The nine steps are the product; the cabinets are the outcome
It is reasonable to ask what a client is actually paying for when the finished kitchen looks like a set of panels. The answer is the process: the surveys, the readings, the drawing, the scribe lines, the crate plan. A made-to-measure build in a period house is a sequence of decisions, and the quality of the finished room is decided long before anything is cut.
This guide follows that sequence as nine steps, from the first visit to the day the room is handed back. For each step it names what happens, who is holding the clock, and the document that proves the step was taken. Then it looks at the three places where period orders most often stall, and at how the process changes when the house is occupied while it happens.
One point is worth carrying through the whole page. In a made-to-measure build the expensive mistakes are always structural and always late, which means they arrive after a door has closed. Almost every step below exists to move a decision earlier, to the point where changing it costs a drawing revision instead of a panel.
Nine steps, three hands on the clock, and one gate that decides the whole programme
A made-to-measure build runs from the first room visit through readings, drawing, approval, cutting, finishing, crating, delivery and installation. Three parties hold the clock at different points: the surveyor reads the room, the drawing office resolves it, and the client releases it at approval. Nearly every delay in a period kitchen traces back to that third hand: a brief that arrives in stages instead of in one message, so the tall block gets drawn twice.
made-to-measure custom kitchen cabinets bath: the nine steps of a build
The nine steps below are the ones we work to on a period room. They are not compressed for a brochure: the sequence is deliberately front-loaded, because the first four steps are the ones that determine whether the last five go smoothly.
Read the clock column with care, because it changes hands twice. The surveyor and the drawing office carry the first part of the programme; the client carries the approval gate in the middle; the factory carries production. A programme that slips almost always slips at the handover points instead of inside any one stage.
| Step | What happens | Who holds the clock | The document that proves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. First visit and room reading | The room is walked, the fixed features identified, and the awkward conditions listed | Surveyor, with access to the room | A marked-up sketch with every obstruction noted |
| 2. Full survey with the room clear | Each wall measured separately at two heights, ceiling read at three points, window and breast measured | Surveyor | A dimensioned survey sheet |
| 3. Brief assembly | The appliance schedule, the storage inventory and the finish direction are gathered | Client | One message containing plan, schedule, inventory and finish |
| 4. Measured drawing and elevations | Obstructions resolved, tall block positioned, interiors laid out, one-off work drawn | Drawing office | An elevation set with the schedule annotated against it |
| 5. Approval gate | The drawing is checked against the room and released in writing | Client | A written approval that starts the production clock |
| 6. Cutting, grooving and folding | Panels cut, notched for services and folded; appliance housings formed | Factory | A cutting list released against the approved drawing |
| 7. Welding and finishing | Seams welded and dressed, tops set with their falls, fronts sprayed and cured | Factory | A curing and finishing record per batch |
| 8. Crating and delivery | The set is split to the access route and packed in installation order | Factory and forwarder | A crate plan matched to the access notes |
| 9. Installation and handover | Assembly, levelling, the wall joint, the ceiling scribe, the top and the connections | Installer | A handover check against the approved drawing |
Steps one to four: reading the room and setting the constraints
The first four steps are where a period build is won or lost, and they are also the cheapest. Two of them happen before any money is committed to materials, so a supplier who rushes them is not saving the client anything.
Step one is a walk-through instead of a survey. Its purpose is to find the fixed features, the breast, the alcove, the boxing, the window and the step in the floor, and to agree which of them will be used and which will be built around. That conversation is much easier in the room than on a drawing, because it is obvious when a plan is asked to do something the space will not allow.
Step two is the survey proper, and it happens with the room as clear as it can be. Every wall is measured separately at skirting level and at worktop height, ceiling height is taken at both ends and the middle of the run. The window is measured for sill, head, reveal depth and the swing of the sash. The chimney breast is measured at both edges, because its face is often not parallel to the wall behind it.
Step three is the brief, and it is the client step that carries the most use. Four things go into it: the dimensioned plan with obstructions marked, the appliance schedule with model numbers, the inventory of what the storage has to hold, and the finish direction. Sending them together instead of in stages is the single most effective way to shorten the programme, because the tall block is drawn once instead of twice.
Step four is where the room becomes a drawing. The obstructions are resolved on paper, the breast boxed and panelled, the alcove used, the window worked around, the services notched during manufacture, and the interiors are laid out against the inventory. One-off work is drawn at this stage, with radii given as numbers, because an undrawn curve is an unpriced one.
| Document | What it must contain | What it protects against |
|---|---|---|
| Marked-up walk-through sketch | Every fixed feature and every obstruction, with a note on how each will be treated | A layout that assumes the room is empty of features |
| Dimensioned survey sheet | Each wall measured separately at two heights, ceiling at three points, window and breast dimensions | An end panel that is short at the top and long at the bottom |
| Appliance schedule | Model numbers, plus ventilation and service clearances for each | A housing formed around an assumed width |
| Storage inventory | Pan diameters, the tallest pot with its lid on, trays, small appliances, bottles | A tidy set of drawers that holds less than the room it left |
| Finish direction | The range, and how much daylight the room receives | A finish chosen in a showroom that behaves differently in a dim period room |
| Access notes | Narrowest doorway, tightest stair turn, lift or no lift, anything lifted over a wall | A crated set that will not reach the room it was built for |
Steps five to seven: approval, cutting and finishing
Step five is a gate instead of a stage, and it is the one place in the programme where the client is the constraint. Production starts from written approval, and the approval is the moment the drawing becomes a commitment. It is worth taking an extra day here if the drawing has not been checked properly, because a day spent reading an elevation costs a day; a change made after cutting costs a panel.
The check itself takes ten minutes and asks four questions. Does every wall on the drawing carry its own measurement? Is the appliance schedule annotated against the openings it fills? Can the breast, the pipe run and the window all be found on the elevation? And is the front decision shown as a separate layer from the structural one, so it is clear what would change if the finish changed?
Step six is where the drawing becomes metal. Panels are laser cut, grooved and folded, and service notches are formed during manufacture instead of cut by hand after delivery. Appliance housings are formed in the same pass, so the schedule has to be complete before the cutting list is released: the housing is part of the carcase, not an accessory added to it.
Step seven covers welding and finishing. Tops are welded around their sinks and the drainage fall is set into the same sheet, then the seams are dressed by hand. Fronts are sprayed electrostatically and cured at 220 degrees Celsius for thirty minutes, giving a coating of 60 to 120 micrometre and a surface hardness above 6H. Once the coating has cured, the front decision is closed, so it sits so late in the sequence: everything structural above it was settled long before.
- Where it goes wrong: How it shows up. What caused it. How the process prevents it
- A late change to the tall block: The run no longer meets the wall line. A decision taken after the cutting list was released. Approval treated as a gate, not a formality
- An appliance that does not fit its housing: The oven sits proud, or the door will not open fully. A schedule sent without model numbers. The elevation annotated against the schedule before approval
- A dead recess behind the run: An unlit gap nobody can reach. A breast boxed flush without deciding how the recess is closed. Step one resolving every fixed feature in the room
- A curve that reads as an accident: An inconsistent radius between two elements. A shape drawn by eye instead of given as a number. One-off work drawn and priced at step four
- A pipe cut open on site: A cabinet notched by hand after delivery. Service positions not recorded at survey. Services noted at step one and notched at step six
- A run that will not pass a doorway: The set arrives and the last section cannot be carried in. Access notes missing from the brief. A crate plan matched to the route at step eight
Working with a joiner, a plumber and an electrician
A made-to-measure kitchen is assembled instead of built on site, but it is not self-contained. Three trades have to be sequenced around the cabinet programme, and the commonest cause of a stalled handover is a trade arriving with a decision that was needed three weeks earlier.
The pattern that works is simple: the services are moved first, the cabinets are installed second, and the connections are made third. Anything that has to be decided before the cutting list is released, a hob model, an extractor position, an appliance housing width, belongs to the client or the electrician at step three, not at step nine.
The plumber is the exception to that pattern, because a waste position can usually be adjusted late without touching a panel, provided the change is small and the fall across the top is preserved. Where a waste has to move a long distance, it becomes a drawing matter again, and it needs to be known before the base units are cut.
| Trade | When they need to be on site | What must be decided before they arrive | Cost of arriving late |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician, first visit | Before the cabinets are installed | Hob, oven and extractor models, plus the positions of sockets in the run | Cable routes chased into a finished wall, or surface runs along the fronts |
| Plumber, first visit | Before the cabinets are installed | Sink position and waste route, and whether the top will have a welded sink | A waste crossing a base unit that was cut for something else |
| Electrician, second visit | After installation, before the top goes on | The final appliance connections and the isolation position | A connection made through a cut opening in a finished panel |
| Plumber, second visit | After installation, before the top goes on | The tap, the waste trap and the access for the trap | A trap that cannot be reached without dismantling a drawer run |
| Joiner, if used | Alongside installation | The scribe line at the ceiling and the joint at the wall | A scribe taken after the top is fitted, the wrong order |
| Worktop fitter, where separate | After the base run is levelled | The fall, the upstand and the cut-out positions | A top fitted before the run is level, which undoes the drainage |
| Decorator | After installation, before handover | Which surfaces are being finished and which are protected | Paint along a formed front return that does not come off |
| Delivery crew and lift | On the delivery day | The crate plan and where each crate is to be placed | Crates stacked in the wrong room, which costs a day of moving |
How the process changes when the house is occupied
Most period kitchens in a lived-in house cannot be emptied first, and the brief has to reflect that. The steps do not change, but their order bends slightly: step two needs a window in which the previous cabinets are out. Step nine is usually split into two visits so the room has a working sink for as long as possible.
Two practical points make a large difference. The first is to decide the sequence of unusability in advance: which surface goes first, where the temporary washing-up point will be, and how long the room will be without a usable sink. The second is to keep the old worktop until the new one is on site, where that is structurally possible. This is because A top is the last thing to arrive and the first thing whose absence makes a kitchen unusable.
For a build in a period house, that planning is part of the brief instead of an afterthought. A supplier who knows the room will be in use can sequence the delivery crates accordingly, so that the cabinets which close the room first arrive first.
- Stage: In an occupied house. What you need to prepare
- Survey: The previous cabinets come out for the wall readings. One clear day, with the room emptied as far as access allows
- Drawing and approval: No change to the process. A decision on the finish direction early enough to avoid holding the drawing
- Cutting week: The room stays in use. A written list of anything that has to be moved before installation starts
- Installation, first visit: Base run and tall block go in, the sink stays temporary. The temporary washing-up point and where the old top is stored
- Installation, second visit: The top goes on and the sink is connected. Access for the plumber and a clear run at the connections
- Handover: The scribe and the wall joint are finished last. A decision on who touches up the decoration afterwards
Eight questions about how a made-to-measure build runs
These are the questions that come up once a period order has started and the client can see the sequence for the first time.
Why does the process start with two visits instead of one?
Because they do different jobs. The first visit is a walk-through whose purpose is to find the fixed features and agree which of them the room will keep, which is far easier to discuss standing in the space than reading a plan. The second is the measured survey, and it works best with the room as clear as it can be, because previous cabinets hide exactly the features being measured. Combining the two usually means one of them is done badly.
What is the approval gate, and why does it matter so much?
It is the point at which the drawing becomes a commitment and the production clock starts. Everything structural above it is still cheap to change, and everything below it is expensive, because the next step cuts metal. This is why the check takes ten minutes instead of a signature:
- Every wall carrying its own measurement.
- The appliance schedule annotated against each opening.
- The obstructions visible on the elevation.
- The finish shown as a separate layer.
How long do the first four steps take compared with production?
The survey and the drawing usually take about a week in total, and approval adds a day or three depending on how quickly the drawing is read. Production then runs about thirty-five working days from approval, with the fastest series at about twenty-five. That means the front half of the programme is short but carries the most use, because it decides whether the back half runs once or twice.
Which trade has to be decided earliest?
The electrician, and specifically the first visit. Hob, oven and extractor models fix the openings, the ventilation and the positions of sockets inside the run, and every one of those is built into the carcase instead of added to it. A hob model that arrives after the cutting list has been released turns a formed housing into a modification, the one kind of change a folded panel does not take well.
Can the cabinets be installed in one visit?
In an empty house, usually yes. In an occupied one, the practical split is two visits: the base run and the tall block first, with the sink left temporary, then the top and the connections once the old top can be released. That keeps a working kitchen for as long as possible, and it also means the plumber arrives when the run is already level, the right order for a drainage fall.
What if the room is not square and the run has to be scribed?
The scribe is taken in the room with the run already at its ends, and it is a joiner task instead of a cutting-list task, so it belongs at the last step instead of at step six. Where the ceiling is involved, the top of a full-height block is scribed to a line read at three points across the run. Trimming a panel to fit after delivery is possible but it removes the protective edge, so it is a last resort instead of a method.
Where do period orders most often stall?
At the two handover points instead of inside any single stage. The first is the brief: when the plan, the schedule, the inventory and the finish arrive in separate messages, the tall block gets drawn twice and the queue position is lost each time. The second is approval: when a drawing is returned with a question that could have been answered at the survey, the whole programme shifts. Neither is a factory problem; both are solved by sending more at the start.
What should be on the handover check?
The approved drawing, read line by line. Every run length as drawn, the tall block against the ceiling line, the appliance openings against the schedule, the drawer heights against the inventory, the wall joint, and the drainage fall across the top checked with water. A handover that ends with the drawing signed off and the fall tested is a handover that has removed the two failures most likely to appear in the first month.
Where to go next
Send the room readings, the appliance schedule with model numbers, the inventory of what the storage has to hold and the access notes in one message. The reply comes back as a drawing with the obstructions already resolved: run lengths taken wall by wall. The breast and the alcove decided, the interiors laid out, and the grade, the gauge, the core, the hardware rating and the lead time named in writing.
The product tickets show the systems a made-to-measure build is measured against, the Aarhus light grey run is a made-to-measure kitchen with its appliance column drawn in. The Copenhagen pantry wall is a full-height block built as one piece. The delivered projects show the same process on finished orders, and the quality process records what is checked before a set is crated.
If the room itself is the open question, the Bath period rooms guide covers the four house types and the readings that matter most. The made-to-measure builds page lists the same commitments as a ladder instead of as a sequence. Two more that pair with this guide: the custom builds guide for awkward shapes, and the hinge and handle ratings guide for the load figures behind the hardware line.
Start With the Survey and the Schedule
Related pages
A Bath guide to period rooms and what they ask for
The four house types, the five readings, and the specification worth comparing before an order is placed.
Custom kitchen cabinets as a ladder of commitments
The same eight decisions read as a checklist instead of as a programme, with the cost of turning back on each one.
Custom builds for awkward kitchen shapes
How columns, low ceilings and corners that are not square are resolved at the panel stage instead of on site.
A second made-to-measure build, in a colder climate
The same nine-step discipline run against a house that is heated for half the year, where the enclosure and the way in set the brief.
Content record: Written by the Bogeqi content team and reviewed by the Bogeqi export sales team on October 5, 2026; last updated October 5, 2026. The nine steps and the trade sequence come from our own order files and installation records at our Foshan factory and from period-room enquiries we have quoted. Not from a survey of published buying guides; the conservation and listing questions that arise in Bath remain matters for the local authority and for a specialist adviser. The build the process delivers is a food-grade 304 body with the grade named part by part, a grade of 18/8 carrying chromium at 18 percent or more and nickel at 8 percent or more.
The core is an aluminium honeycomb bonded under a polyurethane chemical cure. It finishes at 18 to 25 mm, and it lands about a third lighter than a comparable timber-core door: about 8 kilograms per square metre against about 12. A 0.45 mm body gauge with a 0.6 mm pressed door skin and a 0.8 mm natural brushed door. A lacquer front sprayed electrostatically and cured at 220 degrees Celsius for thirty minutes at a coating of 60 to 120 micrometre and a surface hardness above 6H. Wood-grain transfer over a pressed profile on a 201 skin for the patterned range. Formed front returns with a closed edge, pre-embedded hinge inserts with a copper core and six-sided 304 nuts, and multi-point clip-on hinges rated around 20 kg through 100,000 cycles over full-extension runners rated for the loaded drawer.
Worktops are 304 with the sink welded in and the upstand formed from the same sheet. Material arrives with a mill certificate carrying a heat number, a third-party test report, and compliance with ASTM, REACH and RoHS. Standard production runs about thirty-five working days from the approved drawing, with the fastest series at about twenty-five, on fifty percent with the order and the balance before shipment by T/T. Crated to sea standard with pearl wool and corner guards under a ten-year warranty on the cabinet body written into the contract.