Our aim at Lintel is simple
To take care of everything that makes building a home difficult – so you can look forward to everything that makes it worthwhile.
Building or renovating a home is demanding. Contracts need scrutiny, costs need challenging, programmes need protecting – and hundreds of small decisions can become expensive problems when nobody is watching. You shouldn’t have to become a construction professional to deal with any of it. That is our job.
Lintel works for the owner and no one else. We can design and document the non-structural interior, with a cost plan beside every option. We then run the tender and independently monitor costs, progress and changes through construction – through to the final account and handover.
Request the brochureWhy it matters
A building project has many interests. Yours deserves its own representative.
Your architect, builder and suppliers each have defined roles. Lintel’s role is different: to consider the whole project from the owner’s commercial perspective.
The lowest quotation is not always the lowest cost.
Two bids can appear comparable on the cover page while allowing for very different scopes, exclusions and provisional sums. Until those differences are exposed and priced, the headline figures tell only part of the story.
Payment can move ahead of progress.
Residential payment schedules often require substantial sums before equivalent work is complete, sometimes without owners recognising the risk. Our project-specific Payment Annex addresses that exposure before a contract is signed.
Changes can become expensive after commitment.
Once work is underway, an instructed change may no longer be competitively priced. We seek to establish its scope, cost and programme effect before you approve it – while there is still a choice to make.
What we offer
From the first budget to the final account – and everything in between.
Owners of private homes undertaking substantial renovations – from refurbishment to rebuild. Begin at any stage; each one is a fixed fee against a written scope.
Before you commit
Brief · Budget · Feasibility
The brief tested against the property, the budget against current market evidence – before you commit to a design or a builder.
02Design, with your budget at the forefront
Layouts · Finishes · FF&E · Lighting · Joinery
We develop the non-structural interior and document it for tender, with a cost plan beside each option – so you understand the cost of a design before choosing it.
03Before you sign
Documentation · Tender · Contract
Competing builders price the same documented scope; bids are levelled line by line. On tenders we run, a project-specific Payment Annex is proposed, setting out how and when the builder is paid, with each claim reviewed before you authorise it.
04While the work is happening
Planned visits · Weekly report
Planned site visits and a concise written report every week, covering observed progress, programme, costs, changes and the decisions that need you.
05At completion
Final account · Defects
The final account reviewed against the contract and the records kept from day one; defects recorded and pursued through the defects period.
Design is part of what we do. Our scope can include non-structural interior design and documentation. Where structural design, engineering or statutory submissions are required, these remain with the appropriately appointed professionals.
What we offer, in fullWhat you get
Peace of mind, and a building professional in your corner.
Whether we design it or your architect does, Lintel looks after the budget, tender, contract, changes and final account – always from your side.
01
A design you can afford to build
Every option drawn with its cost beside it, so the scheme you choose is one the budget can carry.
02
A budget tested before you commit
Set against current rates and real tender evidence before you commit to anything – with assumptions, exclusions and constraints made visible early.
03
A tender you can actually compare
Bids levelled line by line, exclusions and qualifications identified, before you sign.
04
The payment schedule matters more than you think
A conventional building contract can leave substantial sums paid ahead of the work. Our project-specific Payment Annex is designed to limit that exposure – with progress claims independently reviewed, milestones carefully structured and the decision always yours.
05
Cost exposure monitored through the build
Changes priced and presented for your approval before they are instructed, wherever the contract allows. Progress claims reviewed against the work observed before you decide whether to pay. One written report every week, wherever you are.
06
A documented route to completion
Defects, handover requirements and the final account reviewed against the contract and the records kept from day one.
Your budget shouldn’t be a moving target. Every change should have a reason, a price and your approval.
Who we are
Experience and expertise, on the client side.
We bring first-hand construction experience to the owner’s side of the table – without the commercial interests that can pull a project away from the owner’s priorities.
Experience that informs every decision.
Lintel is led by Cory Bruce, a qualified building and construction professional whose experience includes establishing and leading the construction division of a prestigious residential developer in prime central London. Having overseen complex, super-prime homes from planning through delivery, Cory brings practical construction and commercial expertise directly to homeowners – independently and without a financial interest in construction spend.
In writing
Our fees are agreed against a written scope – never calculated as a percentage of your construction spend. We take no margin on the building work and no commission from suppliers. Your building contract is directly with your builder; Lintel never holds it.
Residential development & construction leadership
Established and led the construction division of a prime central London residential developer, overseeing high-value projects from early planning through completion.
Procurement & commercial management
Pricing, tendering, cost control and contract administration across complex private residential projects, with a detailed understanding of where cost and contractual risks arise.
Design coordination & delivery oversight
Coordinating designers, specialist trades and programmes on demanding briefs, and seeing projects through to handover.
One appointment, one loyalty.
A conversation first. Then a written proposal.
We begin with a complimentary, no-obligation consultation – in person, on site or remotely – to understand your project and where Lintel can add value. If you decide to go further, the Project Review is the first scoped, fixed-fee stage; its scope, deliverables and fee are agreed in writing before it begins.
The brochure
The full picture.
How each stage works, what it delivers, how the Payment Annex operates and how our fees are structured. The detail behind the Lintel approach, in twelve pages.
Begin with a conversation
Know where you stand before the next decision.
Tell us where the project is – a plot, a plan, three quotes, or a build that has lost its way. The first step is a complimentary conversation, then a written proposal: stage, scope, fixed fee, programme.