From sketch to building permit
Seven phases, one schedule: how a project runs with us from the first conversation to approval.
by Marta Lindner
The most common sentence in a first meeting is: how long does all this take? The honest answer: for a single-family house, nine to fourteen months usually pass between the first sketch and the building permit, and most of that is planning, not waiting.
We work in seven phases. During the initial appraisal we clarify the budget, the requirements and what planning law allows on the site. Then comes the preliminary design with two or three genuine alternatives, so you can compare rather than simply approve. Only after that is a single design developed in depth.
Before the permit application comes the conversation with the authority. A preliminary enquiry costs little time and settles contested points such as ridge height or boundary distances before they turn into a rejection. Those weeks are the best-invested time in the whole project.
After that, detailed design, tendering and site supervision take over. You receive a schedule from us that names the start and end of every phase, and a monthly cost report set alongside the original calculation.