Skip to content

Build Audit — front door for existing code

Your build stalled. Your timeline doesn't have to reset.

Most agencies don't want your half-built project — inherited code is messy, and rewriting from scratch is easier to quote. We want it. The Build Audit tells you, component by component, what's worth keeping, what isn't, and the realistic path from where the code is today to a working release.

Not sure this is your door? Take the 5-minute readiness assessment.

Where you are

You've already paid for months of development and have something half-built to show for it. Every new agency you talk to wants to start over — which resets your timeline to zero and writes off everything you've spent. Meanwhile the burn continues and you can't tell how far from shipping you actually are.

Where this leaves you

A component-by-component verdict on what you own, a realistic shipping plan from the current state — not from zero — and the team shape and budget it takes to finish. Clarity on whether you're six weeks or six months from a release, in writing.

This rung fits when

  • Founders whose build stalled with a previous agency or team
  • Mid-build products that lost momentum, funding rhythm, or their engineers
  • Legacy systems that need a v2 the existing code constrains
  • Anyone being told "we'd have to rewrite it all" and wanting a second read

What you walk away owning

Documents that are yours, whoever builds

Everything below belongs to you — written to be usable with any competent team, and leverage in any future negotiation, including one that doesn't involve us.

Codebase health assessment

What exists, what's usable, where the technical debt actually is, and the risks that matter — not a lint report, a judgment call by people who ship.

Salvage-vs-rebuild verdict

Component by component: keep, refactor, or replace. Honest in both directions — rewrites are recommended when warranted, never by default.

Shipping plan

The realistic path from the current state to a working release, sequenced to keep whatever momentum and investment you already have.

Resource & cost estimate

The team shape and budget band it takes to finish — so you can compare it against continuing with anyone, including your current team.

Risk register

What could sink delivery: data problems, fragile dependencies, undocumented decisions, and the political landmines nobody put in the handover doc.

Recommended next steps

A concrete Planning and takeover proposal — or an honest recommendation to finish with your current setup, if that's the better path.

The scope wall

Edges, in writing

The Audit tells you whether and roughly how — not the full design. The items below belong to the Planning Sprint, where the plan gets detailed enough to commit to.

In this engagement

  • Codebase health assessment
  • Salvage-vs-rebuild verdict
  • Shipping plan
  • Resource & cost estimate
  • Risk register
  • Recommended next steps

Deliberately not included

  • Full re-architecture design
  • Detailed system and data-model diagrams
  • Committed timelines and fixed pricing
  • Code fixes or refactoring work

How it runs

The working rhythm

  1. Access & context

    We get the repos, infrastructure, and the history — what was promised, what was delivered, and where it stopped. The story matters as much as the code.

  2. Deep assessment

    Senior engineers work through the codebase, architecture, and delivery pipeline, testing what actually runs versus what the documentation claims.

  3. Verdict walkthrough

    We present the component-by-component verdict and draft shipping plan, and pressure-test it against what you know that we can't see in the code.

  4. Final readout

    You receive the full assessment, plan, and cost estimate — plus the takeover proposal if we're the right team to finish it.

Investment

Scoped and priced in your written proposal

Indicative — fixed in your written proposal · 1–2 weeks

Fee credit

100% credited toward the Planning Sprint if you continue within 30 days.

FAQ

Build Audit questions

Start with the build audit

Tell us what you're holding — an idea or a codebase — and you'll have a concrete proposal for the first rung, in writing.