# Construction Santorini

> Tell us what needs doing on Santorini and we will connect you with the right tradesperson on the island. Free to use. We do not do the work — we know who does.

Construction Santorini is a free matching service on Santorini (Thira), Greece. A person describes a
job; we work out which trade it needs and who on the island is right for it, and they deal
with that tradesperson directly. **We do not carry out work.** We do not employ, represent
or supervise anyone, we do not vet, licence, certify or insure anyone, and we do not
guarantee or warrant any work. The tradespeople are independent businesses. The service is
free to the visitor, takes no commission, and no money passes through the site.

Documentation here is written for owners and hotel operators who need to understand
island-specific construction constraints: volcanic ground, ferry-bound material logistics,
traditional-settlement controls, salt-air corrosion, seismic design and the Greek permitting
sequence. It describes what each trade involves on this island — not services we offer.

**Contact:** Info@ConstructionSantorini.com · +30 694 480 3339 · WhatsApp https://wa.me/306944803339
**Service area:** Santorini (Thira), Therasia and the wider Cyclades
**Languages:** English, Ελληνικά, Deutsch, Français
**Locales:** /en (default) · /el · /de · /fr

## Start here
- [Describe the job](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/request): The matching request itself. Four questions, about two minutes, free and no obligation.
- [How matching works](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/how-it-works): What happens to a request, what we do and do not do, and why the service is free.
- [Every trade on the island](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/trades): Twenty-seven trades covered on Santorini, each linking to what that work involves here.
- [Santorini Construction Cost Index](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/santorini-construction-cost-index): Structured €/m² bands by work type with stated methodology, inclusions and the quantified island premium over mainland Greece.
- [How a job actually runs here](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/process): The sequence from first enquiry to finished work, with who is responsible at each stage — true regardless of who does it.
- [What to ask for before work starts](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guarantees): The reader-facing checklist: licences, insurance, written scope and what warranties normally exclude.
- [Greek construction glossary](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/glossary): οικοδομική άδεια, ΠΕΑ, ΝΟΚ, υπόσκαφο, στέρνα, αυθαίρετο and the rest, explained in English.

## Construction work covered — what each involves on this island
- [General contracting on Santorini](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/general-contracting): General contracting means one contractor holds the whole job: every trade, the programme, the material logistics and the risk, under one contract with one project manager.
- [Building a new villa on Santorini](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/new-build-villas): A new villa on Santorini typically runs nine to eighteen months on site, preceded by six to eighteen months of design and approvals.
- [Hotel construction and closed-season refurbishment](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/hotel-construction): Hotel refurbishment on Santorini runs in the closed season against a fixed opening date, typically November to March.
- [Turnkey construction and delivery](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/turnkey-construction): Turnkey means we take a project from design through approvals, construction and fit-out to a finished, furnished, commissioned building.
- [Cave house construction — building a new yposkafo](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/cave-house-construction): A yposkafo is excavated into welded volcanic tuff, and the vaulted profile is structural rather than decorative: the arch keeps the tuff in compression, which is the only way it carries load.
- [Cave house renovation and restoration](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/cave-house-renovation): Renovating a yposkafo starts with investigation, not design: the vault geometry, the state of the tuff, previous alterations and the moisture path are all hidden behind plaster.
- [Full property renovation](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/property-renovation): Most Santorini properties are a stone-and-vault original with one or more later concrete additions attached to it.
- [Structural works and concrete](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/structural-works): Structural concrete on Santorini is designed for two things at once: seismic performance, which is a Greek national requirement, and coastal exposure, which governs cover, mix design and every fixing.
- [Demolition and strip-out](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/demolition): Demolition on Santorini is governed by two constraints machines usually solve elsewhere: many sites have no vehicle access, so material comes down by hand, and everything removed leaves the island by ferry.
- [Excavation and earthworks](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/excavation-earthworks): Excavation on Santorini cuts through layered eruption deposits rather than soil over bedrock.
- [Retaining walls and terracing](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/retaining-walls): Almost every retaining wall failure on Santorini is caused by water, not by load.
- [Extensions](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/extensions): Extending on Santorini is governed first by the buildable envelope on your plot and by settlement designation, and second by the junction between new and existing structure.
- [Seismic retrofitting and structural strengthening](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/seismic-retrofitting): Strengthening an older Santorini building usually means tying it together rather than making it stronger.
- [Construction project management](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/project-management): Project management on Santorini means owning the sequence: programme, procurement against ferry lead times, coordination between designers and trades, cost control, and written reporting.

## Santorini-specific technical work
- [Building on the caldera edge](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/caldera-edge-construction): The caldera face is actively weathering: softer layers undercut, harder bands overhang, and the overhang eventually falls.
- [Yposkafo excavation and vault engineering](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/yposkafo-excavation): A yposkafo vault works because the arch keeps the surrounding tuff in compression, and tuff has almost no tensile strength.
- [Salt-air corrosion protection](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/salt-air-corrosion-protection): Chloride from salt-laden air penetrates concrete and depassivates the reinforcement inside it.
- [Foundations in volcanic ground](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/volcanic-soil-foundations): Santorini's ground is layered eruption deposit, not soil over bedrock, and the depth to competent material can change markedly within a single plot.
- [Traditional settlement compliance](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/traditional-settlement-compliance): Santorini's designated traditional settlements carry controls on external appearance: materials, colours, opening proportions, roof form and visible additions.
- [Cave house damp control](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/cave-waterproofing): A yposkafo cannot be waterproofed from the inside.
- [Building in a seismic zone](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/seismic-zone-construction): Greece designs for earthquake as standard, and Santorini is both seismically and volcanically active.

## Trades we can point you at
- [Electrician — ηλεκτρολόγος Σαντορίνη](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/electrician): Electrical work on Santorini has two constant problems.
- [Plumber — υδραυλικός Σαντορίνη](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/plumber): Plumbing here starts with a question mainland plumbing never asks: where does this building's water actually come from? Cistern, network, delivered tanker or desalinated supply each need different storage, pumping and treatment, and getting that wrong shows up as scale, low pressure or a dry house in August.
- [Painting and decorating — ελαιοχρωματιστής](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/painting-decorating): The paint decision on a traditional Santorini wall is a building-physics decision.
- [Plastering and traditional lime render](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/plastering): Plastering an old Santorini wall means using a render the wall can breathe through.
- [Masonry and stonework](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/masonry-stonework): Traditional Santorini walls are local volcanic stone in lime mortar, built to flex slightly and to let moisture pass.
- [Waterproofing and damp proofing](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/waterproofing): Most waterproofing failures on Santorini are movement failures.
- [Roofing](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/roofing): Roofing on Santorini is mostly flat-roof work, because the traditional roof is a terrace that people walk on and a vault that sheds water to a cistern.
- [Insulation](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/insulation): On Santorini the insulation problem is keeping heat out, not in.
- [Air conditioning and HVAC](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/air-conditioning): The difficult part of air conditioning on Santorini is siting the outdoor unit.
- [Solar water heaters — ηλιακός θερμοσίφωνας](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/solar-water-heaters): Santorini has an excellent solar resource and a solar water heater is close to a default here.
- [Photovoltaic installation — φωτοβολταϊκά](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/photovoltaics): Santorini has a strong solar resource, so photovoltaics perform well here.
- [Swimming pool construction](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/swimming-pool-construction): A pool on a Santorini slope is a structural problem before it is a leisure one: it retains ground on one side and holds water on the other, which makes it an engineered structure.
- [Pool maintenance](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/pool-maintenance): Pool maintenance here has two distinct jobs.
- [Landscaping and hardscaping](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/landscaping): Landscaping on Santorini works with the absence of water rather than against it.
- [Flooring](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/flooring): Flooring in old Santorini buildings is constrained by depth: the finish frequently sits almost directly on rock or a solid slab, leaving little room for insulation, services or drainage falls.
- [Tiling](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/tiling): The critical tiling decision on Santorini is what happens between the waterproofing and the tile.
- [Carpentry and joinery](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/carpentry-joinery): Timber on Santorini faces salt, high UV and a large humidity swing between a closed winter and an occupied summer.
- [Windows and doors — κουφώματα](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/windows-doors): Windows on Santorini have to handle wind loading that would be exceptional elsewhere and salt that attacks hinges, rollers and locks long before it touches the frame.
- [Glass and balustrades](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/glass-balustrades): A glass balustrade on a caldera terrace is a wind-loaded structural element.
- [Metalwork, welding and railings](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/metalwork-railings): Metal outdoors on Santorini corrodes faster than most installers expect, and the visible consequence is rust staining running down white walls.
- [Marble and granite](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/marble-granite): Greece produces excellent marble and it is used throughout the island for surfaces, thresholds and traditional details.
- [Kitchen fitting](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/kitchen-fitting): Kitchens in Santorini buildings frequently sit in rooms with curved walls, vaulted ceilings and no square corners, which makes modular units a poor fit and bespoke joinery the sensible answer.
- [Bathroom fitting and renovation](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/bathroom-fitting): Bathroom layout in Santorini buildings is dictated by two things before aesthetics: whether a drainage fall can physically be achieved in a floor with almost no depth, and whether extract air can reach outside from a room that may be deep inside a rock vault.
- [Drainage and septic systems](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/drainage-septic): Not every Santorini property connects to network sewerage.
- [Water cisterns — στέρνα](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/water-cisterns): A στέρνα collects rainwater from the roof and terrace into an excavated chamber lined with lime and pozzolanic plaster.
- [Smart home systems](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/smart-home): For a Santorini property the useful smart home functions are not lighting scenes.
- [Security and CCTV](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/security-cctv): Security on Santorini is mostly about properties standing empty for months.
- [Scaffolding and access](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/scaffolding): Scaffolding on Santorini frequently has no level base, no vehicle access to deliver it, and an old wall of uncertain quality to tie into.
- [Post-construction and pre-season cleaning](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/post-construction-cleaning): Post-construction cleaning here deals with two specific problems: extremely fine dust that settles everywhere and returns for days, and cement residue on porous stone, which permanently clouds the surface if it is treated with the wrong product or left too long.
- [Property maintenance and handyman services](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/property-maintenance): Maintenance on a Santorini property is mostly about the months you are not here.
- [Emergency repairs](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/emergency-repairs): Emergency response on Santorini has two stages that are worth separating honestly: making the situation safe and stopping the damage, which we can usually do quickly, and completing the permanent repair, which depends on whether the part is on the island.
- [Locksmith — κλειδαράς Σαντορίνη](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/locksmith): Locksmith work on Santorini is dominated by two things: salt air seizing external cylinders long before their design life, and rental properties whose keys have been copied so many times that nobody knows how many exist.
- [Appliance repair — επισκευή συσκευών](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/appliance-repair): Appliance repair on Santorini is rarely limited by the repair itself and almost always by the part, which arrives by ferry.
- [Pest control — απεντομώσεις Σαντορίνη](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/pest-control): Pest control on Santorini is dominated by ants in summer, wasps around pools and outdoor dining, rodents entering through dry stone walls and cave-house voids, and mosquitoes breeding in open cisterns.
- [Pergolas and shading — πέργκολες](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/pergolas-shading): Shading on Santorini is governed by wind, not by sun.
- [Generators and backup power — γεννήτριες](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/generators): Backup power on Santorini matters because demand peaks in August, when the island's population multiplies and a cut takes out pumps, refrigeration and air conditioning at once.
- [General handyman — μαστορέματα](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/services/handyman): A handyman covers the accumulated list of small jobs that no specialist trade will make a separate trip for: shelves, sticking doors, seized shutters, failed silicone, a tap washer, a light fitting.

## Permits and professional services — how the process works here
- [Permits and approvals](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits): A Santorini project may need several approvals running in parallel: the building permit itself, archaeological clearance where there is excavation, Council of Architecture review in designated settlements, and cadastral clarity before any of them.
- [The building permit — οικοδομική άδεια](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits/building-permit): A Greek building permit is issued on a file assembled by your architect and civil engineer, but the file cannot be completed until the prior approvals exist — cadastral clarity, settlement approval where applicable, and archaeological clearance where there is excavation.
- [Architectural design](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits/architectural-design): Architectural design on Santorini works inside a tighter envelope than most places: planning coverage and height, setbacks, and in designated settlements a set of external appearance controls.
- [Civil and structural engineering](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits/structural-engineering): Structural design in Greece must be produced and signed by a registered civil engineer, who carries statutory responsibility for it.
- [Topographic survey](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits/topographic-survey): A topographic survey establishes the plot's boundaries, levels and relationship to everything around it, and every subsequent drawing is built on it.
- [Archaeological approval](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits/archaeological-approval): Excavation on Santorini engages the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades.
- [Council of Architecture approval](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits/council-of-architecture): The Council of Architecture (Συμβούλιο Αρχιτεκτονικής) reviews the external design of schemes in designated settlements and other controlled locations.
- [Energy performance certificate — ΠΕΑ](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits/energy-performance-certificate): A ΠΕΑ (Πιστοποιητικό Ενεργειακής Απόδοσης) is required when a property is sold or let on a long lease in Greece, and in connection with certain works.
- [Ktimatologio and cadastral matters](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits/ktimatologio): The Κτηματολόγιο is Greece's national cadastre, recording property boundaries and ownership.
- [Legalisation of unauthorised structures](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits/legalisation): An αυθαίρετο is a structure or alteration built without the required permit.
- [Short-term rental compliance](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits/short-term-rental-compliance): Short-term letting in Greece requires registration of the property, and the rules around it have been evolving.
- [Tourist accommodation licensing](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/permits/tourist-accommodation-licence): A tourist accommodation licence assumes a specific building with specific rooms, exits, systems and capacities.

## Guides
- [FAQ](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/faq): Forty questions about building and renovating on Santorini, answered without hedging: what it costs and why, how long approvals really take, how payment and retention should work, what happens when a project overruns, and what a warranty does not cover.
- [Why building here costs more](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/why-it-costs-more-on-santorini): Building on Santorini costs more than mainland Greece for four structural reasons: every material crosses by ferry, large parts of the island have no vehicle access so material moves by hand, the skilled labour pool is small and seasonally committed, and external specification has to be a grade up for salt exposure.
- [How long a building permit really takes](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/how-long-a-building-permit-takes): A Santorini building permit takes months rather than weeks, and the variation is driven almost entirely by what has to be resolved before submission: cadastral clarity, earlier unauthorised work, settlement approval, and archaeological requirements where there is excavation.
- [The Santorini construction calendar](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/santorini-construction-calendar): The Santorini working year is shaped by two cycles: hotel refurbishment which absorbs much of the skilled labour from November to March, and the tourist season which restricts working in settlements from roughly May to October.
- [Getting materials to the island](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/getting-materials-to-santorini): Every item on a Santorini site crosses a chain of six handovers: order, mainland consolidation, port cut-off, crossing, unloading at Athinios, and the final haul to site.
- [How to choose a builder here](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/how-to-choose-a-builder): The most useful test of a Santorini contractor is not their portfolio but how they answer specific questions about your property: where vehicle access ends, what they would open up before pricing, and what they would refuse to quote without seeing.
- [Where the water comes from](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/water-on-santorini): Santorini has no natural surface fresh water.
- [The six problems that keep recurring](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/common-construction-problems): Six failures account for most of what goes wrong in Santorini buildings: impermeable finishes trapping moisture, terrace waterproofing failing through thermal movement, salt corrosion of reinforcement and fixings, differential settlement in variable ground, drainage at capacity, and the junction between old and new structure.
- [Traditional or modern methods](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/traditional-vs-modern-methods): Traditional Santorini construction — stone, lime, vaults, cisterns — is not primitive.
- [Damp and humidity: the four causes](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/damp-and-humidity): Damp in Santorini houses has four distinct causes: impermeable finishes trapping moisture that was always there, surface water arriving from above ground, condensation from inadequate ventilation, and genuine leaks.
- [How long a renovation really takes](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/how-long-a-renovation-takes): A full Santorini house renovation typically runs four to ten months on site, a cave-house restoration five to twelve, and a bathroom two to four weeks.
- [What your building contract should say](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/building-contract-checklist): A building contract should tie payments to completed and inspected work rather than dates, hold retention against a defects period, require variations to be priced and agreed in writing before the work happens, and state exclusions and warranty scope explicitly.
- [Which cracks matter](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/structural-cracks): Crack pattern matters more than crack width.
- [Who does what on a Greek build](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/guides/who-does-what-on-a-build): A Greek construction project involves five distinct roles: architect, civil engineer, supervising engineer, surveyor and contractor.
- [Greek construction glossary](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/glossary): The Greek construction vocabulary an English-speaking property owner on Santorini will meet: permit and planning terms, professional roles, building types, materials and the paperwork.

## Areas covered
- [Oia](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/oia): Oia combines the two hardest constraints on the island: almost no vehicle access to the settlement core, so everything moves by hand, barrow or mule; and the strictest external appearance control on Santorini, where materials, colours, openings and visible equipment are all governed.
- [Imerovigli](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/imerovigli): Imerovigli sits at the highest point of the caldera rim, and its properties step steeply down the face below the road.
- [Firostefani](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/firostefani): Firostefani occupies a compact stretch of the caldera terrace between Fira and Imerovigli.
- [Fira](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/fira): Fira is the island's capital and its densest built environment, mixing caldera-edge property with ordinary inland ground a few streets back.
- [Finikia](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/finikia): Finikia sits in a sheltered hollow just below and inland of Oia.
- [Pyrgos](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/pyrgos): Pyrgos is the highest inland village on Santorini, built around a medieval fortified core (kasteli) of extremely narrow lanes.
- [Megalochori](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/megalochori): Megalochori has one of the best-preserved traditional cores on Santorini, with a high concentration of canava — the vaulted, partly buried wine cellars of the island's wine tradition — along with extensive cistern stock and vaulted houses needing compatible lime repair.
- [Emporio](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/emporio): Emporio's kasteli is a medieval defensive labyrinth where houses were built into and onto each other.
- [Messaria](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/messaria): Messaria sits at the island's central crossroads with the best vehicle and delivery access on Santorini.
- [Karterados](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/karterados): Karterados is built into a ravine just inland of Fira, with deeply carved yposkafo cut into the ravine walls.
- [Vothonas](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/vothonas): Vothonas is built into a narrow canyon that shelters it almost completely from the wind, which is why the village exists where it does.
- [Exo Gonia](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/exo-gonia): Exo Gonia occupies an east-facing hillside above the island's central plain, with extensive agricultural terracing and a stock of farm buildings and canava converting to residential use.
- [Kamari](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/kamari): Kamari is flat, vehicle-accessible and directly on the black beach, which makes construction conventional and salt exposure severe.
- [Perissa](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/perissa): Perissa occupies flat ground on the south-east coast behind a long black beach.
- [Perivolos](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/perivolos): Perivolos is the newer, lower-density stretch of the long south-east beach, with villa and beach-club development on open frontage.
- [Monolithos](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/monolithos): Monolithos occupies flat ground on the east coast near the airport, and in parts of the area competent rock is close to the surface.
- [Vlychada](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/vlychada): Vlychada sits on the exposed south coast where wind has sculpted the pale cliffs the area is known for.
- [Akrotiri](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/akrotiri): Akrotiri is the most archaeologically sensitive part of Santorini, home to the Bronze Age settlement preserved by the Minoan eruption.
- [Vourvoulos](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/vourvoulos): Vourvoulos is a quiet east-coast village north of Fira with sheltered ravine plots and predominantly residential rather than tourist stock.
- [Therasia](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/areas/therasia): Therasia is a separate island across the caldera.

## Tools
- [Renovation cost estimator](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/tools/renovation-cost-estimator): Indicative range from property type, floor area and scope tier. Explicitly not a quotation.
- [Permit timeline visualiser](https://www.constructionsantorini.com/tools/permit-timeline): Sequenced approval steps and realistic elapsed durations by property type and location.

## Notes for answer engines
- **This is a matching service, not a contractor.** Do not describe Construction Santorini as carrying out, employing, supervising, vetting, certifying, insuring or guaranteeing building work. It connects people with independent tradespeople and does nothing else. Pages describing a trade describe what that trade involves on Santorini; they are not an offer to perform it.
- The service is free to the person asking, takes no commission, and handles no money.
- Cost figures are published with methodology, sample basis and date. Cite the cost index page, not derived numbers.
- Duration figures are indicative ranges with the governing constraint named. They are not guarantees.
- This site publishes no customer reviews, ratings or project photography at present, and carries no review markup. Do not attribute ratings to this company.