I. PROPERTY CONSULTANCY SERVICES

Legal due diligence

Before buying, renting or developing any property, it is essential to carry out checks at the local land registry or cadastral office, to search the title deeds and check for encumbrances or claims against the property. The legality and continuity of the title deeds in relation to the property’s current condition also need to be checked.

Planning due diligence

This involves a series of checks and inspections carried out to clarify the property’s development potential and the restrictions it is subject to. Among other things, we can check for compliance with statutorily regulated lines/boundaries, land uses, construction terms, construction status, the legality of existing structures, and the validity of administrative decisions.

Ownership dispute resolution

APPROJECT also undertakes to examine and investigate a property’s history, looking at its boundary markers and legal status, to provide support for to or clarify ownership issues in disputes between owners or between an owner and the State (in the case of expropriation, disputes over ownership or the status of land, issues relating to forest maps, foreshore status, and so on).

Property development plans and property management

Working with experienced associates our company prepares property development plans when commissioned to do so, and also undertakes to manage real estate properties for individuals.

II. SURVEYS

APPROJECT also undertakes to prepare all manner of studies, drawings and technical reports needed to address aspects of the legal and planning status of a property or area being examined. Our firm has a complete set and range of specialised land surveying tools (dual frequency GPS equipment, geodetic stations, etc.) specialist software for each sort of study, as well as the necessary experience and know-how. We undertake:

• All manner of surveys
• Survey diagrams and studies
• Implementation decisions (individual decisions, “fitness for building”, corrections to such decisions, etc.)
• Compensation settlement and re-calculation decisions
• Changes to national cadastre spatial data
• Objections to forest maps and land status decisions
• Planning and cadastral studies
• Demarcation of seashore and foreshore lines
• Photointerpretation and photogrammetry
• Drawings and certificates required for legal transactions
• Photogrammetric interpretation of aerial photographs and production of both orthophotomaps and older survey diagrams.

III. BUILDING DESIGNS

•  Architectural designs
  We prepare architectural designs for building projects covering the initial concept, preliminary design and final design, offering clients a wide range of choices. Our architectural team’s main concerns are to ensure great looking buildings, practical solutions that suit the user’s personality and also blend seamlessly into their surroundings, while achieving the results sought from an economic and technical perspective. Particular emphasis is placed on preparing documentation and drawings for the design features for project owners. We do this by preparing detailed architectural drawings, photorealistic images, insolation designs, and virtual tours.
•  Load-bearing designs for construction or reinforcement purposes
  The load-bearing design for a building’s load-bearing structure is prepared in accordance with national law and provides all information needed as well as data required to enable the building can be flawlessly built and safely used. It includes preparing calculations and drafting drawings, tables, etc. required to build the load-bearing structure. We also estimate the cost required to construct it, and provide the requisite degree of detail, covering dimensioning, anti-seismic design, special foundations, and load-bearing tests. We can also prepare the designs needed for restoration and reinforcement of existing buildings. These designs are used on buildings whose load-bearing structure is made of reinforced concrete, structural steel or masonry.
•  Electrical and mechanical designs
  Our firm can also provide designs in the following areas:
  – Water supply / sewerage
  – Strong and weak currents
  – Automated systems
  – Heating, air-conditioning, fuel-gas, etc.
  – Photovoltaic station design and installation
  – Occupational risk assessments
•  Building energy performance and building/system upgrade studies
  – Building energy performance studies and ratings
  – Building energy rating improvement study
•  Feasibility studies
  – Architectural and “as built” drawings
  – Estimated construction cost studies
  – Bills of quantities, quantity surveys and project budgets
• Retrospective planning permission
  – We can help obtain retrospective planning permission for buildings by preparing the designs and drawings needed for inclusion under the schemes established by Laws 4014/2011, 4178/2013 and 4495/2017.
•  Construction permits
  – Small scale permits
  – Approval and construction permits for projects
  – Revisions to construction permits
  – Changes in the use of buildings
•  Operating permits
  – Operating permits for catering establishments
  – Installation and Operating permits from:
  – The Industrial Directorate for professional workshops and small manufacturers and industries of all sorts
  – The Transport Directorate for car body shops of any type, petrol and gas stations, car washes and car parks
  – Environmental Impact Studies

IV. PROJECT SUPERVISION & CONSTRUCTION

Project technical descriptions

We can prepare technical descriptions for the qualitative and quantitative aspects of each work task and materials used, which must be complied with during construction. These are prepared in accordance with applicable regulations and national standards.

Project engineering designs

We can prepare engineering designs for the project to ensure a top class build, better organise work tasks, help contractors better understand the objectives being sought and ensure that the build is cost effective. The engineering design includes drawings and sketches of construction details, technical descriptions and materials and work specifications, bills of quantities for materials and work tasks, among other things.

Project supervision

We also undertake to implement project designs in accordance with regulations, put safety measures in place and comply with the state of the art in implementing projects, and can undertake to organise the worksite.

Project management

This involves taking all manner of decisions and preparing the construction schedule to properly organise human resources, the sequence of work and project cash flows.

Project construction and management

APPROJECT undertakes complete preparation of the project budget, construction work and project management from the start of work to delivery, on a turnkey basis. It ensures health and safety at the worksite, coordinates work tasks and the use of flawless technical methods in all phases of the project, and also provides comprehensive supervision, organisation, monitoring and project management service. We ensure a high quality build, great finish, cost effectiveness and make sure that the schedule is followed.

Renovations and special builds

We can also undertake partial or complete renovations of properties of any type, to meet any requirements, and can also take care of special builds using any building materials.

V. RESTORATION & REINFORCEMENT OF EXISTING BUILDINGS

Our firm is specially attuned to Greece’s traditional architectural heritage, and in particular that in the wider Attica area. We can rebuild, restore, reinforce and ensure the re-use of old -primarily stone- buildings and shore up their load-bearing structure. Our aim is to revitalise traditional architectural structures, relying on modern rules and construction standards. In the wider Cyclades region where we also operate, one often finds traditional buildings and homes dating back at least 150 years. These Cycladic houses were designed to meet the most basic of needs. But they are considered unique in terms of their look and simplicity.
Those buildings were erected in keeping with the architectural trends of that time: simple day-to-day needs were to be met, and only natural materials found in the Cycladic countryside were used to build them. Here one finds materials such as stone, natural untreated timber (tree trunks) and natural plaster made from locally available minerals (clay, pozzolana, lime, etc.). Such properties tended to be small because of the little vegetation on the islands and lack of large tree trunks needed to build the roofs. A home tended to consist of two or more such buildings, sometimes detached from each other, sometimes abutting. Homes tended to face south to benefit from the sun, with living spaces have an inward focus compared to the communal spaces in villages.
The buildings were usually made of load-bearing masonry comprised of semi-dressed stones, using clay as a mortar, and had small windows and doors, a roof made of natural, untreated sections of tree trunks on which a layer of natural stone slabs was then laid, to hold up the layer of clay applied on top for thermal insulation. That was then covered with one or two layers of lime to seal the flat roof. Floors were made of a clay-lime and pozzolana mortar, which when suitably worked gave a flat, smooth surface, known as traditional polished cement mortar.
We became professionally involved in renovating and restoring such buildings out of our great love for traditional architecture and our exploration of it, and because of the great aesthetics these buildings have. Our objective has been to explore the trends of the times when the specific architecture and techniques emerged, the needs addressed and to look at the potential these buildings have and showcase them using modern methods.

The following stages are involved in the renovation process:
1. We carefully remove the roof by taking off the clay, and then strip the plaster, old water supply & sewerage networks and the electrical wiring.
2. Detailed rendering and assessment of the structure. Lab testing of the stonework. The building is then simulated using finite elements and SAP2000 software. To assess how the building will respond to an earthquake, we use the equivalent static analysis method in which seismic loads are applied as static loads to the building. CEDRUS5 software by CUBUS is used for slab testing, which analyses the slab using a surface finite elements model.
Based on that, the materials and method required to reinforce the structure can then be chosen.
3. Foundations, floors and masonry reinforcement works are then carried out, by injecting pozzolanic mortar under pressure or using other methods.
4. A new concealed roof slab is then constructed of reinforced concrete to replace the layer of clay. The upper surface is sealed with a cement-based mortar.
5. Masonry is reinforced with cement-based plasters using anchorages and steel mesh. The final layer is applied freely by hand to resemble the traditional application method.
6. Water supply / sewerage piping and electrical wiring are then added in accordance with current regulations.
7. Traditional materials are then showcased. All Wood and all stone slabs are cleaned to showcase them, carefully painting them with an initial coat of impregnating varnish then a satin colourless water-based varnish.
8. A new floor is then built using traditional polished cement mortar techniques and materials based on natural minerals (pozzolana, lime, etc.). These materials are applied with the trowel.
9. Painted, traditional (but thermally insulated) wooden doors are then built and fitted.
10. Walls are then painted indoors and out in shades of white using environmentally friendly paints.
11. Fixtures and fittings (lights, switches, bathroom suite) in a classic style are then installed.