The order trades follow, with the hold points that stop work being covered too early.
Programme, labour and cash flow. 5 questions answered below, each with the arithmetic behind it and the limits of what the tool decides. Open the Construction Sequence tool.
A sequence is the order in which work has to happen, and most of it is not negotiable. Foundations before walls, walls before roofs, roofs before ceilings. Where the sequence is negotiable is in the overlaps, and getting those wrong is how a site ends up with three trades in one room. The tool sets out the sequence for the work you describe, with the dependencies that make it valid and the overlaps that are possible. It is a reference rather than a programme: it tells you what must follow what and what can run alongside, and the dates come from the timeline. Where an operation has no place in the sequence, that is usually a sign that a stage is missing rather than that the operation is optional.
Groundworks, then footings, then blockwork to eaves, then roof structure and covering. Services first fix runs inside the walls while the roof is being covered, because the building is dry enough and the walls are open. Plaster follows first fix, then screed, then second fix and finishes. Held inspections sit at the points where work gets covered: the footing before concrete, the services before plaster. Move plastering ahead of first fix and the sequence is wrong in a way that costs a wall and a rewire, because the cables are now behind a finished surface that has to come off before anything can be connected.
It sets out the order work has to happen in and which operations can overlap. A sequence is what a programme is built on: without it, a bar chart is a wish. It also makes hold points explicit, which matters because concrete poured over an uninspected footing cannot be checked afterwards. The value is in the dependencies being stated rather than remembered by whoever has been on site longest.
The structural dependencies are fixed: you cannot build a wall before its footing, or a ceiling before the roof is covered. The overlaps are not fixed, and they depend on the building, the access and how many crews you have. The tool marks which is which, so a decision to overlap is a decision rather than a drift.
The sequence is the logic and the timeline is the calendar. The sequence says what must follow what; the timeline turns that into durations and dates, and identifies the critical path. Building a programme from a sequence is straightforward, while building one without a sequence produces dates that cannot be delivered because the order is wrong.
Inspections and hold points are in the sequence at the points where work gets covered: footings before concrete, first fix before plaster, drainage before backfill. They are not an afterthought, because an inspection that cannot be done is a defect that cannot be seen. What the tool does not do is decide which inspections your authority requires, which is a local question.
Site managers, foremen and anyone pricing work from a programme. A subcontractor can see where their operation sits and what has to be finished before they can start, which is the conversation that otherwise happens on the morning they arrive. A client can see what stage their money is buying, which is why sequence and payment stages are usually read together.