How we work, from your first message to handover

How we order the work on a project in Zanzibar

A new villa and a bathroom refit follow the same sequence: talk, see the site, agree the brief, draw, price, sign, prepare, build, check and hand over. Only the amount of work inside a step changes.

Each step rests on the one before. Drawings made after a site visit fit the real plot, and a price taken from a full set is more dependable than one guessed from a sketch. How long a step takes depends on the building and the design, so this page gives no durations. Why a new company describes its process instead of past work is explained on who we are.

Seven steps from first message to handover

You receive something at the end of each step below: a brief, drawings, a price, photos or handover documents.

1. First message on WhatsApp

   You tell us what you want built or repaired, where it is, and what you already have: a sketch, drawings or photos.

   You receive: Our questions for the site visit and a proposed date.

2. Site visit and brief

   We walk the plot or building and note access for deliveries, neighbouring walls, trees and slopes. Then we write down with you the rooms, who will use them, the level of finish and your budget range.

   You receive: Site photos, a short video and a written brief you approve; later designs and prices refer back to it.

3. Design, drawings and permit set

   A concept layout comes first, then plans, elevations, sections, structural drawings and the layout of pipes and wiring. For an existing building, a survey replaces the concept. The finished set also gives the drawings a building permit application rests on.

   You receive: Design drawings for your comments, stage by stage, and the permit drawing set.

4. Estimate, quotation and contract

   The concept gives an early estimate, so the design can be tested against the budget. Complete drawings are measured into a bill of quantities and priced as a quotation. The contract names the scope the price covers and how changes are agreed.

   You receive: An itemised estimate, then a quotation, then a signed contract with the drawings and quotation attached.

5. Site preparation

   Once the approvals your project needs are in place, we clear the plot, mark out the building and arrange a materials store, water and power. On a renovation, we protect the rooms and finishes that stay.

   You receive: Photos of the marked-out plot before digging starts.

6. Building in stages

   Foundations, walls, roof slab, pipes and wiring, plaster and fit-out follow in turn. Each stage ends with our check against the drawings before anything is covered.

   You receive: A photo report on WhatsApp after every stage.

7. Defects list and handover

   We walk the building room by room with you or your representative and write down defects and unfinished items. These are put right before we hand over.

   You receive: As-built drawings, operating instructions for installed equipment, the signed-off defects list and the keys.

For the permit set in step three, how an application works is covered in our guide to the building permit in Zanzibar and is not repeated here.

How photo reports work during the build

After every stage, the site manager on your job sends a photo report on WhatsApp: dated photos, what was done and what comes next. Photos are taken before work is covered, so reinforcement, pipes and waterproofing are on record before concrete, plaster or tiles hide them.

Any difference from the design is named in the report, with the reason. All reports stay in one chat thread, which becomes a dated record of the whole build. To see what stage photos can show, look at a villa build shown stage by stage.

How the price changes when the design changes

We price any change from the same bill of quantities, and the total moves only after you approve it. That covers your own requests and anything on site the drawings did not expect.

Before work on the change begins, you see the items removed, the items added and the difference. Once you agree, the updated bill of quantities becomes the reference for the rest of the job. The parts of a price are explained in how an estimate is built.

Where your approval is needed

Five points wait for your decision before we go on:

• The brief, before design starts.
• Each design stage, before the next one.
• The quotation and contract, before site work.
• Any change to scope or price, before it is built.
• The defects list and handover documents, at the end.

Following the build from abroad

Every step runs on WhatsApp and written documents, so none of them needs you in Zanzibar. Visit photos, drawings, the quotation and stage reports all reach you there, and we set up a call when a decision needs one. If you want a person on site acting for you between your own visits, see construction project management for owners abroad.

How the process fits each service

The steps do not change from one service to another. What changes is where most of the work sits.

• Villa construction in Zanzibar uses all seven steps, with the pool and outdoor works under the same contract.
• Building a house in Zanzibar can pause after the shell and return to finishes later.
• Hotel construction in Zanzibar adds the operator's requirements to the brief and can build block by block.
• Renovation in Zanzibar starts from a survey and a list of defects instead of a concept.
• Swimming pool construction adds two water tests: one on the bare shell and one after the finish.
• Interior design and fit-out adds furniture, lighting and finishes plans to the design.
• Architecture and design covers the survey, brief, drawings, permit set and bill of quantities as a separate job.