How we work
The build, in eight phases
Owners often ask what a project actually looks like from the inside. Here’s how a build runs at Ridgeway Construction & Crane Ltd. — from the first conversation through occupancy, with what the owner is doing at each step.
First conversation
A site walk, not an office meeting. We look at the lot, look at whatever drawings or sketches you have, talk about scope and budget at a real-numbers level, and figure out whether we’re the right shop for the project. Sometimes the honest answer is no — if it’s a scale or a location we don’t serve, we’ll tell you that and point you toward someone closer to it.
Pre-construction
If we’re a fit, we move into pre-con: drawing coordination, allowance pricing on the items you haven’t selected yet, sub pricing on framing / electrical / plumbing / mechanical, and a real contingency line. The output is a quote you can actually read — itemized inclusions, itemized exclusions, allowances with what they buy, and the contingency. Reference: Why your home build is over budget by week six.
Contract and permits
Itemized contract. A draw schedule tied to completed milestones, not calendar weeks. Permit submission to the relevant municipality — Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, or wherever the site sits. Allow real time here; building departments don’t respond to schedule pressure.
Site prep
Demolition if there’s anything to remove. Excavation. Old services located and capped or rerouted. New services roughed in. Anything we find that doesn’t match the drawings — old foundations, abandoned tanks, surprise tree roots — gets surfaced now, not later.
Foundation
Footings, walls, drainage, damp-proofing. The cheapest week to do right and the most expensive week to do badly. Owner is on site for one walk-through before the pour. Full deep-dive in Foundation week: what owners don’t see.
Framing and envelope
Structure goes up. Windows installed. Roof on. The building becomes weather-tight. This is the visible week-after-week progress that owners enjoy watching. It’s also when most late-stage change orders come up — we’ll push back on the small ones because by now they’re no longer small.
Finishes
Mechanical (HVAC, plumbing fixtures, electrical trim). Drywall. Cabinets. Flooring. Paint. Tile. The selections you locked during pre-con get installed; the selections you delayed get installed late, sometimes expensively. We’ll have flagged this in the contract.
Walkthrough and handover
Deficiency walk — we identify and resolve the small things together. Occupancy permit. Warranty starts. We stay in touch through year one for anything that surfaces in normal use, per the BC new-home warranty terms.
Crane jobs follow a shorter version of the same logic — site walk, lift plan, scheduling around your concrete schedule and our weather window, the lift itself, sign-off. See Crane operation for the crane-specific path. Either way, the contact page is the start.