What the client does at the structural stage
At the structural stage the client is not checking concrete strength but their own decisions, which are about to become irreversible: opening sizes, penetrations for services, floor and ceiling levels, supports for future equipment. Once the concrete is poured, any of these can only be changed by drilling, cutting and recalculating.
Structural assessment is done by the architect and the arquitecto técnico on the site direction team. Your job is to arrive at the meeting with the plan and a list of questions before each level is poured, not after.
What gets cast in for good
Door and window openings. If you have changed your mind and want the terrace sliding door 60 cm wider, today it is a drawing revision; in a month it is a new lintel and a calculation.
Penetrations and sleeves for services. Drainage, heat-recovery ventilation, air-conditioning ducts and pipes running from the pool to the plant room all pass through slabs and beams. A missed penetration gets drilled later through the finished structure, and that is not always permitted.
Levels. Underfloor heating, an acoustic layer and the floor finish add up to centimetres that must be allowed for in the slab level.
The stair opening, a lift pit, rooflights, fixings for a pergola or supports for solar panels on the roof.
An example: a house with a pool and solar panels
Our private house with a pool, built from start to finish between 2022 and 2024, shows how many systems converge in the structure. In a house like that, pipes run from the pool shell to the plant room, cabling from the solar panels comes down from the roof to the inverter, and the climate system needs routes between floors.
At each crossing, where the pipe or cable goes is decided in advance so the penetration lands in a permissible part of the structure. If the services decisions have not been made by the time the frame goes up, it is easier to delay the pour by a week than to look for a workaround later.
Questions for the site meeting
Which level is being reinforced now and when is the pour planned? Have penetrations and sleeves been checked against the latest services drawings? Which of my decisions need confirming before the pour? What checks does the site direction team carry out before concreting, and how are they recorded?
If you spot a difference from the drawing, mark the location on the plan, photograph it and pass the question to the person in charge. Do not ask the workers on site to move or add anything: any change to the structure is approved by the site direction team.
What to photograph and why
The most useful photos are taken the day before the pour: reinforcement, cast-in fixings, sleeves, pipes and cables that will end up inside the slab. Shoot with a tape measure in frame and reference to gridlines or walls, and note the level and zone.
Years later, those pictures will tell you where it is safe to drill, where the underfloor heating pipe runs and where the cable from the panels went. A photo cannot tell you about structural quality, though: it shows positions, not strengths or test results.
After the formwork comes off: measure before ordering
Once the formwork is removed comes a moment that is often forgotten. The actual dimensions of openings, heights and penetrations are checked against the drawing and recorded. Windows, sliding systems, the staircase, the lift and the kitchen are ordered from those measurements, not from the design: a couple of centimetres between drawing and concrete is normal, and a window that has already been made cannot be adjusted to it.
The same survey shows whether everything on the client's list made it into the structure: the sleeves are in place, the stair opening is the right size, the pergola fixings are where they were expected. If something is missing, now is the time to sort it out, before the walls and facade begin.
Safety and site visits
A site at the structural stage is at its most dangerous: open slab edges, formwork, reinforcement, a working crane. Come by appointment, accompanied by the person in charge, in a hard hat and closed shoes, and do not go up where there is no edge protection.
On our projects one person is in charge, collects your questions and takes them to the right professional. Visits are planned around the stages, when there is something to check before a pour. We work in Russian and Spanish, with staged payments under the contract. We reply to enquiries within an hour.