---
id: KB-CN-002
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/construction/refurbishment-and-renovation
idioma: en
categoria: sector-construccion
subcategoria: rehabilitacion
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CS-016, KB-CS-029]
citadoPor: [KB-CS-017]
---

# Refurbishment and renovation

_Small jobs, many at once, and clients living on site._

**Responde a:** refurbishment documentation · works in residential buildings documentation · renovation grant justification · trades documentation on a refurbishment

Refurbishment combines the worst of two worlds: construction documentation plus a client who is a private individual or a residents' association, who neither knows the sector nor has any reason to. And often with a grant involved that has to be justified months later.

## The four fronts

| Front | What moves | Module |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Trades coming and going | Their documentation, each with their own | Trackline |
| The client or association | Quote, acceptance, sign-offs | Consigne |
| The building's condition | Before, during and after | SmartCheck |
| The grant, if any | Dated execution evidence | SmartCheck during the works |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Prior condition prevents the most arguments and is the most forgotten. Refurbishment works on something that already existed and almost always had defects: without dated before photos, any pre-existing crack ends up being yours.

## A private client changes the rules

They do not read technical documentation, cannot tell one trade from another, and will remember what they were told verbally. That is why a signed quote with the scope inside is worth more here than on any other kind of works: it is the only thing fixing what was included and what was not.

**En corto**

- Quote signed before starting, with the scope written down.
- Any change in a signed amendment, not in a message.
- Sign-off on completion, before invoicing.

> [!WARNING]
> In residents' associations, whoever signs must be able to sign for the association. An agreement with the chair without a members' resolution is exactly what gets disputed when the levy arrives.

> [!NOTE]
> If you run several refurbishments at once, building them as one process makes the fifth cost a fraction of the first. The scope changes; the list of trades and documents, little.

**What about small one-day jobs?**

A signed quote and sign-off still pay off; the rest is overhead.

**How do I justify a grant?**

By certifying evidence during the works, not gathering it at the end.

**Does it help with communications to the association?**

Important communications are worth certifying on the day they are made.

## Ejemplos

**A refurbishment firm disputes with a client whether a crack was caused by the works.**

- Retrieves the certified photos of the prior condition

→ The crack was already there, the argument ends in an afternoon, and the repair does not come out of their pocket.

**Something unforeseen appears on opening a wall.**

- Records the finding with a photo at the moment

→ The extra cost is justified by what was seen.

**The client says it was already like that.**

- Captures the condition before starting

→ What was found is distinguished from what was done.

**Changes are agreed verbally during the works.**

- Puts each change on record in writing

→ The final invoice surprises nobody.

**Work happens in an occupied home.**

- Records the condition of what is not being touched

→ Other people's damage is not inherited.

**At the end there is a dispute about what is outstanding.**

- Runs the snagging list with status

→ Close-out advances on data.