Half the disputes between builders and owners come from a different definition of what 'grey structure' includes. Here is ours — line by line — and the line items that are inside vs outside the grey-structure contract.
What's inside
- Site preparation: levelling, plot pegs, hoarding, water source, electricity tap, temporary site office.
- Excavation: for foundation, plinth, basement (if specified), and septic tank.
- Foundation: PCC base, anti-termite treatment, reinforced concrete foundation, plinth beams.
- Superstructure: columns, beams, slabs (ground floor, first floor, second floor, roof) in reinforced concrete.
- Brickwork: 9-inch external walls, 4.5-inch internal partition walls, Class-A clay bricks.
- Plaster: internal (1:4 mix) and external (1:3 mix).
- Roof slab: with waterproofing membrane and parapet wall.
- Electrical rough-in: conduits, junction boxes, panel position. No wires, no switches.
- Sanitary rough-in: all pipes for water supply, drainage, and gas. No fixtures, no fittings.
- Boundary wall: standard height, plain plaster, gate columns.
- Curing: 14–21 days of water curing on every slab and column.
What's outside
- Doors, windows, glazing
- Tiles, marble, granite (any flooring or wall cladding)
- Paint (internal or external)
- Kitchen cabinets, wardrobes, woodwork
- Electrical wiring, switches, fittings, lights
- Sanitary fittings: WCs, basins, taps, showers
- Air conditioning, exhaust fans, gas appliances
- Driveway, landscaping, gates (steel or wood)
- Boundary wall finish (cladding, stones, paint)
The grey-to-turnkey handoff
At grey structure completion, the building is a weathertight, plastered shell. You can walk through it, lock the front door, and leave it standing for years. From here, the turnkey contract takes over: doors and windows go in first, then plumbing fixtures, then electrical, then flooring, then paint. Total turnkey timeline on a 1 Kanal is 5–7 months on top of the grey structure.
What changes between builders
Some builders include doors and windows in their grey-structure contract; we don't, because the door and window choices are spec-driven and we'd rather not have you locked into the cheapest aluminium-frame option just because it was bundled. Some builders exclude plaster; we always include it. Some builders charge separately for boundary wall; we include it because every grey structure needs a defined site perimeter from day one.
The single most useful contract clause
Every grey-structure contract we issue has a "scope deviation" clause that states explicitly: if you ask us to add something during the build that wasn't in the original scope (a wall moved, an extra balcony, deeper foundation for a future basement), we quote it in writing before we start. No surprises at completion.