,500–4,000 GEL plus state fees, utilities from 8,000 to 30,000 GEL, landscaping and fence 28,000–55,000 GEL, furnishing 90,000–175,000 GEL, contingency 7–10% of the contract. The total depends more on the plot than on the house, so we give an exact figure after a site visit.

How is the contract paid, and what protects against price increases?

An advance of no more than 15%, then stage payments against signed acceptance reports. The budget is fixed in lari; changes only by written agreement. The contract sets a penalty for missed deadlines, and the structure carries a 10-year warranty.

Which is cheaper: connecting to the mains or going off-grid?

It depends on the distance to the connection point and the ground. On a remote plot a borehole with a pump station and a septic tank often works out cheaper than a long run of pipes. We cost both options after inspecting the plot and show the difference in figures.

Want to see the full budget, not just the price per m²? Send us the address or cadastral code of the plot and we will visit, check the utilities and terrain, cost the house and, separately, everything that comes on top. Request a costing.