# How Do You Manage a Renovation Build?  Phase 5: Run the Build

- URL: https://www.renoversity.com/lessons/phase-5-run-the-build
- Type: Lesson
- Access: public
- Course: How to Plan a Renovation, Step by Step (https://www.renoversity.com/courses/how-to-plan-a-renovation-step-by-step)
- Module: MODULE 1:  The Six Phases of a Home Renovation or Remodel
- Source: Renoversity

---

Stay in control once work begins: what to check on site, how change orders work, and how to keep communication with your contractor on track.

**Hold a 15-minute check-in every Friday (morning ideally) put every change order in writing, and inspect the work at five key checkpoints before anything gets covered up.**

Once construction starts, your job changes. You're not planning anymore, you're overseeing. You don't need to be on site every day, and you shouldn't be, but you do need a rhythm, a paper trail, and a standing rule for what happens the moment your contractor asks for more money or more time, because that moment will come.

## The rhythm

Two weeks before demo: confirm materials are ordered with delivery scheduled, do a final walkthrough, and release the payment tied to this milestone. Your deposit already went out at signing, and typically a second payment follows at project start so ordering can begin, this one is whatever comes next on your schedule, tied to construction actually starting. Then, every Friday for 15 minutes: what got done, what's planned next, any issues, and any decisions coming up. It sounds small. It's the single habit that prevents the “wait, when did that happen” conversations that erode trust on both sides.

## Change orders and the 48-hour rule

Every change order in writing, before the work begins, with both the cost impact and the timeline impact spelled out. No exceptions, no “we'll figure out the paperwork later.” And apply a 48-hour rule to every non-emergency decision: sleep on it before you approve a cost increase. Contractors who are used to working with organized homeowners don't push back on this. The ones who do push back are telling you something. Send a same-day written confirmation email after any conversation about a change. It takes two minutes and it's the single cheapest insurance policy against a “he said, she said” dispute later.

## Five checkpoints before anything gets covered

Rough-in, before drywall goes up. Pre-tile. Pre-cabinet installation. Pre-trim and final. And the final walkthrough. Photograph everything before it disappears behind a finished surface: electrical, plumbing, structural changes, tile underlayment, behind the cabinets. You cannot inspect what's already been covered, so the checkpoint has to happen before the cover, not after.

## **Lesson recap**

1. 2 weeks before demo: confirm materials ordered, final walkthrough, release the payment tied to construction starting (your deposit already went out at signing).
2. Weekly 15-minute Friday check-in: completed, next, issues, upcoming decisions.
3. Every change order in writing, cost and timeline impact included.
4. 48-hour rule on every non-emergency decision.
5. Same-day written confirmation email after any change conversation.
6. 5 QC checkpoints: rough-in, pre-tile, pre-cabinet, pre-trim/final, final walkthrough.
7. Photo-document before anything gets covered.