Posted 2026-04-26 by the Oz Smart Home team. Last updated 2026-04-26.
Most blog posts about smart-home installs are written by marketers who've never been on a job site. This one is written by people who have. If you've booked a consultation with us — or you're thinking about it — this is what's about to happen and what you'll need to decide along the way.
TL;DR — the timeline
| Stage | Duration | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Consultation | 30–60 min | We talk through your home, your habits, and what you want. Free. |
| Site survey | 1–2 hours | We come to the property, measure, photograph, check switch boxes for neutrals, map the WiFi. |
| Design + quote | 3–7 days | Detailed scope, costed line by line. Paid (credited toward install). |
| Install | 1–10 days | Depends on size. A starter setup is a single day; a full home is two weeks. |
| Handover + walkthrough | 1–2 hours | We sit with the people who'll use it and run through every scene. |
| Support | Ongoing | Adjustments, expansions, the occasional troubleshoot. |
Stage 1 — The consultation (30–60 min, free)
We come to your house, or do this on a video call. The goal is to figure out three things:
- What you actually want. Most people start with "I want smart locks and lights" and end with "actually, the network is the most important thing". The conversation usually surfaces 2–3 things you hadn't thought of and pushes 1–2 things to "later".
- What's possible in your home. Apartments have body-corp rules. Heritage homes can't be re-cabled. Older units don't have a neutral wire behind every switch. We'd rather discover this in the conversation than three weeks into the project.
- What's worth doing first. Some Solutions (locks, network) deliver immediate daily wins. Others (full home automation) deliver a slow-burn quality-of-life upgrade. We'll be straight about the order.
You leave the consultation with a one-page summary of what we'd do, in what order, at roughly what cost.
Stage 2 — Site survey (1–2 hours)
If you decide to proceed, we come to the property and check the things that determine whether your scope is buildable as-quoted:
- Switch boxes — is there a neutral wire behind every switch? (Most homes built since 2000 have one. Many older homes don't.)
- Network — where's the modem? Where are the WiFi dead zones? Where can we run cables without smashing walls?
- Door hardware — is the front door cylinder a euro, oval, or AU mortice? This determines which smart locks fit.
- Panel locations — where do the Akubela panels go on the wall? Power supply? Ethernet?
- Existing systems — alarm panel, intercom, NBN, AC controllers — what stays, what goes, what gets integrated.
This stage is where surprises live. We surface them now, not on install day.
Stage 3 — Design and quote (3–7 days)
You get a written design document with:
- Every device, room by room.
- Cabling plan (if any).
- Network plan.
- Scene list — Wake Up, Goodnight, Movie, Away, etc., described in words you can read out loud and check.
- Per-line pricing.
- Total cost, deposit schedule, and timeline.
This stage is paid. The design fee is credited against the install if you proceed within 60 days. If you don't, the document is yours to keep — including the device list, in case you want to build it yourself.
Stage 4 — Install (1–10 days)
The big variable. A starter setup (network + 2 panels + smart locks + a few sensors) is a single day. A full Akubela build across a 4-bedroom home with multi-zone AC and motorised blinds is closer to two weeks.
What happens day-to-day:
- Day 1 is mostly cabling, panel mounting, and network bring-up. The house may be without internet for a few hours.
- Days 2–N are device installs, configuration, and testing. Most of this is invisible — you'll see panels going up but the heavy work is behind the scenes.
- Final day is scene scripting, voice assistant integration, and edge-case testing.
We protect your floors and surfaces, label every cable, and clean up before we leave each day.
The team was punctual, professional, and explained everything clearly. He finished the works in two days and popped into our place the day after to assist me with programming the doors' locks. — Amirali Mortazavi, Google review
Stage 5 — Handover and walkthrough (1–2 hours)
The most underrated part of a smart-home install. We sit with the people who will actually use the system — usually two adults plus, if relevant, the older kids — and run through every scene, every panel, every voice command. We answer "how do I do X" until there are no more questions.
We hand over:
- A printed (or PDF) cheat sheet for the household.
- App access for every adult who needs it.
- A handover document with device list, network credentials, and platform admin access.
- Our phone number and a 30-day support window for "wait, what was that thing called?" questions.
Stage 6 — Ongoing support
Smart homes evolve. New devices come out. Family routines change. We offer:
- Annual maintenance for full-home builds — software updates, scene tuning, new device integrations.
- Expansion projects — adding rooms, adding solutions, replacing aging devices.
What you need to decide before we start
| Decision | Why it matters | Default if you don't decide |
|---|---|---|
| Akubela vs Loxone vs Home Assistant | Determines the platform, install style, and ongoing flexibility | Akubela for most homes |
| Apple Home / Google Home / Alexa | Voice assistant + secondary control surface | Both Apple and Google, picked by you |
| Local NVR or cloud recording (security) | Privacy + ongoing cost | Local for primary, cloud for front door only |
| Wired or wireless | Reliability vs install scope | Wireless for retrofits, wired for new builds |
| Who has app access | Adult permissions; kid permissions | Both adults full; kids limited |
What it costs (rough order of magnitude)
| Setup | Starting at | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $10,000+ | Wireless lighting + access + network |
| Balanced | $15,000+ | Add security + climate + control panels |
| Complete | $25,000+ | Full home — lighting, access, security, climate, scenes, all rooms |
| Wired (Loxone) | Let's talk | Fully-wired build, typically new construction |
Final price depends on the home. The consultation is the only way to get a real number.
Want to see what your project would look like?
Book a free consultation → · Browse all Solutions · Call 1800 865 070