Six phases. You always know which one you are in.
Most renovations go wrong in the gap between "we are starting" and "we are nearly done". This is what happens in that gap, what you receive at the end of each phase, and what it costs you if you stop.
6Phases, each with a deliverable
91%Delivered on or before the date
1Project manager, named, start to finish
52Fridays a year with a photo log
What each phase actually is.
- 01/ Survey
- 02/ Scope and budget
- 03/ Design and selections
- 04/ Permit and pre-construction
- 05/ Construction
- 06/ Close-out
You can stop after any phase. What you have been given up to that point is yours, and it is legible to any other contractor.
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01/
Survey
1 week · $2,400
Two people, one day on site. We measure the building rather than the drawings, open one wall where the risk sits, and record the waste line, the structure, the panel capacity and every defect we can see or reasonably infer.
You get A measured drawing, a photographed defect list and a priced scope. Yours to keep, and to take to another contractor if you want a second number.
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02/
Scope and budget
2-3 weeks
Every line priced against what the survey found, not against an average. Where a choice is still open it is written as a range with the date the decision has to be made, so a late selection cannot quietly become a change order.
You get A fixed-scope contract. Nothing in it says "allowance" without a number and a date beside it.
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03/
Design and selections
3-5 weeks
Layouts, elevations and every finish chosen before demolition rather than during it. Long-lead items are identified here, because a six-week tile is a six-week delay if it is chosen in week nine.
You get A drawing set, a selection schedule and the order dates that actually govern the programme.
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04/
Permit and pre-construction
2-6 weeks
Permit filed and tracked in Chicago; câmara approval coordinated in Lisboa. Long-lead items ordered against the schedule. Dust containment, floor protection and the route the crew will use are built before anything is demolished.
You get The construction schedule, phase by phase, with dates you can hold us to.
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05/
Construction
5-22 weeks
One project manager, the same crew from first day to last, and a photo log every Friday whether there is good news in it or not. When something is found behind a wall you get photographs, at least two options and the schedule impact of each before anyone touches it.
You get A weekly written update, and draw requests only against phases that are finished.
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06/
Close-out
1 week
The punch list is walked with you, in the room, not emailed to you. Every appliance manual, warranty document and as-built drawing is handed over in one set rather than promised and forgotten.
You get A two-year written workmanship warranty, and the phone number of the person who ran your job.
What happens when we are wrong.
Nine per cent of our projects miss the contracted date. When the cause is ours — a sequencing error, a trade we failed to book, a measurement we took badly — the delay is ours and the price does not move. When the cause is a change you asked for, we price it and re-date the schedule before the work starts, in writing, and you decide.
A contractor who has never been late has never told you the truth about a schedule.
Phase one is a Tuesday.
Two people, one day, and by the end of the week you have a measured drawing, a defect list and a number. Nothing after that is a surprise, which is the whole point of doing it first.