From the field
What happens during a site visit, and what's needed to prepare for it
Before every quote there is a site visit: the space is examined, the needs are listened to, what is actually there is measured.
Why it always starts with a site visit
A quote written without having seen the place is based on assumptions. Assumptions are fine for a rough idea, but when it comes to construction work, the variables that change a cost or a timeline are often invisible from a photo or a years-old floor plan.
This is why, before talking about numbers or techniques, SMB comes to see. It's not a bureaucratic step: it's the moment when information gathered remotely is compared with what is actually on site.
Seeing the space: what it means in practice
Seeing means walking through the environment, observing how it is made, how it is accessed, how the spaces are oriented, where visible systems run, what materials have been used in the past. This is information that doesn't emerge from a document, but that influences almost every subsequent decision.
Even aspects that seem marginal, like the width of a passage or the presence of a level difference, can determine whether a certain job is simple, complex, or needs to be rethought. Seeing in person reduces the distance between what is imagined and what exists.
Listening to what's needed, not just what's seen
Those who live or work in a space know things that a visual inspection alone doesn't reveal: a problem that recurs in a certain season, a need tied to how that environment is used every day, a priority that wouldn't be obvious to someone looking from outside.
Listening, at this stage, means gathering this information before proposing any solution. Often what is requested at the start and what is actually needed don't fully coincide, and understanding this beforehand avoids working on the wrong question.
Measuring what's there: why it matters more than it seems
Measurements taken on site are the most reliable reference point that exists. A dimension on a floor plan may be correct or it may no longer reflect reality, due to work done over time or simple inaccuracies never corrected.
Measuring what's there, rather than relying only on what is written, is what allows you to truly understand what is technically possible to do in that space, and with what real constraints one must work.
How to prepare for a site visit
There's no need to arrive with a project already defined: the site visit exists precisely to build a clear vision together. However, some things help make the meeting useful from the very first moment.
It can be useful to have available:
- any existing documents about the space, such as floor plans or previous technical reports, even if not recent; - free access to the areas involved, including the less visible ones; - a description, even informal, of what isn't working or what one would like to achieve; - the availability of whoever knows the daily use of the space, if different from the owner.
If you have a space to evaluate, you can ask SMB for a site visit to understand, with data gathered on site, where to start from.
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