--- title: "How a project actually runs, stage by stage." url: "https://www.alcorone.com/how-it-works/" description: "The six stages of an AlcorOne fit-out — enquiry, site measurement, drawings, line-item BOQ, fabrication, site execution and handover — with the real programme, the payment milestones and what slows a project down." date_modified: "2026-08-23" lang: "en-IN" publisher: "AlcorOne Solutions" --- # How a project actually runs, stage by stage. Most interior firms describe their process in five reassuring words and a diagram. This is the longer version: what happens at each stage, what you receive, what we need from you, when money moves, and the four things that genuinely delay a fit-out. Written so you can hold us to it. ## Six stages, *in order.* Nothing here is unusual. The value of writing it down is that you can tell where your project is at any moment, and what has to finish before the next thing can start. ### 1 · Enquiry and scoping A call with a principal, not a call centre. Scope room by room, a realistic budget range, and whether the property is ready for work. ### 2 · Site measurement Measured on site, not off the builder's plan. Wall lengths, ceiling height, beam positions, existing electrical and plumbing points. ### 3 · Design and drawings Layout, 3D visuals, then the drawings that get built from: dimensioned elevations, sections, finish schedule, point layouts. ### 4 · Line-item BOQ and contract Quantities, units, rates, material grades and written exclusions. Signed before anything is ordered. This is the document the project is run against. ### 5 · Procurement and fabrication Material ordered against the signed grades and checked on arrival. Carcass and shutters fabricated in the workshop, not cut in your living room. ### 6 · Site execution and handover Sequenced across civil, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, finishing and installation, with a weekly written report. Snagging closed before final payment. ## What each stage *actually involves.* Each stage below lists what you get and what we need from you. The second column is the one that determines your programme — almost every avoidable delay in a fit-out is a decision waiting on the owner. ### 1 · Enquiry and scoping call **You get:** an honest budget range for the scope you describe, and a straight answer on whether we are the right firm. **We need:** the property, the rooms in scope, and your timeframe. If you have a floor plan, send it — but a plan is not a substitute for stage 2. ### 2 · Site measurement **You get:** a measured drawing of the flat as built, and the first honest reading of what fits. **We need:** access, and possession or the builder's permission. A quote issued from a plan alone gets revised once the tape comes out, because builder plans and built flats routinely differ by inches that matter to joinery. ### 3 · Design and drawings **You get:** layout options, 3D visuals to agree intent, then the technical set — dimensioned elevations for every joinery item, sections through anything non-standard, a finish schedule naming actual products, and electrical and plumbing layouts with heights. **We need:** decisions. Finishes chosen from physical samples, not from a screen. This is the stage where changes are free. ### 4 · Line-item BOQ, then contract **You get:** a Bill of Quantities with quantities, units, rates, board grades by zone, hardware named by brand and model, and written exclusions. **We need:** sign-off. This is also where the programme clock starts, so a BOQ approved quickly is a project delivered sooner. ### 5 · Procurement and fabrication **You get:** material ordered against the grades you signed, checked against the BOQ on arrival, and factory-finished components. **We need:** nothing, unless a specified item is unavailable — in which case you get asked before any substitution, in writing. ### 6 · Execution, snagging, handover **You get:** sequenced site work, a weekly written progress report, a joint snagging walk, and warranty documentation with hardware registered in your name. **We need:** society permissions in place, and your presence or nominee for the snagging walk. ## The programme, and *when the clock starts.* Our published figure for an apartment fit-out is **12 to 14 weeks from design sign-off to handover**. Two things about that number are worth stating plainly, because they are where most timeline disappointment comes from. **The clock starts at design sign-off, not at your first call.** Stages 1 to 4 run at the speed decisions get made. An owner who chooses finishes in a fortnight and an owner who takes three months will both then take 12 to 14 weeks — but they will hand over five months apart. That earlier stretch is largely yours to control, and it is the single biggest lever you have. **Commercial work runs to a different programme.** Office and retail fit-outs have their own sequencing and their own published timeline — see [office fit-out timeline](https://www.alcorone.com/services/office-fitout-timeline/) rather than reading across from residential. ### Owner decisions pending The most common delay by a wide margin, and the one nobody quotes for. A drawing set waiting on a finish choice stops the whole sequence behind it. ### Society permissions and work hours Many buildings restrict working hours, days, service-lift access and debris removal. A six-day week and a five-day week are two different programmes. ### Material availability A specified laminate or hardware line going out of stock mid-programme. You get asked before we substitute, which is correct and occasionally costs a week. ### Base-building defects Found when a wall or wet area is opened — plumbing leaks, out-of-square walls, electrical that does not match the builder's drawing. Outside our scope and inside your programme. ## When money moves, *and against what.* Payment is tied to progress rather than to a calendar, and the schedule is written into the contract for your specific project rather than applied from a template. ### 20% deposit before work begins Adjusted against the final invoice. This releases procurement. ### Milestones tied to progress Material procurement, civil and carpentry completion, finishing, and handover. The exact milestone schedule is agreed in writing per project, because it varies with size, scope and site conditions. ### Variations only in writing, priced first Anything not in the signed BOQ is out of scope until it is agreed in writing, costed and confirmed before execution. No verbal extras, and nothing discovered on the invoice. ### Final payment after snagging The last milestone is released after the snagging list is closed, not at the point the site looks finished. Published rates are exclusive of GST. Warranty is three tiers, stated separately because they cover different things and expire at different times: ten years on the plywood carcass against delamination, borer attack and manufacturing defect — conditional on the grade in the signed BOQ being the grade installed; one year on installation and workmanship; and the manufacturer's own term on hardware, fittings and appliances, with that documentation registered in your name at handover so the claim is yours to make. ## What we are *not.* Worth reading before you compare us with a national brand, because some of what those firms offer we genuinely do not. ### We are a contractor, not a studio We build. Where you have an architect or designer, we build to their drawings and say so. Where you need drawings, we design them or introduce a partner architect. ### Four offices, not a national chain Chennai is the head office, with Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Rajamahendravaram. We work across South India from those four. We do not have experience centres in every city. ### No finance or EMI We do not offer instalment plans or tie-ups with lenders. Payment is the milestone schedule above. ### No VR walkthroughs We produce 3D visuals and the technical drawings behind them. We do not sell immersive walkthroughs, and for a flat you can walk through yourself we do not think they are worth paying much for. ### No 45-day promises Our published programme is 12 to 14 weeks from design sign-off for an apartment. We would rather publish a number we hit than one that sounds better. ### Structural work needs an architect Moving walls, relocating wet areas or enclosing a balcony needs signed drawings and usually society approval. That is an architect's scope, and we will say so rather than quietly doing it. ## Questions about *the process.* ### When does the 12-14 week clock actually start? It starts at design sign-off, not at your first call. Everything before sign-off — measurement, drawings, revisions, the BOQ — runs at whatever pace decisions get made, and that stage is the one most influenced by you rather than by us. Two owners who both sign off in week three and week nine of the relationship will both take 12 to 14 weeks from their own sign-off date. ### What do I need to have ready before you can quote? A floor plan if you have one, possession or access for a site measurement, and a scope you have thought about room by room. We measure on site before quoting because a builder's plan and the built flat routinely differ, and a quote issued from a plan alone gets revised once the tape comes out. ### When do I pay, and how much? A 20% deposit of the contract value before work begins, adjusted against the final invoice. The remainder is released against milestones tied to progress — material procurement, civil and carpentry completion, finishing, handover — with the exact schedule agreed in writing per project, because it varies with size, scope and site conditions. Published rates are exclusive of GST. ### What actually delays a fit-out? In order of how often we see it: owner decisions pending at the drawing stage, housing society permissions and work-hour restrictions, a material going out of stock mid-programme, and base-building defects found once we open a wall or a wet area. The first is the largest and it is the one you control. ### Can you work to my architect's or designer's drawings? Yes, and it is a normal arrangement. We build to a complete drawing set — dimensioned elevations, sections, finish schedule and point layouts. Where a set is incomplete we will tell you what is missing rather than fill the gaps on site without asking. If you need drawings and do not have a designer, we introduce a partner architect. --- Canonical page: https://www.alcorone.com/how-it-works/ AlcorOne Solutions — interior contracting across South India. Site index for AI agents: https://www.alcorone.com/llms.txt