Brick By Brick
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Brick By Brick

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Concept note

About the Brick By Brick collective pvt. ltd

Brick by Brick is a social enterprise that facilitates the affordable home building process for low-income rural households by providing beneficiaries of government housing welfare schemes access to technical skills, equipment and indigenous design knowledge to reduce building costs and improve living conditions

The Problem statement

The issue that was identified eight years ago in IAY is still pertinent in the case of PMAY-G — the responsibility for the construction of the house rests with the beneficiary and there is no proper supervision of the quality. It is silent on the quality of the houses constructed. The beneficiary is also not aware of the ideal way forward for construction.
It was found that about 80% of the beneficiaries have invested additional funds for constructing their PMAY-G assisted houses. Reports have also found poor convergence of PMAY-G with other programs such as water, sanitation, waste management, electricity, cooking gas and other amenities.
The ministry has provided ideal prototypes and construction plans, which people in attempt to upgrade themselves follow but do not suit the their personal needs and lifestyle. Additionally, Local laborers and artisans undertaking the construction activities have negligible technical know how about cost effective and environment friendly building materials and construction techniques.

The Brick by Brick solution

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Participatory design
Beneficiaries (assisted by a trained local partners) access a web-based application that provides a click-to-design interface based on key contextual data such as area available, location, climate and geographical conditions, etc.
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Design Data generation
An online design report is generated, which outlines types, quantities and costs of building materials to be procured. A retainer fee (tbd) is charged for usage.
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Procurement
Brick by Brick procures material at cost-price on behalf of the beneficiaries.
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On-site training
The beneficiaries receive hands-on training for operation of equipment and construction techniques depending on the selected building systems.
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Construction via empowerment
Appropriate production equipment is provided free of cost to local partners. After the required consumption of produced units (eg. bricks, bamboo sheets, door/window frames) they generate a revenue that is shared with Brick by brick before the equipment moves to a new location (optional).
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The Pilot

Brick by Brick has assisted a household in Gorthan village, Jawahar (Palghar district) in getting access to the PMAY-G funds. They also participated in the particpatory design exercise to conceptualise an aspirational home.
The cost per sq.ft of this house is estimated to be Rs. 220. According to the PMAY, the minimum area to be considered is 25 sq.m or 269 sq.ft. With approximately 1.30 lakh rupees to utilise + 90 labour days worth funds, the beneficiaries were able to design a 600 sq.ft home instead.
Design choices such as building materials, orientation, type of structure, etc. have been selected for maximum performance on metrics of climate sensitivity and resilience. The pilot will assess indicators such as indoor climate, lighting and ventilation, resistance to extremes and easy maintenance and repair.
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Brick by Brick invests in the procurement of a compressed earth block (CEB) making machine, training of local partners and beneficiaries and the development of a computer-aided design interface.
The pilot tests the revenue stream driven by the sale of surplus bricks sold in local markets in partnership with our local partners. At scale, an aggregation of homes can be serviced using a centralised production and distribution chain (again operated by local partners).
Brick By Brick charges an end-to-end professional service fee to private corporations who wish to invest in building rural communities as part of their organisational activities.
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