Your own house in Adjara: the path from plot to keys

You can build your own house in Adjara by the sea, on a slope overlooking the bay or in the mountains. The path is the same for everyone: plot, surveys, design, permit, construction, commissioning and registration. The details differ: the ground, the slope, the road, the utilities and which city hall issues the permit. Below are the steps and where time and money are most often lost.

Building a house in Adjara: start with the plot

The main check of a plot is legal. From the Public Registry extract we check the owner, area, boundaries and land use. Agricultural land is not suitable for a house without a change of use, and the law restricts its purchase by foreigners. Then we look at what is not in the extract: access, electricity, water and sewerage nearby, the neighbours, limits on height and building density. More about checking land is on the page about buying a plot of land.

A good plot by the sea often turns out to be wet, and a plot with a view on a slope comes with a gradient that eats the budget for retaining walls and a road. This is better found out before the deposit. We also check whether there are buildings on the plot that are not in the registry and whether there are boundary disputes with neighbours. Setting out the boundaries on site before purchase is inexpensive and removes many questions.

Surveys: what is under the ground

Before the design you need a topographic survey and geology. The topographic survey gives the relief and exact boundaries; geology shows what the ground is and at what depth the water lies. By the sea from Chakvi to Gonio groundwater is often close to the surface; on slopes there are landslide areas and rock outcrops. The foundation, basement, drainage and estimate depend on this data. What surveys include is described on the page about site surveys.

Design: from sketch to working drawings

First a sketch: layouts, number of floors, position of the house on the plot, views from the windows. Then the architectural design for the permit and the structural section with calculations. Adjara is seismically active, and structural calculation here is required, not a formality. The engineering sections, electrics, water, sewerage and ventilation, make it possible to estimate costs accurately rather than by eye. A good design takes the climate into account: wide roof overhangs and sills against driving rain, a ventilated underfloor space, facade materials that can stand salt by the sea and frost in the mountains. The design process is described on the page about house design.

The building permit

The permit is issued by the city hall of the municipality where the plot is. For all of Batumi, including Makhinjauri, Gonio and Kvariati, this is the Batumi city hall. Chakvi, Tsikhisdziri and Kobuleti come under the Kobuleti city hall, Sarpi and the villages of Khelvachauri Municipality under the Khelvachauri city hall, and mountain Adjara under the city halls of Keda, Shuakhevi and Khulo. The procedure is similar: building conditions, design approval, permit. The timing depends on the class of the building and how complete the documents are. How we prepare the package and handle approvals is described on the page about the building permit.

Construction: contractor, stages, control

Construction is easiest to run with one general contractor responsible for deadlines, quality and coordination of all work, from the foundation to finishing. Payment goes by stage, and each stage is closed with a certificate and photos. It is worth providing separately for technical supervision that checks reinforcement before concreting and hidden work before it is closed up. Some materials are made in Georgia, some come from Turkey and other countries. Windows, roofing and engineering equipment are ordered in advance so that the construction does not wait for them. How general contracting works is described on the page about general contracting.

The weather in Adjara affects the schedule. Concrete and masonry are not done in downpours, the roof and facade are best closed before the autumn rains, and in the mountains construction often stops in winter because of snow.

Commissioning and registration

A finished house has to be commissioned and registered in the Public Registry. Without this it is hard to sell, mortgage at a bank or connect fully to the utilities. If something deviated from the design during construction, it is resolved before commissioning, not after. Utilities are connected by the electricity, water and gas suppliers under their own rules and timelines, so we file applications while construction is still going on; otherwise a finished house may stand for weeks without power. How this procedure works is described on the page about commissioning.

If you are building from abroad

Many people build a house in Adjara while living in another country. This is possible if someone on site accepts the stages, signs certificates under a power of attorney and sends clear reports: photos, videos, spending against the estimate. This is how we run construction for clients abroad. The owner approves the design and estimate, and after that decisions are made from an agreed list, without daily calls. The whole process, from buying the plot to the keys, usually takes one to two years, depending on the size of the house and plot and how quickly approvals go.