Run this checklist before demolition day, not during it: confirmed budget with contingency, permits filed if needed, materials ordered with lead times checked, trades booked with confirmed start dates, and a living plan for the disrupted period. Skipping any one of these is what turns a planned renovation into an open-ended one.
The checklist, in order
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Finalise scope and get it in writing. Write down exactly what’s included and excluded. “Redo the kitchen” is not a scope; “replace cabinets and worktop, keep existing appliances and flooring” is.
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Set the budget with contingency. Follow the full method in the home renovation budget guide; the short version is must-have total plus 15-25% held back, untouched, for problems.
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Check permit requirements. Contact your local building authority before assuming a job is permit-free. Structural changes, new circuits, and plumbing relocations usually need sign-off; painting and flooring usually don’t.
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Get three quotes, not one. Even if you have a trusted contractor, a second and third quote calibrates whether the first is reasonable. Compare scope line by line, not just the bottom number.
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Confirm lead times on materials before booking trades. Tile, stone worktops, and made-to-order cabinetry can run 6-12 weeks. Booking a fitter before the materials are confirmed to arrive means paying them to wait, or worse, rescheduling.
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Book trades with a confirmed start date and a written schedule. Verbal “should be free in a few weeks” is not a booking.
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Plan where you’ll cook, wash, and sleep during the disruption. For a kitchen job, this means a temporary setup (microwave, kettle, mini-fridge) or a plan to eat out for the duration, budgeted in.
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Photograph and measure everything before demolition. You’ll need exact dimensions for reordering anything that goes wrong, and photos protect you in disputes about pre-existing condition.
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Decide the final look before you buy materials, not during. Committing to a colour palette or style direction after tile is already ordered means living with a mismatch. Testing options on the actual room first avoids this, see the section below.
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Set up protection for what isn’t being renovated. Dust sheets, sealed doorways, and a plan for pets. Renovation dust travels further than people expect.
Permit checklist, specifically
| Change | Permit typically needed? |
|---|---|
| Repainting, wallpaper | No |
| Replacing flooring like-for-like | No |
| New flush-mounted electrical socket on existing circuit | Sometimes |
| New electrical circuit | Usually yes |
| Moving or removing a wall | Yes, especially if load-bearing |
| Plumbing relocation | Usually yes |
| Exterior changes (windows, siding, roofline) | Usually yes |
| Extension or new structure | Always yes |
Confirm locally; rules vary significantly by country and even by municipality.
The decision that should happen before, not during
The single most expensive mid-project change is switching style direction after materials are ordered. Before you finalise tile, paint, or cabinetry, look at two or three real options on your actual space. The furniture budget guide covers the same principle for furnishing decisions specifically: decide the direction cheaply before spending on the pieces that lock it in.
What to have ready on day one of the project
- Signed contracts and a payment schedule tied to milestones, not just a start and end payment.
- A single point of contact if multiple trades are involved, so scheduling conflicts get resolved by one person.
- A shared calendar or group chat with all trades so delays are visible early.
- Your contingency fund, untouched, in a separate account.
Try it yourself
Before you finalise the look you’re ordering materials against, test the redesign on a real photo of the room in Homie. It’s a five-minute way to confirm the direction before it becomes an irreversible line item on the checklist above.