Smart Home for a New Villa in Oman — When to Start Planning

By the Intelligent Projects engineering team · Updated July 2026 · Reviewed by our KNX-certified engineers

The question we hear most from villa owners mid-construction — and the precise answer saves thousands of rials and weeks of chiselling.

The short answer

Contact the smart home company after your architectural drawings exist, and before the electrical/AC drawings are approved and first-fix begins. At exactly that point, the automation engineer can fold smart home requirements into the same drawings your electrical contractor will build from — zero rework cost, zero days added to your schedule.

Why not wait until finishing?

Because the difference between a “smart-ready villa” and an ordinary one isn’t the devices — it’s cables that enter the walls before plaster. Wait until finishing and you pay twice: once for chiselling and repainting, and once because some options (a full wired system) are simply no longer possible. Details in our wiring & pre-plaster guide.

Architectural drawings stage

The earliest useful moment. We don’t need device decisions yet — we need the drawings to settle: where the majlis and bedrooms are (keypad and scene planning), where the control panel will live, which walls carry screens and cameras. A paper edit today saves a broken wall tomorrow.

Before electrical & AC approval — the golden window

A conventional electrical drawing shows two-wire switches; a smart home needs a neutral in every box, deeper boxes, and a control cable to every AC unit. If drawings get approved before we’re involved, your contractor will build wiring that later needs modification. We coordinate directly with your consultant and contractor so one approved set serves both.

Before conduits & first fix

Missed the approval stage? Fine — as long as conduits aren’t cast in concrete and walls aren’t closed, KNX routes and spare conduits can still be added at reasonable cost. Every week after that raises the bill.

The pre-plaster inspection

Days before plastering we walk the site: has cable reached every point? Are boxes the right depth? Curtain provisions in place? And we photograph every wall before it closes — an archive that serves your home for the next twenty years.

What can safely wait?

The devices themselves. Panels, final keypad ranges, speakers, even whole systems like the cinema can be bought a year — or five — later, as long as the wiring is in. Our philosophy: wire for the home you’ll want in ten years, buy devices for today’s budget. See the cost guide for smart budget sequencing.

Already started the electrical work?

Call us immediately — don’t wait for a “better moment.” We can usually catch the current stage: adjust what isn’t built yet, add spare conduits to what is. Every passing day closes walls and narrows options.

Villa already finished?

Smart home hasn’t passed you by — the route just changes: professional wireless systems install with no chiselling and cover lighting, AC, curtains and security. Read about wireless & retrofit smart homes and the wired-vs-wireless comparison.

Documents you should receive from us

• A written room-by-room scope you approve before any commitment
• Automation point drawings coordinated with the electrical set
• Pre-plaster inspection report with photos
• At handover: as-built drawings, a programming backup, and the warranty certificate

Decision table by construction stage

Villa stage	Best option	Relative cost
Architectural drawings only	Full design + wired KNX	Best — cabling joins electrical works
Electrical approved, pre-pour	Drawing revision + KNX	Minor addition
First fix underway	Immediate catch-up + spare conduits	Reasonable — narrows weekly
Plastered, pre-finishing	Partial wired with limited chasing, or hybrid	Higher — case-by-case
Completed villa	Professional wireless	No chiselling — grows room by room

Start from your drawings

Send your villa drawings and construction stage for an initial review — or start with the full picture of a complete smart villa.