Because qualifying projects properly upstream is better for everyone than spending months on drawings that were never going to land. We invest the time in feasibility because the projects that emerge past it are projects that work — and the ones that don’t get filtered out before either party invests significantly.

It’s a qualifying tool, not a marketing gimmick. We do the work either way; the report just lets you make the proceed-or-not decision with real information.

For most standard projects — renovations, single home sites, simple subdivisions — two to three weeks from the initial consultation to written report in your inbox. More complex projects, sites with overlays, or developments needing planner input take longer.

If you’re under time pressure (a section purchase deadline, for example), tell us at the consultation and we’ll let you know if we can compress the timeline.

Usually yes — even for projects that look simple. The most common feasibility surprises sit exactly where homeowners don’t expect them: a recession plane that rules out the extension you wanted on the north side, a heritage overlay you didn’t know applied to your street, an existing foundation that can’t take the second-storey load, a current Building Code requirement that pushes the build cost above your range.

The cost of a feasibility report — for the standard service, zero — is much lower than the cost of finding out at the design stage.

The feasibility report is a written deliverable — a strategic and financial assessment of your specific project, in document form.

Consultation is broader and more conversational — working sessions where we help you scope a brief, think through options, weigh different directions, or get architectural advice without committing to a specific project. Some clients start with consultation to figure out what they want to do, then move into feasibility once the brief is clearer.

Some lenders accept it as supporting documentation, particularly the indicative cost section. But it’s not a quantity surveyor’s report and it’s not a fixed-price quote. The indicative cost is exactly that — indicative. Binding numbers come after consent, when builders tender against detailed drawings.

If your lender needs a specific format (QS report, fixed-price quote), tell us at the consultation and we’ll explain the path to those, which sits after the feasibility stage.

Three options usually emerge. First, the brief can adjust — smaller footprint, different scope, staged delivery — and become viable. Second, the section can be reconsidered — sometimes the right call is selling and buying a section better suited to what you want to build. Third, the project can stop, which is occasionally the right answer too.

Whatever the call, you walk away with a clear understanding of why — and with no design fees spent. That’s the entire point of doing this work upstream.

No — our work is Auckland-only. The reason is honest: planning rules and council processes vary enough between councils that being deeply familiar with Auckland’s is what we trade on. We’d rather do that one thing well than spread thin.