One contractor from the first dig to the final finish: groundworks, shell, trades and building control handled by the same team, on one programme, with one number to ring. Free site visit and quote.
A plot becomes a house without you managing eleven separate trades
We build new houses from bare ground up: clearing and setting out the plot, digging and pouring foundations, running drainage and utility ducting, laying the slab, building the shell in block and brick, framing the roof, then coordinating the trades through first fix, second fix and finish. It is the same team on site from the first bucket of soil to the last coat of paint.
That matters because most new build problems are handover problems. Where the groundworker, bricklayer, carpenter and decorator all work for different people, nobody owns the sequence, and every gap between them costs a week. With one contractor the programme is a single programme, and when something changes there is one person deciding what moves.
We work for private clients and self-builders, and alongside developers and landowners on plot builds and small housing developments. We work directly with architects, designers and structural engineers, submit planning applications on your behalf, handle building control sign-off through every stage, and a structural warranty can be arranged.
What's included
Private residential homes
Self-build projects
Small housing developments
Plot builds for landowners and developers
Groundworks, drainage and utilities
Brickwork, blockwork and shell construction
Structural warranty can be arranged
Who it's for
Self-builders who want a contractor to run the whole build
Private clients building a family home on a plot
Landowners building out a plot to sell or to keep
Developers needing a reliable contractor for small housing developments
People replacing a bungalow, barn or dilapidated property with a new home
When it's needed
You have a plot and planning permission, or planning is in progress
You need groundworks and shell taken on as one package
A self-build has stalled and needs a contractor to take it over
A timber frame or kit is ordered and needs the ground stage and shell coordinated
You want one contractor accountable for the whole programme rather than several
Why It Matters
Where self-managed new builds come unstuck
The gaps between trades eat the programme
Each separately appointed trade protects its own diary, not yours. A two-day slip in the groundworks becomes a three-week slip by the time the bricklayer, roofer and frame supplier have all rescheduled around it.
Nobody owns the mistake
When the levels are out or a service was never ducted, separate trades each point at the one before. With a single contractor there is no argument about whose responsibility it was to get it right.
Building control stops the job
Missed inspections, work covered before it was seen, or engineer's details not followed all mean opening up completed work. On a new build that can mean breaking out foundations, slab or drainage.
Costs that only appear at the end
Scope left vague between trades: muck away, ducting, scaffold, making good - turns up as extras once you have no leverage left. A defined scope up front is what prevents it.
Weather and sequence working against you
Getting a roof on before winter is a sequencing decision made months earlier. Builds that lose the shell stage to autumn spend the winter drying out instead of fitting out.
Finance and warranty problems
Self-build finance and future sales both want evidence: inspections passed, stages certified and, where required, a structural warranty in place. Sorting that late is far harder than arranging it at the start.
Common mistakes we're asked to put right
Starting on site before the design is resolved, then paying for changes as variations
Appointing the cheapest trade for each stage and self-managing the sequence
Leaving drainage, ducting and external levels out of the early scope
Ordering a frame or kit before the ground stage programme is realistic
Skipping the structural engineer's involvement on foundations and openings
Deciding on a warranty after the foundations are already covered up
Our Process
How the job runs, step by step
Every job follows the same order, so you always know what has happened and what comes next.
Step 1
Free site visit and brief
Calum visits the plot, looks at access, ground, levels and services, goes through your drawings and what you want, and gives you an honest view of what the site will demand. Free of charge.
Step 2
Design coordination and planning
We work with your architect, designer and structural engineer, or advise on what is needed - and submit the planning application on your behalf where required.
Step 3
Quote, programme and scope agreed
A written scope and programme covering every stage, priced as a fixed price or cost-plus where the scope genuinely cannot be pinned down. Stage payments against work completed, no deposit normally required.
Step 4
Groundworks and substructure
Site set up and set out, plot cleared, foundations dug and poured to the engineer's design, drainage and utility ducting installed, substructure built and the floor slab laid, with building control inspecting each stage.
Step 5
Shell, roof and watertight
Blockwork, brickwork and structural openings built, timber structure and roof framed, roof covered, windows and doors in, getting the building watertight as early in the programme as the sequence allows.
Step 6
First fix, second fix and finishes
Carpentry first fix, then vetted electricians, plumbers and gas engineers under Calum's project management, followed by plastering, second fix joinery, decorating and floor finishes in a coordinated sequence.
Step 7
External works and completion
Drives, paths, patios, retaining, levels and landscaping finished off, site cleared, and the house handed over with building control sign-off complete and a structural warranty in place where one has been arranged.
What You Get
The difference this makes on your new builds & house building job
One programme, not eleven diaries
Every stage is sequenced by the same contractor, so trades follow each other instead of waiting on each other.
One number to ring
Calum manages the site and the subcontractors. You are not chasing five trades to find out what is happening this week.
Groundworks and shell by the same team
The most common source of new build error, the handover between ground stage and superstructure - simply is not a handover here.
Planning and building control handled
We submit planning applications on your behalf and book, attend and clear building control inspections at every stage.
Structural warranty available
A structural warranty can be arranged on new builds, which matters for finance and for any future sale.
Priced the way the job allows
Fixed price where the design is settled, cost-plus where it genuinely is not, labour-only if you are buying materials. Stage payments, no deposit normally required.
Fully insured throughout
£5m public liability, £10m employers' liability, products liability and Contractors' All Risks cover for the works, plant and tools.
Twenty years of Cornish ground
Steep plots, rock, springs, narrow access and awkward levels are priced and planned for, not discovered halfway through.
In Detail
New build and house building in detail
Substructure: foundations, drainage and slab
The build starts underground. Foundations follow the engineer's design: strip, trench fill, stepped on sloping plots, reinforced or raft where the ground demands it - with building control inspecting the open excavation before any pour. Foul and surface water drainage, soakaways or attenuation and utility ducting go in while the ground is open, at the right depths, falls and separations. Substructure blockwork is built to damp proof course level, then the floor slab is built up: compacted sub-base, blinding, membrane lapped into the wall damp proof course, insulation and reinforced slab.
Superstructure: blockwork, brickwork and structural openings
Walls are built plumb, level and properly tied, with cavity insulation, wall ties, cavity trays and damp proof courses installed as the wall goes up rather than retrofitted. Facing brickwork and blockwork is set out so courses and openings work out without awkward cuts at the reveals. Structural openings are formed with the lintels, padstones and beams the engineer specified, and loads are propped and transferred properly where an opening is being formed in existing structure. Gable, parapet and verge details are built to shed water rather than hold it.
Roof structure, coverings and watertight stage
Roofs are framed in cut timber or trusses depending on the design, with correct bracing, strapping, wall plate fixing and ventilation. Getting to watertight: roof covered, windows and doors in - is the single most important date in the programme, because everything internal depends on it and every week of delay is a week of a building taking on water. We sequence deliberately towards it, and we plan the shell stage with the season in mind wherever the start date gives us the choice.
Internal trades and coordination
Inside, sequence is everything:
Carpentry first fix: floor structures, stud partitions, roof and structural timber
Electrical first fix by vetted subcontracted electricians under Calum's management
Plumbing, heating and gas first fix by vetted subcontracted engineers
Insulation, plasterboard and plastering once first fix is signed off
Second fix carpentry: doors, skirtings, architraves, stairs and joinery
Second fix electrics and plumbing, sanitaryware and kitchen installation
Painting and decorating, floor finishes and making good
Working with architects, designers and engineers
We are comfortable building to somebody else's drawings and coordinating their details on site; that is normal for us. Where a client comes to us early without a full design team, we can advise on what will be needed before anyone digs, and we work with your architect or designer through the build so queries get answered in days rather than weeks. Structural engineer's details for foundations, beams, openings and roof structures are held on site and followed, and where what we uncover in the ground differs from the design assumption we get it reviewed before building on it.
Planning, building control and warranty
On notifiable work we handle the administration rather than leaving it with you: submitting the planning application on your behalf, issuing the building control notifications, booking inspections at foundation, drainage, damp proof course, structural and completion stages, attending those visits and getting each stage signed off before it is covered. A structural warranty can be arranged on new builds where you need one for finance, mortgage or resale purposes. Getting that decision made at the start is far simpler than retro-fitting evidence later.
Self-build, developer and plot work
Self-builders usually want the whole thing run for them, with clear communication and honest programme dates, sometimes taking on the decorating or landscaping themselves to save money, which we are happy to work around. Developers and landowners want repeatability, sequencing across plots and evidence for inspections and warranties. Landowners with a single plot often want the build to a defined stage - watertight shell, or slab and shell only - with the fit-out to follow. All three are work we take on, from Horningtops across Cornwall and Devon as far as Exeter.
External works and completion
A new house is not finished at the front door. Drives, parking, paths, patios, steps, retaining walls, boundary treatments, final levels and turfing all have to be built so surface water leaves the building rather than collecting against it. Because we did the groundworks, the finished external levels were planned when the drainage went in: thresholds, gullies and channel drains are in the right places, and the drive is built off the access track we constructed at the start.
FAQs
New Builds & House Building questions we get asked most
If your question isn't here, ring Calum and ask, a straight answer costs nothing.
How much does it cost to build a house in Cornwall?
+
It depends entirely on size, specification, ground conditions and access, a level plot with easy access and a straightforward design is a very different job from a steep site with rock and a bespoke design. We look at the plot and the drawings, then quote a fixed price for a defined scope or cost-plus where the scope genuinely cannot be pinned down. Site visits and quotes are free.
How long does a new build take?
+
For a typical single house, most builds run somewhere between roughly nine and eighteen months from first dig to completion, depending on size, specification, weather and how settled the design is when we start. We give you a stage-by-stage programme at quote stage and tell you when something has moved rather than letting you find out.
Do you handle the planning application and building control?
+
Yes. We submit planning applications on your behalf, issue the building control notifications, and book and attend the inspections at foundation, drainage, damp proof course, structural and completion stages, getting each signed off before it is covered.
Can you arrange a structural warranty?
+
Yes, a structural warranty can be arranged on new builds. It is worth deciding on it at the start, because warranty providers want evidence gathered as the build progresses rather than reconstructed afterwards.
Do you work with my architect and engineer?
+
Yes, we build to other people's drawings routinely and coordinate the structural engineer's details on site. If you have not appointed a design team yet, we can talk you through what will be needed before anyone digs.
Do you do the groundworks yourselves, or subcontract it?
+
We do it ourselves, with our own plant and CPCS-carded operators. Groundworks is our core trade, which is why the handover between ground stage and superstructure, the usual weak point on a new build - is not a handover on our sites.
Who does the electrics, plumbing and gas?
+
Vetted, trusted subcontractors we use regularly, working directly under Calum's project management and sequenced into the programme. You still have one point of contact for the whole build.
Do you need a large deposit up front?
+
Normally no deposit is required. We work on stage payments against work completed as the build progresses, and we accept any payment method: bank transfer, card or otherwise.
Can you build to a partial stage, like a watertight shell?
+
Yes. Plenty of clients want groundworks and shell only, or a watertight shell with the fit-out to follow, either to control costs or because they intend to do some of the finishing themselves. We will price whatever stage suits you.
Do you take on small housing developments and plot builds?
+
Yes. We work for developers, landowners and commercial clients as well as private homeowners and self-builders, from single plots through to small housing developments, with 15 to 25 people on the books.
Which areas do you build in?
+
All of Cornwall and Devon as far as Exeter, from our base at Horningtops just outside Liskeard: including Liskeard, Callington, Menheniot, Dobwalls, St Ive, Looe, Saltash, Torpoint, Bodmin, Launceston, Fowey, St Austell and Tavistock.
Related Work
Services that usually go with this one
Most jobs cross more than one trade. Taking them together keeps the programme and the price tighter.
Get a free new builds & house building quote from someone who's walked the ground
Calum will come out, look at the site and give you a straight price: fixed, cost-plus or labour-only, whichever suits the job. No deposit normally required, and stage payments as work is completed.
Send us the details and Calum will come out, look at the ground and give you a straight, free quote: fixed price, cost-plus or labour-only, whichever suits the job.
