Process
July 2026
6 min read
Slab, frame, lockup, fixing, handover — the five stages that turn a block into a home, explained the way we wish every client could see them.
Most building stress comes from not knowing what is happening on your own site. So here is the honest version of how a build progresses, stage by stage, and what you should expect to see and hear at each point.
The slab stage is the quiet one that matters most: excavation, footings, steel and concrete — everything that everything else sits on. Frame comes next, and this is when your home suddenly has rooms; it is also when quality is easiest to see and cheapest to correct, which is why we inspect before the linings go on.
Lockup means roof, cladding, windows and external doors — the house is weathertight and the fit-out trades can work in the dry. Fixing is the stage clients feel most: plaster, joinery, tiles, paint and fittings arriving in waves. And handover is not a day, it is a process — a full inspection walk-through, a documented defects list, and a builder who comes back until the list is empty.
Between every stage there are inspections, certifications and decisions. Our clients get weekly updates and a schedule that shows what is next, because a homeowner who understands the stage they are in is a relaxed homeowner — and relaxed clients make better decisions, which makes better homes.
Between those five stages sit the inspections most homeowners never hear about: slab steel before the pour, frame before the wrap, waterproofing before tiles, and a practical completion inspection before handover. Each one is a checkpoint where problems are cheapest to fix, and each one is documented on our sites. A builder who resists client or third-party inspections at these points is telling you something about their confidence in their own work.
What you should see week to week is equally concrete. Our updates tell you which stage you are in, which trades are on site, what decisions are due from you, and what the following week looks like. Clients who read those updates describe the build as busy but calm — which is exactly what a construction site next to your living room should feel like.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Five stages: slab, frame, lockup, fixing, handover
- Frame stage is the cheapest time to catch quality issues — demand an inspection
- Handover is a process, not a date — the defects list matters more than the keys
- Weekly updates should tell you what stage you are in and what comes next