What you can only see before it is covered

Ask why a build is late and the answer is usually labour or materials. What actually breaks a programme, though, is having to reopen work that was already finished.

The order exists for a reason

The broad flow of a renovation runs demolition and structural work, then pipework, electrics and services, then waterproofing, screeds and tiling, then testing and inspection, then dry construction and finishes. The order cannot be shuffled because each stage covers the one before it. Which is why the measure in programme management is not how fast. It is whether the work is in a state where the next stage may begin.

• Is the preceding stage actually complete?
• Have the required test results come back?
• Have the noted corrections been carried out?
• Is there a site record of it?
• Has the responsible person signed it off?

Inspect three times

• Before concealment: pipe positions, connections and falls, electrical circuits, pressure test results, and photographs taken before anything is buried.
• Before finishing: waterproofing height and the flood test, the condition of the substrate under tiling, fire and HVAC services in the ceiling void.
• After installation: heating and cooling operation, drainage, condensation, vibration and noise, and commissioning results.

After it is covered, what you are paying for is no longer inspection. It is demolition and reinstatement.

What happens when demolition is skimped

A few things that actually happened. Paint was applied over existing wallpaper to save on demolition, and it lifted. New tile was laid over old tile, and it lifted, so it came off and was laid again. Work started without first resolving the cause of a leak found right after acquisition, and the same spot was repaired repeatedly mid-build, with finished work stripped back out to reach it.

The standard that came out of it: when deciding to keep existing construction, judge it on whether it can support a new finish for years, not on what demolition would cost.

Skip the tests and the bill arrives after opening

Wet trades in winter need more time to cure and dry. On one project, with completion pressing, curing and drying times were shortened and the flood and pressure tests were cut back. The result was a leak in the large bath, which carried past opening and took a long stretch of repair work. One rule came out of that: however tight completion is, no stage proceeds until the waterproofing and pipework tests are finished.

What demolition reveals

Once demolition is done, information appears that was not on any drawing: hidden leaks and cracks, where the existing pipework actually runs, the real electrical capacity, structure that differs from the plans. So there is a sequence after demolition. Strip it out, inspect, re-measure, correct the drawings, and fix the working estimate on top of that.

Photographs taken before concealment turn out to be the most valuable record you hold. They tell you where to open when a defect appears, and they are the evidence when liability is disputed. Before pipework and cable disappear into the wall, photograph them so the positions are readable.

In short

The measure of progress is not speed but readiness to move on. Inspect in three passes, before concealment, before finishing and after installation. Judge existing construction on whether it will hold, not on what removing it costs. And never start the next stage before the tests are done.