Project Completion and Rehabilitation
A half built project is a specific kind of problem. Nobody knows exactly what is in the ground, the original contractor is gone, the documents are incomplete, and the entity that now owns it did not intend to be in construction.
We assess and finish these, which requires both forensic capability and the license to actually build.
Someone has to establish what is actually there
When a project stalls, the first question is not what it will cost to finish. It is what exists, in what condition, and to what standard it was built. Until that is answered, a completion estimate is a guess, and lenders and receivers have been handed a great many of those.
This work sits at the intersection of two capabilities that rarely appear together: the forensic and cost analysis to establish the current position, and a contractor's license to then build the remainder.
How we approach it
- Document recovery: plans, permits, submittals, testing records, inspection history, and payment records, whatever survived
- Physical assessment: what was built, whether it conforms, and what testing is needed to establish that
- Permit and approval status: what is still valid, what expired, and what has to be renewed or resubmitted
- Agency position: outstanding inspections, non-conformance items, and what each agency will require before acceptance
- Lien and claim exposure: what is recorded against the project and what remains unpaid
- Cost to complete: a real number, built from quantities, for finishing to the original or a revised scope
- Corrective scope: what has to be removed, repaired, or redone before completion can proceed
- Realistic schedule: including agency re-review and re-permitting time, which is usually the long pole
Expired permits and lapsed approvals
Stalled projects routinely have expired permits, lapsed approvals, and in some cases conditions of approval that changed while the project sat. Re-permitting can add months and occasionally changes the requirements, sometimes materially. This belongs in the assessment, not discovered after the completion contract is signed.
Deciding whether to finish
Sometimes the honest answer is that completing to the original design is not the best available outcome, and a revised scope, a different product, or a sale in the current condition is. We will give you the numbers to make that comparison rather than assuming the answer is a construction contract for us.
Then actually finishing it
Once the position is established and the decision is made, we can contract the completion under our California A license, including the corrective work required before new work can proceed. One party, from assessment through acceptance.
Completion capabilities
- Document recovery and review
- Physical condition assessment
- Conformance testing coordination
- Permit and approval status review
- Agency position determination
- Lien and claim exposure review
- Cost to complete estimating
- Corrective scope definition
- Re-permitting and resubmittal
- Completion construction
- Agency acceptance and closeout
- Bond exoneration support
How we run this work
Every scope is bid against real quantities and built to the governing agency's standard.
Existing conditions report
A documented record of what was built, its condition, and whether it conforms, with the testing that supports each conclusion.
Cost to complete
A quantity based estimate for finishing, separated into completion of intended work and correction of deficient work.
Permit and approval status
What remains valid, what expired, what must be renewed, and how long that will realistically take.
Options analysis
Complete as designed, complete to a revised scope, or dispose in current condition, each priced so the comparison is real.
Completion contract
A defined scope and price to finish under our own license, including any required corrective work.
Acceptance and release
Agency acceptance, notice of completion, lien clearance, and bond exoneration to actually close the project out.
Questions we get on this scope
We are a lender taking back a project. Where do we start?
With the existing conditions assessment and cost to complete. Every decision available to you depends on those two documents, and making a disposition or completion decision without them is expensive guessing.
Can you tell us whether to finish or sell?
We can give you the construction numbers that decision depends on: cost to complete as designed, cost to complete to a revised scope, and the corrective work required either way. The disposition decision is yours and involves factors outside construction.
What if the original contractor did defective work?
That becomes a defined corrective scope, priced separately from completion so the two are not conflated. Where the defect matters for a claim against the original contractor or its surety, the documentation needs to be built to support that. See construction defect analysis.
Do you take on the completion as a contractor?
Yes, that is generally the point. We can assess and then contract the completion under our California A license. Where you would rather have us stay in an advisory role and competitively bid the completion, we can do that instead, but not both on the same project.
Get a bid on project completion and rehabilitation
Send us the plans, the specification, and the schedule you are working to. We will tell you whether we are the right contractor for it and what it will cost.
Send us the project
Tell us the site, the scope, and the deadline. Initial consultations carry no fee and no obligation.