Getting from sketch to home

It takes a lot of experience and perseverance to get from the first dreamy sketch to a finished and livable family home.

The 3 main phases

1. Planning

In the planning phase, we develop the project. First with initial conversations about needs, desires and dreams, which later become more and more concrete drawings.

2. Tender

In the tender phase, we create all of the material needed for a main contractor, or several, to submit tenders for the project. When the bids come in, they must be compared so that you can choose the right one for the project.

3. Build

In the construction phase, the main contractor has the largest delivery. Here, we assist with advice especially in relation to project changes along the way. We also assist in holding the main contractor up on offers and agreements. Finally, we assist with the preparation of the delivery business.

Planning

1. Program

The first step is to uncover needs, desires and dreams. We jointly build the program for what can and should happen. We typically do this by having a list of things you would like to include in the project. It can be both the number of rooms or certain materials, or the location on the plot. We find out through conversations, both physically and online.

The basis is always a floor plan, if new build, or the existing drawings for renovation as well as alterations and extensions. We typically have good access to existing drawings in the municipalities' webarkiv > or weblager >. We find the BBR message on the Public Information Server >. The cadastral maps and height maps are typically found by searching the individual municipality's webgis map. Later in the process, a real cadastral map from a surveyor will be required.

2. Sketching

The sketching is initially done by hand. I draw on tracing paper. This is where the spacious experiences are created. Typically, I outline, we meet and review the considerations built into the sketches and how I have arrived at my recommendations, as well as what alternatives and detours I have sorted out along the way. I develop the best solution based on the program, which is why, typically, alternatives are not better solutions. They are normally not relevant.

3. Disposition

Hand drawings are really good in the creative phase and when the outlines are drawn. When you need correct measurements of where the bed is, or how many kitchen cabinets there is room for, more precise tools are needed. This is where the disposition comes in.

Here we draw up the existing drawings, or you obtain the cadastral drawing from a surveyor (if you do not already have it). Then we draw up the hand sketches. Additional sketching and alignment can easily occur as the correct measurements present themselves. Maybe there is more space than expected or maybe there is less, and we will have to loop back to sketching, to clarify parts of the project.

It is also in the disposition that we build the 3D model. The model is an important part of our work process, and can not be omitted. We use it actively to clarify spaciousnesses that can be difficult to sense in 2D drawings or sketches. The 3D model is later used to "cut" sections, both for the possible Building Notification or Application, and for the main project itself. With the 3D model, it will also be possible to experience the project in VR, as well as create photorealistic images and films.

4. Building permit

If you are building new, extending, remodeling an apartment or changing the facade of a house worthy of preservation, you must submit a Building Notification or Application. We usually help you with this via the Byg og miljø-site >
There is a lot of technical documentation that must be present at the Approval of Completion of the build, and it makes very good sense to have the documentation ready when submitting the project, as you are then sure that you can actually get a Approval of Completion. The Approval of Completion can also be an important piece of documentation in relation to the bank and the completion of any short-term credits.

When developing the drawings, we build on the disposition drawings, and account for the built percentage and the buildings distances to the site boundaries. The engineer is called upon to make an energy or heat loss calculation. The geotechnician makes a soil survey and the surveyor outlines and marks the construction site according to plans and actual site boundaries. The engineer or the sewage entrepreneur calculates the ability of the ground to let rainwater seep in, and calculates how large an area is fortified (buildings, terraces and tiles).
I upload the Building Application. And then we wait...

First we wait on possible clarifying questions from the municipality's screening function, then on a confirming message that the material is adequate. From here, the municipality's service goals are counted. The service goal is counted in the days it takes on average to have your case processed. In some municipalities that may be 90 days, others 150 days. It depends on staffing and the overall complexity of cases. The service goal is updated regularly, which means that the average time before you get the approval can change from day to day.

5. Main project

While the municipality proces the application, if this is the case with your project, we spend some of the time creating the main project. This is where we describe the project in drawings in such detail that it can be built. I call them "knife-and-fork drawings" because now they do not have to tell about the spacious experiences, like the sketches. Now they have to order the contractors to do a piece of work in a certain way. Therefore, the drawings are full of technical information and not so pretty to look at, and there are many of them. Typically, we land on a number between 30 and 40 drawings on A3-sized paper

Tender

6. The tender documents

Once the drawings in the main project are in place, we know how the project is to be carried out, and can therefore start building all the documentation that is to be included in a tender. It is on the basis of the tender that the main contractors submit their bids.

The tender dossier must therefore include:

  • Tender letter to the bidders, with the tender's general information

  • The construction contracts

  • Template for any supplementary agreements

  • Material list

  • Drawings

  • Descriptive offer list

  • A. B. Consumer Agreement

  • Organisation diagram

  • Painting descriptions

If you are "crafty" and project manage the project yourself, in this phase, you can advantageously buy access to all the templates in our agreement library.

7. Project reviews

Before bidding, the bidding main contractors need the entire team of their subcontractors to see the plot or house. This is called a project review. There will be many questions to the tender material, good ideas on alternative solutions (after all, these are professionals with many years of experience in their field, who are visiting). Therefore, it makes very good sense for us to participate in the reviews.

We describe the entire project, answer questions and take notes for a subsequent correction letter. Correction letters contain all relevant corrections, questions and theirs answers. It is important that it is sent out as soon as possible to all the bidders, so they have the opportunity to obtain prices from their subcontractors and suppliers (before the deadline expires), and so everyone has the opportunity to submit bids on an equal basis. It makes the comparison of the bids so much easier.

8. Comparison of bids

When the bid come in by mail, they need to be compared, otherwise it can be difficult to see who comes up with the, for you, most advantageous bid. This is often not easily done, which is why we typically help reviewing the tenders, identify uncertainties, reservations and aggregate services that are not clearly stated in the tender material. It usually takes 1-2 weeks extra.

9. Choosing the main contractor

When comparability is as close as it can get, we give our recommendation and valuable considerations. Then you choose the main contractor with whom you enter into an A. B. Consumer agreement.

The build

10. Startup

At the military, we called it the "meat edge." The first meeting in the morning or before an exercise where all the commanders coordinate with each other. We use the same principle on the construction site. It is a huge advantage that all the performing masters get the project under the skin, in company with each other, so that they can all coordinate the schedule.

11. Construction meetings

Our experience is that the understanding of the build's progress, the built quality and the project economy will be best, by having regular construction meetings. At the table are the client (it's you), the main contractor (sometimes with a relevant subcontractor) and the construction consultant (the architect).

The meetings are usually held weekly, in the case of longer projects, apart from the first and last month, meetings can be held every two weeks, unless there are recognized critical conditions in the construction process that require construction meetings to be held more often than usual.

It is a good idea to take notes. The construction expert advisor keeps minutes of the construction stage, changes, deviations from the agreed and distributes responsibilities and tasks in consultation with the client and the main contractor. It is followed up on whether answers have been received to the last meeting's questions. The minutes are typically sent out a few days after the meeting.

The construction expert may, on request or by agreement, carry out random inspections of the build. However, it is at all times the responsibility of the contractors that all work is carried out correctly and to agreement. If you want full management and control of what is done, the construction expert will create a workplace on your construction site, which for some projects can be a significant cost in relation to the actual construction cost.

It is our experience that the construction meetings most often are spent on:

  • clarifying whether a piece of work is included in the agreement or not.

  • and at the same time gain sufficient insight into a recognized additional work, to be able to make a decision in such good time, that the construction avoids schedule shifts.

It can have enormous consequences for the economy of the build, if the justification of any submitted piece of additional work is not carefully assessed.

12. Handover

The main contractor convenes a handover after the latter has carried out a "master review" with all subcontractors.

The main contractor, client and the construction expert advisor participate in the handover. Here, a handover protocol is drawn up, in which all recognized errors and omissions are registered. At the end of the handover, it is agreed with the main contractor what amount of the construction sum is set aside for the payment of repairs of defects and deficiencies. It is also agreed what the reasonable repair time is. Typically it will be 14 days.

The handover cannot be completed if it turns out that the main contractor has been optimistic about what the contractors can achieve. The handover transaction is also not carried out if the build shows signs that the "master review" has not been carried out.
Fortunately, we find that most contractors are proud of their work, and that a handover can typically be completed relatively quickly.

13. Moving in

After handover, it must be expected that there will be a repair period of 14 days.

Once they are gone, you can move in.