Building in Mexico · free checklist
House-building budget checklist for Mexico: based on my Chiapas build
The item list behind my cost breakdown for the house I built in Chiapas, from the obvious lines to the easy-to-miss ones: the lime for the render, the street electricity connection, the gas regulator and, on a two-storey house, the slab between the floors.
Tick what your own build needs, then get local quotes for those lines. My prices for each section are on the cost page. One self-managed build, not a contractor’s quote or a national price list.
How to use it
1 · Select
Tick the lines your build needs
2 · Price
Get local quotes and check what each one includes
3 · Add a margin
Add a contingency; my worked example uses 10–20%
My prices for each section are on the cost page. Your selections save in this browser, and the list prints.
01 · Land paperwork
Land paperwork & permits
Excludes the price of the land itself (section 9).
My figures for this section · Buying land in Mexico as a foreigner
02 · Site & footings
Site & footings
On my build the footings followed the ground-floor footprint, not the number of rooms. A second storey shared them, but needed its own slab.
From the actual build
03 · The shell
The shell (obra gris)
What goes into each room’s walls, columns and slabs. A two-storey house also needs the slab between the storeys.
My figures for this section · Brick vs block in Mexico · Tin roof vs concrete roof
04 · Liveable finishes
Finishes: the liveable core
Render, windows and paint: what you need before you can live in it.
05 · Finishes for later
Finishes you can add later
Floors and interior doors can be phased in room by room after you move in — some of our rooms are still poured concrete.
06 · Electrical
Electrical
Wiring, the street connection and the conduit people leave out.
07 · Water & plumbing
Water & plumbing: the house system
Cistern, pump, roof tank and the plumbing that connects them. A deep well is not included (section 9).
My figures for this section · How my water system works
08 · Forgotten extras
Fixtures & the things people leave out
These rarely make a first estimate, then arrive all at once near the end.
09 · Site-dependent
Site-dependent: not in my totals
My cost page leaves these out of the house total on purpose. Tick any that apply to your site.
What my totals leave out · Living on rainwater
10 · Your own lines
Your own lines
Anything I haven’t listed. Write it in when you print the list, or add it to the spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet
Get the same checklist as a budget spreadsheet
The same items, with my paid prices and estimates where I have them, a column for yours, and a status for each line as it firms up: ~ estimate, then quote, then ✓ paid. The summary adds a contingency, shows the total in dollars, and tells you how much of your budget is still guesswork.
I’ll email you a link to download it (an .xlsx spreadsheet). New subscribers confirm their email address first. Signing up also adds you to my occasional newsletter about building and living in Chiapas. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Questions
Questions about budgeting a house build in Mexico
What should a budget for building a house in Mexico include?
Land paperwork and permits, the footings, the shell, the finishes (the liveable core first, floors and interior doors later), the electrics, the water system and the fixtures that are easy to leave out, plus anything your site needs, such as a well, a perimeter wall or work on a slope. The land itself is a separate line. The list above follows what I had to plan for on my own build in Chiapas.
Which costs are easiest to leave out of a house-building budget?
From my build: the render materials on top of the render labour, the street electricity connection, the kitchen counter and sink, the gas tank and regulator, stairs for a second storey, sealing a concrete roof and, on a two-storey house, the slab between the floors.
How much contingency should I add?
My worked example on the cost page adds 10–20% on top of the line-by-line total, for overruns, price changes and the surprises that come up on most builds.
Does this checklist include the land?
Yes, in section 9, as a line for your own budget. My cost page keeps it out of the house-building totals, because land prices swing too widely to fold in honestly. The land paperwork and permits are in section 1.
Written by Luke Burchell
I self-managed the construction of my own house in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, and kept the receipts. This checklist is the item list behind my cost breakdown.