When you are told a building is "in the final phase", that can mean six months or two years. Understanding the phases lets you judge for yourself how far along a building is.
1. Preparation and foundations
Clearing the site, excavation and laying the foundations. This phase looks slow because most of the work disappears underground, but it determines everything that follows. Mistakes here cannot be fixed later.
2. The structure
Columns, beams and floor slabs go up one after another. This is the phase where the building visibly "grows" every week and where most people think construction is almost done. In reality, the structure is usually less than half the work and the cost.
3. Walls and enclosure
External and partition walls, windows, the roof. From outside, the building looks almost finished. Inside, there is still nothing.
4. Installations
Electrics, water, drainage, heating, ventilation. Work that is not visible but takes a long time and determines how comfortable the apartment will be. If you visit the site at this stage, ask where the pipes run and where the sockets are — later they are not easily moved.
5. Insulation and facade
Thermal insulation directly affects your heating bill for decades. Ask what material was used and how thick it is. This is one of the few things where the difference between a good and a cheap solution is felt every winter.
6. Finishes
Plastering, floors, tiles, doors, bathrooms. The phase that takes longer than anyone expects, because it consists of hundreds of small details done one after another.
7. Common areas and surroundings
Stairs, entrance, lift, parking, landscaping. Often left until the end. When you visit a building ready for handover, look exactly here — the state of the common areas says a lot about how serious the investor is.
How to read a construction site
If the scaffolding is still up, the facade is not finished. If the windows are not installed, interior work has not seriously started. If the lift is not installed, handover is not close. These three signs give you a more accurate estimate than any promise.