Rue Joffre, Akwa · Douala
The site moves, and you watch it move
A building and renovation contractor in Douala. We take a project from design to handover: working drawings, structural works, finishing, roads and drainage. The quotation is itemised before the first spade goes in, and you receive the progress in photographs.
5 yrs +Working in Douala
Where we stand
« A building site is not judged by the facade on handover day. It is judged by how many unpleasant surprises came between the quotation and the keys. »
Cesare BTP, Akwa Douala
We price the work before we start, item by item, and that price holds. We do not open a site without knowing what it costs, because that is where projects are lost: not on the quality of the concrete, but on extras nobody announced. Everything else follows from there, materials, programme, finishing.
What we build
Four kinds of work, one way of running a site
We work from bare ground to interior fit-out. Each kind of work has its own rules, trades and hazards, but the way we run it is the same: priced, programmed, handed over.
01Offices and retailFit-out, partitioning, suspended ceilings, electrical work, joinery. Usually on occupied premises, with a business that keeps trading while we put the partitions up.See our sites
02Earthworks and civil engineeringSite clearance, platforms, access roads, drainage channels and concrete structures. The work that comes before the building, and that decides how it stands ten years later.See our sites
03Renovation and extensionStructural repair, facade work, roofing, adding a storey. Existing buildings hold surprises: we open up, we record what we find, and we re-price before going further.See our sites
04ResidentialHouses, villas, apartment buildings. From working drawings to the last coat of paint, with the trades coordinated by us and a single point of contact for you.See our sitesOn site
A few of our sites
These photographs are ours, taken on our own sites. No stock imagery bought from a catalogue.
Office fit-out under way, partitioning and joinery.
Our method
A new way of building
Price it, coordinate it, report on it
We coordinate the trades ourselves. Masonry, joinery, electrical, plumbing and finishing all answer to one site manager. That is what avoids the weeks lost waiting for one trade to clear the way for the next, and it is what costs you most when nobody does it.
A quotation that holds is worth more than a low one. The low one always catches up with you, halfway through the work.
How it works
From drawing to handover
Six stages, in the order they arrive. You know at any moment where the site stands and what comes next.
Design
What you want, what the plot allows, what the regulations permit. We come out with a direction and a first budget.
Working drawings and calculations
Drawings, sizing, calculation notes, 3D renderings and BIM modelling where the project warrants it. This is what stops you discovering a problem once the concrete is poured.
Itemised quotation
Item by item, quantities and unit prices. You see what you are buying, and what you are not. No opaque lump sum, no costs discovered along the way.
Structural works
Earthworks, foundations, walls, slabs, roof structure. The stage where quality cannot be recovered afterwards.
Finishing trades
Joinery, electrical, plumbing, floor and wall finishes, paint, interior and exterior fit-out. We coordinate the trades, you deal with one person.
Handover
Snagging, testing, as-built file. We do not leave a site on a list of outstanding items.
Who we work with
Our clients
Private individuals, businesses, architects and developers. We also build to a third-party architect's drawings.
Building from abroad
Building in Douala without being in Douala
It is the hardest site there is: the one you cannot drop in on for half an hour on a Saturday morning. We have made it a speciality rather than an exception.
« The problem with a project run from abroad is almost never technical. It is that you do not know where the money stands, nor where the site stands. »
Contact
Tell us about your project
Tell us what you want to build and we will call you back. The first conversation and the site visit commit you to nothing.