The technical guide explains how we construct a house with our modular system, and you can see what we do and don't do. The guide also contains drawings of the four series of houses. It is available on our website or telephone Scandinavian Homes and we will send one in the post.

Take a good look at our Passive house and get a feel for the quality and nice atmosphere On this first visit we usually discuss your requirements and present a few drawings in scale 1:100 of houses that are close to the desired requirements. After this visit most people start to think over what they really want and make some simple scale drawings, or modify the drawings received from us.

You can download many sample plans from our website or we can e-mail you more (free of charge) to give you more ideas. Modify them, scribble over them or simply make a list of items that are important to you and that you would ideally like to fit into your home. We receive the sketches the prospective customer has made by e-mail, fax or post. We ring or e-mail back our comments about them. The customer sends back a second version to us etc.

Unless you have set your mind on your own sketches or plans or have plans from another architect or engineer you can meet with our architect and discuss with you options how to achieve a layout that suits your needs best. This meeting is free of charge and usually takes about one hour. If you decide to engage us in drawing up planning application plans for you we will set up a file and reserve time for this but we do not draw up plans during a meeting. A typical drawing set typically consists of floor plans, elevations, a simple generic section in scale 1:100 and a simple perspective and a detailed standard section suitable for your type of house. We charge for the actual time it takes to adapt one of our existing drawings or to make a new one and this usually ranges between €400 and €600. This is usually e-mailed to the customer in a pdf format to be used together with a locally produced site-layout plan and other documents needed for the planning permission application. Please note that we are not involved in the process of the planning application but of course we are quick to provide you with changes to our drawings should you require them due to planning restrictions or because you have changed your mind on something.

After 2 months you might get a positive "decision to grant permission". If you are confident that there will be no objections against this decision you might contact us to write a contract at this stage. It takes 8 weeks from contract signed to have the house built, provided that our production capacity allows this.

At this stage we should meet in the Scandinavian Homes office to decide about details in the supply of materials so that the contract can be finalised and signed. Keep in mind that there are quite a few details to discuss so allow enough time for this. Most customers buy a components-kit of materials used to finish the house. This varies from customer to customer but usually includes materials for partitions, timber floor and ceiling, mouldings, water system, ventilation system, timber deck, etc. We discuss this in detail to suit each customer's requirements.

Now that you have signed the contract you will need to arrange to make the payment for the deposit. The payment schedule for the contract is as follows:

12.5% deposit at time of signing contract
15% when foundation is completed
45% when shell arrives on site
25% when shell is erected
2.5% retentions kept by you for two months after handing over date.

If you haven't done so yet this is the time to ask your excavator to prepare the site so that we can build the foundations when scheduled. Use the foundation detail and your individual foundation plan to give him the information he needs and make sure he provides you with 'clean stones'

The construction of the foundations begins on Tuesday the week before the house is being erected. We advise you to ensure beforehand that the site is prepared accordingly and make sure that you have received the necessary drawings from us so you are aware where the plumbing and floor heat cables will be located. At this stage you may still make minor additions on site, for eaxmple extra ducting for a gas hob, an electricity connection to a garage or exterior lighting. The foundations are usually ready by Friday or Saturday and have now time to dry.

In the second week the house kit and the supplied materials arrive on site directly from our factory in Sweden. This is usually a Tuesday. The main structure of the house is assembled by our highly specialized team usually within the first day. The following days are used to finish the corners, cover the roof, etc. On Friday evening our direct engagement is over. At this stage the payments according to the payment schedule should be made as well. This can be a challenge for your bank or building society. They are used to a much slower building process. Discuss this with them in good time. Externally you only have to add roof-tiles and treat the external timber with oil. If you opt for the plastered finish there will be a supply of all the materials needed for your local plasterer. Internally there is one big empty room with plasterboards on the walls. We are available for consultations over the telephone. The concrete foundation is complete with under floor heating and sewage plumbing. Do not hesitate to ring us with questions. We will talk to any tradesman about technical issues as well.