the five stages of general contracting — from briefing to handover

For the client, general contracting runs as a single contract and a single point of contact. Behind the scenes, a five-stage process generates different decisions and different documents at each stage. This article walks through what the process means for the client — in time, in cost, and in responsibility.

1. briefing — 2-4 weeks

The process opens with one or two deeper conversations. We learn the goal, the budget, the schedule expectation, and the client's life. A site walk, plot and orientation analysis. We pull the local building authority's regulations and check utility-connection options with the council and providers.

2. concept — 4-8 weeks

Two or three parallel concepts at sketch level — plan, mass model, openness and orientation. The client doesn't pick a variant; they find their direction through a conversation. The structural choice (SIP or traditional), the rough material palette, and the primary building-services system are decided here.

3. permitting — 6-16 weeks

From the chosen concept we develop the permit and construction document set. It includes the structural calculation, the building-services design, the energy certificate, the fire-protection plan, and the utility-connection documentation. The agency coordination (council, building authority, utilities) we lead — the client doesn't sit across from a clerk.

The "6–16 weeks" range depends on region and authority load. In the Pest county green belt, typically 8–10 weeks; in tougher cases (landscape protection, water authorities, heritage) 12–16 weeks.

100%agency administration

4. construction — 4-12 months

Construction begins after the building permit is final. The slab takes 2–4 weeks, the SIP shell 8–12 weeks, building services and interior finish 3–5 months. A single-storey 140 m² SIP home runs 8–9 months end-to-end; a two-storey 240 m² home, 11–13 months; a 600 m² bespoke design, 18–24 months.

During construction the client receives a weekly written progress report — photos, milestones, material-sample approval requests, budget status. There is also a weekly site walk with the client.

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Every week the client should feel they can see into the process. If they don't, that's a communication failure — not a technical one.

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5. handover — 2 weeks + 1 year

Technical handover is a two-week process: the client (or their appointed expert) compiles a snag list, we resolve it, second walkthrough. After handover, we administer the occupancy certificate. The mandatory year-end technical walkthrough lets us review together: what survived a season, what wants tuning.

the full timeline — example: a 140 m² SIP home

| stage | duration | cumulative | |---|---|---| | briefing | 3 weeks | end of week 3 | | concept | 6 weeks | end of week 9 | | permitting | 9 weeks | end of week 18 (~4.5 months) | | construction | 7 months | ~11.5 months | | handover | 2 weeks | ~12 months |

The 12 months is an average; the specific plot and program shift the numbers. At quote we give a project-specific schedule with both ends of the range.

summary

The process runs through five stages because each stage demands a different type of decision from the client and yields a different type of document. One contract and one point of contact does not mean the client doesn't decide — it means a single team of specialists guides those decisions, in coordinated form, end to end.