A renovation programme needs to show what must be ready before work starts, what happens on site and which decisions can affect later stages. A kitchen delivery, an inspection or a change found during strip-out can alter the sequence. The dates belong to the agreed project scope.
When allowing for programme and budget uncertainty, read our guide to why renovation dates and budgets need allowances.
When coordinating electrical work with the other trades, read rewiring during a tenement refurbishment.
The tenement renovation cost guide gives indicative site allowances and the work excluded from them. This guide explains the sequence behind a project programme. It is an example for planning, rather than a promise that every flat reaches each stage in the same week. For the construction service itself, see managed tenement renovations in Edinburgh.
As work progresses, our guide to recognising good tenement work gives you useful questions to ask.
For the sequence from preparation to handover, read the stages of a tenement renovation.
Before site set-up: design, approvals and supply
Clients appoint their architect, engineer or other suitable design professionals. Sweet Homes reviews the defined information for construction buildability and prices the agreed work. Establish the required drawings, specifications and approvals before fixing the site start.
Work that needs a building warrant must wait until it is granted. Edinburgh Council aims to respond to warrant applications within 20 working days; that first response is not a promise of approval within that period. Complexity and requests for further information affect the process. Read the Council’s Building Standards guidance.
Where listed building consent is required, keep it separate from the warrant decision. Historic Environment Scotland says planning authorities aim to decide listed building consent applications within eight weeks. The application and any consultations can take longer. Use the listed building consent process guidance and confirm the position for your proposal.
Confirm product codes, delivery arrangements and any specialist fabrication sequence. A worktop that needs templating after cabinets are installed creates a dependency that belongs in the programme.
Early site work: protection, strip-out and investigation
Agree access, delivery and waste arrangements before the household or common stair becomes a work route. The protection required depends on the building and the work. Discuss noisy activities and neighbour communication against the actual programme.
Planning access also means considering how the work affects your shared stair.
Removing existing finishes may reveal conditions that could not be established beforehand. Record the finding and its effect on the proposed work. The written terms should identify how changes to scope, price and timing are agreed. A contingency allowance does not replace that process.
First fix: structure, services and preparation
First fix establishes work that later finishes may cover. Where relevant, this includes structural alterations, drainage, plumbing and electrical routes. The specification determines the materials and details; a generic timeline cannot prescribe the same pipe sizes, floor build-up or waterproofing system for every flat.
Required inspections belong in the sequence. The Construction Compliance and Notification Plan supplied with a warrant identifies the stages to raise with the verifier. Keep the relevant areas accessible until those arrangements are satisfied.
Second fix: fitting the rooms and finishing the surfaces
Once the necessary preparation and checks are complete, the room fittings and finishes can follow. The order depends on the products and interfaces: flooring beside cabinets, tiling around sanitary fittings and worktop fabrication all need an agreed sequence.
Late deliveries or specification changes may affect more than the item itself. Record the programme effect alongside any agreed scope or price change.
Snagging and handover
Agree how the snagging record is prepared and how outstanding work is closed. Avoid treating a fixed daily rate of progress through that list as a promise.
The handover information depends on the work carried out. The contract should identify the relevant electrical or other certificates, inspection records, product information and workmanship-warranty terms, and who supplies them. For warrant work, the homeowner or relevant person submits the completion certificate for the verifier to consider; contractor handover alone does not establish acceptance.
Edinburgh Council asks for a completion submission at least four weeks before the warrant expires and says it will acknowledge receipt within 14 days. Acceptance follows its checks. See the Council’s completion certificate guidance.
Discussing your project
Describe the general area, property type, intended work and any design information already prepared. Sweet Homes replies by email and starts with a follow-up call. A site visit follows where useful, before the written quotation and agreed programme.
Explore our tenement renovation service in Edinburgh, flat renovations in Edinburgh or home renovation service. To explain your proposed work, tell us about your project.
