How to find new projects for your crew: a guide for tradespeople and suppliers
The best jobs in construction are not advertised. They go to whoever learns about a project early and shows up at the right moment with the right offer. Here is how to do it systematically.
1. Start with the new building permits
Every new apartment building starts with a building permit, and every permit is posted publicly on Diavgeia, the government transparency portal. In 2026, 908 new apartment buildings received a permit by October, about 100 a month across the country. For a crew working in two or three municipalities, that means a few, but specific, projects every month. You need to know all of them.
On the xtizetai.gr map you can see every new apartment building with the permit date, the levels and the built area, filtered by municipality and period.
2. Find out when your trade is needed
An apartment building does not need all trades at the same time. The order is more or less the same in every project. The timing varies a lot from project to project, so treat the table as a guide and not as a schedule:
| Phase | Trades | When to get in touch |
|---|---|---|
| Excavation and frame | Excavation, steel fixers, concrete, formwork, dewatering | Right after the permit, or even before (from the demolition or the pre-approval) |
| Masonry and piping | Bricks, electrical and plumbing pipework, drainage | While the frame goes up |
| Building envelope | Windows and doors, external wall insulation, roof insulation, plastering | Once the frame is closed; windows and doors are ordered earlier |
| Installations | Heating and air conditioning, lift, solar and photovoltaic | The choice is made early, the installation later |
| Finishing | Tiles and floors, plasterboard, doors, wardrobes, kitchens, paint, railings, pergolas | A few months before completion; many choices are made with the buyers |
An apartment building is usually built in one and a half to two years, but some projects start immediately and others wait for months. The permit date helps you put the projects in order. Before every quote, confirm on site or with the builder what stage the project is at.
3. Find out who is building
In many permits (about one in two new apartment buildings) a company (often a construction company) is among the owners of the project. Its name is the key: from it you find its official website or the details it has declared to GEMI (the General Commercial Registry). In xtizetai Pro you see the company of each project and all of its projects, so you understand who you are talking to before you phone.
When the owners are only private individuals, do not look for names. Visit the site when it starts: the project sign shows the details of the supervising engineer and the permit number.
4. Approach them properly
- One phone call or a personal message does more than ten mass emails. Say which project you saw, what you do and where you have worked nearby.
- Show your work. Photos from two or three similar projects in the same area count for more than a catalogue of services.
- Respect the rules on email. Sending unsolicited advertising emails without prior consent is prohibited (Law 3471/2006, Article 11). Prefer the company's phone number, contact through its website or meeting at the site.
- Do not enter a construction site without permission. Ask for the site manager or the engineer.
5. Keep order: list, notes, next move
The projects you care about are few, but they last for months. For each project, note when you spoke, what you said and when to call again. In xtizetai Pro this is done inside the app: favourites, private notes and a status for each project.
Do not forget renovations
For every new apartment building, more than a hundred small-scale works approvals are issued for existing buildings: 100,887 up to 23 October 2026. For some trades it is the biggest market. See the figures by trade: windows and doors, external wall insulation, painting and scaffolding, home renovations, roofs and pergolas, heating, photovoltaics, lifts, swimming pools.