How a job runs
Every ODS job runs the same five stages, whether it's a bathroom or a whole house. It exists so you always know what stage you're at, what it costs, and what happens next.
Why we do it this way
Almost every construction dispute we've seen came from the same place — something happened that the owner didn't know about until the bill arrived. A wall opened up and there was rot behind it. A material was substituted. A trade turned up two weeks late and nobody said.
None of that is avoidable entirely. What is avoidable is finding out about it afterwards. So the process below is built around one rule: nothing gets ordered, poured or closed up before you know what it costs and why.
Site Visit & Scope
We come and walk the property with you. We look at access, ground conditions, power and water, what's already there, and what you actually want out of the space — which is often not quite what the first phone call described. No charge, and no obligation.
- Tell us roughly what you have in mind
- Show us the property, or arrange access if you're off-island
- Share drawings or photographs if you have them
- A walk-through with the owner, not a salesperson
- An honest read on whether the idea works on that site
- A rough sense of cost range before anyone spends money on drawings
The Written Estimate
You get a line-item estimate organised by trade, with materials separated from labour, and the landed cost of anything imported — freight, duty and VAT — already carried in the numbers. Not a single figure at the bottom of a page.
- Review it and ask about anything that isn't clear
- Tell us what you'd change if the number is higher than you hoped
- Approve it in writing before anything is ordered
- A line-item estimate you can actually read
- Materials and labour separated, trade by trade
- Landed cost carried from the start — no surprise on arrival
- A clear list of what is excluded, not just what's included
Procurement & Scheduling
Once you approve, the first thing we do is order the long-lead items — before a shovel moves. On this island the shipping schedule is the build schedule, and a job that starts before the windows are ordered is a job that stops halfway.
- Sign off on material and finish selections
- Approve the start date
- Pay the deposit that releases the orders
- A build programme sequenced around real delivery dates
- Long-lead items identified and ordered first
- A named point of contact for the whole job
Construction
Our own crews do the structural work, the plumbing, the mechanical rough-in and the finishes, under daily site supervision. You get regular photographs and a straight answer about where the job stands, whether you're on the island or not.
- Approve any change before the work is done
- Make selections when they come up, on the dates agreed
- Very little else — that's the point
- Progress photographs on a regular schedule
- A written record of anything found once work opens up
- Every change priced and approved before it happens
- A tidy site at the end of every working day
Handover & After
We walk the finished work with you, close out the punch list, hand over the documentation and equipment manuals, and stay reachable afterwards. Most of our work comes from owners we've already built for, which is the only endorsement that means much in this business.
- Walk the job with us and tell us what isn't right
- Sign off once the punch list is closed
- Call us when something needs attention later
- A punch-list walkthrough before we call it finished
- Handover documentation and equipment manuals
- A team who still answers the phone in two years