The five stages
Someone looks before anyone prices
Site visit, normally free
On a renovation this means opening something up. The difference between a fair price and an argument in month three is what was found before signing, and anyone who prices a Santorini renovation from photographs is pricing an average.
A priced scope, line by line
Typically 1–3 weeks
You want quantities and rates, not one number. Ask for exclusions to be listed explicitly. A scope that does not say what is excluded is a scope that will grow.
Design, engineering and approvals
The long pole — months, not weeks
Architect, civil engineer, topographic survey, and depending on where you are the Ephorate of Antiquities and the Council of Architecture. This is where projects lose their programme, and it is why it starts before anything else.
Build, against a programme with float
Weekly written report
On this island the thing that kills a programme is a gap: the electrician finishes first fix and leaves for another island, the plasterer arrives to a wall that was not ready, and six weeks disappear while everyone waits for the same crane. Float in the programme is not padding, it is the ferry.
Handover, then the years after
Ongoing
Snagging closed in writing, and the as-built information kept. On a property here that documentation is worth more than people expect the first time a leak has to be traced.
Where projects actually lose time
Not on site. Almost never on site.
- Approvals. A building permit is a sequence of dependencies, and one missing document at the front stops everything behind it. See building permits.
- Materials on a boat. Everything crosses on a ferry. A cancelled sailing does not cost hours, it costs days, because the next boat is full and the crew you booked has moved to another site.
- August. The island roughly triples in population and every capable trade is committed. Work started in June finishes in October.
- Discovery. What is behind the render. On a renovation of anything older than about 1980 here, assume something.
What this site does in that sequence
One thing: it gets you to the right person at the start, which is stage zero and the one most often got wrong. After the introduction the sequence above is between you and them.
The most useful thing we can tell you is which trade or which professional you need *first* — because on this island the expensive ordinary mistake is engaging a builder before the professional who has to approve the work.
Questions people actually ask
How long does a full renovation take here?
Longer than the equivalent on the mainland, and the difference is approvals and logistics rather than labour. Ranges are in how long a renovation takes.
Can any of this be done while I am abroad?
Most of it, if there is one nominated person who can sign and a written reporting rhythm. See overseas owners.
When should work be scheduled?
Between October and April for anything disruptive. It is cheaper, crews are available, and you are not competing with the season for ferry space.
Who should be appointed first?
On anything structural or permit-related, the licensed professional — engineer or architect — before the builder. Getting that order wrong is the most expensive routine mistake made here.