How we work
Five Steps. No Surprises.
We take your space from bare shell to grand opening — built clean, finished sharp, open on time.
Why this page exists
Most build-outs go wrong before anyone picks up a tool
They go wrong in the estimate nobody explained, the permit nobody chased, and the change order nobody wrote down. Here is exactly how we run a job so that doesn't happen to yours.
One point of contact
A named project manager and a named site supervisor. Never a phone tree, never a mystery about who is accountable.
Everything in writing
Scope, exclusions, schedule and every change — priced and approved before the work happens, not after.
Weekly, good news or not
Photos, schedule status and open issues every week — including the weeks the honest answer is “still in review”.
The sequence
Consult to warranty
Ground to grand opening, in the order it actually happens.
- 01
Consult
We walk your space, listen to the plan, and tell you what the building will and will not allow.
You send us the unit and what you want to open. We meet you there — the same person who will price the job, not a salesperson. We look at the slab, the service, the ceiling height, the washroom, the exhaust path and the landlord package, then tell you straight what the space supports, what it will fight you on, and roughly what that costs. If your budget and the building do not agree, you hear it in the first hour, not in month three.
- Who does it
- You and the estimator who will price the job.
- Typical timing
- Same week you call
Photo: Thirdman / Pexels What you get
- A site walk with the estimator, at no charge
- A plain-language read on what the unit can and cannot support
- An early budget range, so you can decide before you spend on drawings
- A written summary of what we discussed and what we assumed
- 02
Estimate
A line-by-line, fixed-price proposal — with the exclusions written down, not buried.
We price the work item by item from your drawings or our own take-off, and we show you the lines. Allowances are labelled as allowances. Anything not included is listed under exclusions in the same plain type as everything else, because the surprises that wreck a build are the ones nobody wrote down. If a number looks high, ask — we will show you the quantity and the rate behind it and offer the cheaper way to get the same result.
- Who does it
- Our estimator, with the project manager who will run the build.
- Typical timing
- 5–10 business days after the walk
What you get
- A fixed-price proposal broken down by trade and scope
- Named allowances for anything not yet selected
- A written exclusions list — what is not in the price
- A draft schedule tied to your target opening date
- 03
Design & Permits
Drawings, landlord approvals and building permits — filed and chased by us, not by you.
We produce or coordinate the drawings, get them through the landlord’s review, and file for permit. We deal with the building department, the health unit, the fire code review and the electrical authority so you are not learning a municipal process while also trying to hire staff. You get told where the application sits every week, including the weeks where the honest answer is "still in review".
- Who does it
- Our design-build team and permit coordinator.
- Typical timing
- 3–8 weeks, depending on the municipality
What you get
- Permit-ready drawings and the specification behind them
- Landlord and base-building approvals coordinated on your behalf
- Building, mechanical, electrical and health-unit applications filed by us
- A weekly written status on every open approval
- 04
Build
One supervisor on site, one number to call, and a schedule we report against every week.
Demolition, framing, mechanical and electrical rough-in, millwork, finishes, inspections. There is one supervisor on site who knows your job and one project manager you call — never a phone tree. You get a weekly progress report with photos, the current schedule, and any change that affects money or dates in writing before it happens. Sites get swept daily and hoarded properly, because we are usually building beside somebody else’s open business.
- Who does it
- A named site supervisor on your job, and one project manager.
- Typical timing
- 6–20 weeks, by size and scope
Photo: AI25.Studio Studio / Pexels What you get
- A named site supervisor and a single point of contact
- Weekly progress photos and an updated schedule
- Written change orders — priced and approved before the work happens
- Clean, hoarded, WSIB-covered sites with daily cleanup
- 05
Handover & Warranty
We walk the deficiency list with you, hand over the documents, and answer the phone afterwards.
We walk the space with you and write the deficiency list together — your list, not ours. Those items get closed out before we invoice the holdback. You get occupancy sign-off, the closeout package, and a real walkthrough of how the systems in your space actually work. Then we come back at the end of the warranty period and check the things that only show up after a season of real use.
- Who does it
- Your project manager, then whoever picks up the phone after.
- Typical timing
- Final week, then the warranty period
What you get
- A joint deficiency walk, with the list written down and dated
- Occupancy documentation and all inspection sign-offs
- A closeout package: as-builts, warranties, manuals, finish schedule and paint codes
- A written warranty on our workmanship, and an end-of-period check-in visit
06Straight talk
What we can't promise
The timings above are ranges drawn from how these projects usually run. They are not a quote and they are not a schedule. Your actual dates come out of the estimate, once we have seen your unit and read your landlord's package.
We also can't promise a municipality will review a permit quickly, or that a base building won't hide a surprise behind a wall. What we can promise is that you hear about it the day we do, in writing, with the options and what each one costs.
Ready to start at step one?
Step one costs you an hour and nothing else. Send us the unit address and what you want to open, and we'll walk it with you.
Start your build
Step one is a conversation. Let's have it.
No obligation, no pressure — just a straight read on what your space needs and what it costs.