Five stages, and what you get at the end of each one.
Construction goes wrong in predictable places. This sequence exists to catch each of them while they are still cheap to fix — and to make sure you can see where the project stands without having to stand on the site.
- Stages
- 05
- Ref
- DCW-M-01
Most problems are decided before anyone lifts a tool.
The expensive failures on a construction project are rarely failures of craft. They are decisions that were never made, materials that were never ordered, a level that was never checked, or two trades arriving at the same place on the same morning.
All of those are preventable, and all of them are prevented in the same way: by doing the thinking before the work, writing it down, and checking against it as you go. That is what a method is for. It is not paperwork for its own sake — it is the reason a project finishes when it said it would.
The five stages below are how that works in practice, and what you should expect to receive at the end of each of them.
A method, not a quotation.
Construction goes wrong in predictable places. This sequence exists to catch each of them while they are still cheap to fix.
- 01
Consultation
We start with what you are trying to achieve, the site, the budget you have in mind and when you need it finished.
This is a conversation, not a sales call. Some enquiries turn out to need an architect or a structural engineer before a contractor is any use at all, and it is better to say so at this point than three months later.
A clear view of whether and how we can help, and what happens next.
- 02
Site Assessment
We visit the site, take levels and dimensions, and look at access, ground conditions, services and boundaries.
What a site looks like on a plan and what it is like to build on are different things. Access for plant and deliveries, where water goes, what is already buried and how the ground behaves all change the cost and the programme, and all of them are cheaper to discover now.
A site assessment covering constraints that affect cost and programme.
- 03
Planning & Engineering
Drawings, quantities, method and programme are worked out before anyone breaks ground.
Scope is written down, quantities are measured from the drawings, the build sequence is set and long-lead materials are identified. This is the stage where problems are cheap to solve — an hour of planning here removes days of standing time later.
A priced scope, a programme with dated stages, and an agreed method.
- 04
Construction & Execution
The work is built to the drawings, inspected at each stage, and reported on as it goes.
Work proceeds against the programme with defined hold points — reinforcement before a pour, levels before backfill, services before a slab closes over them. Nothing is covered up before it has been checked, and anything that changes is recorded in writing before it is built.
Regular progress reporting, stage inspection records and written variations.
- 05
Handover
Snags are closed out, records are handed over, and you get a building with its paperwork.
A project is not finished when the work stops. The snag list is closed in writing, the site is cleared, and the records — as-built drawings, test results, material approvals and warranties — are handed over as a set. That file is what makes the building maintainable for the next twenty years.
A closed snag list and a complete handover file.
The moments work stops to be checked.
PLATE 01What you keep, after we leave.
A building without its records is a building nobody can maintain, alter, insure or sell without starting the investigation again.
- 01As-built drawings, marked where the build differed from the design
- 02Stage inspection records and photographs taken before cover-up
- 03Concrete delivery tickets and cube test results
- 04Material approvals and product data sheets
- 05Written variations, with the agreement that preceded each
- 06Warranties and guarantees from suppliers and specialists
- 07A closed snag list, signed off
What we hold ourselves to, in the absence of anyone watching.
Workmanship
The quality of a building is decided by details that are covered up within days — cover to reinforcement, compaction under a slab, a properly formed joint. We build those the same way whether or not anyone is looking, because they are the parts that cannot be put right later.
Engineering precision
Dimensions, levels and specifications come from the drawings and are checked against them on site. Where a drawing cannot be built as issued, we raise it with the designer rather than adjusting it ourselves.
Safety
Site safety is a planning decision before it is a site one. Access, edge protection, excavation support and plant movement are worked out before the work starts, and the site is set up so the safe way of doing a job is also the practical one.
Reliability
A programme is only useful if it is honest. We would rather give a date we can meet than one you want to hear, and tell you early when something has moved, while there is still time to react.
Communication
You get one point of contact who knows the project, regular progress updates, and a direct answer when you ask a direct question. Decisions that need a client response come with a deadline attached, so nothing stalls quietly.
Accountability
Work is inspected at defined stages and recorded before it is covered. Variations are agreed in writing before they are built. At the end you receive a handover file, so what was done is documented rather than remembered.
Start with a consultation.
The first stage costs you a conversation. It usually settles whether the project is ready for a contractor, and what it would take to price it properly.